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    Knik Public Use Area

    3.0 (1 review)

    Knik Public Use Area Hiking Photos

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    Trail River Campground - Horseshoe pit

    Trail River Campground

    4.5(2 reviews)
    40.0 mi

    I have a lot to say about this campground, but I just want to write a quick review for the time…read morebeing. Porcupine Campground in Hope is my favorite, but Trail River is a very close second. It has all the things I love - outstanding views of the mountains; tons of trees; relatively private, large sites that can accommodate RV's; not one but two impressive bodies of water; plenty of places to explore and NO CELL SERVICE. The campground is in the middle of nowhere (Crown Point, which essentially doesn't exist since it doesn't have a zip code.) It's at mile 24.2 of the Seward Highway, about halfway between Moose Pass and Seward. GPS coordinates are GPS Info. (Latitude, Longitude): 60.41472, -149.38028 60°24'53"N, 149°22'49"W This is a huge campground with about 80 sites on 3 loops. But even so, reservations on summer weekends are pretty much a necessity. Sites are $18 a day. Make reservations here: https://www.recreation.gov/camping/trail-river/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&parkId=70678 The best campsites are on Kenai Lake (see my close up shots of the map), almost all of which are tent-only sites. Only 2 RV sites are on Kenai Lake, #72 and 70. 73 is also near the lake. Ironically, none of the campsites are on the Trail River. You have to drive, bike or walk down the Trail River access road a little ways to view the MAGNIFICENT river, which is in my opinion, more beautiful than the Kenai and Russian Rivers. The plants here are really interesting. And I heard more bird song than I've heard anywhere else I've camped. I awoke every morning to the most beautiful sounds. Really I want to write so much more about how awesome Trail River is, but I'm tired from camping. LOL If you have any questions, PM me.

    We decided to go camping last minute with the kids on a Friday after work. We packed up and started…read moredriving, not knowing where we would camp. We drove by two others and found Trail River Campground, found a spot that wasn't reserved, and set up camp. It was spacious and clean with all things ready--fire pit, table, and tent space. For a last-minute camp trip, it worked out great, and we had fun. We would visit again and recommend to others.

    Photos
    Trail River Campground
    Trail River Campground - Our spacious site on Spruce loop

    Our spacious site on Spruce loop

    Trail River Campground

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    Nancy Lake State Park

    Nancy Lake State Park

    3.8(4 reviews)
    36.5 mi

    Nancy Lake State park is HUGE. If someone has a negative experience, it's likely due to their…read morefailure to explore. In addition to two campgrounds cabins, there are countless lakes, ponds, streams and creeks, trails, parking lots and toilets. There's even canoe rentals. In winter theres some limited trail grooming as well. Fishing is popular in some of the lakes- see the state website for deets. Berry picking is excellent you're willing to explore as well. Bears are a real concern here so be prepared, we've seen them. Amazing bird watching as well. My only negative comment is the smaller campground by Nancy Lake proper is garbage- it needs a total overhaul. Head toward the campground by Rollly Lake deep in forest for the goods- you won't be disappointed.

    This area is a perfect close to home getaway location. Lots of winter exploring to be had, and I'm…read moresure even more fun in the summer time with additional water activities. If the ratings are good definitely a nice spot to view the aurora. We rented a dry cabin for an overnight trip, and we're upset we didn't book for 2 nights. We were in cabin #4 as a party of 4 adults, 1 toddler & a lab with plenty of space. This cabin could easily accommodate 6 adults comfortable, but there was bunk space for 8. There are quite a few state owned dry cabins in this area. A few of them are even newer constructions, and very nice. We thought we were going to have to snowshoe into the cabin, but to our surprise the trails were groomed for cross country skiing so it was a very easy walk to cabin #4. The only downside of renting this cabin is this area is pretty busy with skiers and snowmobilers (snowmachiners) accessing the lake. We took a few mile walk around the lake. We considered ice fishing, but didn't due to lack of daylight. We saw a few people out fishing, but Nancy lake isn't exactly known to be a fishing location. We had a very nice time staying at the dry cabins, and I think they're a really fun activity to get out in the winter time!

    Photos
    Nancy Lake State Park - Find the secret hidden magic mushroom

    Find the secret hidden magic mushroom

    Nancy Lake State Park - Tanaina Lake

    Tanaina Lake

    Nancy Lake State Park

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    Centennial Campground - Closed to gas stations and stores It is affordable, too

    Centennial Campground

    2.6(14 reviews)
    29.8 mi

    At the Centennial Campground, you will find a hidden gem, the Pena Park Market. With a small…read morecommunity of Hmong living in Anchorage, there is a farmers market here that meets every weekend (but only during the summer) that sell cooked food and home grown produce. Not realizing that there was a Hmong farmers market that meets here, my husband and I just happened to see it when we were driving Glenn Highway and decided to exit and check it out. We arrived on a Saturday late morning in August, around 11:35 am. We were able to find parking and browsed all the vendor tables with our little girl dog. Some of the food items (that seems to be commonly sold at most of the vendor tables) include pork belly, naab vaam (sweetened coconut dessert drink that consist of tapioca pearls, cendol, and other toppings mixed in that is very colorful), papaya salad, spring rolls, sticky rice and various skewers of meat. After looking at all the vendors that were selling food, we ended up just deciding to choose the very last one we saw and purchased: Naab vaam, $5- Both my husband and I enjoyed this drink and thought the price was fair. Chicken Rice Noodle Soup, $5- Because it was quite windy on the day we came and also raining (August is quite a wet month here in Anchorage), we ended up deciding to purchase this nice and hot soup. This reminded me of congee, even though this is made with noodle instead of rice (it had the same taste as congee). This was served in a tall styrofoam cup which was a good size for the 2 of us. Spring Rolls, $6- This came in an order of 3 (and was the same price as other vendors). The spring rolls we picked up were made with imitation crab, some kind of pork (which I think is that Vietnamese pork loaf that I have had in other spring rolls back at home), slices of cucumber and rice noodle. Honestly, I thought these rolls were okay but probably would not pick this filling again. ------------------------------ (Total= $16) The vendor we purchased from had an option to pay either by cash or by Venmo. I paid via Venmo (I did see that some of the other vendor tables had a "Cash Only" sign, just so you know if you come by). Unfortunately this Hmong farmers market is done for the season (check out https://www.facebook.com/PenaParkMarket/ for updates) but highly recommend checking it out next summer for those that live in this area. Overall, we had a great experience and would come back if we lived here.

    For $25, we were expecting nice accommodations and clean bathrooms. Instead, we were met with…read moreridiculously overgrown camping areas, a noisy highway all night long, and only one working bathroom (which was not clean or nice btw). We arrived after 10pm, so there was no one in the front office. But there's a code on the bathroom that was not mentioned to us on the phone or in our online reservation pass. So we had to wait patiently outside until a kind soul came along and would share the code with us. Would not recommend this place. It's not even close to downtown like it claims. I'd suggest a nice campsite slightly out of town, if you're gonna drive 20 minutes anyway.

    Photos
    Centennial Campground - My children enjoys the playground to play, large open park and the hills to walk or watch the squirrels and birds play

    My children enjoys the playground to play, large open park and the hills to walk or watch the squirrels and birds play

    Centennial Campground
    Centennial Campground - It was a quite weekend in centennial campground.

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    It was a quite weekend in centennial campground.

    Knik Public Use Area - hiking - Updated May 2026

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