Denali/Savage River

Chanel McFarland

Disrespectful, Dishonest, and Possibly Racially Motivated Behavior by Camp Host I’ve never written a review before in my life, but I can’t sit here and not let people know what happened at Savage River Campground was deeply upsetting, unacceptable, and needs to be addressed. My friend and I arrived around 7 PM. There were at least 15 empty campsites and the sign said to pay online but we had no service . We drove around 5 times to look for the camp host but couldn’t find them. So We figured we’d set up our tent and go down the mountain to pay in the morning. We are honest people — there was never any intention to camp without paying. Shortly after setting up, we were using a neighbor’s vehicle outlet to blow up our air mattress when an older woman — who turned out to be the camp host (Liz) — suddenly pulled up behind my car, intentionally blocking us in. She immediately started be hostile at my friend, accusing us of squatting and trespassing, saying we had “10 minutes to leave,” and refused to let my friend leave the site to come get me. She followed her around the site, watched her intensely, and completely shut down every effort to explain that we simply planned to pay in the morning. Saying that’s we are trespassing and squatting over and over again Then I walked up — and everything changed. Liz went from hostile and aggressive to polite, soft-spoken, and almost overly kind. It was shocking how quickly her tone flipped the moment she was speaking to a white woman instead of my Black friend. It was so extreme and so unsettling, I’ve never personally witnessed racism this directly, but I believe that’s what happened here. Liz lied and told us the campground was “fully booked for the season” and that we had to leave immediately. That was completely false — when we drove down to the Denali Park area, we were told there was plenty of availability, and we ended up staying at Riley Creek Campground, where we were treated with kindness and respect. Let me be clear: Liz used intimidation, dishonesty, and racism to force us off a public campground, even though we had every intention of paying and there was space available. My friend was really confused on what she had done wrong. This was not just a “bad day” or a misunderstanding — this was blatant abuse of power by a camp host who should not be in a position of authority over guests. We were treated like criminals for doing nothing wrong, and I truly hope the National Park Service or whoever oversees this campground takes a serious look at who they are putting in charge of public lands. Absolutely disgraceful behavior. And this had nothing to do with Denali national Park services. This was Liz from Savage Creek Campground. That’s the only person who should take fault here.

K G

Solo female tent camper for 3 nights in late August. The food shelter was very helpful since it was cold & rainy the entire time I was there, but not surprising having been to AK several times before. August is also the rainy season. Potable water spigots are located throughout. The 2 bathrooms are easily accessible by foot either by the dirt road that goes around the campground, or certain places you can just cut through the trees depending on what site you have. If tent camping, make sure you have a proper tent to withstand rain, wind, frozen mix etc. It also gets VERY dark at night, so don’t forget your headlamp. This campground feels a lot more private since it’s actually in the park. One of the mornings I walked the 2 miles to get to the Savage Alpine Trailhead to hike. Camp host rides around on her bike in the evening. She wasn’t the most personable, but whatever…I still enjoyed my time there. First night I heard a hoofed animal run right past my tent. Ranger said it was probably a moose or caribou, but bears and wolves are in the area too. I did see a gorgeous caribou hours earlier about 10 minutes from the campground as I was driving in on my first night. Also my first night…the group of 4 stating across the way from my spot decided to stay up until past midnight while making lots of noise talking. I had to tell them to keep it down. Don’t be that person that keeps other campers awake. Luckily they left the next morning.

G Goudey (G Goudey Photo)

Since there is only rent or rv camping at this site I can only remark on how awesome it is to camp here. I tent camped for just one night but it should have been longer. This campground is plenty far from the Parks Highway so there are no sounds of vehicles unless they are driving through the grounds. There are plenty of vault toilets around the grounds and some great trails all around. In the evening you only hear the wind and the birds, if you are camping in summer.

K G

Solo female tent camper for 3 nights in late August. The food shelter was very helpful since it was cold & rainy the entire time I was there. Potable water spigots are located throughout. There are 2 bathrooms are easily accessible by foot either by the dirt road that goes around the campground, or certain places you can just cut through the trees depending on what site you have. If tent camping, make sure you have a proper tent to withstand rain, wind, frozen mix etc. It also gets VERY dark at night, so don’t forget your headlamp. This campground feels a lot more private since it’s actually in the park. One of the mornings I walked the 2 miles to get to the Savage Alpine Trailhead. Camp host rides around on her bike in the evening. She wasn’t the most personable, but whatever…I still enjoyed my time there. First night I heard a hoofed animal run right past my tent. Ranger said it was probably a moose or caribou, but bears and wolves are in the area too. I did see a gorgeous caribou hours earlier about 10 minutes from the campground as I was driving in on my first night.

Stacey Wells

Clean and quiet campground. Not too crowded. Some empty spaces even in mid August. Some pull thru a for larger rigs. Several trails begin in the camp area. Ranger talks were excellent.