Reviews

Lara

Very few leeches if any. No swimmers rash this year at least and the boat launch is so convenient. I love seeing the mountains on a clear day too.

Washington Stadunks

Very beautiful state park, well maintained. Nice space camp spots to choose from. Clean well maintained bathrooms. Fire pits at each camp spot, gives that nice camp fire smell and outdoors. We saw a couple state park workers walking the area, which is nice! Lake is beautiful and huge. Plenty of swimming boating or a little fishing if it is in season.

Rossana

We visited Chena Lake Recreation Area in winter and it was already very beautiful. The drive to get there is stunning — a long straight road surrounded by trees, very scenic and peaceful. Unfortunately, there was a lot of snow, so we couldn’t get out of the car to walk around. However, we can imagine that in summer it must be absolutely amazing, with the lake, trails, and many small paths to explore. Parking is paid in summer (free in winter), and the whole area looks perfect for a relaxing outdoor day. We will definitely come back to experience it properly!

Sarah Wood

Enjoyed the little trail near the campsites. Saw lots of magical things and it was really beautiful.

Austin Gibson

Nice campground designed for trailers and campers. Decent tree shade and picnic tables/fire pits at every campsite. Firewood stacked up around the area. Campground has an RV dump by the field, very convenient.

John Shrieves

Nice campground. Only issue was the water at the dump station contaminated our system with dirty water. Plugged my external filter as well. There was a boil notice but not for muddy water.

Cara Puryear

Recently attended my niece's beautiful outdoor wedding and reception at Harding Lake. It is a lovely recreation area.

David Kloss

Very nice rustic campground. We had the entire place to ourselves which added to the romance of the place. I think very under utilized campground! Clean rest rooms. Nice rustic sites with beautiful trees all around. Many different sites : bigger , short, long , shaded, sunny. Some nice secluded walk in tent sites …. But bring a hand cart to carry yiur stuff back to the sites! Its a 1/4 mile walk back to them!

Zöldsasok

Really nice campground. Lots of open spots at midnight on a Friday. The tall spruce muffle most of the sound. Clean outhouses. The lake is nice too. The camping spots are huge.

Andrew Visscher

Harding Lake State Recreation Area is a shady and scenic site about twenty minutes from North Pole. The lesser-known and elder cousin of the many water-themed state recreation areas that trace the Richardson Highway from Fairbanks to Delta Junction. This large and accommodating campground boasts a boat launch into Harding Lake, a baseball field, a large group recreation area near the water, a self-guided nature trail, a trailer dump site, and unpotable bulk water--along with various bathrooms with trash receptacles. Our family of 5 tent camped in May and had a fantastic weekend. The sandlot-reminiscent baseball field was a rare and magical find that suited our family's wiffleball addiction perfectly. It's like wandering through a moss grove and emerging into a boreal baseball field. A subarctic Field of Dreams. I also hit two first-pitch homeruns off my 9 and 5 year old--which may or not be related to the magic of this field--but I choose to believe. The spacious and thoughtfully-designed campground certainly feels beyond its prime--old, unserviceable water pumps (perhaps not yet operable for the season); aspen saplings dotting the baseball infield; and many downed spruces over the nature trail. The posted maps are a little outdated. However, the campground boasted some of the cleanest bathrooms I've ever seen, anywhere-with a very friendly on-site host who came by to chat and kept the facilities in pristine condition. The camping spots are well-placed along the loop to allow for varying degrees of privacy between sites. Mosquitoes are everywhere in springtime Alaska--please let me know when you find a campground in a birch forest without them. That said, bring all the bug repellant and preventative measures you can muster. I was swarmed by a biblical cloud of man-eating Culicidae when we first pulled in--but they soon dispersed and only became annoying for intermittent periods. Overall this was a magnificent campground, quiet and clean, with plenty for the kids to do. Fantastic and memorable experience.