Russian River Campground

Russian River campground is a NFS campground with excellent paved roads and paved driveways. Driveways are long and most sites have good separation. AT&T is available but very weak - varies between 1 & 2 bars usually, and very slow. I tried to upload photos but the connection was too slow.

This campground is VERY popular during the salmon runs - reservation will almost certainly be required. I was surprised to see that it wasn't full during mid week in mid July, but we're apparently a bit early for the second Silver run.

Bear awareness is very important. The salmon attract the bears and it's your responsibility to stay out of their way. Inappropriate food handling and food storage can be very problematic from a bear perspective and from a pocketbook perspective if you're observed leaving food and/or ice chests sitting out and about.

Drinking water is available around the campground, and there is a spigot with threads to top off your tanks as you enter the campground across from the dump. There are a couple very nice composting toilet complexes, positioned to be accessible to the many fishermen who pay parking fees to use the two large parking lots interspersed with the camping loops.

I'll try to get pictures posted in the next few days.

We pulled in here without any reservations. The sign at the road said the campground was full but we knew they had an overflow lot.

Checking in at the ranger station, he informed us that it was not a problem as they had plenty of sites (1:00 on a Wednesday in Aug). He gave us a map and said we could have any of the following 5 sites spread across 3 loops. Off we go to loop 1 - wow, the campground loops are narrow and curved! We ended up in the last loop. Very little solar due to all the trees.

Easy access to hiking and the river.

We were looking for a place to camp that would be convenient for hiking in the area. We're self-contained in our 25 foot MH and don't use the facilities. We stayed on a weeknight in mid-August. We arrived late in the afternoon without a reservation and were able to get a site. The CG did not fill during our stay. Fees are $18/night, $9 with a senior pass. This is a very nice CG located near several trailheads. There are 83 sites arrayed in 5 loops. Most sites are generously sized with level paved parking pads. Most sites are in the trees with a mix of sun and shade and good privacy. The CG is away from the main road and was very quiet. There's potable water and a dump station along the main road into the CG. There're dumpsters in each loop. There was a strong Verizon cell signal and no ATT service. Many people in the CG were fishing in the nearby Russian and Kenai Rivers. The hike to Russian River Falls was fun.

This campsite is part of the National Forest. We stayed on a weekday so there were available sites but I suspect they are more difficult to find on weekends. There was water nearby but you could not hook up. No power or sewer. There was a dump station on the way out. Although it feels remote it is close enough to the highway to hear highway noise constantly. No cell or TV service. This is bear country so bring bear spray. The main attraction is salmon fishing in the nearby Russian River. The park did not allow re-entry so once in you stay in. The sites were paved but tight for long rigs. There is excellent separation from other sites. It is a bit of a walk to a pit toilet. No showers.

Sites are large and level. This is a rising spot! If you don't fish, there are a few hikes to do and the forest is nice. Water is readily available throughout each loop. Bathrooms are more sparse! Good fire rings. many access paths to river. Road getting into campground is quite rough with pot holes and heaves; once in the campground, there are large speed bumps. Single bar of ATT cell service.

We stayed here July 17th and 18th, 2022.

This is a large campground with several loops, a large day use area and hiking trials.

There are weird FCFS rules, even if the website indicates plenty of open sites (we arrived on a Sunday). As of the summer of 2022, your name will go on a list starting at 7:30 AM and then you are required to return at 5:00 PM to be assigned a campsite. We did find that this system is somewhat flexible depending on who was working the gate.

You are allowed to camp at the entrance in the overflow area for $8, but it is quite a distance from the river. Day use was free at the entrance and $11 near the river and trails. We parked for free at the entrance and hiked to the waterfall where we hoped to see bears feeding on salmon. Upon our return we were able to get a site before the 5:00 PM said time.

Parts of the campground were very forested, other areas were very open and had been thinned. Most sites were big rig friendly, paved, not all sites are level, picnic table, bear box and fire pit. There is a dump station on either side of the road near the camping area. The entrance road from the gate to the campground was in terrible shape but was scheduled to be redone.

This campground is very popular during the summer salmon runs. There is an extensive restricted path with river access points that runs all the way down to the Kenai River and quite a distance up river as well. Be bear alert, especially in the mornings! We saw black bears and a grizzly with cubs!

Stayed in site 64, 4 days. Big rig friendly.
Clean and very peaceful, water and dump site

I will check with entrance shack to make sure. The road right by river is not normal. Looks like it got washed out and was temp repaired.

Nice campground very popular.

The FCFS or ,FF on website, First come first served is interesting. They take name and phone number and call you.. the cell service is good in the area so you can put camper in overflow and unhook and drive around a bit.. we were told around 5 they would be calling..

IF you don't get spot you can stay in overflow for 10 per night. You can get on the FF list at 7 am till 5 pm. it's not a guarantee to get spot but if you are early on list it might happen. We were able to snag 2 days last week 21,22 july and 20th in overflow..

speed test on cricket/Att hotspot was 16 meg D, 17 Up..
T mobile roaming on GCI? network was 18 down.. i suspect GCI is ATT as well..

dump is good and water in faucet before dump and other side of the road is real good,, no funny smells and TDS is low at 41.. :)

WANT TO ADD: if you have not been here before and like to see bears and fishing then stay for a couple days.. We bike to the Pink Salmon parking lot and walked down to the boardwalk fishing area you see on the map at like #26.. One guy told us the best place to see bears and watch fishing was all the way down the boardwalk to the end it's more at the confluence of Russian and Kenai so a ton of salmon and bears frequent the area. they were saying to plan to be there for a couple hours..

We did not walk the whole way as we were unprepared.. no water, no snacks no bear spray.. bummed. coming back to stay at least 2 nights in a week or so. :)

update,, walking down boardwalk toward confluence end did have small brown bear on the path in front of us.. :)

Stayed here during Alaska trip, beautiful campground with walking paths along the Russian River where we saw lots of bears and nice hike to the Russian Falls. One of our favorite during our trip. We had no reservations but they do work to get you a spot if not there is an overflow but we were lucky and got a nice campsite