Ninilchik View Campground

Extensive review written in 2019 is perfect description of the campgrounds
Right off the road (Sterling Hwy). No road noise on #14.
Felt lucky to find such a lovely small spot. All first come first served

Only 14 sites, several are doubles and most are small. My 28’ fit, but it was a tight squeeE. Definitely worth it for the views if you manage one of the Cliffside sites. You are up on a bluff overlooking the beach below. There are stairs to the beach and you can walk in either direction. A wonderful little coffee shop at the entrance. Large easy to maneuver horseshoe shaped dump station $(10) and potable water is available. Gas stations and a couple places to eat within walking distance (10 minutes). Although you are right off the highway, the trees provide lots of protection. I never heard anything all night. The vault toilets are immaculate. The sites are gravel and most are level.

as stated, in other reviews, this is a lovely little campground with absolutely gorgeous views. There is a stairway down to the beach. There is also a coffee shop at the entrance of the park with good Alaskan coffee. I was pretty excited to find an operational, dump station and drinking water, which is not something that I have not found at other Alaskan state parks. Unfortunately, the water is very dirty. The campground host is going to check into it, but if you were staying during the summer of 2023, you should probably check it before you fill your tank.

This is one of two campgrounds that are a part of the Ninilchik State Recreation Area. This campground is on the south side of the mouth of the Ninilchik River on a bluff above the beach. The entrance is a gravel road next to the Buzz Espresso shop. There are 14 sites including three double sites. A separate dump station ($5) facility located on a paved road to the right just before entering the campground. There is a campground host on site. The road within the campground and all of the sites are gravel. The sites have no services but there is fresh water near the center of the loop and at a location on the dump station loop. At least seven of the sites (including 2 doubles) back up to a partial view of the Ninilchik River and the small Russian Orthodox Church on the far side. One side of the third double site (#14) has a wonderful side view across the Cook Inlet to the mountains on the far side.

There is a set of stairs down to the beach. This campground is very popular when there are good clam tides, but this year clamming is closed on the east side of the inlet and the king salmon fishing is restricted to just three weekends. At noon on Wednesday prior to the Memorial Day holiday there were two campsites (plus the host) occupied but everything was full by Saturday evening.

There were five bars of fast AT&T, both 3G and 4G LTE, a good little espresso stand within walking distance, and over-the-air TV so we can watch the Indy 500. It is located near the Sterling Highway, but essentially out of sight of the road. The road noise is barely perceptible, at least at site 14. Don’t know if it is true all summer, but we really enjoyed watching the bald eagles and otters from our site in May. Promise not to tell anyone else about this place! The only way it could improve is if it were free.

Four years ago I wrote a review after our first stay here. Not much to add except that we enjoyed four days of peace and quiet. Price is still $15. This time we stayed in Site 7, complete with a bit of view through the trees. 35 feet is likely as big as you could go here.