Black Bear Campground
October 2026
About
Overview
This location is available on a first-come, first-served basis only. Visitors are required to physically arrive at the campground to purchase and claim a site. Once on-site, you may be able to pay for your campsite(s) by scanning a QR code using the Recreation.gov mobile app, and the Scan and Pay feature.
If this option is available, you will need to first download the free Recreation.gov mobile app https://www.recreation.gov/mobile-app prior to your arrival as some remote areas have limited or no cellular service.
Recreation
Wildlife viewing includes moose, brown and black bears, mountain goats, lynx, bald eagles, and salmon.
The Trail of Blue Ice that stretches almost the entire length of Portage Valley can be reached from the campground. From this trail you can acces the Williwaw Nature Trail, Williwaw Fish Viewing Platform, Moose Flats Area, Begich Boggs Visitor Center, Byron Glacier Trail, and Portage Glacier Cruises.
Portage Lake, at the head of the valley, allows access for kayaking and packrafting.
Facilities
Vault toilets, picnic tables, and bear boxes are provided at Black Bear Campground. Campsites are nicely separated, but no electric hookups are available.
Natural Features
Black Bear campground sits in the stunning Portage Valley in the Chugach National Forest.
Contact Info
This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (907) 782-3242.
Nearby Attractions
Begich Boggs Visitor Center lies at the head of Portage Valley where you can learn about glaciers and Alaska. The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center is located on near the intersect of the Seward Higway and Portage Highway. Here you can see all different kinds of Alaskan wildlife. Portage Glacier Cruises offers the chance to ride a boat and get up close to Portage Glacier.
Phone: N/A
Is Black Bear Campground fully booked?
A campground showing no availability is almost never full for good. People cancel — plans change, weather turns, someone books three weekends and keeps one — and the site goes straight back into the booking system, usually without warning and often at odd hours. The reason sold-out campgrounds feel impossible is not that sites never free up; it is that nobody is watching at the moment they do.
CampHawk watches Black Bear Campground in Girdwood, AK for you. We recheck it every 15 seconds, around the clock, and the moment a site opens we send a text, an email and a push notification — and on Recreation.gov we can put the site straight into your cart, so it is held while you get to your phone.
Searching is free and needs no account — the calendar above is live right now. Watching Black Bear Campground for cancellations is the paid part.