Dry Camping @ Base Camp

If you’re just a visitor to McCarthy/Kennecott, you can not drive over the Kennicott River. The vehicle bridge used by the locals to do so is off limits to visitors.

So, what do visitors do? They cross the river by way of the footbridge. If they have bikes, they can roll across the footbridge and go to McCarthy and Kennecott. Pedestrians staying at one of the two lodges/hotels in either community, can roll their bags across on carts and be transported by courtesy shuttles. Tent campers can similarly make their way across the footbridge and use the free and paid shuttles to get to either place ... or be transported by one of the outfitters.

For RVers, there are turnouts along the McCarthy Road for boondocking. They can also camp at one of the two campgrounds, though one of them is closed for a second year due to the pandemic.

That left us with with the other campground ... the Basecamp ... where the McCarthy Road dead ends at the Kennicott River. A not-so-cheap option since our 28 foot Cruiser is considered “oversized” and the nightly rate thus jumps from $25 to $40.

The sites are primitive, but they all have a picnic table and fire pit. Some are along the Kennicott River ... others on the far side of the parking lot, in the area near the glacier lake ... with views of Root Glacier. Except that at most of the sites, the view is blocked by the terrain or the brush.

We found the perfect site, with a wide open view of the glacier and we made a valiant effort to get into it. To no avail. The road had too many big rocks and was extremely uneven. It would have been perfect for a tenter. Oddly, anytime we walked in that direction, the site it was unoccupied.

Anyway, after walking the riverside sites, we found one that proved quite satisfactory.

The sound of the river rushing helter-skelter over rocks and boulders is loud ... but soothing as it’s not unlike white noise. We’re looking forward to our three nights here.Read more