Finger Lake campground open for summer season

MAT-SU — Visitors to the popular Finger Lake campground will notice some big changes this year.

Closed for most of last season for a major renovation, as of April 28 the campground was half-open, according to Wayne Biessel, Mat-Su Area Superintendent with the Alaska Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation.

“It should be fully operational here within the next few weeks,” Biessel said. “We basically redid the entire campground and separated it into two distinct loops that are each gated.”

That change, the parks division hopes, will make for a quieter campground as it makes the site easier to control, as does the relocation of the camp host site.

“We've made the campground host site closer to the intersection (of the two loops) to control deviant use. We do have, late at night, some deviant use down there, so we're trying to control that a little better,” Biessel said.

He said there are two large campsites now that could handle big groups. There’s a new well, new bulletin boards and new bathrooms.

“The only thing that isn't done is the grass hasn’t fully turned green yet,” Biessel said.

The biggest difference people are going to notice right away, he said, is a hike in camping fees.

Campsites are now up to $25 a night, with some premium sites slightly more expensive. The large-group sites are $50-$100 a night. A regular campsite had been $15 before the fee hike.

“We have gotten a couple of comments about the fees going up, and the fact of the matter is that we are required to try to raise more revenue to try and make our state parks more self-sufficient,” Biessel said. “When we overhaul and put a lot of work into a facility, that’s often the time that rates will go up.”

Reservations will go through a private contractor, as they have in the past. Just who that contractor is has not yet been finalized.

Another big change: no more camping by the boat launch. That area is now day-use-only, to prevent it from getting too crowded.

“We’ve separated those uses to make it cleaner, more functional,” Biessel said.

He said the parks division had considered shutting down the boat launch last year as a convenience to the contractor rebuilding the campsite, but decided against it. The launch doesn’t really close even in the winter, he said, and by Tuesday the summer traffic had arrived.

“It’s open and getting a lot of use,” Biessel said. “Things are greening up probably a little bit earlier than usual, but everyone in the world looks like they’re out there getting their boats tested out and ready for the summer season.”

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com