Swanson River Campground
Location: 60.74272, -150.8065796
Starting point of this paddle, 17 miles north of Sterling
Possible good campsite
Location: 60.6866283, -150.9734344
High on the side of the river bank. People have set up some long poles to put tarps around. There is a campfire ring established
Campsite
Location: 60.7621781, -151.0098267
This is where we camped at the end of 7 hours of paddling, ahead of you is about 2 hours of paddling. Good campsite, again, high on a bank with a campfire ring
Canoe pull off
Location: 60.7936885, -151.0194397
This site allows for easy de-entry to the river. No long portages after 26 miles. I recommend not-making it to the river mouth, but pulling out here
Mouth of the Swanson
Location: 60.8013938, -151.0276794
Muddy and tidal zone. Hard packing a canoe full of gear back to where a truck can get you. Beautiful none-the-less. Exit the river here knowing you can't get a truck to the mouth unless you want to risk getting stuck, or have big swampers on to ride over the soft-beach sand and then only at low-tide. I didn't want to be the next guy in the paper losing his truck to the incoming tide, so we ported!
This is an easy paddle, with the only thing difficult about it being the mileage. There are several great camping site along the way that sit high above the river and out any potential wind. I recommend pulling out before you get to the Swanson River bridge, as the last portage is anti-climatic and unnessessary. No four legged creatures were observed on this trip, but we saw plenty of Bald Eagles, duck, and other fowl along the way. All and all it is the easier by far of the two routes down the Swanson and could be done in a day if desired (but who wants to cut a paddle short!?!?! ) Total time on the river was 9 hours of paddling. We overnited at a nice campsite on a bank that had a gorgeous view of the wilderness. There are only a few gravel bars to present canoe difficulty.
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