Check-in at the WAC. Riley Creek is a great campground and makes a first and last night's staging ground for more camping in the deep interior of Denali National Park. The campground is quite quiet except for cars in the vehicle area and the freight trains that goes by. Designated tent pad is excellent compacted gravel. It drains well. Find a rock to pound in the tent stakes. Cell phone reception, picnic tables, drinkable potable water, flushing toilets and bathrooms with lights are available. 730pm ranger talks are fun. Food is to be kept in vehicles. At Walk-in sites, food is to be kept in shared food lockers which are a small cabinets, a tight squeeze for a week's amount of food for multiple campsites. Walk-in sites are at the corner opposite the Mercantile. The sites farthest from the Mercantile are next to the Riley Creek. Yes. Mercantile staff are not that helpful. Feminine products are not available at the Mercantile or anywhere else in the park, so stays should be planned accordingly. Mercantile shower is still $4 and laundry machine is $2.25. I didn't use either. McKinley Station Trail is a short convenient connection from the Walk-in sites to the Train Station, going under the very picturesque trail bridge. The Station Trail is not marked very well and has many service road forks in it.

Camped here 2 nights. The pitches are nice and spacious if you have a tent. There is a fire ring and a picnic bench. Plenty of trees around to sling up a tarp if it rains. A moose wandered through the camp with a calf which was lovely.
The mercantile is well stocked but the staff were pretty disorganised and one was quite surly. The WAC booked us the wrong type of pitch (walk in instead of drive in) and when I tried to change it at the Mercantile the guy told me my only option was to cancel, pay a cancellation fee, and go away. Not very helpful and no acceptance that a mistake had been made. The campground hostess was much nicer and let us stay in the drive in pitch anyway. I was a bit upset by the attitude I got at the desk. All in all though we enjoyed camping here, it was nice and quiet and the ranger talks were interesting. (we didn't get to use the showers as people were grumbling about the hot water running out after paying I think $4 - not sure exactly) Another warning, the firewood was $8 for a tiny bundle that was damp and wouldn't burn properly. Bring your own as you can't use fallen wood here!