Balanced Rock County Park

We hiked around and explored the rock formations, then we spent the night at the park/campground in the bottom of the canyon.  Absolutely beautiful!

Balanced Rock

This place is pretty awesome for a county park. We were having an excellent time until we met this older gentlemen named philip. He's just been living out of his rig the past several years cruising from hot spring to hot spring living the dream.. Anyways we had been here a few days and out of our phone service range and he informed us that donald trump was elected president, things quickly went down hill.

Regardless the campground is small beautiful. We tried our luck trout fishing and the hiking up river into the gorge is really splendid.

Well hello idaho

Awesome night at balanced rock. We had the camp ground to ourselves. Very peaceful and beautiful right on a creek. Lots of sounds of animals and surrounding critters at night. Perfect view of the night sky! The only downfall was that it was very windy at night. Especially since the camp ground is settled between a canyon.

Balanced rock

Ccamping here was a nice change of pace as we spent most of our time near and in the Snake River Gorge near the Perrine Bridge. There are fire rings and vault toilets. Balanced rock is a short car drive or medium walk away and is definitely worth a visit

High basalt cliffs near balanced rock

Vry cool camping area along the creek. Short drive or walk to the actual balanced rock. Picnic tables, awning, restrooms and even a horseshoe pit available. Swingset for kiddos. For day use or night use as firepits available. Great place for a weekend getaway!

Close to BOI and Twin!

It is a long drive from Twin Falls to get to this park, so you’d better hope there is space when you get here! It was full when we arrived, but we would definitely come back at a less busy time. Primitive camping right on the water (bugs could be a problem) and most of the camping was in tents (although it was posted that tents are not allowed Monday through Thursday), however, you could park your van/RV alongside the water. I only saw pit toilets and they were reasonably clean (others mention bathrooms which to me mean flush toilets but maybe I missed them). Note that THE Balanced Rock is about a mile down the road from the campground.

Small and secluded

This was the best find of our trip from San Francisco to Yellowstone. It’s a little off the beaten path and seemingly in the middle of nowhere. 

Room for about 12-15 camping sites, many having fire pits, a few with tables. All are along a grassy area and river front. 

We showed up at 4pm on a Saturday and found a spot for our 30’ RV. It seems like it’s heavily used during the days but most clear out around sunset. 

We were able to fish, kayak, hike, have a killer campfire, and check out the stars. Great, free river front camping. 

What a find!


The place is beautiful and you have a hiking trail through the canyon and the balance rock is 5 min by car. 
Thegood: It’s free, has water, trash cans, and bathroom pits, roofed picnic tables, fire grills, fire rings. Can stay 7 days, tent on grass only Thursday through Sunday (sprinkles during the week), camp near the river, kayak, fishing... 
The bad: limited space, flies are something out of this world (seriously, they won’t let you do anything outside), very windy because of the canyon walls, no service not even with boosters, fish tiny and bony. 

Free and Pretty 

I spent a couple nights here the weekend before Thanksgiving. It was quiet and clean. There wasn’t any cell or wifi service or reception in the canyon. 

Quiet and clean

One of the coolest spots I’ve ever camped, and it was FREE! Definitely a hidden gem, pulled up late Sunday night around 830 and there was a few spots left. Bathroom out of TP but thankfully had our own. If you’re looking for a clean beautiful free spot, this is IT! 

Incredible camp spot

We rolled through on a Wednesday. There was two sets of campers at opposite ends. We chose a spot near the end that worked well for our car top camper. Bathrooms were VERY warm. Trash cans at each site. Sprinklers run during the days that say no camping allowed on grass. Make sure to pack away anything you don’t want getting wet. The creek that runs through is gorgeous. We didn’t swim but our neighbors did. Noise travels very well here due to the canyon nature. At dusk, lots of mosquitos, at night as many bats, in the morning dragon flies and fish jumping! Perfect little pit spot.

Perfect and stunning quiet spot

Easy pull in/out. Picnic areas.  Bathrooms were clean.  Don't camp on the grass,  you will get wet! Sprinklers come on during the night.  Easy walk up to balanced rock. 

Camp next to the river!

This was a fine campground, I got there when it was dark and was the only person there on a Wednesday night in January. The roads to get there were icy and the road down to the campground isn’t plowed, so I’d say you need 4wd in winter.

The Balanced Rock pullout was nearby and cool to see, I also saw a herd of elk there early in the morning.

Nice!

The camp area is small you can park next to a bench and sleep over night. You are allowed 7 night max. Stream runs through the site. Looks more like a day camp but overnights are ok. The 2 Biggest spots are at the end of the drive, but a small trailer would be fine. There is only 1 pit toilet located tword the entrance.

Beautiful location

Pit stopped here on a road-trip w/ my 2 pups &amp; they loved it. Bathrooms were rough but it Was a bit crowded when we went. Water is right there, pretty scenery. Spots are small &amp; your pretty close to neighbors so I personally wouldn’t camp here but was a fun place to visit! 
Plus balanced rock was a cool site to visit &amp; hike around. I’d visit again given a chance! 

Small & day trip worthy

Excellent free place to stop over for a night or two. It doesn't really have a campground feel or setup, but rather it's a park that allows overnight camping for 7 nights.

  

Tents are ok but not allowed to stay on the grass during the week, because the sprinklers are on all night long (and will also spray your vehicle if you park along the grass).  There aren't any designated or numbered camp spots, but it seems that each picnic bench and grill sort of counts as an individual spot.  But I'd say if you have a small vehicle and all the "spots" are taken it would be fine to just squeeze in somewhere for the night.

  

No cell service down here.  There are trash bins and a pit toilet.  Nice river running through and a lot of people come here for the day to fish and picnic. There's also a little playground for kids.

  

Easy access for medium-ish RVs, not sure if I'd attempt to bring something huge down here.  The park is a long road with a small turnaround area at the end but when we were there a big class A was blocking a lot of the turnaround area (because they didn't parallel park at the site and pulled in straight instead).  Also a lot of low hanging branches scraped as we drove through, so something taller or bigger might have issues.