Ponderosa State Park offers every kind of overnight experience imaginable with a variety of standard and serviced campsites, or cabins for small or large groups, amid a beyond-scenic mountain setting next to Payette Lake. There’s always more to explore! Learn more about all that Ponderosa State Park offers.

Beautiful Payette Lake surrounds the Peninsula Unit and is the shoreline of the North Beach Unit of the park, located in the heart of one of Idaho’s most popular year-round destinations. Hike and bike on your own or with a guide, listen to a park naturalist in the evening at the amphitheater or walk with them on one of the trails. Children can participate in the Junior Ranger Program in the summer months. Visitors can meander the North Fork of the Payette River in a canoe or kayak (rentals available), Nordic ski on groomed trails, snowshoe on designated trails, or simply sit on the front porch of a park cabin and enjoy the spectacular view.

Whether you enjoy cooking in a Dutch oven at a primitive camp site or an indoor stove in the comfort of a deluxe, lakeview cabin, Ponderosa State Park presents plentiful overnight experiences with a variety of standard and serviced campsites, or cabins.

Peninsula Campground — Ponderosa State Park

Ponderosa State Park (PSP) receives more visitors than any other state park in Idaho. It is on a peninsula that juts into Payette Lake. In the summer you will find vast amounts of huckleberries, wonderful swimming, and many deer. Be sure to check out the hiking trails and visit the Lily Marsh, Meadow Marsh, and Osprey Point. In the winter, the park offers great snowshoe trails, and groomed trails for cross-country skiing and skate skiing. 

Very Nice Park

We love going to McCall to Ponderosa. In the summer there is swimming, hiking, mountain biking and boating (if you have one) and in the winter there is cross country skiing and snowshoeing in the park. In the summer you can pick wild huckleberries if you time it just right. It is quiet and peaceful. 

Best Around for Families

This campground boasts lovely showers and bathrooms. All well and good if you like to be in a fishbowl. There is no privacy between camp spaces. The rangers do not enforce the quiet hour rule and you get woken up in the middle of the night by screaming kids. Not my idea of a fun camping experience. 

If You Like A Fish Bowl

I have stayed here on a few occasions. The tent sites are great and separate from the RVs. Bathrooms were super clean. It was in the fall, so there weren't a ton of other visitors. Definitely recommend!

Great location and beautiful views

Rates went up in 2018 :(

Ponderosa has 2 parts to it. Their main area located next to town is good if you have an rv or like a lot of people. It gets very crowded and can be noisy at night. But water access is pretty easy, along with biking &amp; hiking.

Their other area of tent camping is a little more quiet. Fcfs with 0 hook ups but is basic.

Good weekend get away 

This is definitely a fun spot if you enjoy the family camping community feeling. Hiking trails are really nice and woodsy. The lake is easy to access, and McCall is just the coolest little mountain town. It is basically resort camping. It will take some advanced planning to book a spot.

Close to civilization 

Ponderosa is in beautiful McCall, Idaho. Close to downtown and the lake. Great hiking trails. Good park for a family. The campsites are right next to one another, so not much privacy there. Bathrooms are close by. If you don't mind be a little tight with campsites, would highly recommend.

Ponderosa

We love Ponderosa! Favorite place to camp.

Awesome experience 

There are a lot of people camping here. All of the sites are very close it can be a bit of inconvenience but I have had no real problem. It has very nice bathrooms and showers. It is very close to the lake. I drove to the north side of the lake so that I could bring my dog.  It is fairly priced. 

Very crowded 

Awesome hiking and mountain bike trails right from the camp area. Sites were super clean including bathrooms and showers. Hosts were very nice and polite. By far one of our favorite locations

Great sites

Good location, very close to the city of McCall. Very large and busy campground. Seems like the sites are very close together and none of them are waterfront. Lots of good bike trails. It was also very expensive. Over $100 for two nights in a double occupancy site with water and electric.

Pretty but crowded

PSP is a great place to stay or spend a day at. There is great lake access, hiking trails, and the Ponderosa's are superb! I like to go to PSP during the "off-season" to avoid the crowds. Heading out in the winter, there are great snowshoeing and Nordic skiing options.

Beautiful, but crowded!

As noted before we love Ponderosa. The camp ground is clean with nice bathrooms as well as showers(showers not available currently due to Covid). Great for riding bikes, water sports, shaded camping and running into town for an ice cream cone if you like. Lots of wildlife around town.

Our favorite!

We were fortunate to snag a cancelation spot for 3 days.  We hiked, biked, SUP, enjoyed the 3  breweries in town.  One of my favorites was picking wild huckleberry that happened to be in season while we were there.  It's one of the best places to find them in the state.  The sites were not too close.  The showers in the new section were some of the best we have found.  It is one of our new favorites. We can't wait to go back.

A favorite of locals and visitors

Tent pads were clean and well leveled. Bathrooms were clean and showers were free. Water and power available. Great walking path around and down to the lake as well! Quick 10min ride into town for a nice lake side dinner. 