Lake Creek Rd Dispersed is located in the [Sawtooth National Forest](https://thedyrt.com/camping/idaho/near/sawtooth-national-forest) in Idaho. The area features forested terrain with nearby mountains and valleys. Campers can explore the Sawtooth Wilderness and Redfish Lake, both offering hiking and water activities, with temperatures ranging from 30°F in winter to 80°F in summer.

Lake Creek Rd Dispersed

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Ketchum

The Best Camping in Ketchum, Idaho | ID Camping

This forest service land is a quick drive down Lake Creek Rd from Hwy 75 just past the town of Ketchum in the Sawtooth National Forest. You'll drive through a residential area so mind your speed as there are kids around and lots of cars parked that were crowding into the road a bit as there were construction workers building one of the massive houses along this road. 

  

The paved road comes to an end with a large parking or turn around area then turns to a very washboarded dirt/gravel road that runs behind people’s houses so maybe drive a bit slower to keep the dust down until you pass that point. 

  

There are multiple areas that are large and mostly flat that pull off the side of this main dirt road. The views are amazing and it seemed quiet. We did not stay here as it was too hot at the time, but we would have because you have nice hiking or biking opportunities here. The pullout spaces are large enough for a good sized rig, we had plenty of space for our 26’ class C. A couple of the sites had stone fire pits but fire restrictions are in effect so no fires at this time.  There are plenty of sites here and they were almost all free when we visited in September.

  

There are no amenities here. No garbage or water. You are fully in the sun with no shade. 

  

The camping limit is 3 days only. There is one garbage can at near the large turn around/parking area before the road turns to dirt but it was small so just take your trash with you. 

  

Good ATT and Verizon cell reception.

Open Spaces and Free 

The first part of the road allows for 3-day max camping, but a little further in, you’ll hit 16-day max stay!  The sites further up are away from the others and run along a stream. Still further in, you’ll hit a Y in the road. The right side leads you to a small parking lot with bathrooms and access to a small pond, the left leads you up to more sites. Not too far past the pond, the dirt road is less smooth and has tall grass growing in the middle of the road. I scored a gorgeous site, with a campfire pit already established. The site overlooks the pond, with the Sun Valley Ski Resort seen in the distance and has a gorgeous Mountain View on the opposite side. Absolutely stunning!  Plenty of ground squirrels and butterflies and have only seen 2 cars all day. 

Wow!  Gorgeous

Visited in August 2024

Driving past mega mansions will eventually lead you to a dirt road stretching into an open valley. Went during late summer, so it was fairly dusty, and the passing cars would stir it up a lot. Not a lot of protection from the road, but traffic quieted down pretty quickly after sunset. Was full by about 6pm on a Friday evening. Great views with cell service as well! 


Easy stay right outside of Ketchum

This made for a great spot to camp while visiting and fly fishing the area! 4th of July is a great time to be in the area as they have a good firework show nearby!

Out of the way but still close

We were driving through to Stanley, but it got dark before we were able to arrive so we found this spot. We arrived at dark and set up camp at about the 3rd or 4th spot in (3 day camp limit in this area). Woke up to the most wonderful views! Mountains, meadows, flowers, and a creek bed (our section was still dry).

You can still see peoples homes from this point and the locals seem to utilize the creek trail regularly with off leash dogs. Everyone was respectful keeping their distance except for one lovely lady who was on the phone and not paying ANY attention to where her dog was. She was several hundred feet away chatting it up, walking through our campsite while we had our own pups that we were having to restrain ourselves. Really careless and inconsiderate. Luckily we only saw her that one day as she stated to us they frequent the area. 

Really didn’t encounter a whole lot of other campers. 1 van conversion was there as long as us and we talked to a gentleman in his truck our second day farther up the road when we were exploring the area. 

If you drive to the end (go right when the road Y’s) there’s a crystal clear pond that feeds the creek. It has trout visible, several ducks, there’s a vault toilet, picnic table, and established fire ring with a grate of youd like to utilize it for cooking. 

We were only supposed to stay here one night in our Class C but we stayed the full 3 days because it was just so beautiful! (Farther up the road is a 16 day limit also, you’ll see a sign when it changes).

We tow a Nissan Altima and it had no problems driving the unpaved road down to the first pond. There’s a second pond (go left at the Y) but we didn’t travel that way. 

No trash, water, or RV dump here but you can find one ~20 min away here: (43.7948535, -114.4216629)

Beautiful Solitude

Beautiful spot… probably better the further back you go.  Cell reception works… even if at only one bar!  Loved this spot.  Was June 22 2025 and we got a little bit of snow overnight. 

Close to Ketchum

Nice spot close to ketchup! Lots of room for big rigs. Probably 20 or so spots all up the road they were all full buy the evening so come earlier!

Great spot!

Lake Creek Rd is a few miles long with about 15 sites along it. Each site is a good distance apart, we never heard our neighbors. The creek is perfect for dogs and kids to wade in. No bugs, clean, quiet and level for the camper. There’s a small lake further down to fish. 

Photos of Lake Creek Rd Dispersed

Real photos from real campers