Best Tent Camping near Ashton, ID

$13 (paid $6.50 with senior pass). Camped in site #13 on Sept 22, 2024. Forest Road 582 is washboarded most of the way toward the campground; access to the forest road is from Idaho, east of Ashton. Campground is a short drive from Cave Falls in Yellowstone National Park (NP fee required). Pull thru sites, some leveling required. Some sites are large, some are small. Sites along the river are nice. Clean and stocked vault toilets. Potable water station in center of campground. No electric, sewer or water hook-ups. Each site has a bear box, table and metal fire ring. Site driveways are gravel. Site #13 is a very large campsite with partial view of Fall River. The river is down a steep bank; may be difficult to access. No trails at the campground, although there are excellent trails in the national park.

Camping on the banks on the banks of the Warm River, which actually is quite cold, can’t get much better than this! There are several options here- tent camping in a tent only walk in area along the river banks and under some pretty good hammocking trees (best sites are #12, 13, 16, and 8 because they have some space from neighbors and are right on the river); RV sites with what looks like at least electric hook ups (best sites for river views and/or privacy are #2, 4, 6, 19); from what neighbors say is pretty good fishing; and an awesome alternative to camping at Mesa Falls if that campground is full. Walk down the road and cross the river to check out a protected area of the river where the fish are HUGE and you can stand with your toes in the river while you feed them bits of bread. The sites all have the usual picnic tables and firepits, with nice level tent pads, clean vault toilets, and firewood for sale from the campground host. The only two downsides are no showers and the campground is wedged between the road and the river, so there is quite a bit of road noise in the day which fortunately dies down once dark sets in. At that point the river covers the road noise (also helpful in the morning). The campground is close to a lot of hiking trails, but there are no trailheads in the campground (so I guess that makes three bummers). All in all, a cool place to camp.

Gros Ventre is close to the southern end of Grand Teton National Park entrance. It's a large mixed use campground with lots of RV and tent sites. They get busy as do all of the campgrounds in or near the park, so get there early to get a site. Even getting there at 11am, we got stuck pitching the tent on an RV loop. Sites all had fire pits and picnic tables and were level. The campground is next to the Gros Ventre River and across the street from Antelope Flats. We were duly warned about bears and food storage (keep your cooler in the car), and bison have been known to wander into the campground in the past. No showers on site, but you can visit one of the other park campgrounds or just drive into Jackson and go to the Recreation Center. For less than $10 you get a day pass that gives you access to the showers, pool, etc.

The staff at check in were friendly and helpful. The camp sites are pretty close together and can accommodate tents, small and large camper trailers. There are bathrooms, dish washing area, picnic table and shared bear boxes available for food storage. There is an amphitheater a short hike away from the camp site where a commentary is given by park rangers at 9pm every night. A small store is on site stocked with bear spray, blankets, food items and first aid supplies. This is one of the only camp sites in Yellowstone Park that can be reserved in advance.

We tent camped here for two nights to visit all the classic Yellowstone sights. Site was relatively flat and had some nice shade in the morning, a fire ring and a bear box. Dry toilets were right next to our site though and did not smell great. Also no showers at this campground although apparently there are shower facilities available near other campgrounds at Yellowstone. Unfortunately there was also a lot of road noise as well, so we needed ear plugs to sleep. Watch out for tent campers temperatures can drop fast at night time even in the summer.

Colter Bay is one of the best campgrounds I've stayed in in a national park out west. The campsites themselves were nicely spaced apart and you couldn't hear much from one campsite to another. Everyone seemed to respect quiet hours here, which you don't always find, and it was so quiet all night--definitely the best sleeps I've had camping! The sites had the usual picnic table and fire ring plus a really nice, large bear box for storing food and other items. The tent pads were nicely maintained and large. There were restrooms and dump stations within a short walk, which were not super nice but decent enough. The restrooms had flush toilets but no soap. Nearby Colter Bay Village was great--it had a general store with cafe and gift shop, a visitors center, a beautiful marina, and lake access with lots of trails. There was also potable water and WiFi at the general store.In general, Colter Bay was in a great location. A bit far from Jackson, but so close to Jackson Lake and a short drive to Jenny Lake. You can see the Tetons from various parts of the campground. The only negatives we really found were that there was little to no kindling to find around the campsite (not sure if that was allowed anyways) and the mosquitos were relentless in the campground. Overall, it was a beautiful place to stay and if I could find better ways to deal with mosquitos (regular bug spray, Citronella candles, and campfires did nothing and neither did covering up head to toe) I would definitely come back! One last note: we got our campsite around noon on a Thursday, and the campground was not full; there seemed to be at least a few free sites all weekend.