Best Tent Camping near Athol, ID

Tent campsites near Athol, Idaho range from established campgrounds to primitive dispersed sites, with several options located along lakes and waterways. Green Bay Campground offers tent-specific sites with picnic tables and fire rings along Lake Pend Oreille, though it requires a short hike down a moderately steep hill to reach the campsites. Lakes Divide Road provides dispersed camping opportunities with more primitive setups, while Maiden Rock Campground offers boat-in and hike-in access for tent campers seeking more remote experiences.

Most primitive tent campgrounds in the area have minimal amenities, with vault toilets being the most common facility. Many sites lack drinking water, requiring campers to bring their own supply or filter from nearby water sources. Fire rings are typically available at established sites, though seasonal fire restrictions may apply during dry periods. A review noted that at Green Bay Campground, "there is a single vault toilet, they ask that you bring a bucket and shovel for solid waste." Access roads to many tent sites are unpaved and can be rough, with some reviewers mentioning that low-clearance vehicles may struggle on certain approaches.

The tent camping experience around Athol offers considerable privacy and natural beauty, particularly at waterfront locations. Sites at Green Bay Campground are positioned right on the water with views of Lake Pend Oreille, providing direct lake access for swimming and paddling. A camper described the experience as having "the most incredibly serene views of Pend Orielle" with "clear, pristine water." Early or late season camping typically offers more solitude, as summer months can bring more visitors to popular areas. Tent campers should be prepared for wildlife encounters, including yellow jackets at some locations, and should properly secure food and trash. The surrounding forests provide ample shade at many sites, though some lakefront areas may have more limited tree cover.

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Best Tent Sites Near Athol, Idaho (37)

    1. Green Bay Campground - TEMPORARILY CLOSED 2024

    12 Reviews
    Kaniksu National Forest, ID
    21 miles
    Website
    +1 (208) 263-5111

    $15 / night

    "There is a single vault toilet, they ask that you bring a bucket and shovel for solid waste. Bring your own way to dispose of trash, and have a way to lock it up, or animals WILL get into it."

    "Lightning cutting across the lake was a real spook. We brought our kayaks into the water in the sunny part of the day, other camping spots available by boat if you can get there!"

    2. Maiden Rock Campground

    1 Review
    Idaho Panhandle National Forests, ID
    14 miles

    "Boat and hike in only access. No pump for water source, only lake or creek. Multiple sites. 3 bouy-tethers for boats."

    3. Breakwater Campground

    3 Reviews
    Cataldo, ID
    26 miles

    "Great tent camping. Also, it's a great starting point to some really good dirt bike trails. Be prepared for no cell service. 0 amenities. it's just a place to pitch a tent and have a fire."

    "This campground stretches along a tributary of the CdA river, and there is great tent camping and fly fishing. Downside is that there is limited vehicle access to most spots."

    4. Mica Bay Boater Park Camping

    2 Reviews
    Coeur d'Alene, ID
    25 miles

    "NOTE: Campground is NOT a Drive-in. You can Boat in, Park on road, or Hke in only. The sites are flat and quiet. A secret gem for sure."

    6. Extraordinary Camping 🏕

    1 Review
    Harrison, ID
    26 miles
    +1 (760) 975-7335

    $50 - $70 / night

    "it is a very nice place to camp, since there probably won’t be any people outside your own group.  the owner was very responsive to texts and was helpful with all of my questions.  "

    7. Lakes Divide Road

    2 Reviews
    Medimont, ID
    24 miles

    8. Amongst The Pines

    1 Review
    Mead, WA
    26 miles
    Website
    +1 (206) 484-3948

    $35 / night

    "Robin was unbelievably accommodating with our situation and even introduced my daughters to all the farm animals."

    9. Skookum Creek Campground

    3 Reviews
    Usk, WA
    34 miles
    Website

    "However, each site has a nice fire ring, large picnic table, and loads of elbow room. The vault toilets are relatively new and well maintained."

    "It's a relatively small loop campground along a creek, close to the Pend Oreille River. Gravel road, ideal for tent camping."

    10. Killarney Lake Picnic Site

    1 Review
    Medimont, ID
    30 miles
    +1 (208) 769-5000

    "It has restroom access. It would not be nice to travel here in the snow though due to the gravel roads.

    I did see some campground nearby but they were really small and did not look very nice."

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Showing results 1-10 of 37 campgrounds

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Tent Camping Reviews near Athol, ID

764 Reviews of 37 Athol Campgrounds


  • Cathy E.The Dyrt PRO User
    Sep. 11, 2023

    Bald Knob Campground — Mount Spokane State Park

    Quiet, Clean, and Beautiful

    What a gem! Small state park campground at about a 3000 ft elevation with only 8 sites. Dry Camping only, no dump station, but clean flushable toilets(no showers) and potable water available. Two beautiful trails are accessible from the campground and lots more are within a 10 minute drive with plenty of parking at trailheads. Local foliage is wonderful, views are fantastic from the trails. Quiet hours are enforced and observed- very quiet and relaxing. The camp host, Linda, does such a wonderful job of keeping everything neat and tidy and checking in with campers to see if they have what they need. Sites are small- only one was a pull through. I wouldn't attempt with anything longer than 23 feet. Each site has a bear box, really nice and large picnic table, firepit and tent pads that are nicely cushioned with pea gravel. Our site,#3, was centrally located without a ton of privacy, but it was still a nice site and folks were respectful and quiet. Decent cell service in the campground. I am absolutely coming back.

  • Nicole B.
    Jul. 5, 2023

    Hawleys Landing Campground — Heyburn State Park

    Great Campground but loud maintenance

    We stayed at Chatcolet campground for two nights in late June. The campground is really nice with lovely hosts and clean flushable toilets. We booked site 128 and didn’t realise it was a tent only site with a short walk from where you park to the picnic table, fire ring and tent pad. We have a rooftop tent so we parked and set up our tent and then just carried our chairs, food and wood down to the picnic table. Privacy on these sites isn’t the best, I would recommend booking this site along with 129 as a group site to give yourself good privacy.

    Overall this campground was great, the toilets were clean, they are porcelain, flushing toilets inside a hut. There was drinking water and some nice walks to the lake, if you have bicycles there is a really nice cycle that you can do. The reason for rating this 3 out of 5 is that there was very noisy and intrusive maintenance going on from 7am to 5pm in the sites next to us which was very disruptive. No warning had been given about maintenance in the campground, notice was only given regarding roadworks leading into the campground.

  • C
    Oct. 29, 2019

    Scotchmans Peak

    Steep but rewarding!

    Talk about a hike! This is a pretty steep trek, with rewarding views at the top. Be sure to read trail reports and weather reports before heading out. North Idaho weather can be pretty finicky, especially at high elevations. Make sure to be aware of wildlife as well! Scotchman's is known for mountain goat sightings, but as they become more accustomed to people they can be a little aggressive. Keep a safe distance!

  • JThe Dyrt PRO User
    Aug. 12, 2025

    Bumblebee Campground

    Not much to praise

    Coeur d’Alene River Road has SO many places to boondocks and camp, I wouldn’t waste our money on this campground again. The pit toilets were clean and the fire rings and picnic tables were in good shape, hence the two stars. Lots of wasps. No water. Nothing to do within walking distance. Find a boondock spot and save the $28.00

  • Dave S.
    Aug. 6, 2020

    Bull River Campground

    Average USFS pay campground

    2020 cost is $16 + $8 extra car, half off with Federal parks pass, & it's average for a Forest Service pay campground. There's water, & you can fill a holding tank, but no power or dump. The lower loops are very close together & less shade. The upper loop has more shade, bigger sites, but sound rises from below. You can hear the conversations and generators of your lower neighbors. Our site was next to a vault toilet - we could smell it. There was lots of noise, e.g., road, train, barking dogs, etc. The 2020 camp hosts were very intrusive. They stopped us in the middle of the road while they inspected our front license plate (we aren't required to have one), then interrogated us, without masks, about where we were from, what we were doing & how many dogs we had. We have a nice RV and look like average middle class folks. Maybe it was because we were in a Class B Van, but our van cost more than most class As. This is a self-pay campground so unless I need firewood I don't need to be forced to stop & be questioned by a volunteer. While we drove through looking at sites one host tailed us on foot through the CG. Five minutes after we began to set up they showed up, not wearing masks, wanting money. I didn't think volunteers were supposed to handle any money. We'd already paid at the iron ranger pay station & they seemed disappointed to not get the money directly from us. Then, within a minute, they returned, not wearing masks, & fussed because we hadn't gotten the tag on our campsite post yet - we were still setting up & hadn't had time yet. They weren't social distancing & we thought they were very peculiar and intimidating.

  • Clifford F.
    Jun. 22, 2021

    Camp Coeur D Alene

    Nice campground

    We’ve stayed here a couple times now. It is a nice place. It is a little run down though. The car, tent camping is great. You have your own plot under trees. If you tent camp is the rest of the camp ground you will need a pad under your tent. I ground is pretty course gravel with up to 1.25” sharp stones. Firewood is free though.

  • Lee D.The Dyrt PRO User
    Dec. 10, 2023

    Riley Creek Campground

    Beautiful CoE campground with many activity options

    General: 67-site US Army Corps of Engineers campground in two loops along the Pend Oreille River. All sites are water and electric and have gravel driveways. 

    Site Quality: All sites were nicely wooded, level and spacious. The roads are paved but the sites themselves are gravel. A BBQ grill/fire pit and large picnic table complete each site. 

    Bath/shower house: There is one ADA-accessible all-in-one bath/shower plus regular restrooms. Clean if a little dated. I don’t take long showers but in the middle of mine, the water turned ice cold for the remainder of my shower, however, hubby did not have the same experience! 

    Activities/Amenities: Water activities including boating, fishing, and swimming. Non-water activities include paths, including one around the campground that is approximately 1.4 miles, nice for walking, running, or biking. Partially paved and partially gravel. Other activities include two playgrounds (one for younger children, one for older), volleyball, horseshoes, sport court, and a “doggie island” (pet area). Between the restrooms are two dishwashing sinks with hot water, a nice amenity. There is also a dump station. 

    We were still setting up when the host came by to give us a map, remind us there was a fire ban, and see if we had any questions or concerns. We stay at many CoE campgrounds and this one certainly measures up!

  • U
    Sep. 8, 2021

    Rainy Hill Campground

    Okay in a pinch, a bit sketchy for a solo camper

    I found this free spot on another free campsites app. It’s right next to a National Forest boat launch, where there are 2 pit toilets. The campgrounds themselves are dispersed, with already human made fire rings. Some sites are next to the water (those were taken), I ended up driving to see what’s open and settled on top of a hill. There was another camper who must have been there for a while, set up a little tarp village, he looked like he was moved in there… and then a bear up pickup truck drove by few times - something about it felt sketchy to me. I explored a bit more the next day - there are several walk-in sites which looked great - but you can’t drive into those - some up on a hill, some at the bottom of a hill past big boulders.

  • Devon C.The Dyrt PRO User
    Sep. 5, 2025

    Shadowy St. Joe Campground — Idaho Panhandle National Forests

    Great Campground

    The Shadowy St. Joe Campground is a great place to stay. It has 14 sites total. With one taken by the camp hosts, all are paved, with space for 2 vehicles each, have fire pits, and a picnic bench, and electricity. 7 sites to reserve ahead of time on the meadow side that has grass and is spacious. There are 6 first come first serve sites, 2 on the meadow side, and 4 along the river. If looking to reserve a site, the numbers start with #1 closest to the entrance on the meadow side and grow larger in counter clockwise fashion. There is a day use area you can also reserve, with charcoal grills, and multiple picnic benches. There are several vault toilets and all are kept very clean by the 2 wonderful park hosts. There is a boat launch area for day use, with a small fee, but if camping there is no extra charge. There is 2 docks and if staying multiple days you can leave your boat on the dock overnight. It is supposed to be a no wake zone, but the signs have warn down, so we lost a bumper to our boat from crashing into the dock, from passing boat wakes. There is a couple of potable water stations available, with small hose spouts, but no water hookups at the sites. The sites are electric with 50amp, 30amp, and 110 plugs available. No sewer hookup at the sites, but there is a dump station at the fairgrounds in the town of St. Maries about 10 miles away. Phone service is spotty, texting easier and lots of dropped calls, but we like to unplug when camping. Dogs are allowed with no limits, just to stay on leashes at all times. The Lazy St. Joe River is boat passable up to St. Joe City, and all the way to Lake Coeur d'Alene if you want to adventure for a full day in the boat. Great for fishing too. Make sure to have Idaho invasive species tag for the boat if you are from out of state. The Sheriff and Park Rangers patrol daily and check. St. Maries has 2 grocery stores, and sports shop where you can get supplies, and fishing licenses. The town also has great shops, a swimming pool, parks, restaurants, and ATM/banks. This is a great little gem in the Gem State.


Guide to Athol

Nestled in the scenic beauty of Idaho, Athol offers a variety of tent camping options that cater to outdoor enthusiasts seeking adventure and tranquility.

Tent campers appreciate these amenities

Tent campers like these nearby activities

  • Experience the thrill of fishing and swimming at Mica Bay Boater Park Camping, which features a large bay ideal for water activities.
  • For a secluded getaway, Extraordinary Camping provides a peaceful environment where you can hike and explore the surrounding nature.
  • Maiden Rock Campground is perfect for boaters and hikers, offering access to multiple sites along the water.

Tent campers should check out these features

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is the most popular tent campsite near Athol, ID?

According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Athol, ID is Green Bay Campground - TEMPORARILY CLOSED 2024 with a 5-star rating from 12 reviews.

What is the best site to find tent camping near Athol, ID?

TheDyrt.com has all 37 tent camping locations near Athol, ID, with real photos and reviews from campers.