Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Bonners Ferry, ID

This is a small campground just a few minutes outside of Bonner’s Ferry. Probably 6 spaces, all big enough for a car or van but not suitable for large RV’s. Vault toilets and the ubiquitous green campground pumps/drinking fountain for potable water.

You can’t see Smith Lake from the campground, but it is just a few minute walk through the trees. The lake itself looks decent for swimming.

Although definitely in bear country, there were no food boxes. We were motorcycling camping so made sure to put everything away. That close to Bonner’s Ferry perhaps risk of bears not as great, but hard to know.

The campground is adjacent to private land that has been logged, and there was logging activity while we were there. It didn’t bother us, but the proximity to town coupled with how close it is to homes and other private property makes it not a destination campground in any respect and hardly far enough out of town to constitute getting away. But, it made a good stop for the night on our way to Montana and points beyond.

I would have given it 4 stars about 5 years ago when we first stayed as it seemed a lot friendlier staff willing to please their customers but I'm not sure if it was sold since then but I had to give it only 2 stars this time because the negatives outweighed the positives. Pros: Friendly staff that helps you park if you need it. Location is fairly close to the town of Bonners Ferry and Sandpoint so you are never too far from civilization. Although I've never used it, they do have wine in the evenings for their guests...not sure if they charge or not. They also sell wood and when we were there 5 years ago, they delivered it to our site. Also, the site we stayed in that time was not full hook ups and the staff still helped us dump without having to move our rig. Cons: Everything everyone says about the pot holes, dirt road, train noise and turn off from the 95 is spot on. The one thing I didn't hear anyone mention is the noise from the 95 of cars that can be as loud as the constant train passing in the middle of the night. So, quiet and serene is not a good description. The"lake" although which can be fun for small kids fishing and maybe paddle boating, is more of a large pond that is dark and gloomy like and so when you first see it, you might be disappointed at it being called a lake. Although friendly, I didn't find it as hospitable as it used to be when we were first there five years ago and you get the distinct feeling that they are barely surviving as they will not do anything extra to refund or make things whole if you experience is not up to par. Here is why: We were charged half of the amount to reserve the spot we wanted and in order to keep a particular spot you pick, you have to pay a little extra to reserve it or you can still risk having them move you to a different spot if they want to. That's a first. It's true they can't control the weather and I don't really blame them for that, but good vacation industries will go out of their way to keep their customers happy when things are not up to par. We paid for six days and with the stifling heat, along with the fires that were in the area, we were smoked out and weren't told that campfires were restricted per an ordinance they were given before we made the trip there. The entire camping experience was ruined because the only choice we had to not to feel choked out was to stay indoors in the RV. We only stayed one night since this was miserable and decided to leave the next day. When we got home we received an email requesting our input of our stay and we told them a partial refund would have been nice since accommodations were not up to standards. Instead, we were told that in order for them to stay in business and because they have few drop ins, they have to take 50% deposits up front. This seems fair but we paid for the entire week, so it seems to me that in good faith and good customer service, 50% or even some refund at all would have kept us coming back despite the cons. They also claimed that charging 50% is better than some places that want all the money upfront when you book. We have been RVing for years in this area and there are much better places to go that do not do this I'm not really sure why they asked us for our input in the first place. Anyway, as a result we won't be back.

This campground is in an older couple’s front yard. It’s got a pretty running creek called Trestle Creek running through there yard off of the mountain side. Which they have their property on. They also live on said property, so they are always watching... Beware! Lol Sooo.. They kicked us out because the guy’s wife saw our kitty was on top of another guest’s car... Soo bad! oh! and the other reason: my cat was catching mice and killing them, and we would pick them up as soon as we would see them. Umm.. isn’t that what cats do..? Idk... and they would always complain we were awake all nite when we stayed up til one or two am. We (mom and I) were staying here for 3 months. And were perfectly quiet. They just thought it was odd or something for some reason... I don’t get it. We paid to be there, long term, we’re not keeping anyone up.. what’s the big deal? So ya, and the spots are super duper close next to each other. Like within two feet... yeah.. no privacy. I felt weird sitting outside in my spot with a friend in chairs even. And they frown upon having any visitors come see you. So it’s more of a rich, quiet, pretentious, older people’s camping place.

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!