Best Tent Camping near Carmen, ID

This is a nice smaller forest service campground adjacent to grasshopper creek. A great spot to stay if exploring the Pioneer Mountains.

There are 7-8 spaces, most suitable for a trailer or van. We were tent camping as were others. There are vault toilets and the ubiquitous forest service green potable water pumps/drinking fountains.

There are no dumpsters so have to pack trash out. There are campground hosts but they don’t have firewood for sale, so either need to bring or be prepared to do quite a bit of hunting for wood. The area around the campground is picked pretty clean of good firewood.

This is bear country and there are food storage boxes located throughout the campground for shared use. I expect the presence of bears is also why they don’t have any dumpsters on site.

The campground sits at approximately 7000 feet and by late summer gets near freezing temps overnight. Bring your fall/winter sleeping bag if tent camping here in late August or late Spring!

Just a few minutes up the road from the campground is Elkhorn Hot Springs where you can pay a few bucks to use the rustic pool and hot springs.

It is a very off the beaten path, tucked away in the woods, true getaway from the busy city life. Travel south on 278 from Wisdom, MT and take the chance on an 18 mile gravel road to find a place only you see in pictures and read about in magazines. Drive through open cattle ranges and find a beautiful campground nestled up to 2 small lakes connected by a shallow channel. Clear water to see the bottom where it's shallow enough. No motorized boats allowed, so bring your own kayak or canoe and a fishing pole or two to enjoy the refreshing waters at the bottom of the mountains. Even in July, you can see snow atop the mountains on the Montana-Idaho border.

• Large, open water front spaces to set up "shop"
• Site 10 had room for 3 tents, 3 SUVs, 1 picnic table + extra side table, fire ring/grill, canoe, chairs around fire and shoreline, laundry lines
• Not crowded (maybe 5 sites taken when we were there)
• Bathrooms are clean (but no locks or hand sanitzer...at least the one I used)
• Water available
• One bear storage container at front entrance
• Must pack up and take out your own trash (no bear proof trash cans)
• Fire rings with grills available

Shoup Bridge  Campground is a small Campground surrounding cottonwood trees along the banks of the Salmon River. It is also right along the Highway.  We found this a pleasant campground to stay in, plenty of flat ground for our tents and only $5 a night.  A few sites are quite small, but still room for a tent. This was our Scouts jumping off point for a backpacking trip the next day.  While next to the highway we expected a lot of noise during the night, but that was not our experience, the only real road noise we had was in the early morning with worked out as it helped wake us up.  Each site has a picnic table and metal fire ring.  Water is available and the area has a vault toilet and trash cans.  Campground has a boat launch.

Fourth of July Campground is a nice campground set in a lodge pole pine and fir forest. This small six campsite campground is fully paved including the parking pads and has paved walking trails through the campground as well. Their is also day use only sites for those wanting to picnic with out having to occupy a campsite. This is a great campground and only$8 per night. All the campsites and day use sites have picnic tables and metal fire rings. Water is available from a handpump and the vault toilet is handicapped accessible. Be warned that there is no trash service so be prepared to pack out your trash. All the site in the campground are nicely spread apart. The campground is open in the off season, if you are able still able to access the campground. I visited in late November with no problem as the area had not yet received any snow. No fees or water in the off season, but the vault toilet was fully stocked.

Only 3 miles off the main drag, I’m not sure why more people weren’t camping here. While there are only about 8 sites only 2(including mine) were taken. Maybe it was the smoke from distant first fires. Anyway, great little campground! Right next to the creek, with another small branch cutting through the middle of the campground, the only thing I could hear was the water and later a fire spotter plane overhead. The vault toilet was super clean and serviced recently. Sites were of different sizes(the parking pad curbs had lengths listed on them), and of differing amounts of levelness. I had site 2 and had to go to a fairly low spot to find a level place to pitch my tent, not a problem during a drought, but it would have been wet if it had rained. Saw a doe and fawn on the way out in the morning.

Awesome campground, the camp host is friendly and making rounds to ensure the bathrooms are stocked and that everyone is enjoying their time. We camped at number 5 last time, and we just got done camping at number 15 for the weekend. Crystal park is not thst far and the Wise river is right after it. Also vheck out Elkhorn hotsprings th a ts the next turn for a natural spring nad suana. Can't wait to camp here again. The picture below will show you our camp set up sadly Teo fridns had to take off earlier before photos. We easily fit 4 tents and had 2 dogs with us. The site provides shared food storages, also vualt toilets, and drinkable water at the faucets through out the camp ground. It was 25 a night for 3 vehicles so we spent 50 in total. Another perk if you need or forgot something go to Ma's store it has a bit of everything. It's just on the other side of the lodge in Grasshopper.

The campground is very nice, it was clean and had 2 water taps available. You can hear the creek at night, which is a huge plus for me. They have mutiple food storages available that are shared. There wasn't any firewood that was easy to find. I recommend bringing your own or running to Ma's County Market. For kiln dried wood, it doesn't last long, but you can cook with it.. The cost was 15.00 USD a night with 5 dollars more per vehicle. Site 5 could park 4 vehicles easy. The rest can only fit 2. Bigger parites can go to the group campground in the front. Number five could park about six cars easy. Also you could pitch about 7 to 9 tents on it.

12 sites with good tables and fire rings. This is a well maintained NFS campground. 3 vault toilets that are kept clean. Sites #1 & #2 get the most sun, are the largest, and can accommodate any size RV. The remaining sites vary in size. #2 can easily hold 5 full size trucks side by side, or three medium size trailers/5th wheels with their tow vehicles. It also has 3 large tables, plenty of open ground for tents, and is ideal for large groups and families. Toilets are located across from site 3, between 5/6, across from 12. #7 is low ground camping you walk down to with minimal shade and perfect for hot weather days.

The exit is at site 12, one way travel thru the campground. Across the street from the exit is the entry to sites 1-4 horse camping. Small sites with table, fire ring, and enough room for a small tent. There are 3 large metal structures with 3 chains each for horses and 2 horizontal tie out bars. No room to park horse trailers on that pull thru. One trailer spot across from site 4 by the “stock water trail” sign, the rest can park 50 yards down the road at the trail head/turn around. There are 2 additional tie out areas here for horses and plenty of room for horse trailers and several other vehicles.

Be sure to read the notice above the envelope box before you pay. From weather dependent dates chosen by the Rangers there is no cost from late Oct to late May. Otherwise it is $10 per night, $5 with golden or access passes.

No cell service, only 1 mile to the paved road, Ranger station is only about 1/2 mile down that paved road. The Rangers are proactive in sharing any important information such as severe weather, bear activity, or any other notable activity.

Details: Ranger station on the main road less than a mike from the entrance. They show up once a week Ravialli county sheriff is who to call on weekends and holidays, they will respond Be bear aware in season Equestrian specific campsites Trailhead next to the CG So much firewood laying around There are some karens that have been “coming here my whole life” and think they own the place; avoid Only three site requires walking access, the rest are drive right in to. Only a few sites so if its great weather or holiday show up mid week or even a week ahead if you can Free stays out of season, otherwise it’s a daily fee, pay at the entrance sign