Best Tent Camping near Challis, ID

On a motorcycle trip through Idaho and this place met my needs. It is close to town but no noise from the highway. It was walking distance to grocery store and gas station. Check in was fast and rates are reasonable for tent site. I had a site with power and water. It was close to the bath house. Overall, a great place for a nights stay on the road.

Probably 15-20 camper spots all paved. 5 or so tent sites. Very nice. Water and dumpsters!

My recommendation: stay on the river side, the highway side can get a little loud.

We stayed the night in a tent site, the place was beautiful! All the grass is nice and green, volleyball court, playground, two different hot pools from Hot springs. Beautiful flowers, right on the river! There's also hiking trails behind the campground.

It’s located right on highway 21, a few miles south of Stanley. Very small. Description says 5 camping sites but I only saw 3. There is a running creek a few feet away from the tent sites. Very quiet.

If you've ever gone up to Stanley and don't believe in having to reserve a campsite on line (it's against my religion) this is your spot. About 20 minutes away from the "hussle and bustle" of tiny mountain town, Stanley, Blind Creek is situated in the Yankee fork of the Salmon River. If you're looking for amenities, don't come here--there's a out toilet, but that's it, no water or trash service. But with the river running right by camp you can easily filter your own water and there's a large dumpster at the Sunbeam pullout right before turning off the highway. Blind Creek only has 5 spots but I've never not been able to camp there, and at $5 a night you can afford to drive a little further to get into the Sawtooths or make the drive over to Challis. Beat for tent camping, though they do have two good sights you could back a trailer into, just do us all a favor, if you're going to run your generator, camp somewhere else. Keep this place quiet!

Sunny Gulch is close to the Sawtooths for great hiking, next to the river if you want to cool off or fish and there were plenty of options. The tent sites are groomed pretty well, and they had the cleanest pit toilet I think I’ve ever seen.

This is a fee based campground with a host that offers a first come first serve camping experience. We got in late in the day and were happy to find a spot. The ground was a bit limited for tent camping but we ended with a great location near moving water. The sound of water created a very serene environment for rest. The real treat came when we saw the beauty of the night sky unencumbered by city lights; the Milky Way was on full display.

I camped here with my parents in 2018, to hike the trails and go to their “secret” soaking spot.

There are closer spots to get some hot spring action than where we went. If you don’t find a private spot there are plenty more if you are adventurous.

We stayed in an RV, but tent camping is also available at this location.

My parents made the reservation in advance to make sure we could spend some quality time.

You will catch some sulfur smells here and there but that’s expected with the type of geological activity in the area.

There’s seemingly endless places to lounge in the river with plenty of shallow areas.

It’s a long uphill drive on a narrow road to get there but it’s worth it! Each camp site is nice with plenty of space, fire pit and tent site. We took our chances on a Wednesday night in mid August and got lucky. Two sites were still open. With the drive and location we were surprised how many people were there but it was still very quiet and peaceful. The lake is beautiful and would be fun to kayak or paddle board on. We did some hiking up the trails to look over the campsite and the lake but did not take the full trail. Bathrooms were very clean and well stocked.

This campground is the only no reservation campground accessible by car on Redfish Lake. It’s great if you are looking to score a campsite without a reservation. It’s a great location on the lake, beautiful view of the sawtooth range and a short walk to the beach. The campsites have flat tent sites, concrete pads for the picnic tables and fire rings and most have trees for some shade. The only down side is the boat and jet ski noise during the day. If you are looking to get away from everything you may want to look at some of the nearby river campgrounds. The bathrooms and campsites were very very clean and the camp hosts were very friendly. If you are looking for a good hike take the ferry from the lodge to the far side of the lake!

Only 5 sites, managed by the Challis NF, no host. $10/$5 senior. Small vault toilet, hand water pump, but no dumpster. No cell signal Tmobile

Only 10 minutes outside of Challis, this is a small campground next tot he Salmon river. Try and get a site on the river side as some have access tothe water. Amenities are the standard picnic tables and fire pits, with the added bonus of a grill. There is a nice boat ramp and info about the salmon populations. Right next to the highway, this is not a destination campground but a nice spot for a quick overnighter.

This small campground is along the Adventure Road going up the pass between Custer and Challis, on the Custer side of the pass. Really cool massive boulders are in and around the campground, and even though it is along the pass and near a beautiful gorge, you really can’t see anything beyond the campground due to the terrain. Sites are on the larger side, but not necessarily level. There are picnic tables and fire rings and a clean vault toilet, but not much else. Shade trees are on the skinny side so it may be difficult to hang a hammock. During the day it can get dusty with OHVs going up and down the road. For a cool experience, check out the ghost town of Custer or go further along the Adventure Road to see the ruins of some of the stagecoach stops.

A Ranger in Challis told us about Pole Flat CG. We were looking for a small campground near, but not on the Salmon river, and off the main road.

There are 10 sites spaced nicely around a loop road. The CG is near the road to Custer but not on it so traffic noise is minimal.

All 10 sites are decent sized. Sites 5 and site 7 are deep and should accommodate large 5th Wheel TB’s and such. To access these two sites bear left coming into the CG. For most of the other sites bear right on the CG road.

The vault has men’s and women’s sides and appears to be recently painted. It was clean and well kept when we visited. There are two water pump jacks. Only the jack behind site 1 was working during our stay.

We set up our daughter in our Super C here for 2 months while she worked in nearby Salmon during the busy season. We were so happy with the beautiful scenery, quiet grounds, and excellent service from the owner. If she ever needed anything, they were happy to help. There is a clean laundry room, showers, and bathrooms onsite, and more than enough space for a 40 foot RV. There are shade trees, some grass sites, some landscape rock sites, picnic tables, a gas firepit, and an onsite mini-store if you need. The owner waited for us until we arrived, helped us get our bearings, and then grew to be a friend. If you are needing to camp(even in a tent!) anywhere near Salmon, Idaho, you need to go and see Stewart at Elk Bend RV Park. Say hi to the deer that roam the area, too, or walk across the street and listen to the Salmon River. Just a beautiful area! Sites with full hookups and not. Would not hesitate to recommend Elk Bend RV Park.

Pet Friendly!

We went there with two tents. The sites are large and there are enough space for more than 2 or 3 tents easily. The sites are well organized and clean, the bathrooms are well maintained and the camping is pretty close to the lake, you can reach the lake with a 3 - 5 minutes walk. We had a really good experience. Just be aware to check your car breaks because the back travel is downhill the mountains.

We stayed here in May 2022. It was snowing. Lake was frozen. BUT the site itself was great. Level concrete pad. Walk a few steps down to a tent pad and picnic table. There were all sizes of rigs here. From tent campers to bigger RV's. Had it been warmer and we could see the views and use the lake, it would have been amazing. With the snow we couldn't even hike the trails.

Stopped here on my road trip around Idaho. Very clean very open great views of the mountains around the valley. Clean restrooms nice showers.

Huge private spots with perfect tent spots with views of Sawtooth mountains and Redfish Lake