City of Rocks National Reserve is the perfect place for adventurous campers and RVers. Aside from great camping spots, you'll find hiking and many more outdoor experiences. Thinking of traveling with kids? You're in luck—City of Rocks National Reserve is surrounded by family-friendly activities. You're sure to find the perfect spot for your Idaho camping adventure.
$50 - $99 / night
"I could actually get away from everything and just relax. Very well managed and very well put together. Highly recommend"
"Camping right by the old California Trail near the city of rocks is memory I will never forget. The hosts made it so welcoming and comforting."
$14 / night
"The park you want to choose is City of Rocks National Reserve, ID. "
"Small campground surrounded by very scenic rock perimeter. Fairly level electric sites that are easily reserved online. Very quiet night with almost zero traffic."
$15 - $30 / night
"Walking distance to the ranger station and town. Close to the entrance of the City of Rocks. Onsite informal manager and owner both stopped by to ensure we did not need anything. A great experience."
"Within walking distance to town and to the entrance to The City of Rocks National Park.
Town includes a Steak house, a grocery store, hot springs, pizza and the City of Rocks headquarters. "
"Nice large open area to camp outside the park, can get a bit windy as so open but much better than paying a lot for the campgrounds in city of rocks."
"Basic BLM land, dispersed camping about 2mi outside the City of Rocks on the Bread Loaves side, perfect for rock climbers."
$20 - $35 / night
"Super close to the City of Rocks for exploring and beautiful views. Dump station is at the state park less than a mile away. $7 to dump."
"We ended up finding this spot to when we were looking at camping near Independence Lakes. It is a dispersed camping. The site was big enough for 3-4 trailers and had a picnic table and a fire ring."
"Really long gravel from highway to site. So far off the highway that it is complete quiet and serenity. Had firewood there and a fire ring to build a fire. Also a picnic table. Beautiful views."
$8 - $50 / night
"We had a fantastic time and our dogs loved it too. We were one of 3 campsites in use during out stay in the last half of September."
"Our site was not too close to any others except the other one we booked with friends. Decent bathrooms. Close to Lake Cleveland. Great birding in the actual campground."
$10 / night
"Driving up to Lake Cleveland I realized that this was the same road we traveled in the winter to get to one of our local ski mountains. "
"This is a beautiful Campsite right on Lake Cleveland. The East side is great for RV's while the West end is better for Tents."
"Conveniently located next to the rodeo arena. Nice grass between back-in RV sites. A few larger trees, but mostly fun sun. Power and water at each site, and a free sewer dump."
LegendCity Of Rocks National Reserve, Idaho
Fascinating, desolate, historical State Park. The visitors center is out on the main road and has a short informational trail with some authentic pioneer wagons. The signage is good, if you need water go to the dump site on the way in, there are no spigots at the campsites. When we visited the water was turned off so I was glad I always carry water with me. The sites are well spaced out, intermixed with the rock formations. Our site was huge, with a picnic table, tent pad and fire ring. There was a rock formation on the back side that you can walk up on and see the surrounding area. There were several rock climbers on Practice Rock across from our site. The dogs were permitted , on leash, on the trails however I was concerned about the numerous cactus so we stayed to the dirt roads mostly.
GuideI spent one night in the City of Rocks National Reserve Campground. Nabbed spot 15 - the best one I saw - which had fantastic views from the front and back of my campervan. Sweeping view of valley and mountains beyond from the front, massive rocks through the window over my bed. There is a picnic table and fire ring on the nearly level site which is also very private, tucked away as it was between large rocks. I camped in February so I could have been the only camper in the park that night, though there are campsites extending up the main road for what must be half a mile, so there is room for many campers both RV and tents. I saw no one other than the ranger during my stay. The bathroom is a pit toilet, very clean and supplied with paper. There are no amenities like power or water at the site. I left my campervan parked and hiked all around the reserve. Million dollar views for dollars a night.
LegendReally beautiful and low key state park. The rock formations are really cool and the whole place has a calm and peaceful vibe. There are pit toilets but no other amenities, not even trash, so please take your trash out with you.
Camp sites are scattered all along the main road, and broken up into area numbers. Kind of confusing until you see it for yourself. The hard part here is that the sites are all so different that you really need to see the site for yourself before deciding where you want to camp, but the cell signal here is minimal and sites MUST be reserved through Reserve America (online or by phone). The highest sites towards the end of the road do have cell signal for both verizon and ATT, but everywhere else in the park there was no reception. There is wifi at the visitor center.
Another bummer about the reservation system is the $10 fee per transaction. Sites are $14/night, so we paid $24 for one night.
NOTE: when you are reserving on Reserve America, "City of Rocks RV, ID" is a private RV park in the area. The park you want to choose is City of Rocks National Reserve, ID.
The park is a designated dark sky park, which is cool, but from our site (#63) the lights from the town of Oakley were pretty bright on the horizon, though the stars in the sky were still amazing. We are in a 26ft class c and there were plenty of sites for us to choose from when we visited mid week in July. Very few other campers there when we were there. The paved road ends shortly after the visitor center but the dirt and rocky and at times washboarded road was ok in our motorhome. We stopped at the visitor center on the way up and got lots of helpful info from the rangers on duty.
No hookups or dump station at this park, but we stopped at the Castle Rock campground on the way out and filled our tank with potable water and dumped for free.
GuideWe stayed at Oregon Trail Campground in Twin Falls, Idaho in September 2021. This park is a FHU pull-thru site and also has back-in sites. Our site was flat and level and a snap to set up our fifth wheel. The staff here was very nice and helpful with restaurant recommendations. The only negative for us was that we had to take our pets to the pet area, which was at the far corner of the park, and pets are not allowed to potty on any trees or shrubs. Signs were everywhere stating this. It was difficult to get our dogs quickly to the dog area, which is very small and swampy, when they really had to pee. Other than that we enjoyed our stay here and would definitely stay here again. If you would like to see videos on this park and others, please visit our YouTube channel: Jeff & Steff’s Excellent Adventure.
TravelerPulled in for a quick overnight stop on a road trip. Staff was super friendly and helpful. Campground and facilities are very well maintained. Clean bathrooms and showers. Access to the Snake River. Pet friendly with poop bag stations throughout the grounds. Food delivery to your site from the onsite restaurant. Will definitely be back.
GuideThe relationship between City of Rocks National Preserve and Castle Rocks State Park is still not clear to me as this campground appears on the National Park Service website, although it is an Idaho State Park. That said, the park rangers seem to work cooperatively. This campground is delightful. Located about a 7-mile drive/walk to the entrance of City of Rocks, Smoky Mountain Campground is situated above the valley providing a wonderful view from many sites including space #19 where I parked my campervan. I believe the walking distance to the reserve could be shorter by taking any of the hiking trails from the campgrounds rather than going along the paved roads which first go away from the City of Rocks then back up again, making a big "U".
During my one-night stay in February, water, showers and bathrooms in the campground were closed for the winter season. A very clean, pit toilet is located in the equestrian parking lot across from the campground entrance. The distance from the campsites to the bathroom will vary from quite close to about 1/4 mile max. And during the winter season, there won't be much competition for the spaces close to the bathroom, as I was the sole user during my time there.
In addition to the breathtaking views, the sites offer privacy from 3 sides though all face the loop access road. There are picnic tables, fire rings and electrical power. I did not note if water was available as it would have been shut off in February in any event. There is a dump station about 1 mile down the road toward the exit. I do not know if it is open in the winter.
Check-in during the off-season is accomplished by envelope collected at the entrance or directly to the ranger who came by in the morning to check-in. The rate was $27 per night. Definitely worth the money to stay in this tranquil campground so close to the magnificent City of Rocks.
GuideThe staff was amazing and very accommodating - we were running on a tight schedule and they agreed to stay after hours to attend to us. They were so personal and easily to talk with. As stated - the sites were tight and provided no real scenery - but they were quiet, safe, clean - and best of all - great location. The public shower like being at home - amazing! Nice pet walking area. If you’re looking for more “state park” feel - this is not for you!
GuideWe had planned to stay here 2 nights but stayed one more. The sites are great. Spread out with lots of grass. It's right on the river with a great paved walking trail through an arboretum. Our dogs loved it. We were here in October 2020 so bathrooms were closed due to COVID and because it was off season there was no park host do no wifi code. No other amenities (which is fine, we didn't need anything). The cost was very affordable with good Sam membership (24.30 per night). They had pull through sites in the middle and back in sites on the edges. Each side had utilities on opposite sides. We would definitely stay here again when passing through southern Idaho.
LegendThis is a no frills campground located in the South Hills of Idaho about 20 miles south of Twin Falls. Each site has its own fire ring and picnic table with most also giving you a shady spot to set up a tent if you want. There is only 1 vault toilet though near the info sign. The campsites are all lined up in a row next to the creek and trees. There are not many sites so get here early if you plan on coming during the weekend. It also seems like you could just park your RV in the giant dirt area to the east of the creek. This area will be hot in the morning and shady in the afternoon as there are no shade trees to the east of the campsites. A bonus of staying at this campground is that you have walking access to the Third Fork Trailhead!
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