Best Tent Camping near Craters of the Moon National Monument

Tent Camping Reviews near Craters of the Moon National Monument

228 Reviews of 17 Craters of the Moon National Monument Campgrounds

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  Becbecandbunny O.

  Ranger

  Jul. 12, 2022

  Lava Flow Campground — Craters of the Moon National Monument

  Camp among lava

  Great base camp location for anyone interested in exploring Craters of the Moon National Monument. Rangers were very helpful. Toilets were clean. No showers. No cell coverage. Location can get windy.

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  Brian C.

  Legend

  Apr. 24, 2019

  Lava Flow Campground — Craters of the Moon National Monument

  Cool Campground Surrounded by Lava

  Scenic and cool campsite smack in the middle of the lava beds of Craters of the Moon National Monument. Interesting information center within a quick walking distance with lots of national park rangers and activities.

  Campsites are pretty small, but many are surrounded by LAVA. That said, very little shade, so if it’s the summer, it will be very hot.

  Water, toilets, all available. RVs allowed but no hook-ups. No fire pits, but they do have charcoal grills available.

  Very cool lava flow hikes and formations all around.

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  Dexter I.

  Legend

  Sep. 17, 2021

  Craters of the Moon Wilderness — Craters of the Moon National Monument

  Sleep in a volcano crater

  What could be more cool than sleeping in the bottom of a volcano.  That is what you can do on the Crater of the Moon National Monument's Wilderness Trail.  Sleep in the bottom of Echo Crater.  To backpack and camp in the wilderness area requires a free backcountry permit.  It is a little more than 3 miles of  backpacking to the crater,  the last bit is off trail so you will need the map provided for the area.  Access to the crater is from the east side of the crater, access the crater from any of the other sides is faster but it will be your last as it is a several hundred foot vertical drop to the bottom.  No water sources so you will need to pack at least a gallon of water per person per day.  Make sure you use the vault toilet at the trailhead before heading out, if you need to due #2 you will need to back all of it out, and that's more than just the paper.  No digging a hole and burying it here.  Plenty of flat ground to pitch your tent in the bottom of the crater.

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  Tim M.

  Traveler

  Sep. 26, 2022

  Craters of the Moon-Arco KOA

  Nice KOA campground

  We like staying here while traveling through Idaho. It’s a short drive to Craters of the Moon National Monument, and Arco, Idaho is a neat little town. The Showers and Laundry facilities at this park were not used by us during this visit. Staff was very friendly during the check in process. There is limited shade in the park.

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  Annie C.

  Legend

  Jul. 26, 2019

  Caribou Campground

  Small but pleasant

  This is a tent only campground(there is nowhere for RVs to turn around, and backing out would be a horrific proposition) with only seven sites. The best sites are the four that are on the creek side of the camp road. There is a vault toilet(not especially clean) and a bear proof dumpster, and lots of signs about bears, but no bear boxes for food storage. The campsites are nicely shaded, but not especially private(you can see most of the sites from each other). This campground is$2 cheaper than the next closest campground(I drove to the other site to check it out and returned here because except for the price, they were about the same). There is a pretty cool avalanche/rock slide up the road that is impressive in size and there are some pretty cool beaver dams and lodges in the creek/marshy area that feeds into the river. Be careful picking a site along the creek as it runs pretty close to the edge of two sites and I suspect the sites get flooded during big rains(due to the beaver dams). Showers are not terribly far away at Redfish Lake Park.

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  Alan B.

  Legend

  Aug. 23, 2019

  Mt. Borah Trailhead and Camping Area

  Wonderful Views @ a Semi-Primitive CG

  Wow!  Absolutely the best spot to set up camp if you're looking at doing an alpine attempt on the roof of Idaho, Mt. Borah!  The campground sits right around 7200'  which is a decent bit cooler than the Big Lost River Valley to the west.  There is also a good bit of shade despite there being few large trees.  Its kind of a transition between the sage brush and juniper climate zones.  There are picnic tables and metal fire rings @ each site but there is absolutely no running water so be sure to fill your water bottles and camelbaks in Mackey which is the closest town.  There are vault toilets but no other amenities.  The perk of being fairly primitive is that the sites are only $5 a night!

  If you're planning on summiting Borah it's a good idea to get an alpine start <6 AM so you don't get baked by the sun as there's no shade the last 2 miles and sparse shade the first 1.5.  It is a brutal hike if you're not prepared.  The trail ascends 5200' of elevation in just over 3.5 miles.  Your legs will probably burn, bring hiking poles for the descent!  If you don't feel like hiking there are plenty of rivers nearby in which to fish and great spots to check out the scarp of the 1980's Mt. Borah earthquake, which you drive across on the way to the campground/trailhead.

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  Jake G.

  Scout

  May. 28, 2019

  Lava Flow Campground — Craters of the Moon National Monument

  The Earthside of the Moon

  This is what you would expect in the wilderness of Idaho! A unique location, and an experience worth having!

  Please obey posted fire safety warnings as Idaho is plagued by enough man made wildfires each year!

  Have fun and leave no trace!

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  Jeff P.

  Traveler

  Jul. 15, 2018

  Craters of the Moon-Arco KOA

  Pretty typical KOA, which is a good thing!

  We stayed here on our way to Yellowstone. Has most of the usual KOA amenities: clean bathrooms, pool, cabins, full hookup RV spots, and a few tent spots. Even has a couple of teepees. Very friendly staff and a well stocked store/deli. Near Craters of the Moon National Monument. The town of Arco was charming and has an interesting history as the first nuclear-powered city in the US. If our travels take us this way in the future we'll camp here again!

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  Annie C.

  Legend

  Jul. 26, 2019

  Lava Flow Campground — Craters of the Moon National Monument

  Camping on the moon

  Holy Cow! It really was like camping on the moon(except the wind) or on a volcano. This is a barren place due to the volcanic nature of the land, but it was very pretty and the campground was set up in an almost ingenious way to provide privacy for most sites. There were essentially two loops, but the loops had lots of twists and turns and ups and downs in order to squeeze in the most number of sites with the most privacy. I ended up with a deep site where I could set my tent up between some lava rocks to get some semblance of a wind break. From inside my tent I could not see any other sites(which was really nice), but I could see my neighbors from my picnic table. No fires are allowed(which I found interesting since we were camped on a lava flow), and there are no showers(someone told me that maybe I could get a shower at the KOA in Arco, but I didn’t bother). In fact, water is somewhat restricted- there were signs stating RV’s could not fill up, but all were welcome to fill personal water jugs. Even the dish washing station was closed at the restrooms. Speaking of which, the restrooms had flush toilets and sinks with cold water and were fairly clean if a bit outdated. Definitely get some hiking in while you are here. There is a nice trail from the campground that connects to the North Crater Flow trail, and if you have some stamina climb the Inferno Cone for great views(watch the ground for cinders that look like glass!). Get a permit at the visitors center to go into the lava tube caves(its free but required). I only hiked in Indian Cave as I wasn’t comfortable with the pitch black dark of Boy Scout and Beauty Caves by myself. Definitely check out the town of Arco, the first in the nation to be powered by nuclear energy. Not far from Arco is the nuclear power plant, decommissioned, where you can take a free tour. Back at the campground there is one last important note- you have to pay the electronic ranger for your campsite, and NO cash is accepted. Only credit cards.

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