Best Tent Camping near Dubois, ID

Camping on the banks on the banks of the Warm River, which actually is quite cold, can’t get much better than this! There are several options here- tent camping in a tent only walk in area along the river banks and under some pretty good hammocking trees (best sites are #12, 13, 16, and 8 because they have some space from neighbors and are right on the river); RV sites with what looks like at least electric hook ups (best sites for river views and/or privacy are #2, 4, 6, 19); from what neighbors say is pretty good fishing; and an awesome alternative to camping at Mesa Falls if that campground is full. Walk down the road and cross the river to check out a protected area of the river where the fish are HUGE and you can stand with your toes in the river while you feed them bits of bread. The sites all have the usual picnic tables and firepits, with nice level tent pads, clean vault toilets, and firewood for sale from the campground host. The only two downsides are no showers and the campground is wedged between the road and the river, so there is quite a bit of road noise in the day which fortunately dies down once dark sets in. At that point the river covers the road noise (also helpful in the morning). The campground is close to a lot of hiking trails, but there are no trailheads in the campground (so I guess that makes three bummers). All in all, a cool place to camp.

Just a few miles out of the small town Lima Montana, this campground sits nestled in the mountains with a beautiful view and very few visitors.

There is a gravel road, which was well kept when we went. We made it fine in our sedan.

The are supposedly 4 sites, but we only noticed 3. We aren't a Friday night up there and we the only ones at the campsite.

There are 2 vault toilets. It looks like there was a pump for water, but it was either broken, or I just don't know how to use it. Be sure to bring water.

The picnic tables are solid and nice. The camp fire rings also come with grills.

Overall, even without running water, we were prepared and had a great, quite, and beautiful stay at East Creek.

Unfortunately it was raining the whole night we showed up. However there was a covered pavilion, with a fridge, and 2 walls. We were able to stay dry under the pavilion and cook our food on the stove we bought. We were tent camping which offers plenty of picnic tables and nice green grass. There are plenty of areas from for RV camping along with hookups. There's also a boat ramp.

Now the bad, as we were getting ready to go to bed, the sprinklers came on. Thankfully we had springbar tents that were able to take the rain as well as the sprinklers. We tried waking the camp host to turn them off. Didn't work. We just waited it out and we were fine.

The campsite firepits, and pavillions with fridges, basketball courts, a boat doc, and bathrooms (clean, with no nasty smell, and hand blower dryers).

Coordinartes: 44.16547,-112.90392. Beautiful views. Large dirt and gravel site, right along side to Skull Canyon Road, about a mile from ID Hwy 28. Canyon walls on each side. Rough narrow rocky track to the site from the highway; recommend high clearance. High humps on this track. Small rock fire ring. Grass and sagebrush all around site. Some leveling may be required. Tent camping possible. Very peaceful; can hardly hear road noise from highway. The only vehicle that drove by was a national forest truck. No cell service. There are several boondocking sites, some with vault toilets nearby, along Hwy 28 in the Birch Creek Recreation Area.

This was an unexpectedly nice place. The long drive down the dirt road brings you away from the highway and close to the river. Even at 5 pm there were open sites. A couple sites are double sites and priced accordingly. 

There is a gravel pad for parking, tent and picnic table. Surrounding that is forest and flowers. These obstruct direct view of the neighbors on one side and minimize viewing the others. 2 vault toilet locations with numbered water faucets. 

Suggestion: site 9 has the restroom light shiny into it. We were fine because our teardrop had no windows in that direction. 

My dog and I headed out on the short path from the campground (it leaves from one of the campsites). It joins the Box Canyon Trail and you have a choice of two directions. We went left and found a long but easy hike giving views of the river and even a waterfall. People could be seen fishing and also rafting/tubing down the river. There are other national forest campgrounds in the area with a variety of activities. This is a place to visit!

I stumbled across this campground while driving Mesa Falls scenic by-way. This campground has 27 sites, both tent, RV and a group site right along the Warm River. It also has a day use area. This campground had new vaulted toilets but no showers. Within the campground was the trailhead for The railroad grade trail (great for mountain biking) which I was told use to take train passenger to Yellowstone’s old faithful. Tubing was very popular and the campers next to us insisted that we borrow their tubes so we could try it out for ourselves, very refreshing during our hot August stay.

I snagged the last tent site #21 across the bridge in the northern half of the campground. This large secluded tent site up on the hill had a very small tent pad, fire pit and picnic table and enough room to put up my hammock. This site is next to two double sites. Unfortunately during the 5 nights I stayed some of the RVers close to us ran their generators beyond the 10pm curfew and one RVer felt the need to pull out his noisy leaf blower and blow leafs and dirt everywhere.

There is tons of things to see and do in the area, Mesa Falls, Island Park… but the hidden gem is the close proximity (less than 25 miles) to Yellowstone National Park - Bechler Ranger Station. Bechler Ranger Station is in the far SW corner of Yellowstone National Park. This area has more streams, creeks, lakes and waterfalls than any other area in Yellowstone. There is a historic Soldier Station there that is about 100 years old and there are lots of hiking trails to beautiful waterfalls. You can see cave falls right from the parking lots. I would definitely return to this campground next time I am in the area.

The campground is within walking distance of Lower Mesa Falls and an easy but longer hike to Upper Mesa Falls. All the usual amenities in this campground- picnic tables, fire rings, vault toilets(really clean!), plus steel prep stand tables. No cell service for me here, but I think some other campers had service with a different carrier. Definitely do the hike to the falls to save yourself a parking fee($5), or be sure to take your Interagency National Parks card and the parking fee will be waived. Not far away is the Bear Gulch hike, which is very pretty, but you will likely have to share the trail with mountain bikers and dirt bikers, so be prepared.

Each year, thousands of fly fishermen ascend into Harriman State Park and nearby town of Island Park, ID to fish the famous Henry’s Fork of the Snake River. As we planned our Yellowstone vacation, we decided to spend a few days fly fishing and camped at Riverside (Id- Targhee). 

Campground Review: Just around 15 miles north of Ashton, ID, and a few miles to Harriman State Park on US Hwy 20, the entrance of Riverside campground is clearly marked. The area was formed by a large caldera and sits about 6300 feet above sea level. Riverside campground is about a mile down a dirt road and sits right on Henry’s Fork. Roughly 30 camping spots and 1 group site. The sites were well laid out and plenty of space and privacy from each site. Surrounded by thick lodge pole pines, we didn’t hear much road traffic. Our site was less than 25 yards from the river, and we had great access with a handful trails leading to several areas of the river. There are a few bear boxes to share with other sites around the campground and several super clean restrooms. Probably the cleanest I’ve used. We didn’t spend a lot of time at the site during the day due to our main objection was to slay trout, but at night after a great day of fishing, we were able to relax and have a good night camping under the stars. The campsite’s fire ring was awesome. Cement ring with a moveable metal grate with a heavy duty cast iron pole with arms to hang your dutch oven over the fire. We have a rooftop tent but the campgrounds have some nicely laid out tent boxes to park your tent. We did see some sites with concrete flooring around the picnic areas. Overall, very well laid out campground with some good sites to enjoy the great outdoors. We camped at A012. We really had to go out of our way at our site to see our neighbors so tons of privacy. We had a big open sky to stargaze at night. Best of all: No mosquitos. We camped in the middle of August. My boy and I camped at a different campground in Island Park in June, and there was so much standing water that it bred armies of mosquitos. Not this trip. We also had good cell phone reception at this campground. The only bad thing I could come up with is that there was only trash dumpster near the front entrance so ridding your garbage took a little work. There is a boat launch so if you have a drift boat, you can do it right there. Island Park is about 8-10 minute drive if you need some supplies or gas. 

Product Review: As a Dyrt Ranger, I get to test products! At this campground, I tested The Vista in hunter green trucker hat from Banner & Oak. As an outdoor enthusiast, I wear a lot of trucker hats and Banner & Oak really stood out from other hats I’ve worn. Stiff, thick material with a mesh backing and secure adjustment to keep my head airy. I really enjoyed wearing it and has quickly become my favorite hat. I really love the color and the high quality patch. If you’re not a fan of deeper hats, I recommend you do not get this hat. It fit my big noggin perfectly. Check out their products at the this link: https://bannerandoak.com/collections/hats