Searching for a tent camping spot near Idaho City? Find the best information on tent campgrounds near Idaho City, including sites, reviews, and tips. Would you prefer a quiet dispersed site or an established camgpround with amenities? Either way, The Dyrt makes it easy to find the perfect place to pitch your tent.
Shafer Butte is located atop the scenic Boise Ridge Mountains, near Bogus Basin Mountain Recreation Area, at an elevation of 7,000 feet. Visitors enjoy hiking and biking on various trails in the surrounding area, and simply relaxing and taking in the area's beautiful views.
Popular activities in the area include hiking and mountain biking, the Mores Mountain Trail begins in the campground. This 2-mile interpretive nature trail is family friendly.
Shafer Butte offers scenic views of Deer Point, Mores Mountain and Shafer Butte summits, as well as the expansive valley below. The campground is situated among Douglas fir and aspen trees, which offer partial shade in most sites. Wildlife and summer wildflowers are abundant in the area.
Bogus Basin Mountain Recreation Area is close by and offers more hiking and biking trails, as well as other summer activities, check out this link for more information http://bogusbasin.org. The Ridge to River trail system is near by as well, check out this link for more information http://www.ridgetorivers.org
$10 - $75 / night
ALERT - The Swirly Canyon segment of the South Fork Payette River stretch offers opportunities for camping and fishing in a scenic mountain area. The BLM's South Fork Recreation Site is an undeveloped camping spot along the river.
Overview: Bald Mountain Campground is near Idaho City, Idaho. The Campground has 4 campsites in a secluded, forested area. A trail from campground goes east to the Middle Fork of the Boise River. A second trail goes from the Thorn Creek Butte Lookout south of the campground and follows Cottonwood Creek south.
Overview: A stay at Cottonwood Campground enables guests to enjoy all the beauty and recreation offered around the Middle Fork Boise River and Arrowrock Reservoir. The tiny campground hosts 3 campsites. Weather is usually good from mid-May through late September and is easily accessible by car in good weather, although the road is sometimes rough and the drive can be seemingly long. Checking with the Mountain Ranger District (208-587-7961) on road conditions before heading out is recommended. Natural Features: The campground is situated just north of the reservoir along Cottonwood Creek. There is at a switchback of Forest Service (FS) roads 268 and 377. It is located less than a mile along FS road 377. Wildlife watchers may want to look for deer and elk. Waterfowl, eagles and osprey are attracted to the river. Recreation: Cottonwood Trail begins nearby, leading to Bald Mountain. Check the Idaho City Ranger District Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) for trails in the area that are open to hikers, equestrians, mountain bikers and off-road vehicles. Click here for an Idaho OHV safety message. Arrowrock Reservoir is a premier fishing destination in southwest Idaho. It offers excellent trout fishing for rainbow and cutthroat trout. There are also good swimming holes. Big game hunting is a popular activity in season. The Middle Fork Boise River is just north of the campground and also offers great fishing.
Willow Creek Campground is a small site composed of 3 camping units. Campground amenities include picnic tables, fire rings and a restroom. The campground is approximately 1 mile south of the Willow Creek Transfer Camp & Willow Creek Trail No. 019 trailhead located north of the transfer camp.
Traveler
A variety of free and dispersed sites, most of them with rock campfire rings, near a nice shallow creek. A fair amount of RV and ATV traffic but still feels pretty secluded. No bathrooms or anything like that but it's only a 3 minute drive from Idaho City.
Traveler
Good site for rv camping but if you're tent camping there are probably better options depending on what you're looking for. The tent sites are super close together and there is alot of highway noise. If you're looking for a quick site with amenities this is good though. It has shade and thats a huge plus.
Legend
Grandjean has several campsites, some on the river, some not. Some of the sites would accommodate smaller truck bed campers and maybe trailer campers. We tent camp and needed the 4-wheel drive to get to the end of the road. I didn't see any RV sites, there might be one or two around but its unlikely that there would be hookups of any kind. There might be a restroom off the main road on the way toward Grandjean but there were none close to any of the campsites around us. I would describe this as remote car camping. Established tent sites and fire pits, beautiful scenery, privacy and not a lot of extras. The Sawtooth Lodge is up the road and does offer RV space, tent camping and cabins. I am speaking of the rustic camping sites between Highway 21 and the Sawtooth Lodge.
Legend
This is a small tent camping campground right off Highway 55 and across the highway from the Payette River. Lots of shade trees. No amenities.
Scout
Great campground..set for RVS .but you can tent camp as well. Water hookups...no electric. They do have companion sites..a place for two trailers...
Legend
Ten Mile is a clean camp ground in a nice wooded area just off highway 21. The sites are large with good space between them for decent privacy. A good spot to tent camp, camper camp or bring smaller RVs.
Legend
This is a small camp ground right off Highway 55 and across the Highway from the Payette river. Lots of shade trees. Not a lot of room for larger campers or RVs, mostly geared toward tent camping. I did not get cell service here.
Legend
I love this campground. It’s back in the woods, on a creek. Perfect for tent camping. Campers and smaller RVs could also find spots. There is good privacy from the abundance of trees in the campground. This is one of my favorite spots off of Highway 21.
Legend
This is one of the few overnight camp spots on the reservoir. It’s not always super clean. The garbage cans fill up quickly and sometimes over flow. Great day access for boats. Not a lot of shade for tent camping, so it can get warm in the summer.
Guide
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.
Legend
This is not my ideal place to camp. No where to tent camp but there is camper and RV camping in what I would describe as "parking lot style". That said, if your goal is accessing the water, the boat ramp is right across the dam and this is a glorious place for boating.
Traveler
This is a first come first serve for tent camping, and we grabbed the last spot on this trip. However, it was within walking distance of the water for swimming and fishing.
Also VERY clean toilets!
Other than it was hot mid-day, it was beautiful, plus an amazing hiking trail is close too.
Traveler
This campground is really easy to find. A little before Lowman, right off the road. Average amenities for tent camping. (Only park on the paved road) The camp host is really kind and helpful. There are hot springs right across the street with a beautiful soaking pool and river side view. Good breakfast in Lowman and amazing hot springs in the area!
Legend
This is one of the smaller campgrounds on the reservoir. This campground does not have a restroom, most of the others near by do. Great access to the water but not really great for hiking. This campground is best for campers or small RV's, you could tent camp her but it would not be my first choice in places to go.
Legend
This campground is bigger than many on the reservoir. There is enough room for groups if you get there early. Like most of the campgrounds on this road, you have a hill on one side and the reservoir on the other. This campground is good for campers and some RV's but not so good for tent camping. Camping here means you are looking for water access, which is great, at this site.
Legend
Edna Creek campground is off of Highway 21 and is a little farther off the main road that some of other near by campgrounds. It is a little more private and quiet. I like this campground because it is more geared toward tent camping. There is limited space for larger RVs. There are no RV type amenities. Just vault toilets, picnic tables and campfire rings. I believe there is also a water pump. Lots of access to hiking around here which is a plus for me!
GuideClean facilities.. , need a code to use them, Roads are dusty, if people would drive slow it would e nicer, Busy place, this is a flat rate place. No discounts but same price depending on length or stay, back i to river view spot, fishing if your up to it, have tent sites by the lake, staff is nice, very busy.. they have grass that is more grass than weeds..
Legend
This RV Camping Site is AWESOME! They do allow tent camping and have cabins. They have full hookups for RV's as well. There is a lower rate for "back-ins" to the Boise River Greenbelt. They also have a higher rate for Pull Through Sites for RVs. There is so much to do in the area. Biking, hiking, walking along the Boise River. There is also some great fishing on the Boise River. This location is centered for city goers, snow skiers, white water rafters and anglers. We visited some nice restaurants within a short drive of the campgrounds. We rode our bikes along the trails, upstream and downstream. The campgrounds also rent bikes for those that don't have their own :-) You will not be disappointed with this campground if you want to get to know Boise, Idaho.
Guide
Small campsite with well-spaced sites. Pretty good Verizon signal. Close to the road but not noisy. Close to Idaho City, which has awesome little spots. Shady, no morning sun. The real treasure is the nearby hot springs resort, The Springs at Idaho City. This is not a big kiddie swimming pool, rather it is a lovely, serene spot and by far one of the nicest in Idaho. They even serve IPA poolside!
GuideApprox, 10-12 Grassy Tent sites, with shady trees, on a small 6 acre lake with entertaining ducks that do not beg for food. Lol. Lots of RV sites with full hook ups, including, 105 long term users. The showers and toilets were clean with lots of hot water. Laundry room with 6 washers and 6 dryers. A little road noise from l-84. 2 miles from shopping and fuel. Friendly staff. Surprisingly good, as this was our first “private” campground we’ve ever stayed at. $27.00, including tax, per day.
Traveler
Bad Bear is a nice little campsite outside of Idaho City. The sites are good size with adequate privacy. There is lots of tree cover for shade during those warm summer days, and a babbling brook at the back of the campground. Each site had a picnic table, fire ring, and there is a well for water and a vault toilet. We enjoyed our stay here, mostly because there wasn't anyone else camping in the campground when we were there in mid-July! Score! We grabbed the big site, but the other sites seemed a bit small. Would recommend for a easy campsite close to Idaho City and just a quick little jaunt from Boise.
Scout
I have lived here full-time for over 3 years. It is beautiful, quiet, calm, and very safe for children and families. The rates are some of the cheapest around the country, and there is a group site for picnicking with a fire pit. There are tent sites with fire pits as well as RV spots and truck campers are always welcome as well. 24/7 free showers, and laundry @1.25. there is a phone number to call if you get in after business hours or you can just fill out a sheet and find a spot for the night and hook up. Owners are very laid back, and welcoming. We all rely on the old school honor system around here.
LegendWe stayed here over a weekend in the summer. This Campground is got an hour and a half from Boise and above Idaho City on the Highway 21. The last 20 or 30 minutes Beyond Idaho City going east is a pretty steep Winding Road and a little bit narrow. The longer your trailer and rig the more skill you will need to climb this route. Edna creek is just over Mores Creek Summit and it's it about five thousand feet. It's a great place to cool off. Campground is shaded in most cases. Nice variety of little spaces including a little bit of water going by some of the sites. It's a small cluster of sights on a loop road and again you'll need to maneuver tightly in a few of the corners. Definitely not for a large or long rigs.
Legend
This is a conveniently located campground near all the amenities of Idaho City. Miles of forest for hiking, exploring and fishing. Right off Highway 21, it's easy to find with ample space between campsites. A great base camp for exploring the area.
Traveler
We spend two days this July. Staff was friendly and informative. Don’t forget a mask if your going during Covid times. (Office requires it). Facilities are clean and nice. The small pool was great for the kiddos. We tent camped and where lucky to get the pick of the spots. The tent area has two covered areas with power. While we where there they’re where about. 7 tents with probably room for about 4 more. The group fire pit is also large and nice. One family in our group brought their RV and had a nice spot and hooks up where all working. We are considered locals so we didn’t make the trek the Anderson reservoir since we know all about it but if your not local make the short drive to enjoy some boating or swimming. The put put course want not available since it was getting worked on but was getting a overhaul so next time should be great. They have a community building but it was closed due to CoVid19. All in all it was a great weekend and spot.
Guide
This is a fantastic campsite. The host is super friendly and helpful without being intrusive. It’s on a bluff over a creek and there are hot springs a mere 1/4 mi away. Epic! There were several campsites that over looked the creek (which was easy to hike down to). We had an epic sunrise hot spring experience. We were on site 22 on the RV side which was great because there was more space between sites. There a vault toilet on the tent site and a water pump. We wished we could have stayed longer. Recreation.gov listed a bunch of their sites as first come, first serve which the host informed me they are not. Either way he found us an open spot but with such a nice location I don’t know if that happens often. 10/10 would stay again
Traveler
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!
Idaho City, Idaho, offers a fantastic backdrop for tent camping, surrounded by stunning natural beauty and a variety of outdoor activities. Whether you're looking for a peaceful retreat or an adventure-filled getaway, there are plenty of options to explore.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular tent campsite near Idaho City, ID?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Idaho City, ID is Shafer Butte with a 4.3-star rating from 4 reviews.
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TheDyrt.com has all 55 tent camping locations near Idaho City, ID, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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