Best Dispersed Camping near Idaho Panhandle National Forests

Packed up and left due to a belligerent and homeless vagrant. Small, beautiful lake. Uneven, rocky dispersed camping areas.

Nice little loop camp ground, 3 sites that were pretty spacious all include a fire ring and picnic table. Free camping for up to 3 days. Right on the lake! Nice dock to go out to fish on as well. 1 vault toilet. Nice big parking lot for boats and trailers! Right off of i90.

Very quiet, isolated camp spot. This is the best spot to set up: Cross the one-lane bridge > make a right till you hit the parking lot > make another right towards the sign that says "sportsman access (or something like that)" > stay straight until you are prompted to make a left. Instead of making that left, stay right there. Spacious enough for you to set up a tent and park your car.

Went with the family in mid May on a perfect weekend weather-wise. If you drive past the first couple grass campsites and continue on the narrow road with water on both sides, just off to the right is a single secluded campsite amongst the tree. The best site there imo. privacy, lots of trees so the site gets a good amount of shade but sun still pokes through, perfect. 

Mosquitos weren't so bad that it affected us but we all had a few bites. My only knock on this site, which isn't much, is that you can see homes from the sites. What can I say I like to feel like I am far from everyone. 

Good site to camp for a family.

There are several dispersed sites up here along Pack River. Good for horses, camping and solitude.

We camped at Cooks Lake for two nights, this past Friday and Saturday. There were 4-5 camp sites at the main campground, well-separated and each with a fire pit. There is a vault toilet that was disgusting, beware. Swimming/small boat access is through the main campground.

Hop out onto the road and keep heading the same direction and you'll come to a couple of other little pods of sites, most had fire pits, and they were fairly level and well-separated as well. 

We turned around and went back and past the main campground, and took the next downhill driveway toward the lake. The driveway ends at a decent raised fire pit with a ledge for a pan or pot. There is a small level area there for chairs. Past the fire pit, it slopes down to the lake. The beach is dirt and sharp rock, and mostly sloped, probably 150 feet long? and narrow. There is another steep entrance to this beach at the other end, from a pullout on the road above. We decided to stay there because it felt pretty secluded, and there was one spot that was level enough for a tent…there was 12" of beach between the tent and the water!

We were 'invaded' by groups of fishermen/women/families both mornings pretty early, one was rude, one was quiet. But, the early mornings on the lake were worth it. The mist rising and the vast, green mountains, right in front of you! Birds everywhere, woodpeckers in the birch trees and killdeer darting down to the water. Chipmunks and rabbits. Tadpoles and turtles and little water snakes. The water was warm and we swam all day. Bats at night, and the stars!!

Excellent camping experience.

Cute little dispersed campground approx 6 sites. At least 2 of them are good for me trailer although I wouldn't try if you're not experienced with towing. The road to get there was approx six miles of gravel winding single lane road. But so worth the drive for the beautiful shaded sites and the open Lakeview sites. Not alot of traffic comes through during the week. Has one vault toilet that was pretty clean but bring your own tp. Also it is bear county so be sure to bring bear proof containers although it was so hot when we went that the wildlife was hiding out...lol

It’s a small area, but there is a big space for large vans and campers and as you go down to the lake there are two campsites next to the bathroom that are perfect for tent camping. (if you can get the spot)

I followed the road past the sportsman’s access sign as suggested by someone else. Turned left at the first corner, found one campsite and continued. The road turns into private land and I had to turn around. Camped at the first site. Wasn’t bad. Very open. Right near the water. Good gravel road. Only saw 2 other people while there. One stayed at the corner. Stayed one night. A deer walked right through camp.

For a free stop on the way to a primary destination, this was the most pleasant surprise. Strolled in at 11 pm and although it was dark & other campers, it was easy to find a spot. The morning revealed a beautiful lake/dock, clean pit toilet and pet friendly space. It was very simple, but perfect quick stop for us.

Rose Lake campsite is a nice spot minutes right off of the highway. The original posting has the public access area for the camping but the camping area is near the boat launch(take your first left when going to the public access). Near the public access there is a outhouse. When you get to the correct area there is a mowed area to park your travel trailer, setup a tent or park your RV. This area is very buggy so be prepared, we stopped in late July. There is no cell phone service too! Check out our blog at www.unnadventures.com or follow our journey on facebook or instagram at Unnamed Adventures.

We pulled in after sundown — so grateful to find a safe spot close to the Hwy (en route to our next national park). There was no entry signage beyond the boat launch. The Dyrt map and other reviewer’s directions were accurate. There seemed to be two large lots (one grass, one gravel) that were camping permissible. We were in the second gravel lot. There appeared to be 5 total groups of campers spread over two spacious lots with plenty room for more. There are fewer options for tent campers. One is a little clearing and fire ring under the trees at the rear of the gravel lot (see pic). The gravel lot proved to be a very uncomfortable slant for our rooftop tent.

Toilet. Pretty little lake (but nothing you’d want to swim in. Pretty murky and gas polluted water by the boat launch). 3 night limit. Not a place you target for a vacation, but a lovely free spot along the way.

Hwy 3 > Cross the 1 lane bridge called "South Bull Run Rd" > continue to the right past a few houses until you reach Coeur d'alene Trail access parking area > cross over trail and continue down parallel West Bull Run rd

4 spots that I found.  One is a large loop with fire pits already setup (where I stayed).  There's one back-in that used to be a 2 track trail next to a small pond, another pull-through loop next to the main sign, and one more site down the road towards the forest.

You're really close to highway 3 so there's road noise from that.  More common actually was the sound of boats going down the Coeur d'Alene river which is even closer.  There's another camping area across the river (which is apparently contaminated with toxic materials from mining lol).  I was here during 4th of July so people were lighting off fire crackers there as you'd expect.

Overall it's a very beautiful spot, with multiple small lakes, deer grazing around, and plenty of wildflowers.

Had no issue with my 25ft trailer as the road was in good shape.  Larger rigs would probably be okay too, but I'd scout it out.

This is Idaho Fish and Wildlife property and has a 3-day maximum stay.

This is a nice little lake. Perfect for peace and quiet. Not a ton of boats around, so that makes this place perfect for swimming, kayaking, and paddleboarding. It does have bathrooms, which is always better than a hole in the ground, but the "doors" are just shower curtains. There are also coin operated showers. There is a tiny store. I would suggest bringing everything you need. The lady that runs the place is just a sweetheart. This lake was pretty warm in the fall and the water was gorgeous! Crystal clear!

Great little lake, no wake lake so it’s great for kayaking! They do have docks for small fishing boats. The bathrooms are actual bathrooms. They do offer a coin operated shower! Crystal clear lake with lots to offer

This campground is now closed and owned by private resident. Very sad to see this place go. We have been coming here for 25 years.

Older private campground with power for $40. There is a dump at an additional cost of $10. Some sites are dry camping only. Lake access, but campground is in treed meadow. Sites are not clearly defined. We were here on Wednesday and only ones here other than permanent trailers. Showers are $2 and you get key from camp attendant, Deb. Horse shoe pits and volleyball available.

Neat little spot that worked good for a last minute place to camp. Was headed from Montana and got up there right at dark. Decided to drive down to the water (that was hardly there) and found myself barely on the edge of lake bottom mud. Didn't get out till the next morning, it was a great time.

It is a steep but well maintained forest road. There was one clear pull off early and it had someone in it. Wanted some privacy so I kept going. Someone had parked on the side of the road and went past that. Found a blocked entrance to a forest road about a mile in. Wasn't flat but not bad and off the road a bit with a place to walk the dog.

Pulled into the campground late at night. It was snowy so we were the only ones. We were able to pull off beside of the bathroom. There were 2 picnic tables/fire rings off to the side. Nice lake when waking up. Would explore other options next time but is nice if you’re in a pinch.

I struggled with this place, it would be really great if the two lot areas were level. There isn't a level spot anywhere. That is my only complaint, except for the people who parked right in front of the only restroom for the entire night. That was weird trying to get around their overspilled car to use the restroom. 

Plenty of room for people to camp. There was one car when we arrived, and more pulled up throughout the night. You can walk down to the lake and sit on the dock to watch the sunset.

We didn't feel secure at this location, it was very removed from the main road, it was not looked after (grass was very high), and it seemed liked someone was living there permanently. Generally weird vibes.

Great, easy location. The last road is unpaved for a short bit with minor potholes.

A handful of spots near the lake in three different nooks. A bit uneven but a couple blocks worked for us.

A bit busy with the boat dock and lots of bugs at night. Still worth it!

We were glad we read the reviews for directions & info about spots — like others mentioned, the best spot is a big grassy area amongst the trees (continue past the first circular parking area). However, the entire area has sportsman access, so we listened to gun shots most of the day… not exactly the peaceful nature vibe we were hoping for. Would likely come back, but pray it’s a day of no hunters

We were able to get our fifth wheel (40ft long, 13 1/2 ft tall) in and out easy! Lots of spaces and places to turn around. After crossing the bike path, take the first right onto the dirt road at the sportsmans access sign (parallel to the small paved parking lot.) Like another said, the best spot is past the first circular area. Keep going down the road and you’ll see a big shady area in the trees. (You can go further along to two more sites more suited for smaller pop-up campers, tents, or vans.) Close to the water so of course, there were some bugs: lots of bees and mosquitoes.