Best Tent Camping near Lava Hot Springs, ID

This free campground has about 10 sites to choose from, mostly RV but occasionally tent camping. There is a bathroom, no luxury showers or a store to buy firewood or items. It’s about a 10min or less drive to Lava Hot Springs in case you need supply. This campground is right next to the river, has a small waterfall and beautiful scenery all around. The road is extremely bumpy so if your have a low car or trailer be careful. The pros of this is its free. 1st come 1st serve, nice, quiet area. The cons, no shower, hook ups, store and the train that runs by Lava Hot Springs can be heard.

We stayed at Mary’s once and that’s all we will ever stay. The site #7 was right on the river, and just too close to #6 & #8...Yes they did have showers and bathrooms and that’s the 2nd star but the tent campsites super narrow. Now I don’t know how the RV sites are but the tent sites below were nothing to really brag about to friends and family. As we saw people float down the river, we were not allowed to get into the river from our campsite which was right in the river. Let’s just say We’ve been there, done it, and no need to return..

This beautiful campground lies close to the end of St Charles Canyon near the Minnetonka Cave.  It has 2 sections one of which is mainly for rvs and the 2nd which is for tents and camper Van's.  The RV spots seemed kind of close but the tent sites had ample room along with metal fire rings and picnic tables.  There was a vault toilet up near the rvs  and down by the tent sites

Cute spot for a night or two, super close to Lava Hot Springs where you can soak and shower.

This is a surprise off the 84 in Idaho so if you are looking for a campground off the main freeway this is it it's got a dump station it's got rv camping tent camping it is got a great history and it's got a section of the original organ trail that you can check out and if you're into birding definitely a place to go and you can fish the river upstairs that go down to it and it's just got Frisbee golf course as well so I definitely recommend it

Stayed here a few days on our way to Oregon. Quiet campground off the interstate. Not much nearby though. Showers/ restrooms clean and great hot water. Good place to ride bikes. A lot of history in the area. We also visited Lava Hot Springs which was about 1 hour away. Great spot

Came through here in late Sept 2022. It is very near the Lava Hot Springs and I loved the little campground. It was full and delightfully quiet... until I realized that the train is anything but. The tracks are directly adjacent to the camping spots and the train came through blowing its horn multiple times during the night. If that doesn't bother you, then the recommendation is a five. Free and very good location.

With the pool/water slides across the river, and the shuttle stop for tubing the river across the street and down the road. This campground is the perfect place to enjoy all the water offerings during the summer at Lava Hot Springs. If you are going to rent tubes to ride the river rent through the front desk at the KOA. It is 15% off the price of renting at the tube pickup location.

Right off the road and convenient to Lava Hot Springs. Pit toilets are easily accessible and it is well marked. However one fatal flaw is that there is a railroad crossing about 100ft from the sites, and we experienced about 8 trains coming through between 1am-6am. Which meant that every time they crossed they had to sound their horn multiple times which was absolutely ear splitting. Needless to say, everyone camped there when we were there on a Saturday had a rough night.

Our 1st camping experience here was good. The site we got was one nice and a good size. We had a view from f the river down towards the lower loop which was closed due to weather. Pros were good location, close to the bathrooms/showers which were kept clean at all times. The camp host was super polite. Overall it was a nice 1st time trip . Cons were we could hear some traffic from the freeway,other than that we will go back and try the lower tent camping..

When you have a big group and you like to stay up late and have a good time and be loud while at lava hot springs, this is the place for you! There’s a toilet located here, bring your own TP though. The river is fun to jump in and hang out in! The trains come frequently and at times are pretty loud but it doesn’t bother our group. The camping is free and 100% worth it compared to the strict port neuf or koa campgrounds. TONS and TONS of space. It’s never been full when we go. There’s loads and loads of space. It’s only about 2 miles away from town so if you need to go to the bathroom, go to the store, or shop around or eat at a restaurant, it’s not far away at all! Our two dogs love all the free space as well! There isn’t much shade but there are shrubs all around near the river. So bring your shade tents!

This is one of my favorite places on earth. They have tent sites, van sites and a selection of shelters to choose from. Camping gets you access to the hot springs from check in until 4pm the next day. There’s running water in the bathhouse with a toilet and shower. There’s yoga classes included in the price as well. The bathhouse also has a nice little shop with snacks and gifts. They sell tinfoil dinners too if you want to really relax. Highly recommend! They offer volunteer days as well where you can camp and soak in exchange for volunteer work.

Cold winter months and you need to get away? Wow we rented a cabin three times this last winter. Great little cabins with bathrooms the hot pools were 100 feet away and a heated swimming pool. In the summer time the pool is nice and cold and there are water slides. There is RV and tent sites as well as group sites and 3 small cabins, 3 medium cabins and three large cabins/houses. They also have several yurts. This year they also have covered wagons you can stay in(cute idea on a tent cabin). The staff is friendly and courteous. There is a small cafe and store. There is a restaurant that has a great sirloin dinner if you call ahead to make dinner reservations. Over all a great place to camp summer or winter.

We almost didn't stay here because of the low reviews due to the train noise but we were in Lava Hot Springs and this was such a short drive up the road. We arrived pretty late and there were still spots available. We found one big enough for our 21ft travel trailer and vehicle. The site was pretty level too, which we appreciated. We stayed in the last one on the upper loop. The stars were SO bright! We've veen traveling for almost a month and stargazing last night was definitely one of my favorite moments. The train did come by before we went to bed. But we didn't hear it the rest of the night. I am a light sleeper but I do sleep with white noise on, so maybe that helped. The morning views were beautiful! Would definitely stay again!