Best Equestrian Camping near Mackay, ID

This is a great location. The owner of the property, Scar, is very generous in offering his property for free to stay at to complete strangers. This is dry camping, no water or sewer. There’s a dump station with water close by off the main highway. He does have a few outlets we saw but didn’t use them. Owner is friendly and generous. We enjoyed the nightly campfire. Read his website before arriving, all he really asks for and be respectful. Craters of the Moon is not too far. We hope to stop by again one day. Idaho is beautiful.

The guy is welcoming. Nice little place for anyone who’s looking for a nights sleep. Just be mindful of the campground and just relax👍🏼

Talk about a great find after taking a wrong turn at 1.am free sites with plenty to pick from. When you check out the website make sure you read the whole thing, the guy is hilarious, had my girl and I laughing the whole time, dogs had a blast were able to run around the whole time with out leash,. I would rate more than 5 stars if I could

The first part of the road allows for 3-day max camping, but a little further in, you’ll hit 16-day max stay! The sites further up are away from the others and run along a stream. Still further in, you’ll hit a Y in the road. The right side leads you to a small parking lot with bathrooms and access to a small pond, the left leads you up to more sites. Not too far past the pond, the dirt road is less smooth and has tall grass growing in the middle of the road. I scored a gorgeous site, with a campfire pit already established. The site overlooks the pond, with the Sun Valley Ski Resort seen in the distance and has a gorgeous Mountain View on the opposite side. Absolutely stunning! Plenty of ground squirrels and butterflies and have only seen 2 cars all day.

This forest service land is a quick drive down Lake Creek Rd from Hwy 75 just past the town of Ketchum in the Sawtooth National Forest. You'll drive through a residential area so mind your speed as there are kids around and lots of cars parked that were crowding into the road a bit as there were construction workers building one of the massive houses along this road. 

The paved road comes to an end with a large parking or turn around area then turns to a very washboarded dirt/gravel road that runs behind people’s houses so maybe drive a bit slower to keep the dust down until you pass that point. 

There are multiple areas that are large and mostly flat that pull off the side of this main dirt road. The views are amazing and it seemed quiet. We did not stay here as it was too hot at the time, but we would have because you have nice hiking or biking opportunities here. The pullout spaces are large enough for a good sized rig, we had plenty of space for our 26’ class C. A couple of the sites had stone fire pits but fire restrictions are in effect so no fires at this time.  There are plenty of sites here and they were almost all free when we visited in September.

There are no amenities here. No garbage or water. You are fully in the sun with no shade. 

The camping limit is 3 days only. There is one garbage can at near the large turn around/parking area before the road turns to dirt but it was small so just take your trash with you. 

Good ATT and Verizon cell reception.

This is a smaller campground tucked back against the mountains.  Good shade trees.  Close to hiking, fishing and mountain biking.  Campsites have a picnic table, fire ring with grill.

Good spot not too far back the road. About 12 sites here. First come. Set against the side of the mountain. Simple bathroom. Nice creek running nearby. Quiet with good chance at wildlife sightings.

This is a fee based campground with a host that offers a first come first serve camping experience. We got in late in the day and were happy to find a spot. The ground was a bit limited for tent camping but we ended with a great location near moving water. The sound of water created a very serene environment for rest. The real treat came when we saw the beauty of the night sky unencumbered by city lights; the Milky Way was on full display.

 This is a very well manicured campground that sits directly off of highway 75. It is very small and mostly sunny. There are nice lush grass areas where the sprinklers were running and was very tempting to just lay there after a hot drive. 

Sites are close together, lined up along the outer edge of the loop, and there is zero privacy. The picnic tables are covered with a shade structure and there are fire pits. Also toilets and water. 

A friendly host was also on site. Sites very in size but we saw a couple of bigger trailers there. 

There was a dumpster for trash but no recycling. The campground sits well above the river and very close to the highway so there is road noise. 

It was nice but we did not stay here as it seemed cramped and there are too many free options in this area.

$10/night

$5/night when the water gets shut off generally around October. 

No cell reception for ATT, Verizon or TMobile

Stayed here for two nights. The first night I have the whole area to myself. The second night there was two other campers. Doesn't seem to be super popular or high in demand. So finding a spot shouldn't be a problem. There was about six or more parking/camping areas. No Wi-Fi or Verizon signal. There is a toilet available. Access to the river as well.

 Though this campground sits along the highway it is easier to tolerate noise when its free! 

The campground loop is gravel and has “pull next to” (bump out?) type sites with covered picnic table and a fire pit. There are also pit toilets and a hand pump water spigot. There is also a boat ramp and a day use area. 

The river is very shallow and the bank is quite muddy -- our little dog sank up to her belly. 

No privacy here and lots of road noise but you get to see the river and the meandering cows across the river. 

Did not see any wildlife unless you count the swarms of tiny bugs of the variety that squeeze their little bug bodies through your screens. 

Zero cell reception ATT, verizon or TMobile. The WeBoost was able to give us bars of LTE but still was not very usable.

Good for an overnight but not much around to keep us occupied for anything longer.