Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Mackay, ID

Beautiful campground located at the mouth of Sawtooth Natl Forest. Right next to Wood River and surrounded by huge cottonwoods. Vault toilets and well water from spigot available. Pets allowed on leash. Good basecamp for exploring the Sawtooth area and Ketchum! I only knocked it down to 4 stars for highway noise which was rarely bothersome.

This campground was an great place to stay while in Lava Hotsprings. It's a two minute drive to the Hotsprings, which are amazing. The campground is clean and very well maintained. Cleanest shower houses and bathrooms we have seen at a campground in a long time! The camp hosts are friendly and the park is very pet friendly! I would highly recommend this spot if you are stopping in Lava Hotsprings for any amount of time!

Easy access, adequate parking, fairly priced and enclosed, clean toilets. This is the best place to camp for an early ascent of Borah Peak.

There are no questions where the trailhead is and even at the peak, you can glance down and see your car. We had no issues with theft or vandalism. The smell of sage permeates the air as you look out over the open fields at camp.

NOTE:  No water available at the site.  We stopped in Mackay on our way there to get water, food and fuel.

We were able to find a site at the last minute, after 2 surrounding sites were full. Camp host was friendly and prompt to check us in. Nice big site. Dogs allowed on leash. Bathrooms available, but didn’t use. Some highway noise, but not bad. Nice place to stay with a creek running nearby.

It's a free campground ran by a disabled vet. He can't and won't charge anyone, though lately has been allowing donations to pay it forward and help with things like recovering the power installation etc. Come make a friend, share a beer, hang as long as you want as long as you're not a jerk. Dogs are welcome and the place is named after one.

What a great campground, we had site #27. The RV pad was pretty level and overall a super clean site with a creek. Great deal for $30 in the off season. Also very dog friendly, and a cool playground for kids. Some things that would have made it 5 star for us was better signs/lights as it was very confusing for arriving after dark, and offering ice would have been nice, but super close to store and also would’ve liked WiFi. Not a huge deal though, with AT&T we got 3 bars. Definitely will be back next year!!

I love this place I was a little stressed out because I was driving quite a distance and wasn't sure if I was gonna make the cut off time but I did and they were supernice superfriendly dog friendly AC units the only thing is it took a while for the room to cool down it would have been cool if they were able to set that air conditioner about an hour before arrival but no biggie it's just right in the heart of ATV central the reservoir only downside is there's no real espresso coffee shop if you're from Washington you know you know But highly recommend I would stay here again for sure.

This is what you would expect in the wilderness of Idaho! A unique location, and an experience worth having!

Please obey posted fire safety warnings as Idaho is plagued by enough man made wildfires each year!

Have fun and leave no trace!

I initially reviewed this campground under Wood River Group (reservable) before the Dyrt added just the campground (first come only). Both the group and individual sites are at the same location. You can check out my extensive review and photos there. I had already deleted moat of my photos before I got the notice this one was added. Here's that post.

https://thedyrt.com/camping/idaho/idaho-wood-river/review/122472

Craters of the moon is a truly unique experience, that can only be found in Idaho. Highly recommended!

Incredible views after driving through most of Idaho this spot is a relief! Water /fishing access ,private spots , even one really nice paved spot close to entrance , don’t miss the turn it’s near a cattle gate on the gravel road

This campground is located just north of Catchem Idaho just off the highway. 27 sites. Very clean and well-maintained pick toilets. Larger rigs can also stay at this campsite. Highly recommend.

This is an amazing secluded spot deep into the Sawtooth Mountains of Central Idaho.  We've been coming here for years and my fathers been coming here since the 60's.  Not much has changed except for better upkeep of the roads and the occasional vault toilet that are scattered across the area.  The campground is free to stay at and has a dispersed feeling to it.  There are no developed rings or tables but you can tell where people usually set up camp.  For the most part this is an RV campsite mostly because of how the spots are arranged.  You could put a tent in here if you wanted but there are way better spots just up the road out of the RV'ers reaches.  These forests are pretty wild still so definitely keep an eye out for black bears.  We haven't seen any Grizzly in this area but they are definitely in the Salmon/Challis area which isn't too far away.  Also if you're from Idaho this is a good spot to ride around on your motorcycle or ATV and get some pristine alpine fishing in!

This is a decent spot if you need a place to stop in between Idaho Falls and salmon. Nice and quiet middle of nowhere spot for a middle of nowhere drive. There are a ton of other campsites and sleeping opportunities along the highway north of here that are part of the birch recreation zone.

I was happy to find this low use campground in the middle of the summer, when almost everything seems like it’s packed to the gills. There are ample trails that are available kicking off straight from the campground into the wilderness, for hiking, walking, snowmobiling, mountain biking, etc. Sites are big and able to accommodate even larger RVs (although the guy across from me struggled to fit his 30’ rig in his spot, he did it!). Some of the best that Idaho has to offer and definitely a hidden gem.

I loved this campground we showed up in the early afternoon on a Thursday and they had plenty of spots still available. You are completely immersed into the lava landscape at this campground I really enjoyed it. The sites were nice size bathrooms were very clean lots of families and friendly people. A must if you are in Idaho. Note: if you plan to walk through any of the caves you need to visit the visitor center to get a permit.

I have never been to a campground like this. Considering all they have to work with are rocks, it is a good campground right next to the visitor center. The only reason I'm giving it 3 stars is because it's just not my style. Don't be expecting Idaho streams and trees. You are truly in a remote area here at Craters of the moon. I highly suggest going down in the caves where you can crawl in the lava tubes. If you are planning on camping here in the summer, be prepared for extreme dry heat.