Best RV Parks & Resorts near Malta, ID

When planning our visit, we were confused by something on the website, so I called to get clarification. The staff member that I spoke with was very friendly and answered all my questions. When we arrived, the staff member at the park was very friendly and accommodating. The site we had reserved had a next-door neighbor, but there were several empty sires without direct neighbors and she happily changed our site so we had more breathing room. This park has a big open field designated as the dog park and the RV park as a whole is very pet friendly. We were in site 17, which was a 50 amp site so we had to use an adapter for our 30 amp trailer. Hookups were conveniently located and included water, electric, and sewer. The site was a super level gravel pull through although they also had some back in spots and tent friendly spots. This park is right off the interstate but we really didn't notice the road noise. The bathroom and shower was clean and well kept. The town as a whole is small but cute and has a great city park. We didnt eat at the diner in town but were told by family that its a great place to eat. We were there for two nights and will definitely stop there again when we're in the area.

Smoky Mountain campground is very close to the entrance of City of Rocks NR and just slightly further is Castle Rocks SP, however, the grounds are managed by the state park. There are some RV/equestrian sites that have 30/50 amp power and water hookups. There is a dump station on the road to the grounds but it was closed for repairs when we visited. There are plenty of pit toilets around the area and the ones we used were quite clean. Spots are mostly back-in but pretty easy access. The camp hosts were very friendly and the camp reservation includes a parking pass for the State Park ($10 value). The RV sites are very private and nicely spread out with pine trees in between. Great views of City of Rocks. Plenty of biking and hiking trails around and TONS of climbing. The visitor center is about 2 miles away and a general store another half mile beyond that. There’s opportunity for gas and food on the way to the grounds (both Albion and Almo have options) but best to get what you need before you leave the major highway. Having hookups at a State Park with such awesome views was sweet and the grounds are very well maintained. Reservations seem hard to come by during the high season.

The relationship between City of Rocks National Preserve and Castle Rocks State Park is still not clear to me as this campground appears on the National Park Service website, although it is an Idaho State Park. That said, the park rangers seem to work cooperatively. This campground is delightful. Located about a 7-mile drive/walk to the entrance of City of Rocks, Smoky Mountain Campground is situated above the valley providing a wonderful view from many sites including space #19 where I parked my campervan.  I believe the walking distance to the reserve could be shorter by taking any of the hiking trails from the campgrounds rather than going along the paved roads which first go away from the City of Rocks then back up again, making a big "U". 

During my one-night stay in February, water, showers and bathrooms in the campground were closed for the winter season. A very clean, pit toilet is located in the equestrian parking lot across from the campground entrance. The distance from the campsites to the bathroom will vary from quite close to about 1/4 mile max. And during the winter season, there won't be much competition for the spaces close to the bathroom, as I was the sole user during my time there. 

In addition to the breathtaking views, the sites offer privacy from 3 sides though all face the loop access road. There are picnic tables, fire rings and electrical power. I did not note if water was available as it would have been shut off in February in any event.  There is a dump station about 1 mile down the road toward the exit. I do not know if it is open in the winter.

Check-in during the off-season is accomplished by envelope collected at the entrance or directly to the ranger who came by in the morning to check-in. The rate was $27 per night. Definitely worth the money to stay in this tranquil campground so close to the magnificent City of Rocks.

We stopped here on our way home from a recent trip and was a good stop over point. I’m not sure what activities are possible as a destination campground but maybe water sports?

The good:

• Easy on and off from the highway
• Clean bathrooms
• Easy, pull through sites
• Very friendly staff
• They have a grill which will deliver breakfast, lunch or dinner to your site

The mixed:

• It is an RV resort laid out like a grassy parking lot
• A lot of resident campers

The bad:

• The highway was very loud from our site
• No picnic table or fire pit

This beautiful state park is located right off of the freeway about 7 miles outside of American Falls, Idaho. There is a little bit of road noise at the park because of the proximity to the freeway but it wasn't a bother at all. The views of the river are beautiful and the sunset was amazing. There are a lot of trails to walk on here, and since the park is pet friendly our three big dogs walked the trails with us. There is a disc golf course, although we didn't try it out. The camp host was great. The bathrooms were clean, although only half of them are open in the off season. The only draw back we could see is that the spots aren't very spacious, so if you're new at parking your rig, or if you have a really large rig, it could be a tight fit. We were in a 33 ft TT and the pull through spot (17) was plenty long, but kind of narrow. Spot has 50 and 30 amp hook ups as well as water if you camp during the summer-no water in the off season.

We stayed here the end of September. Our Garmin RV GPS and Google Maps had us exit earlier than exit 216 off of Interstate 84 coming from the NE. The emailed state park instructions have you get off at exit 216. Since the roads looked RV-friendly on Google Maps, we took the earlier exit. It was fine, but exit 216 would have been more of a straight shot. The RV GPS and Google Maps eventually followed the brown Walcott SP signs all the way to the campground (CG). We had a couple of interesting turns at the far side of Rupert, but no big deal. When we arrived at the CG check-in building, it was unmanned. Since we had paid online, we paid the $7 vehicle fee per day via envelope and then proceeded to the CG. As a side note, the next morning, we got a call from the park office that our tow vehicle was included in the nightly camping fee, so they gave us our envelope back. We saw a right turn to the tent and boat ramp area and decided to go straight, and as we rounded a corner, we saw the RV campsite sign and proceeded to pull through site 5 with water and electric. The site was plenty big enough for our 40’ 5th wheel and our F-450. The water and electric were in the middle of the site, which was nice. There was decent water pressure, and we had a clear shot to the north sky for Starlink; however, to the south were mature trees. This site had decent spacing between the adjacent sites. We got 2 bars on Verizon. There are two tent areas, one that’s to the first right with the day-use area and another that’s adjacent to the RV CG and cabins. Most sites here will take larger rigs, and the center and north sites will give both north and south shots for satellite. There were a couple of interesting quirks with this state park. 1) The park’s sprinkler watering times were special, with our site getting an hour's worth at 1:00 PM with five rainbird sprinkler heads. However, the grass and trees were in good shape for this desert-ish area. 2) As we have seen with COEs, there’s a dam between the lake and the river, so when they open or close the floodgates, there’s a siren that goes off until the process is completed. We had this happen our first night at 1:00 AM. In the park’s defense, they have both of these activities posted in several locations. There are a ton of areas to walk your dog, and we saw deer during our walks. There’s a dump station located as you enter the CG area. We enjoyed our stay at this well-managed state park.