Best Campgrounds near Menan, ID

This was our third time at Heise Hot Springs, and every time we go—it just gets better. Our kids love it, we love it, and the entire place feels like a peaceful, family-friendly escape. 

We love that we’re camping on real grass(not gravel or dirt), and the large fire pits make evenings around the campfire feel extra special. The hot springs are just a short walk from the campground, which is a huge bonus when you’ve got kids(or tired feet). Whether we’re grabbing pizza, ice cream, or hitting the restaurant, everything is close and super convenient.

The campsites are wide open and well-spaced, giving you breathing room and views—not neighbors on top of you. Drivers are respectful and go slow for kids, which is huge in our book. One of the best moments? A staff member picked up me and the kids and gave us a lift back to our camper—friendly, thoughtful, and exactly the kind of service that makes this place stand out. 

It’s also close to Idaho Falls if you need to make a run for supplies, but honestly, once you’re here, you really don’t need much. They’ve thought of everything.

The only thing that truly sucked—and obviously nothing to do with Heise itself—was hearing that President Trump had been shot while we were camping. It was a heavy moment during an otherwise joyful weekend. We’ll never forget where we were when we heard that news.

Heise remains one of our favorite spots to unwind, reconnect, and make memories. We’ll absolutely be back again—and again.

Stayed at the trailhead parking lot boondocking (No toilets, no water, no electric).  Fairly level area with a fire ring, picnic tables under a shelter, metal charcoal grill and easy access to the lava field (Hells Half Acre) hiking trails.    Access from US 20 to the trailhead parking is gravel and easily accessible for all vehicles with several large turnouts that can be camped at.  The rest of the loop past the turn to the trailhead parking is not graveled but still passable by most vehicles.  I would be more hesitant to use the loop in wet weather where the ground may be soft.

Unfortunately as you can see in a couple of the pictures not everyone cares for our public lands appropriately, there is some garbage left around and someone has taken it upon themselves to use signs and structures for target practice.

- AT&T has 2 bars of LTE and very slow data with a 243ms ping time and a 10Mbps download once it eventually started 

- T-Mobile has 3 bars and my hotspot was able to achieve 18.85Mbps download although it too had a long ping time of 292ms

- Starlink has an unobstructed view of the sky with a 226.6Mbps download speed and 27ms ping

The park is nice and clean, appears to be recently paved or resurfaced.  The spots are relatively level. Restrooms are clean and nice shower is large.  The 12 pull through sites have 20/30/50 Amp outlets and potable water and each has its own picnic table.  The dump station is just past the sites there is a seprate potable water fill 50' from the dump station which has its own hoses and water for flushing tanks.  

There are two areas of grass designated as tent sites with in ground fire rings and there is one shared elevated charcoal grill.

As of July 2025 the nightly rate is $25/night for Bingham County Residents and $45/night for Non-Residents.  There are envelopes for payment (cash or check only) at the front gate and inside the envelope is an information sheet with the bathroom codes.

- AT&T Service is 3 bars and bounces between 5G+ and LTE my speedtest showed 10.38 Mbps Download

- Starlink is partially obstructed in all of the pull throughs with ~15 outages greater than 2s in 15 minutes but has download speeds of 157.93 Mbps when not obstructed.

- T-Mobile is 3 bars of 5G and my speediest showed 310.58 Mbps download speed.