Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Menan, ID

I have not personally spent the night camping here, but I do work for the Forest Service and wanted to give more information about the Darby Canyon dispersed camping sites. I also had a friend stay here for three nights last September and they had a good time. There are about 10~ sites (I will check and edit when I can) all along the canyon road, some are just right off road and others require a short drive down beaten paths to find the sites. All of these sites (except 2 or so very close to the road) are past the cattle guard. Depending on the time of year, many of these sites may not be accessible. Snow typically stays in the canyon until mid-June and starts collecting in October. The area may also be buggy at the height of the summer (July 2024 had been atrocious). There is limited cell service down most of the road and it completely disappears the closer to the Wind Cave trailhead you get. This area has a 14 day stay limit, meaning that once 14 days (13 nights) have been reached you must move at least 5 miles away to continue camping on forest service land and cannot return to this canyon to camp for 30 days. This is in a bear food storage enforced area and any bear attractants (food, pet food, soaps, sunscreen, etc.) are required to be stored properly in a locked hard sided vehicle or other bear resistant containers. Fires are allowed but must be put out dead (cold to the touch) before leaving a campsite. This canyon is regularly patrolled by Forest Service staff and ranger law enforcement officers, especially on the weekends, to keep up with the food storage and fires out dead orders. Hope this helps weary travelers that are deterred by low-rated reviews.

I arrived on a Sunday evening and there were still plenty of areas to call home. During my seven nights, it was a great stay! Only a few people stayed the entire time I was there and many of them were just one night campers. There are a couple spots that have fire rings and picnic tables but anywhere that allows driving is fair game. There were two clean valult toilets and a host that would drive around every morning to make sure you don’t stay longer than then 10 day limit. There is a boat launch near the bathrooms so there’s a lot of traffic during the day and on the weekends. While I was disappointed I did not see any moose during my weeklong stay, there was an abundance of prairie dogs. Also, almost every camper that came through here had a dog and I believe most of them were off leash and well behaved but if you are not a dog person or do not have a dog that enjoys other dogs, I would rethink before coming here because it is very likely dogs will be running around off leash. Great spot it you have a boat or kayak. Only 15 minutes to Driggs to stock up on supplies. Great AT&T service. If you were coming from drags, do not follow Google map instructions. Continue down the road until you hit 6000 and turn right. If you follow the Google map to turn on the first road, it is extremely rutted and unless you have a very high clearance, likely will damage something.

This was an amazing spot. The only thing is if you have dogs watch the outlet from the river that's right behind the camp spots....it's pretty mucky.

Campsites are a little tight but great common area’s. Bathroom are some of the cleanest I’ve ever seen and little pond is crystal clear and perfect to let the dogs swim.

Adequately spaced sites, next to a creek. Well maintained, nice hiking trails. $12/night. Allows dogs and has good cell service. Picnic tables and fire pits.

We arrive without a reservation and they were able to accommodate us. Brinley staff clean bathroom and showers. Nice view of the lake and had grass for the dogs to do their business. It was a gravel lot a pretty much leveled. It’s a great in between place going towards Yellowstone.

Quite little campground close to Jackson hole and several trails on the pass. You can reserve spots here or check out the dispersed camping just past the campground entrance. If you veer right after pulling off the hwy thereare several nice dispersed spots along a small creek. Dogs are welcome here!

Very nice and quaint campground. Smaller tent sites and large double tent or trailer sites. Right on the river, good for fishing. Very clean, even the pit toilet bathroom was clean. Nearby to hot springs, off roading/short hikes/mountain or dirt biking trails and areas. Only $5/night with your National Parks Pass. Dog friendly and awesome fire pits (clean and not warped racks for grilling) We will definitely be back.

I spent the night here on a cross country road trip with just me and the dog. It was free which was awesome. It was deserted which was both great and unnerving for a single newbie camper. We woke up to snow and had a great dawn hike on the hike/bike trails. The campsites are well-loved/worn and some were under water/mud. Because it was both off-season/midweek, it didn't matter at all, as I could pick almost any site.

We loved meeting Glenda the host. We traded beers and traveling advice. The campground is right off the mountain road but the sites are tucked back and private. We stayed in one of the back sites by the river. There was even a little open field space at the back of the campground that we were able to play fetch in with our dog. The bathroom was a vault toilet and well maintained. Only a few spots but we showed up late afternoon and there were a few available. Close to Jackson and a good place to stay for a very reasonable price. Just load up on that mosquito repellent.

It was a great location. Our site was large and shaded by beautiful mature trees. Very helpful and friendly staff/owners. We had a minor issue when we got there after hours. We tested the number provided and they were super quick to get back to us and help us problem solve. The only thing I didn’t love was that we had to share an electrical juncture box with our neighbors. So there was one 50 amp and one 30 amp on the box. They had already plugged into the 30 which we needed also. Neither of us had a dog bone attachment. I think maybe that just needs to be specified when booking and offering full hookups. We got the situation sorted because of kind neighbors and helpful staff. I would definitely stay again though. My kids loved playing in the lake.

Heise Hot Springs, Idaho - not bad for a quick getaway with friends

This is a beautiful, quiet camp. On weekdays anyway when we stayed. Clean bathrooms, wonderful and flat sites, easy hookups, kind people. Close to hot springs and Idaho Falls.

$25 for full hookups, $20 to dry camp. gets very dark at night. Seems like it fills completely full on weekends, but is quiet in the week. 15-20 minutes from Idaho Falls, but you feel like you’re in the boonies.

Would come back again!

Stayed here a number of times. Very close to Victor Idaho which has great food options. It’s a very simple campground with very few amenities. Kids fishing pond nearby.