Best Campgrounds near Murphy Hot Springs, ID

So the spot at the end where my pics are is awesome, but that’s it.

This is a park that allows camping. It’s not a place you feel comfortable driving off and leaving your stuff out. The toilet is dark, no light, so filthy, and a real loooong walk from the last site, you’ll want to drive it.

The grass areas are nice, but camping there is weekends only. The stream is pretty, loaded with suckers, and at night an otter or similar animal, whatever idaho has, lives there, I wouldn’t swim in it. There are lots of birds an owls in the cliffs.

So far below the cliffs that you get cooler air than up top, plenty of light all day but direct sun for about four hours.

It’s funny I had friends near the front. The way the sun travels they would be cold in the morning wearing coats while I was basking. In the evening i was sipping tea by the fire and they were seeking shade.

If you stay in that best spot be prepared as it’s the trail access and you have to let people come through. Idahoans are nice though so it’s not a problem

Details: Tables everywhere Trash and toilet available Water spigots available but conflicting reports on their safety Twin falls is a 25 minute country drive away Balanced rock is right around the corner Seasons go like this; pleasant, snake city, bugs galore, cold as my heart. Good luck timing those Free, staycation days limited to 7 on my visit but a local said it might change. Wear gloves but take a visual in the trash cans after any weekend parties, especially if you have kids. I took a visit to the cop shop and the pawn shop after i looked, just sayin

Absolutely overrun with flies.

Such a sweet free campground. I didn't use the toilets, but really appreciated the trash service. It's a popular site - so expect lots of other folks there. Also I have mounted solar panels and starlink. Choose your spot carefully if you have either of these. The rock walls and trees will cause obstructions. So pretty to look at, tho!

Whilst a little eerie due to its location—you will be (hopefully) alone off a farm road, had a quiet, good night here. The hike up to the rock is awesome too, with a great view. This spot’s just a picnic table and a trash can (no facilities of any kind) but for a free spot on a long road trip, it’s sweet.

Called about 2 hours out. They had room. Great level spots. Very nice landscaping. Helpful staff. Absolutely a come again place.

Edited by geometry dash subzero 1 day ago

Nice but there seems to be only one real spot. We stayed along the gravel road since « the » spot was talken.

I'll start off by saying the campground was really nice, and we were bummed we couldn't stay. As soon as we got out of the truck, we were swarmed with flies. So we hopped back in to find a different spot, thinking it would be different. It wasn't. There was nothing we could do to battle the flies. So we left. When we got to our next stop, we spent 60-90 minutes killing the hundreds of flies that got into our trailer. The campground seemed pleasant and well kept. It would have been nice if it wasn't for the relentless swarm of flies everywhere.

Arrived late night on a Friday(no sprinklers on). Most sites were taken but we found a picnic table and set up.

Super quiet and peaceful. Balanced rock is right down the road. Don’t blink or you’ll miss it.

I’ll add if your looking for a quick stop near a highway, this isn’t the place. Took awhile to get there but overall worth the stay.

Bonanza Gulch dispersed area has two sites, one on each side of the bridge. These are the most scenic spots for seeing the mountains, having wide open camp, and some amazing rock formation views. The drive to this campsite is a mind blower. Excellent quality gravel road, crazy rock formations, pretty trees and crystal clear and accessible creek. The road and campsites are all very clean. With the exception of the Jarbidge Wild and Scenic River launch site, there are very few camping pullouts until you get past the town of Jarbidge when there are many. There are many camping options in this area and all are free. No potable water in this area. No cell signal at all anywhere near. The nearest reliable cell signal to the east is 35 miles east of Murphy Hot Springs, which is closed with no opening in sight. Not many people or much traffic. The Jarbidge Wilderness looks amazing.

The drive to this campsite is a mind-blower. Excellent quality gravel road, crazy rock formations, pretty trees, and crystal clear and accessible creek. The roads and campsites are all very clean. With the exception of the Jarbidge Wild and Scenic River launch site, there are very few camping pullouts until you get past the town of Jarbidge when there are many. There are many camping options in this area and all are free. No potable water in this area. No cell signal at all anywhere near. The nearest reliable cell signal to the east is 35 miles east of Murphy Hot Springs, which is closed with no opening in sight. Not many people or much traffic. The Jarbidge Wilderness looks amazing.

Juniper Grove has four campsites and fire pits, a pit toilet, a lovely creek with accessible pools, tucked up against a rock wall. No water, no data access. A short distance down the road, there is a developed site along the river with four camps as well. super pretty area, easily accessed by passenger vehicles. No services anywhere near.

Lower Bluster has three creek-side campsites, all on the water and very private, and a pit toilet. The drive to this campsite is a mind blower. Excellent quality gravel road, crazy rock formations, pretty trees, and crystal clear and accessible creek. The road and campsites are all very clean. With the exception of the Jarbidge Wild and Scenic River launch site, there are very few camping pullouts until you get past the town of Jarbidge when there are many. There are many camping options in this area and all are free. No potable water in this area. No cell signal at all anywhere near. The nearest reliable cell signal to the east is 35 miles east of Murphy Hot Springs, which is closed with no opening in sight. Not many people or much traffic. The Jarbidge Wilderness looks amazing.

Upper Bluster has one campsite on the water, nearest pit toilet is at Lower Bluster or Pine Creek. The drive to this campsite is a mind blower. Excellent quality gravel road, crazy rock formations, pretty trees and crystal clear and accessible creek. The road and campsites are all very clean. With the exception of the Jarbidge Wild and Scenic River launch site, there are very few camping pullouts until you get past the town of Jarbidge when there are many. There are many camping options in this area and all are free. No potable water in this area. No cell signal at all anywhere near. The nearest reliable cell signal to the east is 35 miles east of Murphy Hot Springs, which is closed with no opening in sight. Not many people or much traffic. The Jarbidge Wilderness looks amazing.

This whole area is absolutely lovely and extremely accessible. No cell signal anywhere near. Note that Murphy Hot Springs is not open as of August 2023 and no dates are planned for its opening

Seems to be popular among fisherman. I seemed to be the only person not there to fish. Electric, water and toilets on site - no showers. T-mobile service good. No trails nearby.

Beautiful and quiet. Stayed on a Tuesday night. No one else was camping but there were a few people fishing. There is a toxic algae bloom in the lake so we couldn’t swim which was a disappointment.

Excellent free place to stop over for a night or two. It doesn't really have a campground feel or setup, but rather it's a park that allows overnight camping for 7 nights.

Tents are ok but not allowed to stay on the grass during the week, because the sprinklers are on all night long (and will also spray your vehicle if you park along the grass).  There aren't any designated or numbered camp spots, but it seems that each picnic bench and grill sort of counts as an individual spot.  But I'd say if you have a small vehicle and all the "spots" are taken it would be fine to just squeeze in somewhere for the night.

No cell service down here.  There are trash bins and a pit toilet.  Nice river running through and a lot of people come here for the day to fish and picnic. There's also a little playground for kids.

Easy access for medium-ish RVs, not sure if I'd attempt to bring something huge down here.  The park is a long road with a small turnaround area at the end but when we were there a big class A was blocking a lot of the turnaround area (because they didn't parallel park at the site and pulled in straight instead).  Also a lot of low hanging branches scraped as we drove through, so something taller or bigger might have issues.

Nice area close to the water and just off the side of the road. Lots of other RVs

Pit stopped here on a road-trip w/ my 2 pups & they loved it. Bathrooms were rough but it Was a bit crowded when we went. Water is right there, pretty scenery. Spots are small & your pretty close to neighbors so I personally wouldn’t camp here but was a fun place to visit! Plus balanced rock was a cool site to visit & hike around. I’d visit again given a chance!

Pleasantly surprised at the quality if this BLM camp ground. Each site has a concrete slab covered with a hard topped shade structure covering a picnic table and BBQ grill. Just past this there is a fire ring. Sites are well spaced and most have a tree or two. Pit toilets and surrounding areas very clean. In mid-October there were about 4-5 other tents/RVs.