Looking for an adventure where you can explore Murphy Hot Springs and then fall asleep in your tent? Find the best information on tent camping near Murphy Hot Springs, including sites, reviews, and tips for getting the most out of your camping experience. Each spot offers quick access to one or more of Murphy Hot Springs, Idaho's most popular destinations.
Two-wheel drive vehicles are sufficient to reach the campground, located on the East Fork of the Jarbidge River about half a mile north of Murphy Hot Springs.
Juniper Grove Campground has 3 developed sites. This site provides access to the Jarbidge Willd and Scenic River. The Jarbidge has a short boating season, typically it only has enough water to float in the spring. The river has challenging whitewater and sections that most boaters portage. Two-wheel drive vehicles are sufficient to reach the put-in, located at the confluence of the West Fork and East Fork of the Jarbidge River about two miles north of Murphy Hot Springs.
Set along the Jarbidge River surrounded by large trees.
Surrounded by large trees near the Jarbidge River.
This campground is located on the Jarbidge River just south of the actual town of Jarbidge. Campground has trees to provide shade during the warm summer months.
CLOSED DUE TO FIRE DAMAGE - CLOSED INDEFINITELY (updated Nov 2022)
Adjacent to the Owyhee (Oh-WHY-HEE) River, a trout stream lined with willows and native brushes. Fishing for trout in river is available. Wildhorse Crossing CG is located in the Owyhee Canyon on the Mountain City Highway north of Wildhorse Reservoir (fishing!) and is right along the Owyhee River (fishing!) and lots of good opportunities for OHV recreation and many two track and dirt roads for mountain biking, hiking; has two double restrooms, 19 sites, no water, and is $5 per night. Not reservable.
Traveler
Absolutely overrun with flies.
Legend
Clean sites. Covered picnic tables. Bbq and fire pits. Pit toilets in one circle away from the lake. Near the lake has two flush toilet bathrooms and two high volume showers. Quite a walk from our site
Ranger
Very close campsites, and quite busy on weekends. The pool is wonderful for family's and kids. The staff is excellent. Hardest working lifeguard at the pool I've ever seen. It was 95 and we needed to escape the heat and this did the trick with a 30amp site. Water and Dump on site too. Lots of picnic tables for day use and many tent spaces. But all very close together.
GuideSuch 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!
GuideWhilst 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.
Scout
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
Traveler
Nice but there seems to be only one real spot. We stayed along the gravel road since « the » spot was talken.
Traveler
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.
TravelerArrived 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.
Guide
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.
Guide
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.
Guide
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.
Guide
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.
Guide
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.
Guide
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
GuideBeautiful campsite with shade trees, late afternoon sun, closely spaced sites, strong Verizon internet signal, and a paved road that's nice for riding a bike. But the real beauty of the place is the fantastic swimming pool and hot tubs. While it is a mecca for rowdy children, the pool is large and the temperature and delicious texture of the water make it an absolute delight.
GuideSeems 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.
ScoutBeautiful 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.
LegendExcellent 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.
ScoutVery clean, nice bathrooms, flat spots. Amazing fishing
Guide
Nice area close to the water and just off the side of the road. Lots of other RVs
Guide
SO MANY CRICKETS! I paid before finding my campground and was unaware at how many crickets flooded the area. It looked like the ground was moving. It was 10$ a night so not a huge loss. Beautiful area with covered picnic tables and a great view of the water. Probably won’t be back. Woulda been an awesome spot if weren’t for the massive amount of crickets.
GuidePit 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!
ScoutPleasantly 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.
GuideThe camp area is small you can park next to a bench and sleep over night. You are allowed 7 night max. Stream runs through the site. Looks more like a day camp but overnights are ok. The 2 Biggest spots are at the end of the drive, but a small trailer would be fine. There is only 1 pit toilet located tword the entrance.
LegendThe road here is paved with some spots gravel. A little bumpy on the way in but not rutted, we have a 28 foot truck camper. Very easy to drive on. We rode our bikes down to the docks and the water was very low so, a lot of bugs and algae IN the water. We heard coyotes screaming every night (which was amazing!) The view is absolutely breathtaking. Locks on the electric sites, no showers and one of the toilet huts were closed off (closest to the lake). There is no wood here or for sale here so be sure to bring your own. It got a little breezy each day but calmed down at night. Very hot during the day and very COOL at night. Great sleeping weather! We also seen a cat roaming around and it woke me up around 3am crying at my window. Very clean and if it wasn’t for the flies (so many flies. more than i’ve ever seen in my life..) and having to pay a new fee i would have given it 5 stars.
LegendThis is a beautiful spot and relatively convenient to Boise (which otherwise doesn’t have a lot of great camping spots nearby). The river itself is beautiful and so much fun to raft, but this section is kind of spread out and shallow, making it essentially impossible to float on. Still worth a stop, but nowadays I feel a bit depressed looking at the water levels and thinking about days gone by. This is BLM administered land, if you’re really wanting to integrate boating into your stay I’d recommend calling ahead to ask them about the situation on the river.
Tent camping near Murphy Hot Springs, Idaho, offers a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in nature, with stunning landscapes and a variety of campgrounds to choose from.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular tent campsite near Murphy Hot Springs, ID?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Murphy Hot Springs, ID is Big Cottonwood Campground with a 4.5-star rating from 2 reviews.
What is the best site to find tent camping near Murphy Hot Springs, ID?
TheDyrt.com has all 14 tent camping locations near Murphy Hot Springs, ID, with real photos and reviews from campers.
