Best Tent Camping near St. Maries, ID
Tent camping options near St. Maries, Idaho include several primitive sites in the surrounding national forests and BLM land. Tingley Spring offers backcountry tent camping from July to October, while Lakes Divide Road provides dispersed tent camping opportunities with more accessibility. Giant White Pine Campground near Harvard features clean tent sites with nearby hiking and biking trails.
Most tent sites in the St. Maries area have minimal amenities, requiring campers to pack in their own supplies. Tingley Spring is a hike-in only site with no drinking water, toilets, or established fire rings. Lakes Divide Road's dispersed camping areas are accessible via a steep but well-maintained forest road with similarly primitive conditions. Giant White Pine Campground offers more established facilities with picnic tables, trash collection, and vault toilets, though it sits close to a highway with consistent traffic noise. Fire restrictions are common during summer months, and many remote tent sites lack cell service.
The backcountry tent camping experience around St. Maries provides excellent access to outdoor activities. Tingley Spring serves as a good base for extended backcountry exploration, with one visitor noting, "My favorite spots are these back country spots... remote enough to sight in your guns and do a little practice." Giant White Pine Campground offers access to trail networks for hiking, mountain biking, and bird watching, making it particularly suitable for active tent campers. While some sites like those at Giant White Pine provide ideal setups for hammock camping, others along Lakes Divide Road offer more privacy but steeper terrain. Based on reviews from The Dyrt, primitive tent setups in this region are best suited for self-sufficient campers who value solitude over amenities.