Best Tent Camping near Sandpoint, ID

Tent Camping Reviews near Sandpoint, ID

654 Reviews of 44 Sandpoint Campgrounds

• J

  Jill S.

  Guide

  Jul. 29, 2020

  Navigation Campground

  Very quiet

  Not accessible by car, and takes a couple of hours to hike to it, but well worth it for the solitude once you’re there. While all the drive-up sites on lower Priest Lake were full there was no one at Navigation! (Literally NO ONE)

  A few rocky beaches with boat access. A vault toilet, a few picnic tables and fire rings, but lots of space among the trees to set up camp.

  It took a little over two hours to hike in from Beaver Creek campground. Plowboy campground is about at the halfway point.

  No water available.

  I hiked in and had the place to myself.

• 

  Cathy E.

  Traveler

  Sep. 11, 2023

  Bald Knob Campground — Mount Spokane State Park

  Quiet, Clean, and Beautiful

  What a gem! Small state park campground at about a 3000 ft elevation with only 8 sites. Dry Camping only, no dump station, but clean flushable toilets(no showers) and potable water available. Two beautiful trails are accessible from the campground and lots more are within a 10 minute drive with plenty of parking at trailheads. Local foliage is wonderful, views are fantastic from the trails. Quiet hours are enforced and observed- very quiet and relaxing. The camp host, Linda, does such a wonderful job of keeping everything neat and tidy and checking in with campers to see if they have what they need. Sites are small- only one was a pull through. I wouldn't attempt with anything longer than 23 feet. Each site has a bear box, really nice and large picnic table, firepit and tent pads that are nicely cushioned with pea gravel. Our site,#3, was centrally located without a ton of privacy, but it was still a nice site and folks were respectful and quiet. Decent cell service in the campground. I am absolutely coming back.

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• F

  Fast Internet U.

  Scout

  Sep. 17, 2025

  Bull River Campground

  Beautiful but the State of Montana has mismanaged to the point of absurdity

  This used to be a great place to camp, especially at the Pavilion. However, two recent camping trips were not so great. There is no water, even though there are cisterns everywhere. There is no trash pickup. Restrooms are visited and "cleaned", but there is no evidence that anything was done. There are still tons of bugs and webs. I think they just replace the TP. Last visit was at the Pavilion with a men's campout with around 20 individuals. No trash containers, no bear boxes, and no water. We brought 250 gallons of water with us and pulled up to where the fire pit was, so it would be close to the fire for safety and convenience. The day after we left the site, a ranger called and accused us of "off-roading" and not placing our food in the non-existent bear boxes. We weren't "cited," but the temperament of the management is that they want you to pay the same price for camping without a host, water, trash, bear boxes, or clean restrooms. If you wish to dry camp, there are plenty of spaces, but it is definitely dry camping. Beautiful campground with severe management issues, all blamed on"lack of funding".

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• C

  Celine K.

  Ranger

  Oct. 29, 2019

  Scotchmans Peak

  Steep but rewarding!

  Talk about a hike! This is a pretty steep trek, with rewarding views at the top. Be sure to read trail reports and weather reports before heading out. North Idaho weather can be pretty finicky, especially at high elevations. Make sure to be aware of wildlife as well! Scotchman's is known for mountain goat sightings, but as they become more accustomed to people they can be a little aggressive. Keep a safe distance!

• 

  Douglas S.

  Ranger

  Jul. 31, 2019

  Noisy Creek

  Large campground on Sullivan Lake

  Noisy Creek is a large campground on Sullivan Lake's south side. It Is run by the U.S. Forest Service so provides lots of amenities. Some of these include a dock, boatlaunch, Day use facilities, trash pickup/bear bins, water, and vault toilets. The site says it has nineteen campsites, but I swear there were many more than that plus 4-5 group sites on the group side. The pricing is as follows: Single site:$20 Extra vehicle:$10 Day use:$5 The camp host had firewood for sale at$8, which is good because you are 20-30 min from the nearest small town. Be aware you are in bear country here so camp appropriately. Bear Boxes are provided in site as well as fire pits, picnic tables and tent pads. The sites are spacious and fairly separated also. With a quick walk to the lake it is a great summer spot to take the family! If I am not camping in the dispersed sites on the north side of the lake I am here. Overall a great campground you should check out!

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• J

  Jill S.

  Guide

  Jul. 29, 2020

  Plowboy Campground

  Remote, Primative

  No car access which makes it much quieter and less used. I was there on a hot July weekday and there were only two parties camping, both which had come by canoe. There is a Vault toilet. There are a few picnic tables, and a few fire rings down on the lakeshore, but lots of sites in addition to the developed sites scattered in the trees. No running water. A beautiful, easy trail to hike in to the campground which took about an hour from the trailhead.

• J

  Jen

  Traveler

  Aug. 12, 2025

  Bumblebee Campground

  Not much to praise

  Coeur d’Alene River Road has SO many places to boondocks and camp, I wouldn’t waste our money on this campground again. The pit toilets were clean and the fire rings and picnic tables were in good shape, hence the two stars. Lots of wasps. No water. Nothing to do within walking distance. Find a boondock spot and save the $28.00

• 

  Marcus K.

  Guide

  Jun. 10, 2024

  Sullivan Creek Campgrounds

  Campsite 8

  This site #8 is one of the larger sites at Sullivan Creek.

  It’s right next to the river and about 150 yards from the road.

  At the site: Fire Ring, and a bear box. Across the road there is a vaulted toilet along with a few campsites there next to each other.

  Pack in and pack out! Sullivan lake is about 2-3 miles west and priest lake is 20+ miles to the east. If you do not have a 4wd vehicle I wouldn’t recommend driving on the service road to Priest, and depending the time of year the snow pack about 10 miles in will stop you!

• 

  Dave S.

  Guide

  Aug. 6, 2020

  Bull River Campground

  Average USFS pay campground

  2020 cost is $16 + $8 extra car, half off with Federal parks pass, & it's average for a Forest Service pay campground. There's water, & you can fill a holding tank, but no power or dump. The lower loops are very close together & less shade. The upper loop has more shade, bigger sites, but sound rises from below. You can hear the conversations and generators of your lower neighbors. Our site was next to a vault toilet - we could smell it. There was lots of noise, e.g., road, train, barking dogs, etc. The 2020 camp hosts were very intrusive. They stopped us in the middle of the road while they inspected our front license plate (we aren't required to have one), then interrogated us, without masks, about where we were from, what we were doing & how many dogs we had. We have a nice RV and look like average middle class folks. Maybe it was because we were in a Class B Van, but our van cost more than most class As. This is a self-pay campground so unless I need firewood I don't need to be forced to stop & be questioned by a volunteer. While we drove through looking at sites one host tailed us on foot through the CG. Five minutes after we began to set up they showed up, not wearing masks, wanting money. I didn't think volunteers were supposed to handle any money. We'd already paid at the iron ranger pay station & they seemed disappointed to not get the money directly from us. Then, within a minute, they returned, not wearing masks, & fussed because we hadn't gotten the tag on our campsite post yet - we were still setting up & hadn't had time yet. They weren't social distancing & we thought they were very peculiar and intimidating.

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