Best Equestrian Camping near Sun Valley, ID

The first part of the road allows for 3-day max camping, but a little further in, you’ll hit 16-day max stay! The sites further up are away from the others and run along a stream. Still further in, you’ll hit a Y in the road. The right side leads you to a small parking lot with bathrooms and access to a small pond, the left leads you up to more sites. Not too far past the pond, the dirt road is less smooth and has tall grass growing in the middle of the road. I scored a gorgeous site, with a campfire pit already established. The site overlooks the pond, with the Sun Valley Ski Resort seen in the distance and has a gorgeous Mountain View on the opposite side. Absolutely stunning! Plenty of ground squirrels and butterflies and have only seen 2 cars all day.

We took a chance and scouted a right before the 4th of July weekend and we scored big time. Site #1. Because of the view, we pulled our 30ft class A in instead of backing. We had long range, multi tiered views of the Sawtooth Mtn. The sites are generously spaced with picnic table and fire ring. There is a camp host and firewood is available at their site.. Water is available at the dump station located on the left before you arrive. It services all area NF service campgrounds as well as paid for others not. We had good ATT service 2 and 3 bars. Most of the sites have some shade. There are other disbursed campsites on the main FS road, but we were not disturbed by cars. It is super quiet at night. The night was cool. Lots of hiking , mountain biking and fishing in the immediate area. Ketchum and Sun Valley are 15 min away. The rails to trails multi purpose trail starts just down the road. Super safe place to ride. 30 + miles . We don't want to leave.

What a nice campground!  We had very low expectations staying at a campground that is almost always booked solid (we figured it would be crowded and loud) and is in one of the most popular parts of Idaho. However, the camping spots are large and are nicely spaced.  Even though almost every spot was taken, the campground was quiet and peaceful.  We prefer dry camping, so liked the spots not having hook-ups and drains. Paved roads made for fun riding of bikes, the flushing toilets in the clean bathrooms were a plus, the fresh drinking water was clean and tasted great, there were trash bins close by and our host "Wally" was so kind. With a short walk, you are on the North shore or Dog Beach and a little further is Redfish Lodge, beach and restaurants.  The food was so good and priced well, next time I will likely take less camping food and just eat at the lodge!  (Easy!)  The water in the lake is the cleanest you'll ever see....LET'S KEEP IT THAT WAY PEOPLE!  Unfortunately, this campground is booked out almost the entire summer, so while we want to go back - it may have to wait until next year.

 Another nice first come first serve campground along the Salmon River. Cross the bridge off of Hwy 75 and keep driving down a dusty dirt road to the campground. There is also private property near here so stay to the main road. 

Most of the campsites sit above the Salmon River and just across the river is the highway so you will get some road noise. 

There were a couple of hike-to sites as well (#18 + 19), where you park your car in the designated area then take your stuff up from there. Toward the end of the loop is a horse camping area and staging area for ATVs. There are plenty of trails for various activities for this place: Hiking, Biking, Horseback riding, ATV use, and Fishing.

 There are pit toilets, picnic tables, fire pits, dumpster but no recycling, and hand pump water. Some sites are small but there is plenty of room near the end for bigger rigs. Parking at each site varies by levelness or size. 

There was only one other camper there. Shade/sun mix for all sites. 

Store food appropriately as there are no bear boxes and bears do come to this area. 

Zero cell reception ATT, Verizon, or TMobile.

This campground is not run by the forest service but by a concessionaire, and you will use the iron ranger as there wasn’t a host when I was there. Super clean, all sites along the river side of the lollipop loop are identical with the exception of a couple double sites. There is a fence between you and the river, but not something you couldn’t just hop over to get to the water. Sites on the no river side were less desirable as they didn’t seem to be as large or have good spots for tents. There are a couple of trailheads right in camp which is cool, and there are dedicated spaces for equestrian camping. There didn’t seem to be many campers here, maybe because you have to know to cross the river on the bridge to get back in here. The campground looks fairly new, with very new looking picnic tables and a fairly new looking vault toilet.

A trip into the Sawtooth mountains and a visit to Redfish Lake has been de rigeur for any visit to Grandma’s for as far back as I remember... beginning with a trip in ‘84 when my younger brother heeded the call of the wild spirits and disappeared into the forest for hours, only to be found munching happily on the assorted snack foods of a group of elk hunters he had surprised. This area still retains a wilderness experience despite numerous infrastructure improvements and new campground development. Of note, Redfish lake is within the 1416 square mile Central Idaho Dark Sky Reserve, the first Gold Tier site in the United States. The result is world class spectacular night sky astronomy unimpeded by light pollution, and makes this area a top pick to do some star gazing or meteor watching.

Fauna is abundant in the surrounding area. Deer, elk, bear, marten, moose, and pronghorn antelope all made appearances during my last rip to the area. Fishing at the beginning and end of season might net you Dolly Varden, Rainbow Trout, and Kokanee. The general store has some basic tackle, but the nearest gear and license is in Stanley.

The lodge, separately owned and seasonally operated under USFS special permit, has been in operation since 1929 and offers day rental bicycles of multiple types, horseback riding, boat/canoe/kayak/SUP rentals, a general store, a restaurant, and minimal WiFi and cell service, staying true to its roots wherever possible.

Pro tip: Enjoy the 17 1/2 mile lake loop hike, but if you’d like to split that distance or have other destinations in mind, the marina operates an on demand boat shuttle for hikers to the trailhead at the far end of the lake during daylight hours. No reservation is required, but you can call to schedule pickup.

I got lucky with this campsite. Most of the campground was filled, but this site (#36) had a “see the host” sign on it. Turned out it was only available for that one night, which was perfect for me. Most of the sites had been reserved in advance and I happened to catch it on the one between night. I had amazing views of the glaciers in the Sawtooth Mountains across the lake. The campground is a series of loops, with the best sites in my loop where you have uninterrupted views of the glaciers and mountains. The trade off for the view is that you don’t have any trees on your site, so no shade and no hammock. But the tent pad was nice. The bathrooms are nice and clean, if a bit outdated. When you need a shower you do have to drive to the horse corrals to use the pay showers ($2 for 6 minutes, wait a full minute before getting in unless you like really cold water), but that is a small price to pay. Hiking in the park is amazing! And the only place you will have phone service is at the visitor’s center.