Best Tent Camping near Sun Valley, ID

Paved parking spot, with access for a smaller camper; a few tent sites. Drop toilet, fire pit, picnic bench, Disabled parking spot. True tranquility and bliss, and skies for days.

This place was so cool, I mean... not temperature cool, but so amazing to see! It was, however, pretty hot. There is little to no shade, so if you are not in a trailer and are tent camping (or roof top tent camping like we did), be prepared to cook a little bit outside. There also was a decent amount of wind, so that'll cool you down a bit.

With the temperature out of the way, let's talk about how incredible this place is. You are literally camping around lava boulders and lava fields. A decent hike leads you to the "tree molds." You have to kind of know what you're looking for, but once you find them (see pictures below), you are just blown away. There are also smaller hikes that take you to lava tubes (some still have snow in them!) This is a must see if you are looking for something that you generally won't see anywhere else. 

The visitor center is at the top of the entrance road and has a good amount of gifts/ stuff to buy as well as information about the park. If it's hot, they also have AC... so... take your time a browse!

Really cute private campground right off I30 near Lava Springs, Idaho

Some highway noise. Very clean sites. Vault toilets, clean and decorated nicely. Really wish they had a bathhouse and place to wash dishes. Firepit. Picnic table with flower pot was really a nice touch. Level, gravel, back in sites. Prices a bit high for just water and electric $40 to $55 They also rent tiny trailers, $55 a night. Lots of tent sites as well. Grass playground. Creek nearby. No camp store but they do sell firewood. Owner Annie, super friendly and accommodating. Refunded two nights since we wanted a shower. Only charged $5. 9/5/19

This BLM campground has 26 paved sites with water and electric and trash bins throughout, dump site up the hill. First come first serve with a $14 nightly fee $7 with senior pass. Tent camping in a separate area. Boat launch and covered picnic day use area. 2 camping areas, one offers some shade the other has beautiful views. We picked the views! Can be a bit windy I'm told by the host. Would rate this a 10 if I could!

I passed this place on Labor Day weekend and decided to stay. They officially don’t have tent sites but had some grassy area where I could pitch my tent anyway. That did mean there were no picnic tables or fire rings for me but the RV sites did have them.

The bathroom/showers were small but clean.

The bar/restaurant serves good food and the staff and locals were very friendly and offered all kinds of suggestions for my trip

Right along the river, not too far but not too close to all other campgrounds and town. Some tent sites didn’t have any grass/shade, but still very put together. Had man made port-a-potty’s which were very nice. Renovated old time trailers are for rent per night/weekend also. We were located right by the river so the water blocked out much of the freeway noise however not certain about other sites. There is also a trail leading right to the hot springs from the campground.

Free designated dispersed campsite along Sawtooth Nation Forest Road 137. Camped here at the end of September 2024. Very large designated dispersed site set downhill from the forest road; no issues with dust from this road. The area is level. May be able to park 3 rigs. Tent camping is possible back from the parking area toward the metal firering. This area can accommodate 3 or 4 tents, or one big hot tent. Corral Creek is just down a short path from the campsite. The sound of the creek can be heard at the site. Very quiet area. Mountains on either side of the site. The parking area is dirt and gravel. The "tent" area is grass and dirt. Don't see opportunities for hammock camping. No cell service. No shade; solar recharging and Starlink possible. 3 day limit. Hiking trailheads and vault toilet at the end of the forest road.

We stayed here in October when the water was turned off and the sites were half price.  There were no services at all including water, electric or dump station.  Regardless the sites are all amazing.  The park is very fun and interesting.  Depending on how much hiking your want to do will determine how long you stay.  We did limited hiking, arrived early in the day and only stayed one night,   We took the full auto tour and saw so much.  We had no cell service at all, even at the visitor's center and no WiFi.  Campfires are strictly prohibited.  If you tent camp, you will be laying on a lot of crushed lava rock so bring padding.  It was FCFS in October but plenty of spaces were available.  I would definitely come again in shoulder season, I think it would be very hot in summer.

$10 ($5 with interagency pass). First-come, first-served. Camped one night in site #13 on Sept 24, 2024. Gravel road to this out-of-the-way campground was in good condition. Pretty part of the Challis National Forest. Nothing remarkable about the campground itself. Looks like some of the sites have not been maintained in a while; overgrown with weeds, grass and sagebrush. Sites have tables and fire rings; some had shade-awnings over the tables. The vault toilets were clean. The hand water pump did not pump water; water was probably turned off for the season. No payment envelopes were provided - maybe because it was the end of the season. No hiking trails. Most sites are in the open with no shade; a few were shaded near the creek. Gravel campground road and site driveways. Site sizes varied. No privacy between sites. Tent camping possible. Solar recharging possible at my site. Great views of the mountains around the campground. Very quiet, peaceful evening; only one other site was occupied during my visit. No T-Mobile and AT&T cell service. There were several boondocking sites on the way to the campground.

Alturas Lake Inlet campground is tucked into the lovely, shady forest around it. We saw plenty of birds, chipmunks and tiny wildflowers were all over our site in early July. The lake is a short walk but some campers drove over just to make it easier to tote their chairs and water gear. Bring layers - it can is cool in the evenings and at night (40s F) even in July but warm in the day, especially if you are out by the lake. We tent camped at site 17 and although it was near one of the many vault toilets, smaller trash dumpsters, and water spigots, our site was bigger and we set up a decent distance from it. Most sites seemed to have a good distance between each other and enough privacy courtesy of trees and various plant life. We didn’t have any issues, but there plenty of signs reminding campers to be bear aware. (We are pretty careful to keep our food, cooking supplies, toiletries and whatnot in our car when not in use anyway). We did not have cell service (Verizon) and it was a bit of a drive before we got it again. Overall, it’s a beautiful retreat well suited to escaping the heat of summer if you have a tent or small trailer/pull behind.

One of best places I’ve been to. I’d definitely recommend several days if you can as some of the trails are pretty challenging though definitely see the spatter cones and the one before it (can’t remember the name but big black hill you can climb even if not in great shape by taking a break every 50 feet or so. Most unique and gorgeous campground with helpful staff. Most spots have at least a couple sides completely blocked off from other spaces. No designations so you can take as big or little of a spot as you want with everything from pull-through s to tent sites with just parking for a car. Recommend to arrive between noon and 3pm for most options to pick your spot. Planning to go back for maybe even a month later on though have to switch spaces after 14 days. Off-season has no running water but vault toilets are clean. If you have handicap/senior access pass, only $4/night off season. If not, you have to also pay park access fee daily. Payment is one-day only so have to go get new receipt from machine every day but close enough for easy walk to entrance.

Quiet, private campsites. Close to Sun Valley. Place to turn around if unable to fine a campsite. No cell coverage. Only 3 day limit.

WWith this campground you'll get solitude most weekends as most people heading into the Sawtooths go to the Sun Valley Area. Since it is so remote you can also ride around on ATVs pretty much anywhere. A good escape if you dont feel like going a little deeper

Short 12-15 minute drive north from Ketchum/Sun Valley.  Only 1* off because of slight road noise but it is probably not an issue for most sites.  We were pretty close to the highway and it still was not too loud.

Camp Host named Rich is very helpful.  $7 firewood for sale each evening.

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.

Super cute little campground with nice custom touches for the bathrooms. It sits down in a valley near one of the main roads in Idaho so it's not super quiet during the day but they are really good about enforcing quiet hours and people are very respectful. 

It has a creek that runs by it and it has easy access to Lava Hot Springs in town. This is a great site for families with kids with easy access to local restaurants and fun at the springs water park. 

The sites are part of a large field and are ideal for RV privacy but tents are more exposed. I didn't end up setting up a tent in my site, I slept in my car so I had more privacy.

I enjoyed my 2 night stay here. I pitched a tent however it was quite windy due to it being an open area so just stake your tent down well. I had a spot right beside the salmon river and was able to access this campsite via my Honda Accord vehicle.