Best Tent Camping near Swan Valley, ID

Pro: easy access, right off the highway. Con: right off the highway, traffic noise. Located right off Hwy 189/191 about 8 miles from Hoback Junction the WEST side of the highway. I camped here for 1 evening before a Grand Teton summit trip. I chose this campground for decent proximity to GTNP (45 minutes away) and the availablity and easy access of sites. I believe there were 12 sites that all had picnic tables and fire rings. There were several other cleared sites, some without tables and grills, that had alpha identifiers other than the 12 numeric sites. Not certain how many alph sites, but looked like tent only sites. They were all $15 nightly and an additional $7 for extra vehicle. They had one site with electricity, right next to the camp host. this one site is $25 a night. The campground has pit toilets, bear boxes, water, dumpsters. The Hoback Runs next to several of the campsites. I would highly recommend getting as near the river as possible to drown out the noise from the highway. Camp hosts were very nice! I only had a $20 to pay my fee with. They brought $5.00 in change back to my campsite after I placed it in the depository. They have firewood for purchase for $6.00 a bundle. I was a runner up in a Dyrt camping contest last month. with my REI gift card I purchased the Big Agnes MountainGlo tent lights and a Sea to Summit sleeping bag liner. Fun to try these out!

$13 (paid $6.50 with senior pass). Camped in site #13 on Sept 22, 2024. Forest Road 582 is washboarded most of the way toward the campground; access to the forest road is from Idaho, east of Ashton. Campground is a short drive from Cave Falls in Yellowstone National Park (NP fee required). Pull thru sites, some leveling required. Some sites are large, some are small. Sites along the river are nice. Clean and stocked vault toilets. Potable water station in center of campground. No electric, sewer or water hook-ups. Each site has a bear box, table and metal fire ring. Site driveways are gravel. Site #13 is a very large campsite with partial view of Fall River. The river is down a steep bank; may be difficult to access. No trails at the campground, although there are excellent trails in the national park.

Camping on the banks on the banks of the Warm River, which actually is quite cold, can’t get much better than this! There are several options here- tent camping in a tent only walk in area along the river banks and under some pretty good hammocking trees (best sites are #12, 13, 16, and 8 because they have some space from neighbors and are right on the river); RV sites with what looks like at least electric hook ups (best sites for river views and/or privacy are #2, 4, 6, 19); from what neighbors say is pretty good fishing; and an awesome alternative to camping at Mesa Falls if that campground is full. Walk down the road and cross the river to check out a protected area of the river where the fish are HUGE and you can stand with your toes in the river while you feed them bits of bread. The sites all have the usual picnic tables and firepits, with nice level tent pads, clean vault toilets, and firewood for sale from the campground host. The only two downsides are no showers and the campground is wedged between the road and the river, so there is quite a bit of road noise in the day which fortunately dies down once dark sets in. At that point the river covers the road noise (also helpful in the morning). The campground is close to a lot of hiking trails, but there are no trailheads in the campground (so I guess that makes three bummers). All in all, a cool place to camp.

Gros Ventre is close to the southern end of Grand Teton National Park entrance. It's a large mixed use campground with lots of RV and tent sites. They get busy as do all of the campgrounds in or near the park, so get there early to get a site. Even getting there at 11am, we got stuck pitching the tent on an RV loop. Sites all had fire pits and picnic tables and were level. The campground is next to the Gros Ventre River and across the street from Antelope Flats. We were duly warned about bears and food storage (keep your cooler in the car), and bison have been known to wander into the campground in the past. No showers on site, but you can visit one of the other park campgrounds or just drive into Jackson and go to the Recreation Center. For less than $10 you get a day pass that gives you access to the showers, pool, etc.

Absolutely gorgeous campground with amazing hosts especially Ben the cat!!! Super quiet and sites are spacious and far enough away from others you still feel secluded. It is incredibly dark at night, I've never seen so many stars in the sky! No light pollution at all. I really wish I had brought my telescope. Very nice park approved fire rings at each site and firewood available for sale at the host lot. Also large bear resistant food boxes and large picnic table available at each site. Water is available to fill your fresh tank but there is no where to dump grey or black tanks so be mindful of that especially when you have to travel 8 miles down a rough dirt road. Hosts did however reccomend we could empty a couple buckets of grey water in the vault toilet if we had to and even offered to let us use one of their buckets. There are vault toilets available and bear resistant dumpsters. Also no cell service at all but I didn't mind. Beautiful waterfall and hot springs you can walk or drive to. Many beautiful trails to walk as well. This is real camping folks; no hookups, no wifi or cell service ...only fresh water and firewood available. Make sure to bring everything you need as it's nearly an hour from town. Generators allowed until 10pm. $15 a day and I believe it was a 16 day limit. First come first serve, no reservations.