Best Equestrian Camping near Winchester, ID

I was so happy to find this place when looking for a place to stay overnight with my horse. The facility has a perimeter gate as well as gates to each pasture (2). The fencing was nice metal panels between sturdy posts. There was Hotwire strung on the inside of the pasture in places to keep horses off the Arbor Vitae trees. Grass was mowed short and my horse could see another horse all night. He had a big water trough to drink from. The hosts checked on him and sent me updates through the evening while I was in town. I recommended them to others I met on my ride through the Lolo area. I was very impressed and happy with the experience.

PROS: *The campground is very shady which is great when it's 102 degrees (record breaking year). *The sites are pretty level and easy in and out.
*They irrigate so there is lush grass everywhere. *Lots of biking in park and nearby along the riverfront. *Very nice Lewis and Clark Discovery Center *Aspen and Birch Loops DO have RV hookups. Cottonwood Loop does not. *Access to the Snake River, with marina close by *Disc golf course *Close to town

CONS: *NO early checkin. 2:00 is it. They say they need the time to water and clean. They were nice about it. *Bathhouses are DESPERATELY in need of updating and the one in Cottonwood Loop mens room smelled of urine. *Can't really see the river from the campground

It was very smoky when we were there due to fires across the river in Oregon, so we cut our visit short. We will return when air quality returns though.

Overall, a nice state park campground, but a little too close to the city. The bathrooms were decent, with free showers. We arrived around 6pm and the weather was weird, light rain then hail, but it stopped after about an hour. We started to settle in and then a group of maybe 30 teenage boys with a handful of “leaders” arrived around dark taking up 4 spots near us. The kids were rowdy throwing firecrackers until midnight. The leaders did absolutely nothing to stop them and neither did the campground. Luckily they slept and then all took off early around 8am after morning prayers. In hindsight, nothing against the campground other than close proximity to each other and the city and the camp host didn’t break up the “fun”

Camp is decent with a few spots for smaller RV or campers - pit toilet - trees surround - high clearance vehicle recommended - steep in places

You can explore a few miles on the roads by UTV or by pickup while exploring the Salmon River drainage or the Snake River drainage. Traveling to Pittsburgh Landing and Kirkwood from here is considered a short day ride.

Steep terrain surrounds the area

Unit 18

A lot of cattle ranching in the summer and mostly hunters In the fall.

Forest service maps are recommended for travel since a lot just circle back to start, mostly on road, little access for off road travel.

We have tented here several times over the years while motorbike camping, this time was in our 5th with the bikes in garage. We stayed in the Birch Loop with water and hydro hook up. Nice mature shade trees with good clearance. Short walk to a great beach. Staff were great to deal with. Short drive for Costco and such. Great location for a motorbike base camp. So many great roads…especially the Spiral Highway and Snake River. When the jet boats are out playing which seemed mainly on the weekend it could be annoying to some but we really didn't notice it. Birch loop is well shielded from the river by mature trees. Happy Camping. Oh, and don't park on the grass.