## Overview

 Sunny Gulch Campground sits along the shores of Salmon River in the forests of central Idaho. 
## Recreation

 Excellent fishing is right out your back door on the Salmon River, with rainbow trout, Westslope cutthroat trout and occasional hybrid cutbows and bull trout available. Sunny Gulch lies in the heart of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. A myriad of excellent hiking and biking opportunities are available, and an estimated 750 miles of trails crisscross the valley and surrounding mountains.
## Natural Features

 The campground offers spectacular views of the Sawtooth Mountains. Summer wildflowers are plentiful and lodgepole pines provide partial shade. Temperatures are cool with an average summer high of 78 degrees and a low of 40 degrees. 
## Nearby Attractions

 The Alpine Way Trail begins less than a mile from the campground, and the Idaho Centennial Trail passes nearby. Redfish and Stanley Lakes are nearby with great boating, water skiing, canoeing, kayaking and fishing. Numerous additional sparkling lakes and streams dot the area. Popular area events include an Arts and Crafts Fair in July, and Wagon Days, Salmon Festival, Quilt Fair and Fireman's Ball in September.

Sunny Gulch Campground

Just down the road from the entrance to Redfish Lake is where you will find this campground on the backs of the Salmon River. I never did really figure out if this is part of the Redfish Lake campground group or not, but I do know I enjoyed camping here and that this campground is owned by the Forest Service. There are two main loops, an upper and lower, and there is no distinction between tent and RV sites as there are no hookups available. The upper loop is closer to the river but doesn’t really have what I could see as great access. I was on the lower loop, which gets more sun as it is further away from the bluffs on the river (and had less trees). I was able to walk from my site to the river fairly easily even though there were no trails and as a result was able to watch rafting groups float on by. The campground was really well maintained and actually looked very new, though the host said it had been around for several years. The vault toilets were very clean and odor free, and it looked like most sites had nice gravel tent pads. Good steel picnic tables and prep tables(I am loving the prep tables the forest service is installing in campgrounds!!) as well firepits and large car/rv pads were really nice too. Showers and laundry are across the road at Redfish Lake along with great trails, horse rentals, and lake activities. Other nearby activities include hot spring sitting and white water rafting.

Great camping next to the Salmon River

I stayed here for a night without a reservation. My spot was a short walk to the river. The campsite is clean. There is a cleaning table next to the picnic table to clean fish if you catch any. 
My campsite was next to the freshwater well pump. The drinking water is very cold and clean. Bathrooms were clean, outhouse style. 
I gave it 4 stars as the ground where the tent goes was almost all bedrock and little sand/dirt to tap tent stakes into. 

A great place to camp that is next to the Salmon River

Redfish lake was all reserved, so we ended up camping across the highway here.  Great campground with the Salmon River running along right next to the site.  Little trails leading down to river.  Sites were spacious and had picnic tables and fire pits (no fires allowed when we visited).

  

Got day-use access to Redfish lake, which had a great "dog beach" for us to stop at.

Great Alternative to Redfish Lake Campgrounds

Sunny Gulch is a NFS campground right between Stanley, Idaho and Redfish Lake. The views are incredible and the location can’t be beat. The campground has two loops with the lower loop being closer to Highway 75 (not noisy at all at night) and more appropriate for smaller rigs while the upper loop has some larger sites with some above the Salmon River. All sites have picnic table, prep table, fire ring and tent pad and are quite large and lots of space between sites. Sites are FCFS except for 10 reservable sites; camp host is fantastic and super friendly. Firewood is available at the host site and vault toilets are located throughout the campground and water pumps are also positioned within a short walk of most sites. The Ranger Station is 1/2 mile away and has four dump stations ($12 as of this review) and free fresh water if the pumps at the campground don’t suit your needs. 

Redfish Lake and all that encompasses is 1/2 mile to the south; the town of Stanley is beyond the Ranger Station about 2 miles to the north. We’ll definitely stay here again if we’re in the area!