Curtis Canyon Dispersed Camping

The road really is undoable for anything but a jeep or a 4x4 and just keeps getting worse and worse. Thought I could push it in my old van bc it’s a tank but I only have 2 wheel drive and after the first two sites were filled to the brim I chickened out and turned around. BMW infront of me and suberu behind me continued up… lots of traffic around 3pm on a Saturday hopefully they found a good spot. Wasn’t worth it for me. Took about half an hour up and a half an hour down wasted.

I find it a little crazy how many people say the road is "good". It's very much washboard and not the easiest to drive. 
As a solo female traveler in a class B, I decided to turn around once I started getting closer to the top.

May 2026 the road is in good shape. Just go slow. Stayed in #9. Arrived about noon on a Friday in May. Many vehicles drove by throughout the afternoon and evening looking for spots. They fill up fast.

For a few miles coming out to the sites, the road is incredibly rough. Like you’ll have to navigate potholes but if you take it slow you’ll be fine— i have a Jeep SUV for reference. Camp sites don’t start until the switchbacks going up the mountain start, camping before that is not permitted according to the signs. Campsites have fire rings and plentiful gravel. Site 1 was a bit tight to turn around in so be mindful if you have a larger rig

There are only 16 spots at this site. Several of them are only accessible if you have a 4WD with high clearance. If have this on my sprinter van and attempted but quickly realized it was not going to work. Maybe a jeep or taco could get up there. The rest of the sites were more accessible but all taken. Luckily someone flagged me down and offered to share their site with me. Super quiet, not far from town. Just get there early, I went at 5 on a Wednesday and all the accessible sites were taken.

Date 7/1/2025 Tuesday Arrival time:4:45P Sites available 3/10 Camp full by 5:30P Total days allowed to camp: 5 Items to bring: Bear spray, fishing license Road conditions: gravel road easy to access even with small car.
2 large sites with room for RV

We had a relaxing evening having snagged one of the large sites. Great views of the Tetons. Walk down to the creek for some fishing. Bear sign visible.

Pass Curtis canyon campground which I think is $10 a night. Go up another quarter mile and on the third Big bend there is a singular spot with an amazing view. Lots of flies if the temperature is high enough, but if you go out a few hundred ft to the second mound, the wind keeps the flies away a little bit. If you go up another quarter mile or so, there's a community spot on the left which I camped at a few years ago with other campers. Seems like about at least a half a dozen regular size vehicles would fit and on the right there's another spot that a family was occupying. Haven't been further up but it seems like each spot on this app is individually marked out

I am a pretty experienced camper. Never in my LIFE have I been swarmed by this many flies and horse flies. Maybe it was just bad luck but this is insane. Truly could not make it out of my tent and car. SWARMS.

Absolutely loved this campsite! Lovely views with a bear box and campfire ring. The sites were also spread out enough that it never felt crowded. We got to the campsite around 4:00 pm and had no issue finding one but they did fill up pretty quickly after us so I wouldn’t get there too late.

We loved this campground and the view it has of the Teton’s. When driving up the gravel road you first come to the Curtis Canyon campground ($10/nightly) but if you continue on the road you will come to the Curtis Canyon dispersed campsites (free). We stayed in site 10 and it has a beautiful view of the mountains. I believe there are 18 dispersed sites on this road and we didn’t have trouble finding one (arrived around 2pm). Each site has a fire pit and ample room for tents or trailers. The park ranger on site was very helpful and alerted us when there were bears in the area. We will be back!

Up on the ridgeline, you can see the whole Teton range, and Curtis Canyon behind you! One fireput by the road, one other one out just a bit in the second pic. I'd drive my car to that one, but it looks a little too sketchy for a Subaru Outback.