Each year, thousands of fly fishermen ascend into Harriman State Park and nearby town of Island Park, ID to fish the famous Henry’s Fork of the Snake River. As we planned our Yellowstone vacation, we decided to spend a few days fly fishing and camped at Riverside (Id- Targhee).
Campground Review: Just around 15 miles north of Ashton, ID, and a few miles to Harriman State Park on US Hwy 20, the entrance of Riverside campground is clearly marked. The area was formed by a large caldera and sits about 6300 feet above sea level. Riverside campground is about a mile down a dirt road and sits right on Henry’s Fork. Roughly 30 camping spots and 1 group site. The sites were well laid out and plenty of space and privacy from each site. Surrounded by thick lodge pole pines, we didn’t hear much road traffic. Our site was less than 25 yards from the river, and we had great access with a handful trails leading to several areas of the river. There are a few bear boxes to share with other sites around the campground and several super clean restrooms. Probably the cleanest I’ve used. We didn’t spend a lot of time at the site during the day due to our main objection was to slay trout, but at night after a great day of fishing, we were able to relax and have a good night camping under the stars. The campsite’s fire ring was awesome. Cement ring with a moveable metal grate with a heavy duty cast iron pole with arms to hang your dutch oven over the fire. We have a rooftop tent but the campgrounds have some nicely laid out tent boxes to park your tent. We did see some sites with concrete flooring around the picnic areas. Overall, very well laid out campground with some good sites to enjoy the great outdoors. We camped at A012. We really had to go out of our way at our site to see our neighbors so tons of privacy. We had a big open sky to stargaze at night. Best of all: No mosquitos. We camped in the middle of August. My boy and I camped at a different campground in Island Park in June, and there was so much standing water that it bred armies of mosquitos. Not this trip. We also had good cell phone reception at this campground. The only bad thing I could come up with is that there was only trash dumpster near the front entrance so ridding your garbage took a little work. There is a boat launch so if you have a drift boat, you can do it right there. Island Park is about 8-10 minute drive if you need some supplies or gas.
Product Review: As a Dyrt Ranger, I get to test products! At this campground, I tested The Vista in hunter green trucker hat from Banner & Oak. As an outdoor enthusiast, I wear a lot of trucker hats and Banner & Oak really stood out from other hats I’ve worn. Stiff, thick material with a mesh backing and secure adjustment to keep my head airy. I really enjoyed wearing it and has quickly become my favorite hat. I really love the color and the high quality patch. If you’re not a fan of deeper hats, I recommend you do not get this hat. It fit my big noggin perfectly. Check out their products at the this link: https://bannerandoak.com/collections/hats
My boy and I headed up to Island Park for Father's Day '19 for a few days of camping and fly fishing. As we first got into the campground, a moose was grubbing on some shrubs. Found our camping spot and no one was around except for a few campers.
Our spot was very spacious and had some cover from the Aspen and Pine trees. Big driveway. There are bear boxes every few spots to share if needed. Our camp host told us that the area received about 11' of snow by Jan and when they arrived beg of May, there was still 4' of snow on the ground. The area had a lot of standing water still in June, which bred massive amounts of mosquitos. The first thing the host said to us was his apologies for the mosquitos.
After lathering with repellant, we headed to the Buffalo river for some fly fishing. It was my 8 year old's first time fly fishing and this river is perfect for first-timers. Most areas are about 2-3' deep with some deeper holes. We arrived at the river just in time for a massive Caddis fly hatch and he landed himself a few 10" trout. We spent the next few days fishing up and down the river, where we caught about 17 trout between us. It made for a perfect camping trip minus the mosquitos.
We didn't spend much time in this campground except to sleep. We spent 2 nights here. This is a nice KOA though. They have so much for you and especially your kids. They had an ice cream station, outdoor movie watching area, pool, playground and other things. You can order breakfast and go to the trailer where it's cooked. Washroom was nice and clean. Staff very friendly and helpful. Being that this campground is near Durango, you'll have a lot of camp patrons going in and out because of all the things to do so expect some noise from them early in the morning and late at night. The campsites were very clean and organized. The only negative that we encountered is that it's right off of hwy 160 so there is some road noise but it didn't bother us much.
Spent 3 nights, 4 days camping at this nice campground. Best pit vault bathrooms of the summer. Camp hosts are super nice and really care about you. This area is such a beautiful area. One of the most beautiful in Colorado and that's saying a lot. Our site was big and it was right by Vallecito Creek. Big drought conditions going on this year so the reservoir was pretty low. The campground is about 1 or so away from the lake. Lots of fishing, boating and paddle boarding going on plus it was hot (low 90s) so the lake is great to swim in. Durango is about 30-40 mins away. We hiked up Vallecito Creek Trail. It's about medium hike but we turned around about 1.5 miles in because our 8 year old wasn't having it that day. We've hiked it before and wished we would have made it to the first bridge which is about 3 miles in but we had fun. The hike is straight up for the first mile. Bring some good bug spray because there were plenty of mosquitos and flies. The flies were biting on the 3rd day so it was annoying but once we lathered up, they weren't such a problem. If you're looking for a full fledge vacation, check out Durango and stay a few nights at Vallecito!
Joined the family down in Chama, NM for a fun 4-day, 3-night stay at this RV park. Good size RV park with all the amenities you need to camp with your RV, Tent or rent a cabin. Friendly staff and clean restrooms and showers. The owners have a spot right at the park and are very nice. Rio Chama river runs right next to the park so you can fish or wade through the creek. We have a roof top tent so we reserved a back in RV site. We were parked right next to the power sub-stations so at night we heard buzzing from the electrical boxes. The owner allowed us to move to the tent sites so that solved that issue. We didn't need any of the hookups so no biggie. They had no problem with us moving there. No bugs and the temperature was reasonable in the 80s and cooled down to 60-55 at night. Pack rain gear if you're camping in July/Aug because the monsoon flows up with some pretty good t-storms. Chama is a nice little town that draws train riders from all over to ride The Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad into Colorado.
What a beautiful area to camp! Bald eagles flying around, plenty of fish to catch and a night sky that shows every star in the sky. Now for the bad: There's like 60 spots. Some campsites are right on top of each other. We had a big spot on a hill over looking the lake through the tall pines, and the site next to us was big but their table and fire pit was just down the hill so there was no privacy at all from their big, wooded site. A big group with several cars and about 5 dogs showed up at this spot and so we listened to them party until way past 2am and their dogs fighting with each other. After they left, one of the paths from our spot to the lake, had dog crap on it. Awesome they didn't bother to clean up after their dogs! Then 2 spots down, campers showed up, and they had 2 dogs that ran amok with no leash. It was hard to walk our dog because their dogs would come up to him as we walked. Also one of their dogs would end up in our camp. WTH! Lastly, we asked the camp host for fire wood and she told us at her site at #11 as she drove by on her golf cart. Ok?? Every camp host we've encountered brought the wood. Not her and again 60 camp sites so it was about a jaunt to her area. It sounded like a big inconvenience for her and so I hiked over to it and there she was to take my money. We have a roof top tent so driving to their site was out of the question. It was a hell of a walk back dead lifting 2 huge bundles of wood tied to twine. At least I got a good work out in.
Anyways, awesome area, too many people and campsites to really make it a 5 star rating!
We stopped in and got a site when we got tired of looking for a campsite in Moab. Clean restrooms and showers. Not much shade and I70 a mile away. We tent camped so the hwy was very loud and the cows in the adjacent field were mooing for a few hours at night. Otherwise, it did it's job by providing us with a place to stay
Great, quiet campground with super clean pit toilets. This campground has nice big sites with shade. The Bear River runs right next to the campground. We enjoyed the hummingbirds flying through camp. There are sites with shade but being some shade because it can get rather warm. We'd definitely come back. The camp hosted, Randy and his wife are super nice! They are dog friendly so bring your canines to camp.
Deep in The San Rafael Swell lies The Wedge Overlook campground. The campground lies right on the rim of The Little Grand Canyon. Beautiful views, hiking and biking trails. Some areas you can put a RV but it is a first come first serve area. Be prepared to drive on long dirt roads. If you love not so developed campsites, this area is a place for you.
Great campground! There's several camping spots to choose with different coverages--trees, partial, full sun, etc. North Fork Teton Creek runs just east and is a nice little stream. There's a few trailheads to hike also. The camp hosts were awesome! Very clean pit toilets and water spigots throughout the grounds. Each campsite has bear boxes for your food, grills, and fire ring. You can also buy firewood from the hosts. Alan and his wife really try and make you feel at home. Don't be surprised if it rains often. Enjoy!