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2025

Spots in Idaho

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  • Kirkham Campground
  • Boise National Forest, Lowman ID
  • Cool spot. Over a little bridge across the Payette River across the highway. A small campground with amazing hot springs a few yards away. Very crowded nowadays.

  • Lava Spa Motel and RV Park
  • private business Lava Hot Springs ID
  • The camping area is just a gravel lot right behind the motel, but it's a beautiful setting right next to the creek, less than 100 yards from the hot springs. Small town, everything there is within ½ mile. He gave me a deal since it's Monday night off season.

  • River Run Campground
  • private business Lava Hot Springs ID
  • THis one is right across from ther Lava Hot Springs Hotel. At the opposite end of the little town from the Lava Hot Springs where I did go.

  • SwiftWater RV Park
  • private business White Bird ID
  • Owner was a right-wing lunatic, but the campsite situation was superb, right on the river. Nice laundry room with shower (costs extra!) and tv

  • Pine Flats
  • Boise National Forest, Lowman ID
  • Kelly Island Campground
  • Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Ririe ID
  • Planning works! This is super sweet BLM campground three miles down the road from Heise Hot Springs. There is a pleasant day use area with river access. The host closes the gate at 10 pm, which is a factor if you have driven back to the hot springs in the evening.

  • Hayspur Hatchery Campground
  • State Park, Carey ID
  • A great little find on US 20 east of Craters of the Moon. Just a nice field with picnic tables and a a few trees on the edges. No services of any kind that I can see - "pack it in pack it out". They're just giving the fishermen a nice place to park their campers. Pretty sweet! Update! There IS a pit toilet, and there is a water spigot! But no place to dump trash, which is fine with me. And there is a donation box.

  • Cove Creek Hot Springs
  • Sawtooth National Forest, Stanley, ID
  • Nice pullover off Highway 75 east of Stanley. Park and walk down to a little 2 person pool by the Salmon River. No shade, so you'll need a sun-blocking plan in the middle of the day.

  • South Fork Inn
  • private business Idaho Falls ID
  • Quite nice and deluxe as budget motels go.

  • Bear Lake State Park
  • Idaho State Parks, St Charles ID
  • About 25 miles off the road to anywhere, but pretty cool once you're here. I'm here on a cold day in October and it's almost deserted. Bear Lake is beautiful

  • Portneuf Bend Campground
  • private business Lava Hot Springs ID
  • I had an initial bad impression because not only do I not get a shower for $24, I don't even get a flush toilet! There is water for RV hookup, but no indoor plumbing, just a clean, unisex outhouse. The lady makes the very good point that everyone is here for the hot springs, and they have showers. On the other hand I am in a nice, grassy, spot a three minute drive (or a long walk) from the Lava Hot Springs pools. So all in all, pretty good. There are some heavily used, long haul train tracks a few hundred yards away that shake the earth a couple of times in the night.

  • Heise Hot Springs
  • private business Ririe ID
  • The hot springs is a completely separate business from the campground. $7 for seniors off season, $1 to re-enter - cheapskates. After the fine example of Lava Hot Springs, which was excellent in every way, this place is disappointing. The single soaking pool is quite nice however - slightly sulphur-y water in a row of hot jets on the side.

  • Ranch Inn Motel and Campground
  • private business Lava Hot Springs ID
  • Very, very basic place. Cable is good, wifi is bad, they don't provide cups. Heater works, It's very handy to park right outside the door. Two miles down US 30 from Lava Hot Springs. The Portneuf River runs right behind it. Very scenic back there.

  • Miracle Hot Springs
  • private business Buhl ID
  • Co-owned with Banbury Hot Springs. Banbury has better camping, Miracle better pools, so here's how it all shakes out: Banbury: tent sites: $10 | campground: park on the grass next to your picnic table in a pretty spot | soaking: big concrete rectangle pool (see their Spot entry) Miracle: must pay for hookups: $20 | campground: dusty and shabby | soaking: wonderful set of modern, interesting pools - a really hot one under the sun deck I call the Grotto :), a bigger cooler pool, then a long, skinny, segmented parallel pool that is a hot zone, a cold zone, and a slighter hotter zone. Really nice layout!

  • Bear Lake Hot Springs
  • private business St Charles ID
  • closed for the season, but looked cool. Indoor pool and a couple of outdoor tubs. And a really pleasant looking campground at the northeast corner of Bear Lake. I'll bet it's hoppin' in the summer.

  • Hells Canyon State Park
  • Idaho State Parks, Lewiston ID
  • shady, the camp is quiet, but there is an extremely busy highway right across the Snake River. Kind of deluxe and kind of expensive, as state parks tend to be.

  • Pipeline Campground
  • Bureau of Land Management (BLM), American Falls ID
  • Five sites at a boat ramp into the Snake River. A few miles upriver from the very expensive Massacre Rocks SP. Really cool little spot!

  • Big Wood River dispersed
  • Sawtooth National Forest, Ketchum ID
  • 20 miles north of Ketchum Route 75 opens up into a beautiful, wide valley. The road follows the west side, the Big Wood River is on the east side, and along here there is a big, flat open area in between, with good-ish gravel roads over to the edge of the river where many dispersed campsites are set up. Pretty cool! This is the same river that flows through Ketchum and Sun Valley.

  • Wagon Wheel Campground
  • Bruneau Sands State Park, Bruneau ID
  • Quite busy on Friday night. Lots of large, happy groups. Part of the crowd is for the observatory and the Friday night astronomy show!

  • Banbury Hot Springs
  • private business Buhl ID
  • Oh, this place is soooo nice! It is now the same management as Miracle Hot Springs, so for your $10 ($8 for senior) you can go to both. Camping over here is both cheaper and way nicer. The Miracle soaking setup is way better (see their Spot entry), so driving to Miracle for your soak and staying here the rest of the time is the best bet. Banbury is a very large concrete pool, with very hot water coming out one place and cold water as many other places as needed. It is next to the river. No wifi.

  • Hoback Campground
  • Bridger-Teton National Forest, Hoback Junction
  • Small roadside campground. 2-3 sites are right on the river and awesome. The rest are just sites. Pretty close to Jackson WY.