Planning Fall Trip, Idaho ?

The area from Ketchum to Stanley is phenomenal -- we spent two weeks there in September and could have used a lot more time. Here is the first of two posts about the trip -- lots of photos:

Idaho blog post

Northern Idaho in the Palouse Region is also beautiful as is Winchester Lake State Park. East of there is the St. Joe River area and the Lochsa that follows the highway up over Lolo Pass then down into Montana. There is at least one campground along the Lochsa with electricity - Powell. Here is a link to Idahocampgroundreview.com with great information on Idaho campgrounds in regions of the state.

Not sure where we are wanting to go but all of the replies sound great. I've written all of the suggestions down and will begin searching them out. Half the fun of a trip is looking at all of the possibilities. Very seldom do we ever make reservations because being flexible is our motto. We also follow the 250 rule. We stop after 250 miles or 2:50 in the afternoon, whichever comes first. ( I stole that from a former post in this forum).

What parts of Idaho are you looking to travel in? All the state parks are great to visit. The Fall is a great time to travel because there are fewer other travelers and sites are usually plenty. What was mentioned in the first reply is South Central Idaho and is beautiful. There are lots of dry campgrounds and fewer with hookups in the mountains. There is a very nice little full hookup RV park on Hwy 75 between Stanley and Clayton called Torrey's Burnt Creek Inn. It's a great place to use as a base camp to visit the historic Sunbeam Dam and the road (there at the dam) to the ghost towns of Custer, Bonanza, and the historic Gold Fork Dredge. At Sunbeam Dam is Sunbeam Hot Springs, free to use at the Salmon River's edge, just go with your suits on. Cascade Lake State Park has several campgrounds around the lake with hookups and only one has full hookups - Poison Creek. All can be reserved online or if you go midweek, chances are pretty good to get a spot. At Three Island Crossing State Park is the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. This state park has full hookups. Bruneau Dunes State Park is at a natural sand dunes and they have an observatory that runs on a schedule. In Eastern Idaho is the Yellowstone Caldera and there resides Upper and Lower Mesa Falls. There are many campgrounds in that area with hookups. Our favorite is at Lower Mesa Falls called Grand View. Water and electric hookups and really nice. You hear the roar of the falls constantly. Visit too while in the Island Park area, Johnny Sack's Cabin, Big Springs, Henry's Lake - there's a state park here too, Harriman State Park, Quake Lake, and of course this is close to West Yellowstone. We've been all over the state and there's so much to mention. We recently traveled northern Idaho last Fall and stayed at Farragut State Park and toured it. Farragut was one of the largest inland Naval stations in the US. What a fascinating place that was and the state park for camping is fabulous. Full hookups. Definitely a return trip for us. We also stated at Hells Gate State Park in Lewiston on the Lewiston River. Nice, but not as nice as Farragut. Idaho is a large area, so you may want to pick the region you plan to visit and ask your questions again.

Island Park Area Information

Idaho State Parks Information

Visit Idaho Guide

While in the Stanley area, plan to take the Landmark Stanley Road (Middle Form of the Salmon River road)over Cape Horn Summit, down into Bruce Meadows to see the herds of elk that live there. Best time to view the elk are early in the morning or at dusk. We pack our breakfast and head over there early and sit in our truck to view the elk. It's never a boring moment.

If you can handle one or two nights of dry camping, spend some time at Bull Trout Lake Campground in the Martin Lake section, you may just be rewarded with the howl of a wolf as we've been.

Idaho Power has several campsites in Hell's Canyon with electric and water. They are first come / first serve, but that shouldn't be an issue in the fall.

Stanley has an actual rv park, and lots of dry campsites scattered around. Plusses are that you have the Sawtooths front and center. The Yankee fork gold dredge is open for tours, and there's a few ghost towns on the same road. There is also a hot spring that flows into the Salmon river - it's fantastic! (Look for cars parked on the road with people changing into or out of swimsuits. Idahoans are a conservative bunch, except for when it comes to hot springs.)

There is more great camping on Cascade and Payette lakes. McCall is a neat town.

I'm sure others will be along shortly with more ideas.