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standdup's avatar
standdup
Explorer
Jul 15, 2018

Off grid TC camping sites in Northern Idaho

Hi everyone. My wife and are traveling through N Idaho for the first time and really hate the typical campgrounds with small sites and close neighbors. We prefer to be off grid and can go for a week easily without needing to dump and replenish things.Can any of you recommend some more remote, primitive camping areas in that part of the state? On a lake or stream would be great but not required.

Our rig is a Ram 3500 srw Cummins with a Bigfoot 10.6 and solar.

Thanks for any help given.....

20 Replies

  • sgip2000 wrote:
    Hells Canyon is a nice area.

    Not in the Summer time. Pittsburgh Landing regularly reaches 100 degrees this time of year... Hades, it was 100 in early June. The move developed camp grounds (read state)have power, but are a bit pricey and often need reservations in both Montana, Idaho, and Oregon Go Spring or fall.
    There are lots of small National Forest Campgrounds up there. Our favorite is Bull River.
  • Priest lake is nice but we stayed away because it's loaded with people.On one trip my wife counted license plates,Washington plates outnumbered Idaho by a 2-1 margin..Spokane is like 39 miles from Coeurdalene and the people from Washington come over in droves.

    Up the CDA river from Kingston up is nice with lots of dispersed camping..There is like 7 lakes between Rose lake and St. Maries to fish with some camping and my personal favorite is Wallace to Avery over moon pass and I won't say publicly anymore about that area.Avery up the St Joe river is pretty awesome and lot's of wildlife.

    I used to work at the Linfor sawmill up the CDA pulling green chain years ago and lived at Rose lake/Kingston/Silverton and up the CDA river...Lots of high mountain lakes to explore but with a TC I am not sure how they are anymore..Glidden lakes and Elsie were two of my favorites.

    I enjoyed my time in that area before it became a boom area and the population exploded.The only reason I would go back for a short stay is huckleberries..Second to none and the fishing isn't bad.

    Good luck and have fun in North Idaho.
  • NF campgrounds or just start driving forest roads. GPS with topo and forest road app/map. Buy a state topo map. Look up NF campgrounds in the area. Or just stumble across them.....
    Pretty much any lake or larger stream up in the NF has pull outs and parking areas of its adjacent to a forest road.
  • We’ll probably spend a day in Bonner’s Ferry area doing laundry etc. Plan was to go to Priest lake area after that , but we’re looking for ideas.
  • Again,what area of North Idaho..Boise calls anything north of Riggins over the time bridge,north Idaho as well as Spokane, covers everything from Grangeville up as north Idaho..That is a big area.Off of I-90 or off of HWY 95 etc..

    I presume your looking for dispersed sites and you won't find them in any book...
  • There is dispersed camping in both Northern Idaho and Montana (Northern Idaho is quite narrow) in the National Forests. Most of the forest roads have pull offs that are used by hunters during season. Many are quite nice and level with some near creeks. The biggest issues are dust when it is dry and potential fire danger. Make sure you pay attention and check for fire danger.

    You might want to check out this State of Idaho app as well. https://trails.idaho.gov/
  • What part of north Idaho?..People have different idea's on what is called N Idaho..