Idaho riding suggestions

[Rockerrider]

Wanting to make the pull from Colorado up to Idaho to visit some family next summer in Boise. Have 3 Polaris Sportsman's that we want to take. Best areas to stay and ride directly out of either a campground or forest camping? Trailer is a 45' Voltage so any campground would have to be able to handle something that big. Thanks!!

[ReneeG]

Rockerrider, you're welcome. We're all here if you have additional questions.

[Rockerrider]

Wow...Thanks for all the the replies and info! I have a lot of reading and researching to do. TV is a 2012 DRW F350 so no issues there. We prefer to boondock as well so that is the rout we will be going. Thanks again for all the info!!

[ReneeG]

Thanks for the information Centerline. We agree on the boondocking way of camping. We much prefer that to hookups.

[centerline]

ReneeG wrote:


We've driven our Jeep up there and found no suitable area to park our FW, so I'm not sure that Rockerrider will be able to park is toyhauler at the foot of the mountain heading up. Maybe other's familiar with this area can chime in with advice.

we have been there twice with our 38ft 5th wheel, and as for boondocking, there is lots of camping on jordan creek... but it is much better to come in from the oregon/jordan valley side if pulling anything over 30ft.... but there is considerable amount of boondocking when coming in form the idaho side also.

no, the idaho side is not all shady with a nice creek running thru it like jordan creek offers, but flat, level and as secure as one could expect is all that is needed sometimes...

one can camp on jordan creek and in any of the staging areas free of charge, of which there are 6 coming in from the idaho side. as well as some sites that are not developed, but where others have camped before.
there are 3-4 sites on jordan creek that are big enough for a group of trailers to park.

there arent many side roads where one would want to take an rv, but of the couple that are navigable, if one was to park and take a ride on their atv, they will find some nice camp sites there also...

other than the jordan creek camping, with only a couple of exceptions, the silver city area is all "dry" camping..

everyone has a different idea as to what is an acceptable camp site, just as some (my cousins wife) refuses to camp anywhere that does not have a water spigot and a power post.
some of us only need a place thats reasonably clear of brush, where we can get level, out of the way of others, and wont disturb the neighbors with our atv's.. a shade tree or a creek is only a bonus.

some of our very best camping experiences over the past many years have been dry shadeless areas that no one else thought of parking. so we had seclusion.

developed campgrounds are usually expensive, and the ones that arent usually have nothing more to offer than a primitive site...

one has to love the freedom they are allowed for camping on BLM lands..

[ReneeG]

mapguy wrote:
The Warm Springs road up to Stolle Meadows is a steep paved climb. There is good riding at all the places discussed.

I would throw out the Bumgardner area for a good fairly easy to access camping location. Lots of dispersed camping that a big trailer can access near the South Fork of the Boise with a free potable water source and a developed hot springs pool. Also, many primitive hot springs in this area, too.

Warm Lake Road. If his TV is good, Rockerrider will have no problem towing up that road. A lot of FW's tow up Warm Lake Road up the summit to the Landmark Stanley Road to Deadwood. He may want to drive up ahead for a feel while visiting his family in Boise.

[ReneeG]

centerline wrote:
we have our atvs with us all the time and have rode many areas in the western states, and I will say that the silver city area of Idaho has some of the most diverse riding anywhere... several hundred miles of trails that go thru large mining areas, as well as past lots of old abandoned mine shafts/equipment/buildings, very remote mountain meadows, creek crossings, canyons, mountain peaks and the inhabited ghost town of silver city.
there is also a lot of road riding available for those that are a bit less adventurous.
there are so many trails that some have been long unused, and we took a few of these and found they were just as full of adventure, and some more so than the well traveled trails.

if you go, make sure you take a forest service map or an Idaho gazetteer/sportsman map, as the area is large and almost all trails go thru to somewhere else, where you can get on another trail of your choice, to go back to where you started from .... if you know which direction you are wanting to go.

we were there 5 days and rode an average of 60 miles per day and very few trails (other than the main access road) were rode more than once.... and im sure if we would have stayed another 10 days we still couldnt have gotten all the trails covered.

there is a lot to see and a lot to do in the area if you enjoy the outdoors.

and i will agree with others that boondocking will give you more opportunities than you will find in developed campgrounds...

We've driven our Jeep up there and found no suitable area to park our FW, so I'm not sure that Rockerrider will be able to park is toyhauler at the foot of the mountain heading up. Maybe other's familiar with this area can chime in with advice.

[mapguy]

The Warm Springs road up to Stolle Meadows is a steep paved climb. There is good riding at all the places discussed.

I would throw out the Bumgardner area for a good fairly easy to access camping location. Lots of dispersed camping that a big trailer can access near the South Fork of the Boise with a free potable water source and a developed hot springs pool. Also, many primitive hot springs in this area, too.

[centerline]

we have our atvs with us all the time and have rode many areas in the western states, and I will say that the silver city area of Idaho has some of the most diverse riding anywhere... several hundred miles of trails that go thru large mining areas, as well as past lots of old abandoned mine shafts/equipment/buildings, very remote mountain meadows, creek crossings, canyons, mountain peaks and the inhabited ghost town of silver city.
there is also a lot of road riding available for those that are a bit less adventurous.
there are so many trails that some have been long unused, and we took a few of these and found they were just as full of adventure, and some more so than the well traveled trails.

if you go, make sure you take a forest service map or an Idaho gazetteer/sportsman map, as the area is large and almost all trails go thru to somewhere else, where you can get on another trail of your choice, to go back to where you started from .... if you know which direction you are wanting to go.

we were there 5 days and rode an average of 60 miles per day and very few trails (other than the main access road) were rode more than once.... and im sure if we would have stayed another 10 days we still couldnt have gotten all the trails covered.

there is a lot to see and a lot to do in the area if you enjoy the outdoors.

and i will agree with others that boondocking will give you more opportunities than you will find in developed campgrounds...

[dedmiston]

IdaD wrote:
When you get back home be sure to tell everybody how much Idaho sucked.

:B

[IdaD]

Don't limit yourself to established campgrounds and you'll open up a far more areas to camp and explore in Idaho. When you get back home be sure to tell everybody how much Idaho sucked.

[ReneeG]

Rockerrider - You're welcome. Let me know if you have any other questions. We boondock a lot in the Cape Horn area past Lowman and before Stanley off Hwy 21. We Jeep a lot of that area too and now we have a small pop-up camper too to tow behind our Jeep to camp in backcountry area where our FW won't fit.

We've seen boondockers close to Hwy 21 off the Landmark Stanley Road. From there you could ATV down to Bruce Meadows, Dagger Falls, Bear Valley CG and beyond.

Also, you can boondock up at Stolle Meadows off the road to Warm Lake, east of Hwy 55. There's a free CG up there with a nice outhouse. A lot of ATV'ers up there too and although we've never taken our FW up there, we've seen quite a few. It would depend upon your comfort level in driving FS 474 from Warm Lake Road. Or you can camp at the South Fork of the Salmon River CG (again off of Warm Lake Rd), then take your ATV's up to Stolle Meadows.

[Rockerrider]

ReneeG wrote:
If you are up to boondocking, check out FS/NF roads 008 (Seafoam Rd). A lot of good boondocking spots up here with a lot of FS roads that go back into the Frank Church (Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness). Bull Trout is a great place, but the FS rangers have rules there. Another great area to go to is FS 579 over Cape Horn Summit and down into Bruce Meadows and Bear Valley. There are also boondocking spots here and along Cape Horn Creek. Check all these areas out using Google Maps or Google Earth. They are all off of Hwy 21. FS Rd 579 is also know as the Landmark Stanley Road. FS Rd 083 Lola Creek Rd deadends past Lola Creek CG, but you can camp there, it's called Marsh Creek. On the road to Lola Creek CG are many boondocking sites that will fit your rig and from there you can ride to FS 008 and up to Josephus Lake and beyond. Great country. We boondock in these areas, but have yet to tow to the Bruce Meadows area but we've seen a lot of big toy haulers there.

Great!! Thanks for the info!

[ReneeG]

If you are up to boondocking, check out FS/NF roads 008 (Seafoam Rd). A lot of good boondocking spots up here with a lot of FS roads that go back into the Frank Church (Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness). Bull Trout is a great place, but the FS rangers have rules there. Another great area to go to is FS 579 over Cape Horn Summit and down into Bruce Meadows and Bear Valley. There are also boondocking spots here and along Cape Horn Creek. Check all these areas out using Google Maps or Google Earth. They are all off of Hwy 21. FS Rd 579 is also know as the Landmark Stanley Road. FS Rd 083 Lola Creek Rd deadends past Lola Creek CG, but you can camp there, it's called Marsh Creek. On the road to Lola Creek CG are many boondocking sites that will fit your rig and from there you can ride to FS 008 and up to Josephus Lake and beyond. Great country. We boondock in these areas, but have yet to tow to the Bruce Meadows area but we've seen a lot of big toy haulers there.

[Twomed]

Check the sand dunes at St. Anthoney.