Mountain Camping in Idaho: Elevation Picks for Cool Nights

Somebody called the desk last week — young feller from Phoenix, wanted to know where in Idaho he could pitch a tent and actually need a sleeping bag in July. Told him to point his truck at anything above 6,500 feet and quit second-guessing. That's the short answer. Now here's the long one, because he hung up before I could tell him about the mosquitoes.

Idaho's got more high country than folks give it credit for. Everyone thinks Sawtooths and stops there. But you've got the White Clouds, the Pioneers, the Lost River Range, the Selkirks up north, and a whole passel of Forest Service ground in the Boise and Salmon-Challis that sits well above the tree-fry zone. If you're looking for cool nights in August, this is the state. I've slept in a lot of these campgrounds. Sadie's snored in most of em.

What follows is where I'd send you for mountain camping in Idaho if you actually want to zip your bag up past your chin. Not a ranking. Just the ground I trust.

The Sawtooth Country Around Stanley

Stanley sits at about 6,260 feet and it's the coldest incorporated town in the lower 48 more mornings than you'd think. Frost in July isn't unusual up there. If you camp anywhere within a half-hour of Stanley, you're doing mountain camping whether you meant to or not.

Redfish Lake is the postcard, and the campgrounds along it — Point, Glacier View, Outlet, Sockeye — are all sitting around 6,500 feet. Point and Glacier View are the ones people fight over on Recreation.gov. Sockeye is a little quieter because it's tent-heavy and doesn't take the big rigs. Outlet is where I'd take my sister-in-law because the sites are spread out enough you cant hear the neighbors argue about the awning.

Up the road toward Alturas Lake you climb to just over 7,000 feet and things thin out — both the crowds and the oxygen. Alturas Lake Campground is where I'd send my own family. Petit Lake is smaller, quieter, and the water is cold enough at midsummer to remind you that you're a mammal. Bear Valley Campground and Park Creek off the Bear Valley Road are dispersed-adjacent, high country, and free or close to it. Used to be nobody up there. The internet found it. Still worth going.

The White Clouds and Fourth of July Basin

Now we're getting somewhere. The White Clouds sit east of the Sawtooths and they don't get half the traffic because the road in is a rattler. Fourth of July Campground is up around 7,700 feet at the end of a dirt track off Highway 75 north of Ketchum. It's a jumping-off point for Fourth of July Lake and Washington Lake — genuine high-elevation campsite country. You'll want a decent tent because wind comes down off the peaks and reminds the flimsy ones they were flimsy.

This is Sawtooth National Recreation Area ground, managed by the Forest Service, and the road access can be seasonal — sometimes not open till mid-June, sometimes later after a big snow year. Check the Forest Service before you commit. I've turned people around at the ranger station in July because a drift didn't want to go anywhere.

Bring a bag rated colder than you think you need. I mean it. Twenty-degree bag in August up there is not overkill. Its the kind of place you'll wake up with condensation frozen on the inside of the fly and wonder what you did to deserve it.

The Pioneer and Lost River Ranges

East of Sun Valley the Pioneers stand up hard, and behind them the Lost Rivers, which include Borah Peak — the tallest thing in Idaho. Iron Bog Campground sits at around 7,500 feet in the Pioneers, reached off Highway 93 near Mackay. Small campground, no reservations, first-come. Sadie likes it because there's a creek and she can be a nuisance in the willows without me hollering.

Wildhorse Campground, also Pioneers, is a little lower but still solid mountain camping. Copper Basin road country. If you want dispersed sites, this drainage has plenty and the Salmon-Challis folks are pretty reasonable about it as long as you follow the stay limits and pack out what you brought in. Big Eightmile up in the Lemhis is another one — you'll drive forever to get there and see maybe two other rigs. That's the point.

The one thing about all this country: services are thin. Nearest real grocery from Iron Bog is Mackay, and Mackay is not a supermarket kind of town. Come with your food, your fuel for the stove, and a spare tire that actually holds air.

Around Ketchum and the Wood River Valley

If you want mountain nights without the four-hour dirt-road commitment, the Sawtooth NRA campgrounds along Highway 75 north of Ketchum are the easy answer. Easley, Wood River, Boundary — all in the 6,500 to 7,000-foot range, all on pavement, all cool at night in July. Easley is next to a hot springs resort which sounds nice till a Friday night in August. Wood River Campground is the one I'd pick.

These fill up. Book early on Recreation.gov or show up Tuesday to grab a Wednesday-through-Saturday window. And keep in mind reservation lead times shift — used to be six months out, then some sites went to a rolling window. Check before you plan around it.

North Fork of the Big Wood has some good trail access if you want to hike-camp from the road. Prairie Creek, Amber Lakes, that country. Real pretty. Bring layers.

North Idaho: Selkirks and Priest Lake

Different animal up here. The Selkirks aren't as tall as the ranges down south — you're talking peaks in the 7,000-foot neighborhood — but the treeline is lower and the nights get honest cool because you're that much farther north. Priest Lake sits around 2,400 feet, which is not mountain camping by the numbers, but drive up into the Selkirks proper and you're in a different climate zone by lunch.

Upper Priest Lake, accessed by boat or a decent hike, has some primitive Forest Service sites. Beaver Creek Campground on the north end of Priest Lake is a reasonable base. For actual altitude, look at Roman Nose Lakes area, or the trailhead campgrounds up the Pack River road out of Sandpoint. This is more hike-in country than drive-up, but if you want quiet and cool, it delivers.

State parks up here — Priest Lake State Park has three units — are well-run, and Idaho State Parks reservations open on their own schedule. I generally trust their information more than third-party sites, which tend to be a season behind.

A Short List of High-Elevation Picks I'd Actually Use

• Alturas Lake Campground (near Stanley, ~7,000 ft) — swimming, quiet, family-friendly
• Point Campground at Redfish Lake (near Stanley, ~6,500 ft) — reserve well ahead
• Fourth of July Campground (White Clouds, north of Ketchum, ~7,700 ft) — rough road, worth it
• Iron Bog Campground (Pioneers, near Mackay, ~7,500 ft) — first-come, small, cold
• Bear Valley Campground (Boise NF, near Stanley, ~6,400 ft) — dispersed feel, no frills
• Wood River Campground (Sawtooth NRA, north of Ketchum, ~6,700 ft) — paved access, dependable
• Big Eightmile Campground (Lemhi Range, east of Salmon, ~7,000 ft) — you'll have it to yourself
• Beaver Creek Campground (Priest Lake, north of Coolin) — north-Idaho base camp

A Few Things About Camping Up High

Weather turns fast above 7,000 feet in Idaho. I've seen graupel in August at Fourth of July Basin, and I've watched a family from Texas try to dry a sleeping bag over a smoky fire because they didn't rain-fly their tent. Rain fly the tent. Every night. Even when the sky is blue at eight PM.

Second thing: fire restrictions. Idaho's fire year keeps getting longer, and Stage 1 and Stage 2 restrictions come and go through summer. Don't assume you can have a campfire because there's a ring. Call the district office or check the Forest Service alerts page the morning you leave. Rangers write tickets. It's not personal but they will.

Third: bears. Black bears mostly, some grizzly presence in the Selkirks and the country up by Yellowstone's western edge. Food goes in the car or a hard-sided container. Not the tent, not on the picnic table, not "just for a minute". I helped clean up after a bear got into a cooler at a Sawtooth NRA site back in — oh, must've been '09 — and the family involved was rattled for a decade.

For the rest of the gear side of things, our general gear rundown covers what I'd bring. And if you're browsing more parks and options across the state, poke around there before you commit.

Honest Take

If it were me and I had one week, I'd base out of Stanley for four nights — Alturas or Petit — then drive over Galena Summit and spend the back half at Iron Bog in the Pioneers. Two ranges, two climates, and cool nights the whole trip. Skip anything with a gift shop attached. Bring more coffee than you think, because at 7,500 feet the mornings are slow and you'll want the excuse to sit. That's the trip I'd take. Sadie agrees, mostly because she rides shotgun and doesn't have to drive.