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.
locals pool, basketball hoops in the water, stuff like that. -- -- -- -- Camping here this time. Offseacon it's $15=$5+$10
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!
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.
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.
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.
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
10 site campground on the quiet side of Cascade Lake. 6 miles from the main road (55), which is a feature rather than a drawback once you get here! Site 7 is the bomb!
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.
I didn't go here, but it looked really high class. Hotel with a bunch of hot pools outside
Quite busy on Friday night. Lots of large, happy groups. Part of the crowd is for the observatory and the Friday night astronomy show!
Small roadside campground. 2-3 sites are right on the river and awesome. The rest are just sites. Pretty close to Jackson WY.
modest little spot right off the road, right on the river
Eerie lava beds moonscape. Really cool to have a campground in such a surreal place
Placid little place in tall firs. Swimming beach on the Priest River, boat ramp, kayak friendly. Road noise is not too bothersome.
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.
Six pools. The big rectangular one, around to the right in the grotto, is the very hottest - 112°. They get progressively cooler moving left. Next is the biggest and ranges from 110° to 103° according to the sign. Beautiful setting at the opening of a little canyon with the busy highway and railroad tracks right above..
Old, charmingly decrepit place on the Snake River south of Boise. The hot springs is basically a spring-fed indoor swimming pool. It's a nice temperature, especially after you find the 3-4 spots where the hot water comes in. There's a basketball hoop and 20-30 little beachballs floating around, so one can pass the time shooting hoops.
Nothing here except a really pretty bend in the (Salmon) river, pretty well shielded from US 93, even though it's 30 yards away. Really pleasant overnight.
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.