Agency-listedIdaho PowerFree
Crane Falls East
Drive-up · public land · ID · 42.97089, -115.83417
Ask an AI about this campsiteOpens Grok already loaded with this site. It reads the same records this page is built from, and links whatever it tells you.
Ask about this camp →The land manager lists this site. Someone from the agency inventoried it, so it is a real camp — not a spot we guessed at. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.
Free camping on the south bank of the Snake River near Crane Falls, on Idaho Power land in Owyhee County. The utility says it plainly on its own page: 'Free. No usage fees.', 'Day use and overnight camping'. It is a modest place -- a limited number of sites with fire rings, a vault toilet and a small boat ramp, reached on gravel off Crane Falls Road near the C.J. Strike Reservoir country. There are no water or electric hookups and the utility claims no drinking water, so haul your own; this is open high desert with very little shade. The stay limit is 14 days. Because the site is small and unsigned from the highway, give yourself daylight to find it the first time, and have a fallback -- Idaho Power's developed C.J. Strike campgrounds a few miles west are the obvious one, but they charge. The draw here is the fishing and the quiet: Crane Falls sits in one of the better bass and bird stretches of the Snake. Confirm current conditions with Idaho Power (1-800-488-6151) before you go, pack out everything including your fishing line, and leave it better than you found it.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Crane Falls East
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 2,461 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Crane Falls EastNIFC · AirNow
Checking active fires & air quality…
Active wildfires from NIFC (within ~50 mi); air quality from AirNow. Always confirm current fire restrictions with the managing office before you go.
Everything you need — measured from Crane Falls East · public land · ID
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
- +Urgent care6 mi
- @Mail6 mi
- FFuel6 mi
- GGrocery6 mi
- HHardware13 mi
- LLaundry13 mi
- RxPharmacy13 mi
- MMechanic14 mi
- EVEV fast charger14 mi
- DDump35 mi
- ShShower35 mi
- WWater43 mi
- OOutfitter47 mi
- AAir-up56 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is a real 43-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 6 mi out.
Not within 60 mi: Propane. Plan those before you head up.
One dot per need — the nearest of each kind, straight-line from camp. Places from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors); the EV fast charger from the US DOE station locator. Open in Google Maps ↗
The site — Crane Falls East
Access
Drive-up
Land
public land
Elevation
2,461 ft
State
ID
Coordinates
42.97089, -115.83417
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Crane Falls East · public land · ID (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureSnake River (river) · nearby
- Nearest townBruneau · ~6.5 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelSinclair · ~6.5 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- GroceriesStore · ~6.5 mi
- PharmacyWalmart Pharmacy · ~14.2 mi
- Hospital / clinic366th Medical Group - Mountain Home Airforce Base Medical Facility · ~6.6 mi
- HardwareCarr’s Home Center Tru Value · ~13.2 mi
EV charging — from Crane Falls East · public land · ID — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger14.1 mi straight-line NE — Walmart 2782 (Mountain Home, ID) · Electrify America · CHAdeMO, CCS · 4 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach2 within 25 mi · 8 within 50 · 38 within 100 · 54 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)14.5 mi — Mountain Home, ID - Tesla Supercharger, Mountain Home
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)29.8 mi — STAGE STOP BOISE · ChargePoint Network · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Pricing at the fast chargernot listed
- Power (kW)not listed by AFDC — “DC fast” spans roughly 24 to 350 kW, so ask the network.
- Read this honestlyStraight-line miles, like every distance on this site. Roads run longer than this, and you have to get back. We know where a charger is listed. We don’t know if it works today, how fast it is, or the road miles. Check the network before you commit.
Snapshot 2026-09-16 · AFDC record 121718 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Crane Falls East · public land · ID — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- RestroomCove Rec Site Toilet 2 - Cove Point · ~6.1 mi W · BLM
- RestroomCove Rec Site Toilet 3 - Cove Loop Road Ridgeline · ~6.2 mi W · BLM
- RestroomCove Rec Site Toilet 1 - Cove Inlet Road · ~6.2 mi W · BLM
- Vault / pit toiletCove Rec Site Vault Toilet 6 - Inland Lower Group · ~6.3 mi W · BLM
Open Crane Falls East elsewhere
Other camps near Crane Falls East
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Jacks Creek~4.9 mi
- Little Jacks Creek Wild And Scenic River~21.6 mi
- Morley Nelson Snake River Birds Of Prey National Conservation Area~22.8 mi
How we know this — Crane Falls East
Stay limit
14 nights (14-day stay limit)
Source
public land records
Confidence
Researched — The record is detailed and internally consistent, and the coordinates land where the managing agency says this site is.
How it was placed
Source (FREE stated by the OPERATOR): Idaho Power's own page for Crane Falls East (idahopower.com/community-recreation/recreation/parks-and-campgrounds/crane-falls-east/, read 2026-07-28), verbatim: 'Day use and overnight camping'; 'Fees Free. No usage fees.'; 'Located on the south side of the Snake River.'; 'Amenities include the following: Limited sites for overnight camping No water or electric hookups Vault toilet Small boat ramp Fire rings'; 'There is a 14-day stay limit for all parks.' Idaho Power's own fee page (idahopower.com/community-recreation/recreation/about-parks-and-campgrounds/fees-2/, read 2026-07-28): 'Day use at all Idaho Power parks and recreation sites is free.' That page NAMES the nine campgrounds that charge overnight (Copperfield, Hells Canyon, McCormick, Woodhead, Carters Landing, North, Scout, Cottonwood, Locust -- $15-$40/night plus a $7-$15 reservation fee). This site is NOT one of them, and its own page carries the header 'Day use and overnight camping' and the fee block 'Free. No usage fees.' COORDINATE: the utility's OWN published coordinate from the Get-directions link (daddr=42.970893,-115.834173), ground-truthed against OSM -- toilets way/1447743456 0.01 mi (matching the page's vault toilet), unnamed tracks 0.00 mi, Crane Falls Road way/1446617565 0.13 mi, Tendall Road 0.09 mi. Nominatim reverse: Owyhee County, Idaho. NOTE: no NAMED OSM object exists here at all -- the pin is confirmed by unnamed infrastructure that matches the operator's amenity list, plus the reverse geocode (this fire's Lesson 3). GUARDRAILS: camping expressly allowed by the operator; NO entry fee, access pass, day-use fee or permit to be on the land (utility land, not a state park -- no Discover-Pass-style trap). fee=0; dispersed=0 (designated sites); camp_type NULL for Dave to set on review. water NULL -- 'No water or electric hookups'. Ingest 2026-07-28.
EV chargers
US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center station locator, snapshot 2026-09-16. Straight-line miles to the nearest public, open, unrestricted station; restricted and planned units are shown but never counted.
Field check
On the agency's books. The land manager inventoried this site, so its existence is not in question — current conditions are. Nobody from here has camped it recently.
What we don’t know about Crane Falls East
A land record can put you within a few meters of a spot. It cannot tell you any of this — so check it yourself, and treat anything below as the open question it is.
- Road surface & last-mile access
- How many rigs actually fit
- Cell coverage by carrier
- Seasonal & winter access
- Current fire restrictions
- Whether any water here is drinkable
- Shade & wind exposure
- Noise and who else shows up
- Whether a listed EV charger works today, or the road miles to it
Before you go — Crane Falls East
Finding water out here →Dumping grey & black →Cold-weather camping →Leave no trace →All field notes →
Been here? Tell us what changed. This page is built from public records, so the fastest way it gets better is somebody who has actually pulled in. Road washed out, site gone, gate locked, or it is exactly as described — all of it useful. Send a report →