Found · unverifiedIdaho Department of Lands · dispersedFree

IDL Endowment Land Camping Area — Madison County, ID (43.6684, -111.6272)

Drive-up · Idaho Dept. of Lands · ID · 43.66842, -111.62723
We haven't personally camped here. Everything below is pulled from public land data, USGS maps and OpenStreetMap — a real place on Idaho Dept. of Lands land, but not field-checked by us. Confirm road conditions, current access, stay limits and fire restrictions before you go.

FREE dispersed camping on Idaho state ENDOWMENT LAND, Madison County, about 13 miles from Rexburg and 8 miles from Ririe. IDL's own recreation map marks 2 camping spots in this immediate area; the pin is on one of them. This spot is UNNAMED on IDL's map — there is no sign, no listed name, and nothing to ask for by name. This is genuinely free: Idaho charges no fee, permit, licence or pass to camp on endowment land. State rule IDAPA 20.05.01 allows temporary camping outright, and IDL policy says it deliberately avoids direct user fees so the land stays 'open and freely accessible to the general public'. THE RULES YOU MUST FOLLOW: 14 days maximum in one spot within any 28 days (to stay longer you must move at least 5 miles); don't leave gear unattended over 48 hours; campfires only inside a ring no wider than 3 feet; camp at least 30 feet back from any water or wetland; and do not camp anywhere posted 'closed to camping'. WHAT TO EXPECT: nothing. This is dispersed camping — IDL says its dispersed sites 'will likely not offer any toilets, picnic tables, treated water, or fire grates or rings', and IDL does not collect garbage. Bring your own water, pack everything out, and bury human waste 6+ inches deep and 200 feet from water, trails and camps. CAVEATS, honestly: we have not visited, and IDL publishes no description of this particular spot — the legal right to camp here is very well documented, but how usable or pleasant the site is, is not. Endowment land is working timber and range land, so expect logging or grazing activity and respect any posted closure. Check current fire restrictions before lighting anything. Confirm with the IDL Eastern Idaho Area Office, 3563 Ririe Highway, Idaho Falls, (208) 525-7167, before you go.

USGS topo — contours & terrain
USGS topographic map of IDL Endowment Land Camping Area — Madison County, ID (43.6684, -111.6272)
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Aerial image of IDL Endowment Land Camping Area — Madison County, ID (43.6684, -111.6272)
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Weather outlook
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 6,264 ft.
Fire & smokeNIFC · 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 camp

15 MI30 MI60 MIYOUR CAMPN ↑Water · 21 miWDump · 19 miDFuel · 8 miFMaverik · Grocery · 8 miGWalgreens · Pharmacy · 13 miRxDan's Ace Hardware · Hardware · 13 miHChristiansen Body Shop · Mechanic · 13 miMMagic Suds Laundromat · Laundry · 13 miLShower · 4 miShAir-up · 45 miACommunity Care · Urgent care · 13 mi+Outdoor Resource Center · Outfitter · 13 miOUnited States Post Office · Mail · 13 mi@
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
  • ShShower4 mi
  • FFuel8 mi
  • GGrocery8 mi
  • RxPharmacy13 mi
  • MMechanic13 mi
  • OOutfitter13 mi
  • HHardware13 mi
  • LLaundry13 mi
  • +Urgent care13 mi
  • @Mail13 mi
  • DDump19 mi
  • WWater21 mi
  • AAir-up45 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: water is a real 21-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 8 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). Open in Google Maps ↗

The site

Access
Drive-up
Land
Idaho Dept. of Lands · dispersed
Elevation
6,264 ft
State
ID
Coordinates
43.66842, -111.62723
Cost
Free

Nearby & resupply (OpenStreetMap)

  • Nearest townHeise · ~3.4 mi
  • Drinking waternone within 10 mi
  • FuelFuel · ~7.9 mi
  • Propane / LPGPropane · ~20.3 mi
  • Dump stationDump station · ~19.0 mi
  • GroceriesMaverik · ~7.9 mi
  • PharmacyHeartland Pharmacy · ~21.4 mi
  • Hospital / clinicMadison Memorial Hospital · ~13.0 mi
  • HardwareYellowstone Lumber · ~14.3 mi

Nearby restrooms — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)

Open this spot elsewhere

Other camps nearby

If this one is full, gated or washed out.

How we know this

Source
Idaho Dept. of Lands (endowment lands)
Confidence
Likely — The record is good enough to put a pin on, but thin in places. Treat the details as a starting point, not gospel.
How it was placed
Coordinate: IDL's OWN recreation GIS, https://gis1.idl.idaho.gov/arcgis/rest/services/Portal/IDLPublicRecreation/MapServer/0, field Type=8 (coded domain 'Camping Area') + Status=1 ('Existing'); pin is a real mapped IDL point (the cluster member nearest the centroid of 2 points), NOT a computed centroid. Land status verified independently at https://gis1.idl.idaho.gov/arcgis/rest/services/Portal/StateOwnership_Analysis/MapServer/0: OWNERTYPE='Beneficiary: IDL Endowment', owner 'Public School', Madison County, Eastern Idaho supervisory area, asset class 'Timberland'. Free-camping authority: IDAPA 20.05.01 Sec. 020.01 (temporary camping ALLOWED, 14 days/28; word census over full rule text: 'license' 0, 'pass' 0, 'sticker' 0, 'charge' 0, and neither 'fee' hit is a use fee), corroborated by IDL Policy 2205 (2024-01-01) which states IDL avoids direct user fees to preserve Idaho Code 36-1604 liability protection requiring land stay 'open and freely accessible ... where users do not pay a direct fee for access'. Not a leased/fee campground: Portal/Published_Land_Activity layers 0/5/6 (encroachment permit, grazing lease, misc lease) return ZERO features over this cluster. Not in a closure: point-in-polygon tested against all 19 Type=3 'Closure Area' polygons on MapServer/3, no containment. NOT IDFG land (IDAPA 13.01.03 as amended 2026-07-01 prohibits camping on IDFG land absent authorization). All sources keyless/public. Verified 2026-07-21.
Field check
Not verified on the ground. Nobody from here has camped it. It stays at Likely until someone does.

What we don’t know

A land record can put you within a few metres of a spot. It cannot tell you any of this — so check it yourself, and treat anything below as the open question it is.

Before you go

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 →