
Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest
Camp here — Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest
969 camps mapped in this forest, 931 of them free. Tap one for its topo and aerial, the weather, the water, and how far you will be from fuel and a shower.
- FreeTenmile Creek Campsite
- FreeDispersed camp — Idaho County, ID
- FreeSlims Camp
- FreeMeadow Creek Campground
- FreeJungle Creek Campground
- FreeSlide Creek Campground
- FreeLegget Creek Campground
- FreeWildhorse Campground
Where dispersed camping is listed — Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest
The Forest Service lists dispersed camping as an activity at these 10 places. That is the agency saying it is allowed somewhere in the area — not a campsite we have mapped, and not a spot we can put a pin on. Read their page, then check the district for the rules that apply on the day.
- Burnt Knob Lookout
This is the site of the historic Burnt Knob lookout on Forest Road 468-C. Road 468-C is recommended for 4-wheel-drive only. Trail #539 near the lookout accesses McArthur, Stillman and Burnt Knob lakes. A toilet is available.
the Forest Service page for it → - Clark Mountain/Orogrande Trailhead
A primitive single lane road situated atop the ridgeline with spectacular panoramic views to the south of Orogrande drainage and to the north towards Chateau Rock. Some dispersed camping is available along the trail. Here's a…
the Forest Service page for it → - Elk Mountain Trailhead
Persons wanting to access Elk Mountain can expect to leave vehicles near Windy Saddle on Forest Road 285 and proceed on foot or horseback to the end of Road 285 and about 2 miles north on Trail 517. There is a toilet at Elk…
the Forest Service page for it → - Elk Summit Lookout
The Elk Summit lookout tower remains intact although not currently used by the Forest Service. It is not accessible by the public. The log cabin at the base of the lookout may be added to the Forest Service cabin rental program…
the Forest Service page for it → - Fish Lake Trailhead
Fish Lake Trailhead is accessed by FS Road 297. Beginning May 30, 2023, Fish Lake Trail 419 is closed to all motorized use along its entire length by Forest Order 01-17-53-23-001 .
the Forest Service page for it → - Horse Camp Trailhead
The Horse Camp Trailhead serves as the north end of the popular Sand Mountain OHV Trail system. The actual trail begins on the north side of the 381 road while the trailhead is on the southern side. Some dispersed camping is…
the Forest Service page for it → - Isabella Landing Trailhead
This trailhead, located at the junction of Isabella Landing and FS Road 700, offers access to trail 297, the North Fork Downriver Trail. The 7 mile mainline trail takes visitors into one of our Research Natural Areas, home of…
the Forest Service page for it → - Musselshell Meadows
Only 30 minutes southeast of the town of Pierce in north central Idaho, visitors will find Musselshell Meadows. Home to beautiful and rare wildlife, dense forests, eye catching scenery, and interpretation explaining the…
the Forest Service page for it → - O'Hara Saddle Campground
O'Hara Saddle campground is at the edge of a meadow on an open ridge top. The campground is a nice location to park your OHV and camp for the night It provides fire rings and two camp pads. There is no toilet currently available.…
the Forest Service page for it → - Smith Ridge Trailhead
Located in the southern portion of the Mallard Larkins Roadless Area, this alpine trailhead offers dispersed camping and a rustic hiking/stock trail (Trail 240) which connects to many other trails in the area, making it a great…
the Forest Service page for it →
Where the camps cluster
The place
The Nez Perce-Clearwater sits in north-central Idaho, right up against the Montana border along the crest of the Bitterroot Mountains. It is really two forests -- the Nez Perce and the Clearwater -- managed as a single unit since an administrative combination around 2012, and together they cover roughly four million acres. This is steep, deep, hard country: timbered canyons, wild rivers, and enormous stretches of roadless wilderness where you can walk for days without crossing a road. It is the homeland of the Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) people, and it holds one of the most storied pieces of ground in the American West -- the Lolo Trail, where Lewis and Clark nearly starved crossing the mountains in 1805.
History
The name honors the Nimiipuu, the people history calls the Nez Perce, whose traditional homeland this country is; 'Clearwater' is the river and the land the other half of the forest is named for. The Lolo Trail across these mountains was an ancient Indigenous travel and trade route long before any wagon or explorer used it. In 1805 the Corps of Discovery -- Lewis and Clark -- crossed the Bitterroots on that trail in early snow, cold and out of food, and came down half-starved onto the Weippe Prairie, where the Nez Perce fed them and helped them build canoes to continue west. Relations were not always so kind: in 1877 the Nez Perce War broke out in this landscape, with the opening fight at White Bird Canyon and battles along the Clearwater, before Chief Joseph and his people began their long flight back over the Lolo Trail and across Montana toward Canada. The two national forests that make up the unit today were joined under a single administration around 2012.
Wildlife & plants
This is famous elk country -- the Clearwater and its high timbered ridges have drawn elk hunters for generations. You will also find moose, mule and white-tailed deer, mountain goats on the high rock, black bears in good numbers, and mountain lions. Gray wolves range across this landscape now; they were reintroduced to central Idaho's Frank Church wilderness country in 1995 and 1996 and spread out from there, and the Nez Perce Tribe went on to lead much of Idaho's wolf recovery work. In the rivers are two of the great travelers of the fish world: wild steelhead and Chinook salmon that leave the Pacific and climb hundreds of miles up the Columbia, Snake, and Clearwater -- often 500 to 800 miles inland -- to spawn in these headwaters, among the longest such runs left in the contiguous United States. Native westslope cutthroat and bull trout live in the colder tributaries.
Notable features
The forest's crown jewels are its wilderness areas: much of the Selway-Bitterroot along the Montana line, part of the Frank Church-River of No Return (the biggest unbroken wilderness in the lower 48), and the Gospel-Hump Wilderness on the Nez Perce side. The Lochsa, Selway, and Middle Fork Clearwater rivers are legendary for whitewater and for wild fish. U.S. Highway 12 -- the Northwest Passage Scenic Byway, still called the Lewis and Clark Highway by locals -- follows the Lochsa through the heart of the forest, one of the great drives in the West. High above it runs the Lolo Motorway (Forest Road 500), a rough, seasonal, high-clearance track that traces the ancient Nez Perce and Lewis and Clark route along the ridgetops. Tucked along Highway 12 is the DeVoto Memorial Cedar Grove of ancient redcedar, and buried deep in the Selway-Bitterroot is Moose Creek, a fly-in backcountry ranger station reached only by air or a long walk.
Camps are sourced from public U.S. Forest Service recreation data and have not been personally visited. Roads shown are Forest Service passenger-car routes (maintenance level 3–5) and may be seasonal or gated. Always confirm access, fees and fire rules with the ranger district before you go. Found a fee where we show free? Tell us on the contact page.