Payette National Forest
Camp here — Payette National Forest
63 camps mapped in this forest, 38 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.
- FreeBig Bar Dispersed Camping Area
- FreeUpper Payette Lake Dispersed
- FreeChamberlain Basin
- FreeHard Creek Dispersed
- FreeReed Ranch Airfield
- FreeGoose Lake Dispersed
- FreeJustrite
- FreeBrundage Reservoir Dispersed
Where dispersed camping is listed — Payette National Forest
The Forest Service lists dispersed camping as an activity at these 23 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.
- 33 Lake Camping Area
Located adjacent to the Lick Creek road this is a dispersed camping area. Not suitable for RVs. No amenities available.
the Forest Service page for it → - Bear Basin/Brundage Mt., McCall Ranger District
The Bear Basin area is on the McCall Ranger District a few short miles from downtown McCall. Two trailheads provide access into this area: the main trailhead off North Club Road, and the West Face trailhead. To access the main…
the Forest Service page for it → - Bear/Cuprum Area, Council Ranger District
The Bear/Cuprum area in on the Council Ranger District. Access to the area is via the Council – Cuprum (FS Road #002). As you travel the Council - Cuprum road, it will form a Y split with FS Road #105 – Stay left on the #002 road…
the Forest Service page for it → - Big Bar Camping Area
This is a large dispersed campground with no formal parking or camping units located along the Snake River in Hells Canyon. Used by both tent campers and RVs, the area offers a place to camp along the Snake River. Few amenities…
the Forest Service page for it → - Big Creek to Soldier Bar, Krassel Ranger District
The majority of this area is within the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness.
the Forest Service page for it → - Brownlee Area, Weiser Ranger District
The Brownlee area is accessed from Highway 71 out of Cambridge, Idaho. The Brownlee drainage ranges from dry lower elevation canyons to the high mountain peaks. On the West side of Highway 71 is the Hitt Mountain Area that can be…
the Forest Service page for it → - Brundage Reservoir Dam Day Use Site
Located at the outlet of Brundage Reservoir is a small day use site. The site includes a picnic table and toilet. Fishing is great at the reservoir so bring your fishing pole. Small motor boats are allowed on the reservoir.
the Forest Service page for it → - Burgdorf/French Creek Area, McCall Ranger District
This area is a hub for recreation. Whether your goal is visit privately-owned Burgdorf Hot Springs , explore a portion of the 900-mile Idaho Centennial Trai l, take a family-friendly hike to Ruby Meadows (#174) , or a challenging…
the Forest Service page for it → - Chamberlain Basin & Cold Meadows Areas, Krassel RD
Chamberlain Basin is located in the heart of the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness area. Access is by foot or horseback, and by air. The Forest Service airstrip is maintained to provide access to the basin and…
the Forest Service page for it → - Chamberlain Basin Camping Area
This very rustic dispersed campground is located adjacent to the Chamberlain Basin aristrip and is used primarily by pilots and their families flying in for the night. During hunting season it is also used as a staging area for…
the Forest Service page for it → - Hard Creek Camping Area
A dispersed camping area, ideal for those with stock and providing access to the Hard Creek Trailhead and Upper Hazard/Hard Creek Basin Trail #169 . There are hitching posts available.
the Forest Service page for it → - Hazard Lakes Recreation Area, New Meadows RD
From McCall, travel five miles west on Highway 55. Turn right on Goose Lake Road/Forest Road #257. Follow the paved road to Brundage Mountain Resort where the road turns to gravel and continue approximately 18 miles to Hazard…
the Forest Service page for it → - Hells Canyon/Seven Devils, Council/New Meadows RDs
The Hells Canyon/Seven Devils Scenic Area is a special place on the Council Ranger District of the Payette National Forest. The area can be accessed by two routes. The Hells Canyon route follows Forest Servcie Road #454 north of…
the Forest Service page for it → - Hitt Mountain Camping Area and Trailhead
This dispersed campground if access via Highway 71 out of Cambridge. Dispersed campground with an outhouse, fire rings and some tables. Places to tie stock are available. Trailhead - parking lot site.
the Forest Service page for it → - Indian Point Camping Area
This dispersed walk-in 3 unit campground is located along the East Fork of the South Fork of the Salmon River. The site is popular with boaters floating the East Fork of the South Fork Salmon River. Adjacent to the road, so can…
the Forest Service page for it → - Lake Creek Camping Area
Dispersed camping areas adjacent to Lake Creek are scattered along National Forest Road #246. Vault toilet, fire rings and some tables available. Popular with ATV users and stock users. Located near the Burgdorf Hot springs. Many…
the Forest Service page for it → - Lost Valley/WF Weiser River, New Meadows RD
The Lost Valley and West Fork of the Weiser River are on the New Meadows Ranger District. Price Valley is in this area as well and is a well known landmark.
the Forest Service page for it → - McCall Recreation Area, McCall Ranger District
Right in McCall’s backyard, the McCall Ranger District includes many of the most accessible and popular recreational sites for residents of and visitors to McCall. From the Gordon Titus parking lot off the Goose Lake Road, you…
the Forest Service page for it → - Paddy Flat Camping Area
This is a small, two-unit dispersed camping site that is great if you have stock or want some peace and quiet.
the Forest Service page for it → - Paddy Flat/Jughandle Mountain Area, McCall RD
The Paddy Flat and Jughandle Mountain area is located southeast of McCall on the McCall Ranger District. Paddy Flat is accessed from Paddy Flat road a few miles north of Donnelly, Idaho. Jughandle Mountain can be accessed via…
the Forest Service page for it → - Rapid Creek Camping Area
This is a small, quiet two-unit dispersed camping area located in the Paddy Flat area. Adjacent to Rapid Creek.
the Forest Service page for it → - Secesh/Warren/Elk Summit Area, McCall RD
The Secesh, Warren and Elk Summit areas cover a large area on the McCall Ranger District that is accessible by automobiles. This recreation area begins along Warren Wagon Road at the Burgdorf Junction, then follows the Elk Creek…
the Forest Service page for it → - Shiefer Campground
Shiefer Campground is an undeveloped site on the Salmon River with views of the South Fork canyon country all around. Elevation 3050 feet. Trails lead along the river into the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. A shorter…
the Forest Service page for it →
Where the camps cluster
The place
Payette National Forest spreads across about 2.3 million acres of west-central Idaho -- big, steep, granite country where deep river canyons, high lake basins, and long ridges of ponderosa pine and fir climb toward the Salmon River Mountains and the Seven Devils. Its western edge runs right along the Snake River at the Oregon line, and its front door -- the friendly lake town of McCall, set on the shore of Payette Lake -- is the forest's heart. From there the land turns wild fast: the Main Salmon, the 'River of No Return,' cuts through the north, a big chunk of the eastern backcountry lies inside the Frank Church wilderness, and off to the west the Seven Devils rise straight up out of Hells Canyon, often called the deepest river gorge on the continent.
History
The forest takes its name from Francois Payette, a French-Canadian fur trapper and trader who trapped and traded across the Snake River country for the Hudson's Bay Company in the early 1800s and later kept the books at Fort Boise; the Payette River, Payette Lake, and this forest all carry his name. The national forest itself was pieced together out of the forest reserves set aside in the first years of the 1900s, in the same conservation wave under Theodore Roosevelt that created so much of the national-forest system. Long before any of that, this was homeland to the Nez Perce and Shoshone-Bannock peoples, whose trails followed the same salmon runs. The early-1900s gold rush at Thunder Mountain drew a stampede of miners into the remote high country, and later the Stibnite mine to the east became a nationally important source of antimony and tungsten -- strategic metals that mattered a great deal during World War II.
Wildlife & plants
This is classic Idaho big-game country: Rocky Mountain elk and mule deer, black bears in the berry brush, and mountain lions you will almost never see. The Seven Devils and other high, rocky ground hold mountain goats and bighorn sheep, and gray wolves have spread back through the backcountry since their reintroduction to central Idaho. But the signature animals here are the fish -- wild chinook salmon and steelhead that climb all the way from the ocean to spawn in these cold headwater streams, though those runs are now protected and struggling under the Endangered Species Act, along with bull trout and native cutthroat. The forest itself runs from ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir on the warm, dry slopes up through lodgepole and subalpine fir toward timberline, with bald eagles and osprey working the lakes and rivers.
Notable features
The showpiece is the Main Salmon River -- the 'River of No Return' -- one of the great wilderness whitewater trips in the country, running free through the heart of the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness. Payette holds the largest share of that wilderness (roughly a third of the ~2.3-million-acre unit, which it manages jointly with several neighboring forests), the largest contiguous wilderness in the lower 48. On the western edge stand the Seven Devils Mountains, a compact, dramatic range whose peaks -- He Devil, She Devil, The Ohio, and their neighbors -- top out near 9,400 feet and look straight down into Hells Canyon, widely cited as the deepest river gorge in North America. At the center of it all is Payette Lake at McCall, with Brundage Mountain and Little Ski Hill nearby for winter, and the South Fork of the Salmon draining the country in between.
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.