$100 - $125 / night

Camper submitted image from Sunny Gulch Campground - 1

Camper submitted image from Sunny Gulch Campground - 2

Nature

Camper submitted image from Sunny Gulch Campground - 3

Water

Camper submitted image from Sunny Gulch Campground - 4

Roads

Camper submitted image from Sunny Gulch Campground - 5

Camping

Established Camping

Sunny Gulch Campground

12 Reviews

About

USDA Forest Service

Sawtooth National Forest

Overview

Sunny Gulch Campground sits along the shores of Salmon River in the forests of central Idaho.

Recreation

Excellent fishing is right out your back door on the Salmon River, with rainbow trout, Westslope cutthroat trout and occasional hybrid cutbows and bull trout available. Sunny Gulch lies in the heart of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. A myriad of excellent hiking and biking opportunities are available, and an estimated 750 miles of trails crisscross the valley and surrounding mountains.

Facilities

Natural Features

The campground offers spectacular views of the Sawtooth Mountains. Summer wildflowers are plentiful and lodgepole pines provide partial shade. Temperatures are cool with an average summer high of 78 degrees and a low of 40 degrees.

Nearby Attractions

The Alpine Way Trail begins less than a mile from the campground, and the Idaho Centennial Trail passes nearby. Redfish and Stanley Lakes are nearby with great boating, water skiing, canoeing, kayaking and fishing. Numerous additional sparkling lakes and streams dot the area. Popular area events include an Arts and Crafts Fair in July, and Wagon Days, Salmon Festival, Quilt Fair and Fireman's Ball in September.

Reservation Info

Lower loop closes September 16. Upper loop closes September 21. Camp hosts unavailable after September 16.

Suggest an Edit

Location

Sunny Gulch Campground is located in Idaho

Directions

From Stanley, Idaho, take Highway 75 south approximately 3 miles. Campground is on the north side of the road, between the highway and the Salmon River.

Address

SAWTOOTH NATIONAL RECREATION
Stanley, ID 83278

Coordinates

44.1761111 N
114.9091667 W

Open in Google Maps

Is Sunny Gulch Campground sold out?

Quickly grab cancellations!

Learn More

Access

Drive-In
Park next to your site
Walk-In
Park in a lot, walk to your site.

Stay Connected

WiFi
Unknown
Verizon
Unknown
AT&T
Unknown
T-Mobile
Unknown

Site Types

Tent Sites
RV Sites
Standard (Tent/RV)
Group

Features

For Campers

Trash
Picnic Table
Firewood Available
Phone Service
Drinking Water
Toilets
Alcohol
Pets
Fires

For Vehicles

Sanitary Dump

SEE WHAT'S AVAILABLE

$100 - $125

/ night

First Come - First Served

Is Sunny Gulch Campground sold out?

Quickly grab cancellations!

Learn More

Contact

General Info

Reservations

(877) 444-6777

Austin C.

Legend

Reviewed Aug. 23, 2021

Great Alternative to Redfish Lake Campgrounds

Redfish lake was all reserved, so we ended up camping across the highway here. Great campground with the Salmon River running along right next to the site. Little trails leading down to river. Sites were spacious and had picnic tables and fire pits (no fires allowed when we visited).

Got day-use access to Redfish lake, which had a great "dog beach" for us to stop at.

Site2

Month of VisitSeptember

(13) View All

carole

Scout

Reviewed Aug. 9, 2021

Great campground

No hookups but water spigots are scattered about the cg. Very private sites widely spaced out. Level, gravel back in spots with metal picnic tables on concrete pad. Some highway noise but not a problem and quiet at night. Very nice.

Site10

Month of VisitSeptember

Danielle

Scout

Reviewed Aug. 7, 2021

Great Sites

Sunny Gulch is close to the Sawtooths for great hiking, next to the river if you want to cool off or fish and there were plenty of options. The tent sites are groomed pretty well, and they had the cleanest pit toilet I think I’ve ever seen.

Month of VisitSeptember

Andy M.

Scout

Reviewed Jul. 21, 2021

Beautiful spot

Nice sites with level pads, picnic tables, prep table and fire pits. There are 2 loops with about 47 sites. We came on a Monday afternoon in mid-July and got the last site available, so plan ahead.

Site30

Month of VisitAugust

Ryan L.

Traveler

Reviewed Aug. 22, 2020

A great place to camp that is next to the Salmon River

I stayed here for a night without a reservation. My spot was a short walk to the river. The campsite is clean. There is a cleaning table next to the picnic table to clean fish if you catch any. My campsite was next to the freshwater well pump. The drinking water is very cold and clean. Bathrooms were clean, outhouse style. I gave it 4 stars as the ground where the tent goes was almost all bedrock and little sand/dirt to tap tent stakes into.

Ryan L.

Traveler

Reviewed Aug. 18, 2020

Great campsite to go fishing

Come to Sunny Gulch if you want to fish along the river. I picked a site that is a short walk to the river. The fee is $18/night for a car with a tent. You can reserve but I didn’t make a reservation and they had plenty of open spots close to the river. The bathroom are latrine style. Running water is available via hand pump.

Dave D.

Traveler

Reviewed Jul. 30, 2020

National Forest Campground 1/2 Mile North of Sunny Gulch

We found this National Forest dispersed campsite 1/2 mile North of Sunny Gulch campground on Highway 75 outside of Stanley, Idaho. We fit 3 campers down here no problem but the biggest camper was 21’ long and we don’t recommend much bigger. We also had to use 4–wheel drive to get over the bull rock down to the site. Can’t ask for a better spot next to the river though!

Patrick M.

Traveler

Reviewed Sep. 3, 2019

Last minute Labor day weekend find

The other reviews really sum up this site. The back sites have easier access to the river while the front are closer to the Hwy.

Annie C.

Legend

Reviewed Jul. 31, 2019

Great camping next to the Salmon River

Just down the road from the entrance to Redfish Lake is where you will find this campground on the backs of the Salmon River. I never did really figure out if this is part of the Redfish Lake campground group or not, but I do know I enjoyed camping here and that this campground is owned by the Forest Service. There are two main loops, an upper and lower, and there is no distinction between tent and RV sites as there are no hookups available. The upper loop is closer to the river but doesn’t really have what I could see as great access. I was on the lower loop, which gets more sun as it is further away from the bluffs on the river (and had less trees). I was able to walk from my site to the river fairly easily even though there were no trails and as a result was able to watch rafting groups float on by. The campground was really well maintained and actually looked very new, though the host said it had been around for several years. The vault toilets were very clean and odor free, and it looked like most sites had nice gravel tent pads. Good steel picnic tables and prep tables(I am loving the prep tables the forest service is installing in campgrounds!!) as well firepits and large car/rv pads were really nice too. Showers and laundry are across the road at Redfish Lake along with great trails, horse rentals, and lake activities. Other nearby activities include hot spring sitting and white water rafting.

Month of VisitJuly

(10) View All

Adam S.

Traveler

Reviewed Jul. 25, 2019

Howdy

Salmon river within walking distance. Clean Would use again

Kim K.

Traveler

Reviewed Jul. 1, 2019

Clean, quiet, convenient

When I couldn’t get into the campgrounds at Stanley lake or Redfish Lake this was the next best option and it worked out well. It was easy to access both of those recreational areas as well as access the services in town. The campground is along the Salmon River so you hear it in the background, which was beautiful. This was a clean and well run campground. The views of the sawtooth peaks were amazing.