Big Eddy Campground
This is how it should work.
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there
In the agency’s own words
Big Eddy Campground is located approximately 15 miles north of Banks, Idaho, just off Highway 55 at an elevation of 4,000 feet. The North Fork Payette River flows next to the highway, where whitewater rafting and kayaking are popular activities. Big Eddy used to be a water stop for the old steam engines. The foundation of the old water tower can still be seen across the river. Big Eddy Campground is one of 4 campgrounds that lie along State Highway 55, on the North Fork of the Payette River between Banks and Smiths Ferry. Natural Features: The campground is situated is a scenic canyon just above Highway 55. Keep reading
The mountains are forested with a mix of Ponderosa and lodgepole pines and shade is plentiful within most of the campground. Summer days are warm, reaching 80-90 degrees; nights are cooler. Recreation: The North Fork Payette River is a very popular location for whitewater rafting and kayaking. The Payette Whitewater Roundup is held annually in July along different sections of the river. Anglers will find good to excellent fishing for whitefish and rainbow trout.
Around the campground
- On the water
- River
Nothing to book, just show up
One of 1,623 federal campgrounds where the site still goes to whoever pulls in first. Get there before noon on a summer weekend.
recreation.gov publishes no availability for a campground you can’t reserve, so there’s no thirty-night reading to draw here. The season bar above is what the agency does publish.
Every line of the receipt · 3
What you actually pay
How we know this receipt · 4
record Aug 24, 2026 · How we know all this
Getting there
the map and the coordinate
Where it is
Cold Springs Campground - Boise NF (ID)Boise National Forest · 1.9 miCanyon Creek CampgroundBoise National Forest · 2.3 mi
Swinging BridgeBoise National Forest · 3.5 miHollywood CampgroundBoise National Forest · 8.2 mi
EastsideBoise National Forest · 8.4 miEastside Campground (Group ONLY)Boise National Forest · 8.4 miThe weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Smiths Ferry, ID
Typical weather
Typical October night 31°F, day 58°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 15°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Big Eddy Campground is in Idaho’s 1st congressional district. Its representative, Russ Fulcher (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →