Lake Cleveland - East Side
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $10From, per site
- Sites
- 87 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 4 notices
In the agency’s own words
Lake Cleveland Campground is a very popular summer recreational facility. Located next to its namesake, the campground is divided into the East Side and West Side loops. Very popular with residents of local communities, the campground is often full every weekend from early July to Labor Day. Keep reading
Recreation
Fishing, kayaking, hiking and swimming are all popular activities within the Lake Cleveland area during the summer months. Non-motorized boating and floating is allowed on Lake Cleveland. Motorized recreation is limited to system roads and trails; no cross-country motorized travel is allowed.
Facilities
Seventeen camping sites are located in the East campground loop, seven of which are reservable, the remaining ten are first-come, first-served. The East side of the lake is best suited for large RVs and trailers. Nine campsites are available on the West side of the lake on a first-come, first-served basis. Trailers are not advised on the West side of the lake because the turn-around is very tight (limited space due to steep terrain).
Natural Features
At an elevation of 8,300 feet, the campground facility is located in an alpine lake basin below Mt. Harrison which has an elevation of 9,240 feet. Late season snowdrifts on the county road and in the campground often block access until early to mid-July. The campground is near the timberline and alpine wildflower meadows. Expansive views north across the Snake River Plain and south into Utah and Nevada can be found near the campground.
Nearby Attractions
Two miles from Lake Cleveland, Mt. Harrison has a fully functional fire lookout tower. Nearby Pomerelle ski area offers lift-served access to mountain bike and hiking trails. Two miles away, Twin Lakes Campground offers equestrian facilities and access to the Skyline Trail which is open for hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking and dirt bikes.
What the agency tells you
The summer camping season is short and winter weather can occur at any time of the year. Come prepared for mountain weather and mountain driving conditions.
No drinking water or trailer hookups are available in the campground.
There is no electricity.
Everything else this campground posts · 1
Don't Move Firewood: Help prevent the spread of tree-killing pests in our national forests by obtaining firewood near your destination and burning it on-site. For more information visit dontmovefirewood.org.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 8
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 60 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Meadow
- Biking
- Fire Lookouts/Cabins Overnight
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Swimming
- Night sky · 492nd darkest of 523 in ID
- Bortle 3
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
recreation.gov lists 7 of the 8 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 12
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $10 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 5
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
8 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 7 mapped sitesAll 8 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 7 of the 8 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 8 of the 8 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| LAKE CLEVELAND - EAST SIDE | 2 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 195 ft | 423 ft | 129 ft | $10 |
| LAKE CLEVELAND - EAST SIDE | 3 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 83 ft | 621 ft | 90 ft | $10 |
| LAKE CLEVELAND - EAST SIDE | 4 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 83 ft | 669 ft | 138 ft | $10 |
| LAKE CLEVELAND - EAST SIDE | 5 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 133 ft | 553 ft | 92 ft | $10 |
| LAKE CLEVELAND - EAST SIDE | 6 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 61 ft | 424 ft | 230 ft | $10 |
| LAKE CLEVELAND - EAST SIDE | 7 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 61 ft | 385 ft | 287 ft | $10 |
| LAKE CLEVELAND - EAST SIDE | 8 | standard nonelectric | 48 ft | 127 ft | 541 ft | 272 ft | $10 |
| S&P | Single S&P | type not stated | 20 ft | $10 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Thompson FlatSawtooth National Forest · 1.2 miBennett Springs CampgroundSawtooth National Forest · 2.3 miIndependence Lakes CampgroundSawtooth National Forest · 7.4 miMcClendon Spring CampgroundBurley Field Office · 12 miFrom Interstate 84, take exit 216 and follow State Highway 77 south approximately 18 miles, through the towns of Declo and Albion, to Howell Canyon Road. Turn west at the Pomerelle Ski Area sign and drive up the canyon on Howell Canyon Road another 7 miles. The road is steep and winding. Look for an entrance sign on your right. Use caution with travel trailers and RVs, as not all campground loops are suitable for trailer turnarounds.
The weather
the next four days
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Albion, ID
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
Roadless country, and what’s coming for it
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Lake Cleveland - East Side is in Idaho’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, Mike Simpson (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →