Pink House Recreation Site
1Heads up1 fire 41 mi away
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $10–$18Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 202 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 2 notices
In the agency’s own words
Pink House Recreation Site is a large developed site located approximately 5 miles west of Orofino, ID. Nestled beside the Clearwater River at an elevation of 980 feet, the Pink House Recreation Site is surrounded by scenic views of semi-arid hillsides, and the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. Visitors come to this site from all over the country to enjoy camping, world class fishing, boating, tubing, swimming, picnicking, and wildlife viewing. Lucky visitors may encounter a river otter swimming by or see eagles soaring above. The site is open year-round and a full-time Campground Host is present. Keep reading
Campers can opt to pay overnight camping fees at the site through the free, easy-to-use www.Recreation.gov mobile app using the ‘scan and pay’ option. Selecting a camping site at Pink House Recreation Site will remain first-come, first-served; they will not be reservable in advance through Recreation.gov.
Recreation
This area is popular for boaters, anglers, wildlife watching, as well as for quiet relaxation. The site is home to one of the most heavily used boat launching sites upstream from Lewiston, Idaho. Guests have immediate access to the Clearwater River, home to world-renowned salmon and steelhead fisheries attracting anglers from around the world. Tubing is one of the most popular activities on the section upstream of Orofino due to the river’s mellow rapids and accessibility. With over 10 access sites along the Clearwater River to put-in and take-out, recreationists have the option to float on the river as long as they desire.
Facilities
Pink House Recreation Site can accommodate RV and tent camping. This site features 15 RV sites with full-hookups - water, electricity (30-amp connection), and sewer. Each site has standing BBQ grills, picnic tables, and fire rings. Two of the RV sites are pull-through, while the rest are back-in only. Two of the back-in only RV sites are accessible. Pink House Recreation Site also features three tent campsites with standing BBQ grills as well as picnic tables and fire rings. All three tent campsites have excellent views of the Clearwater River. There is a concrete boat ramp, which provides access to the Clearwater River year-round. If you are just visiting for the day, there is ample parking for vehicles including trailers. Several water hydrants, providing potable water, are distributed throughout the site. There are also several toilets (flush and vault) and two dumpsters on-site. There are two accessible group pavilions for day-use only. The pavilions are reservable through Recreation.gov. To make a reservation for a pavilion, please visit: https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/10094038 . Reservations for the small pavilion are $25/per day and the large pavilion costs $50/day. There is a small service fee for online reservations. Both pavilions include electricity, lighting, standing BBQ grills, and accessible picnic tables.
Natural Features
The area is situated along the Clearwater River with beautiful views of the surrounding semi-arid hillsides. Most of the RV sites and all three tent sites offer excellent views of the Clearwater River. Native trees provide abundant shade throughout the site. Guests can access the large sandy beach with just a short walk from their campsite. The beach is open for year-round use, but is closed to vehicle use from June 1 to September 30 to enhance the safety of beach users in the summer months.
Nearby Attractions
The Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail follows the Clearwater River from Greer, Idaho to the confluence with the Snake River. The Northwest Discovery Water Trail is the first 40-mile reach of the Clearwater River from Canoe Camp to the confluence with the Snake River in Lewiston, Idaho. Orofino, Idaho provides basic services and shopping opportunities—5 miles away. Nez Perce National Historical Park (Canoe Camp)—1 mile away. Dworshak Hatchery—9 miles away. Dworshak Dam and Visitor Center—12 miles away.
What the agency tells you
Maximum duration of stay is 14 DAYS (consecutive or not) within a 28-DAY period. After 14 days of campsite occupation, you must move outside a 25-mile radius of that location.
Overnight parking is prohibited in the day use parking areas.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 20 · 4 tent-only
- Hookups
- 16 electric, 16 water
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…for vehicles including trailers. Several water hydrants, providing potable water, are distributed…”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
Around the campground
- On the water
- River, Beach
- Boating
- Canoeing
- Fishing
- Kayaking
- Picnicking
- Water access
- Wildlife viewing
Nothing on the booking system for the next 30 nightsread 16:48 UTC
recreation.gov lists 2 of the 20 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
Every one of the next thirty nights is in recreation.gov’s record and not one site is being offered on any of them. That’s a campground closed or not yet released for booking, not a sold-out one.
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.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 18
What you actually pay
“Any additional vehicles not in tow are $4.00 per vehicle per night.” · the Bureau of Land Management’s own fee record
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $10–$18 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 · 6
recreation.gov availability, read 16:48 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
20 sites
All 20 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 20 of the 20 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the phone number
Where it is
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Orofino, ID
Typical weather
Typical October night 39°F, day 63°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 28°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 Augusts are colder than the August line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Pink House Recreation Site 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 →