CAMPANAC.Powered by public lands intelligenceMore Than Just Parks

U.S. Forest Service · Kaniksu National Forest · ID

Sam Owen

2Heads up2 fires, nearest 33 mi

Wildfire

Silver fire · 33 mi away · 2,593 acres · 30% contained · updated Sep 8, 2026

Wildfire

Parker Lake fire · 48 mi away · 1,531 acres · 1% contained · updated Oct 2, 2026

Fires: NIFC/IRWIN via MTJP wildfire tracker · Oct 2, 2026

ReservableOut of season, no booking; November 19 opens May 19.

Book on recreation.govWe make nothing when you book

Right now: Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
A night: $30–$32Across the site types the agency prices
Sites: 80All of them booked ahead

Photos · Mike Hynes

60 ftLongest rig

2,080 ftElevation

627 ftWater · Lake Pend Oreille

12.2 miSE of Kootenai, ID

26%Tree cover

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 10 notices

In the agency’s own words

Sam Owen Campground is nestled on the banks of Lake Pend Oreille in a densely wooded forest of pine and cedar. Popular activities include hiking, canoeing, swimming and boating in summer, and skiing in winter. Keep reading

Recreation

A beach draws crowds of sunbathers and swimmers. Visitors also like to hike the half-mile, accessible Sam Owen Trail #4. The trail reaches a beautiful vista of Owens Bay, where hikers can rest on benches and take in the astonishing view. Anglers take pleasure in catching kamloops, Dolly Varden, northern pike, trout and catfish. A boat ramp and dock are located on-site.

Facilities

Amenities include a picnic area, paved overflow parking areas and an amphitheater for educational programs. Campsites do not have electric hookups but a group picnic shelter has electricity and lights. Accessible flush toilets, drinking water and a dump station are provided.

Natural Features

Sam Owen Campground is situated on a peninsula on the east side of Lake Pend Oreille in the Idaho Panhandle National Forest, at an elevation of 2,000 feet. The lake spans 82,088 acres and has 125 miles of shoreline. The well-loved campground shares a peninsula with the Sam Owen Game Preserve, which provides plenty of opportunities to see wildlife up close. Deer are very easy to spot, and watching for unique birds is a rewarding activity.

Nearby Attractions

The Pend Oreille Scenic Byway is well worth exploring.

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

What the agency tells you

Rule

Your reserved site will be held until check-out time on the day after the scheduled arrival date. If you haven't occupied your site at any time during this period, your reservation is null and void and your site will be given to first come first serve campers. Your reservation will be a no show and no refund will be given.

Rule

Extra Vehicles: One vehicle is included in your single campsite fee. Each additional vehicle will be charged a per day fee that is collected on site (cash or check only) if space is available in your site only. Additional parking is not be available.

Rule

You can rent KAYAKS and PADDLEBOARDS at the campground. Reserve them ahead of time at SCENICCANYONS.COM

Everything else this campground posts · 7

Rule

A season pass for the day use area can be purchased on site or online at SCENICCANYONS.COM

Rule

Day Use parking is NOT included in your overnight camping fee. If you choose to park in the day use, you must PAY the day use fee for the convenience of parking there.

Rule

Bears frequent the area; keep all food out of sight in approved containers or locked inside your vehicle and remove all food from the area after eating

Rule

No soap, shampoo or use of other toiletries in lake

Rule

The 14 day stay limit is strictly enforced. Camping for a period longer than 14 days during any 30-consecutive day period is prohibited. If you have booked back-to-back reservations, you will be asked to cancel all days after the first 14.

Rule

Don't Move Firewood: Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests by obtaining firewood near your destination and burning it on-site. For more information visit dontmovefirewood.org.

Rule

Click here for more information on Idaho Panhandle National Forest

Read them on the agency’s own page →

Source: recreation.gov facility notices, quoted verbatim · Sep 9, 2026

Tents and rigs

Sites: 80
Hookups: None
Longest rig: 60 ft
Paved pads: All
Accessible sites: 1
Pets: Allowed
Campfires: Allowed, barring fire bans
Shade: 49 of 51 sites

Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Toilets: Flush Toilets; “…has electricity and lights. Accessible flush toilets, drinking water and a dump station are provided.…”
Drinking water: Yes; “…and lights. Accessible flush toilets, drinking water and a dump station are provided. Natural Features…”
Dump station: Yes; recreation.gov lists “Dump Station”
Boat ramp: Yes
Camp host: On site; recreation.gov lists “Host”
Stay limit: 14 nights; recreation.gov facility rule maxStay

Source: Stated in the agency description · Aug 23, 2026

Water, toilets and showers: read from the agency description, shown above · Sep 12, 2026

Around the campground

On the water: Lake, Beach, Coast; Boating; Kayaking; Paddling; Stargazing; Swimming
Night sky · 487th darkest of 523 in ID: Bortle 3
Fall color · reported 3 days ago, 27 km away: No change

Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026

Night sky: VIIRS Day/Night Band annual cloud-free composite, VNL V2 2024 (Earth Observation Group, Colorado School of Mines), read at the published coordinate · Sep 8, 2026

Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (27 km) · Oct 13, 2026

No reading yet, book on recreation.gov

Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.

No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.

Booking windowOut of seasonOut of season, no booking. On November 19, 2027 at 10 AM ET, availability opens through May 19, 2028.recreation.gov Add to calendar (.ics)

Max stay14 nightsthe facility record

A night$30–$32plus $8 to reserve, once per bookingthe agency’s rate schedule

A weekend$68–$72DerivedFriday and Saturday, everything includedours, from the lines above

If plans change$10 to cancel$10 to change a reservationrecreation.gov’s schedule

Runs itScenic Canyons Recreational ServicesA private concessionaire under permit from U.S. Forest Servicethe operator link

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.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.

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.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.

Book on recreation.gov

We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.

Every line of the receipt · 14

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service

A night, per site$30–$32

Standard Nonelectric - Single Sites$30

Premium Standard Nonelectric - Premium Singles$32

Group areas, a night$94–$116

These are next season’s rates, May 19, 2028 to Sep 24, 2028. The campground is between seasons now.

The booking feerecreation.gov

Reservation fee, booked online$8

One fee per reservation, however many nights you book, and it’s non-refundable. $9 if you book by phone, $3 in person.

Pass discounts only apply to the recreation (or use) fee for the facility. Other charges such as electricity or water hookups, reservation or other fees are not eligible for a discount.

What a stay costs

One nightDerived$38–$40

A weekend, Friday and SaturdayDerived$68–$72

Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $30–$32 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.

If your plans changerecreation.gov

Change fee, moving to dates outside your booking$10

Cancellation fee$10

Cancelling the day before, or the day of$10 + your first night

No-show$20 + your first night

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

Sign price: recreation.gov facility rate schedule, quoted as the agency publishes it · Sep 10, 2026

Booking fee, change fee, cancellation fee, no-show: Rules and Reservation Policies, Recreation.gov, the published fee schedule, curated by hand into lib/reservation-fee-schedule.json (9 rows, each carrying its own verbatim sentence). The publisher states these policies were last updated September 2019. · Sep 9, 2026

The two totals: Derived by CAMPANAC by adding the agency’s own published nightly rate to recreation.gov’s own published reservation fee. Both components are cited above; the addition is ours and is shown only where every component is known. · Sep 9, 2026

Who keeps the booking fee: Recreation.gov facility policy text, Dead Swede Campground (facility 234221) · Not on the national policy page. This is agency policy text recreation.gov publishes on individual campground pages; this site holds it verbatim on 45 active campgrounds (campground_rules.cancellation_description, scripts/load-facility-rules.mjs). · Sep 9, 2026

The contract: Reservation Gods: Who Stole Our Campsites and Sold Them Back to Us, More Than Just Parks, April 2025 · Apr 1, 2025

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

82 records · which ones have room · the site map

The sites, ranked

from 78 mapped sites

91 ftbetween you and the next site, typically

Most roomLoop GRPA PAV 278 ftLoop STON 028 178 ftLoop LEAF 081 175 ftLoop STON 041 169 ftLoop REDS 018 150 ft

Least roomLoop REDS 014 52 ftLoop REDS 015 52 ftLoop REDS 019 63 ft

Source: Derived by CAMPANAC from recreation.gov per-site coordinates (nearest-neighbor distance) · Oct 12, 2026

All 82 records

79 of 82 records located

Standard77Day use2

045 046 047 048 049 050 051 052 053 054 055 056 PICA PAV 058 059 060 061 062 063 064 065 066 067 068 069 070 071 072 073 074 075 076 077 078 079 080 081 001 002 003 004 006 007 008 009 010 011 012 013 014 015 016 017 018 019 020 021 022 023 024 025 026 027 028 029 030 031 032 033 034 035 036 037 038 039 040 041 042

Aerial · Esri World Imagery

Sites: recreation.gov (RIDB), coordinates as published · Aug 23, 2026

Imagery: Esri World Imagery

SleepsTakes aUp to

The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 78 of the 82 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.

Measured shade is NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC) read at the site’s own coordinate, 27% canopy or more, and only for the sites the agency gave no Shade value. It never changes the agency’s own shaded count beside it.


DANC	045	standard nonelectric	20 ft		106 ft	691 ft	$30–$32
DANC	046	standard nonelectric	48 ft		111 ft	714 ft	$30–$32
DANC	047	standard nonelectric	40 ft		106 ft	602 ft	$30–$32
DANC	048	standard nonelectric	40 ft		131 ft	766 ft	$30–$32
DANC	049	standard nonelectric	48 ft		111 ft	756 ft	$30–$32
DANC	050	standard nonelectric	45 ft		125 ft	802 ft	$30–$32
DANC	051	standard nonelectric	42 ft		99 ft	581 ft	$30–$32
DANC	052	standard nonelectric	40 ft		84 ft	621 ft	$30–$32
DANC	053	standard nonelectric	45 ft		125 ft	808 ft	$30–$32
DANC	054	standard nonelectric	45 ft		84 ft	628 ft	$30–$32
DANC	055	standard nonelectric	50 ft	yes	129 ft	688 ft	$30–$32
DANC	056	standard nonelectric	55 ft		129 ft	591 ft	$30–$32
GROU	PICA	day use				214 ft	$94
GRPA	PAV	day use		yes	277 ft	200 ft	$116
LEAF	057	type not stated	36 ft
LEAF	058	standard nonelectric	35 ft		91 ft	1,045 ft	$30–$32
LEAF	059	standard nonelectric	30 ft		89 ft	1,135 ft	$30–$32
LEAF	060	standard nonelectric	40 ft		89 ft	1,110 ft	$30–$32
LEAF	061	standard nonelectric	40 ft		90 ft	1,198 ft	$30–$32
LEAF	062	standard nonelectric	45 ft		106 ft	1,251 ft	$30–$32
LEAF	063	standard nonelectric	35 ft		106 ft	1,355 ft	$30–$32
LEAF	064	standard nonelectric	35 ft		132 ft	1,359 ft	$30–$32
LEAF	065	standard nonelectric	40 ft		107 ft	1,343 ft	$30–$32
LEAF	066	standard nonelectric	45 ft		89 ft	1,264 ft	$30–$32
LEAF	067	standard nonelectric	38 ft		89 ft	1,238 ft	$30–$32
LEAF	068	standard nonelectric	30 ft		91 ft	1,208 ft	$30–$32
LEAF	069	standard nonelectric	30 ft		68 ft	1,190 ft	$30–$32
LEAF	070	standard nonelectric	32 ft		64 ft	1,081 ft	$30–$32
LEAF	071	standard nonelectric	40 ft		64 ft	1,116 ft	$30–$32
LEAF	072	standard nonelectric	35 ft		68 ft	1,200 ft	$30–$32
LEAF	073	standard nonelectric	34 ft		97 ft	1,101 ft	$30–$32
LEAF	074	standard nonelectric	40 ft		91 ft	1,007 ft	$30–$32
LEAF	075	standard nonelectric	50 ft		87 ft	1,057 ft	$30–$32
LEAF	076	standard nonelectric	40 ft		98 ft	900 ft	$30–$32
LEAF	077	standard nonelectric	40 ft		98 ft	870 ft	$30–$32
LEAF	078	standard nonelectric	30 ft		87 ft	975 ft	$30–$32
LEAF	079	standard nonelectric	35 ft		88 ft	906 ft	$30–$32
LEAF	080	standard nonelectric	32 ft		88 ft	981 ft	$30–$32
LEAF	081	standard nonelectric	38 ft		174 ft	984 ft	$30–$32
REDS	001	standard nonelectric	27 ft		69 ft	779 ft	$30–$32
REDS	002	standard nonelectric	50 ft		69 ft	800 ft	$30–$32
REDS	003	standard nonelectric	32 ft		68 ft	677 ft	$30–$32
REDS	004	standard nonelectric	45 ft		68 ft	707 ft	$30–$32
REDS	006	standard nonelectric	30 ft		100 ft	639 ft	$30–$32
REDS	007	standard nonelectric	30 ft		99 ft	714 ft	$30–$32
REDS	008	standard nonelectric	40 ft		99 ft	616 ft	$30–$32
REDS	009	standard nonelectric	25 ft		125 ft	692 ft	$30–$32
REDS	010	standard nonelectric	25 ft		149 ft	638 ft	$30–$32
REDS	011	standard nonelectric	55 ft		88 ft	465 ft	$30–$32
REDS	012	standard nonelectric	30 ft		81 ft	503 ft	$30–$32
REDS	013	standard nonelectric	32 ft		81 ft	477 ft	$30–$32
REDS	014	standard nonelectric	30 ft		52 ft	509 ft	$30–$32
REDS	015	standard nonelectric	30 ft		52 ft	458 ft	$30–$32
REDS	016	standard nonelectric	25 ft		73 ft	538 ft	$30–$32
REDS	017	standard nonelectric	30 ft		73 ft	467 ft	$30–$32
REDS	018	standard nonelectric	50 ft		150 ft	521 ft	$30–$32
REDS	019	standard nonelectric	45 ft		63 ft	536 ft	$30–$32
REDS	020	standard nonelectric	45 ft		63 ft	476 ft	$30–$32
REDS	021	standard nonelectric	35 ft		108 ft	523 ft	$30–$32
REDS	022	standard nonelectric	30 ft		68 ft	638 ft	$30–$32
REDS	023	standard nonelectric	33 ft		68 ft	652 ft	$30–$32
REDS	024	standard nonelectric	45 ft		82 ft	725 ft	$30–$32
REDS	025	standard nonelectric	30 ft		82 ft	805 ft	$30–$32
REDS	026	standard nonelectric	30 ft		86 ft	893 ft	$30–$32
REDS	027	standard nonelectric	35 ft		86 ft	942 ft	$30–$32
STON	028	standard nonelectric	60 ft		177 ft	437 ft	$30–$32
STON	029	standard nonelectric	36 ft		103 ft	214 ft	$30–$32
STON	030	standard nonelectric	30 ft		103 ft	284 ft	$30–$32
STON	031	standard nonelectric	30 ft		106 ft	179 ft	$30–$32
STON	032	standard nonelectric	30 ft		88 ft	160 ft	$30–$32
STON	033	standard nonelectric	30 ft		88 ft	176 ft	$30–$32
STON	034	standard nonelectric	35 ft		88 ft	263 ft	$30–$32
STON	035	standard nonelectric	30 ft		86 ft	190 ft	$30–$32
STON	036	standard nonelectric	30 ft		86 ft	253 ft	$30–$32
STON	037	standard nonelectric	30 ft		120 ft	248 ft	$30–$32
STON	038	standard nonelectric	25 ft		140 ft	108 ft	$30–$32
STON	039	standard nonelectric	20 ft		143 ft	120 ft	$30–$32
STON	040	standard nonelectric	20 ft		98 ft	220 ft	$30–$32
STON	041	standard nonelectric	23 ft		169 ft	147 ft	$30–$32
STON	042	standard nonelectric	38 ft		98 ft	307 ft	$30–$32
STON	043	standard nonelectric	35 ft				$30–$32
STON	044	type not stated	60 ft

The agency files 2 more records here that aren’t sites for the night. It files them as day use. They’re in the table above, marked for what they are, and none of them is counted as a site.

Price: Derived by CAMPANAC: each site takes the per-night rate this campground publishes for the site’s own site type (recreation.gov rate schedule). recreation.gov publishes no per-campsite fee, and a site whose type carries no published rate is left blank rather than called free · Sep 11, 2026

OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.

25 of 82 listed

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

Getting there

the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number

Coordinate48.21667, -116.28306

The mapSee it on the map

The driveDirections ↗

The phone435-245-6521

The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

Also near here

Green Bay CampgroundKaniksu National Forest · 6.4 mi

Lunch Peak LookoutKaniksu National Forest · 11 mi Maiden Rock CampgroundKaniksu National Forest · 13 mi Whiskey Rock Bay CampgroundKaniksu National Forest · 14 mi

Springy Point14 mi Spar Lake CampgroundKootenai National Forest · 16 mi

Getting there

From Sandpoint, take State Highway 200 east 21 miles. Turn right on Peninsula Road (County Road 1028) and continue 1 mile to the recreation area.

Directions: Driving directions as the agency wrote them · Sep 9, 2026

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

This Afternoon65°Sunny

Tonight42°Mostly Clear4% rain

Saturday61°Mostly Sunny4% rain

Saturday Night36°Mostly Clear

NWS forecast for East Hope, ID

Source: National Weather Service, OTX forecast office · Oct 16, 2026

Typical weather

Typical October night 36°F, day 55°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical January night 24°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.

90°32°20°

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.

Measured at: CABINET GORGE, ID (USC00101363), 14 miles away and 93 ft higher

Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, monthly normals · Sep 8, 2026

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

Roadless country, and what’s coming for it

Roadless

Beetop12,806 acres · 5 mi · inventoried roadless area

Roadless

Schafer Peak6,106 acres · 8 mi · inventoried roadless area

Roadless

Trestle Peak7,442 acres · 9 mi · inventoried roadless area

You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.

Source: USFS Inventoried Roadless Areas via MTJP Roadless Map · Jul 29, 2026

Who answers for this land

Sam Owen 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 →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

Source: U.S. Census district boundaries and the MTJP Congressional Public Lands Score

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from

Right now: U.S. Forest Service publishes no season and no closure for this campground, and it takes no bookings we can read. That’s a gap in the record and not a locked gate: the number below is the only way to be sure.

Sites on recreation.gov: recreation.gov’s own month availability payload for this facility, asked for October 2026, November 2026 and July 2027. It names 80 of the 80 campsites the agency files here, and every one of them carries an answer either way. A campground nobody has read carries no answer at all, never a no. · Oct 11, 2026

Elevation: USGS 3DEP elevation point query at this campground’s coordinate · Sep 7, 2026

Tree cover: NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC), one 30 m cell at this coordinate, taken as the median across the 79 campsites here that carry a reading · Sep 9, 2026

Water: USGS National Hydrography Dataset, nearest perennial lake, reservoir, river or stream to this campground’s coordinate · Sep 8, 2026

Night sky: VIIRS Day/Night Band annual cloud-free composite, VNL V2 2024 (Earth Observation Group, Colorado School of Mines), read at the published coordinate: 0.16 mcd/m² of artificial all-sky glow, ranked against the 523 rated federal campgrounds in Idaho · Sep 8, 2026

Sky-glow model: Duriscoe, Anderson, Luginbuhl and Baugh (2018), a simplified model of all-sky artificial sky glow derived from VIIRS Day/Night band data, the National Park Service sky-glow model

Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (27 km) · Oct 13, 2026

Reported by: iNaturalist fall color observations, reported no change · Oct 13, 2026

Cell signal: the Forest Service’s own campground description, read as text by CAMPANAC. None of this is a measurement. It’s what the land manager published about the place, and phones, carriers and weather all disagree with each other; treat it as a warning, not a promise.

Nearest place of any size: East Hope, ID, 1.1 mi S. Straight line.

Nearest town: U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line 2024 places, measured by CAMPANAC to the town boundary; population is the ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimate · Sep 9, 2026