Third Fork Campground
- Right now
- OpenInside the published season, our reading; a database flag says not open
- Season
- May 1Opens May 1. No closing date published.
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there
In the agency’s own words
CLOSED DUE TO FIRE DAMAGE Third Fork Trailhead Picnic and Campground area is composed of 5 individual units and an accessible vault toilet. This area is suitable for motor homes and trailers and best suited for day use. Barrier free stock loading is available. Amenities include toilets and an accessible transfer station. Third Fork Trail (#004) is an easy multi-use trail that accesses an extensive trail system including Wahlstrom Hollow (#38) and Rim View Trails (#235), the latter a hiking/horse trail over moderate terrain. Rim View Trail is 9. Keep reading
5 miles long and runs from Buckskin Ridge to the confluence of Third and Fourth Forks of Rock Creek; it is open to foot and horse travel only. There is an approximate gain of 1900 ft. from the third Fork Trailhead end of the trail on Buckskin Ridge as it generally follows a gentle moderate grade of 8%. The trail crosses several live streams and for the most part goes through areas covered with sub-alpine fir and aspen trees. Excellent views of Rock Creek abound as the trail traverses the canyon rim along the west side of Rock Creek. During the winter, there is great skiing on the Rock Creek Trail, just south of this campground. Opening off the head of Rock Creek are 4 cross-country ski trails ranging in length from 1.2 to 8.1 miles; three of the trails are groomed and signed.
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…of 5 individual units and an accessible vault toilet. This area is suitable for motor homes and trailers…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Creek
Phone before you drive
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 · 4
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
Lower PenstemonSawtooth National Forest · 4.4 miUpper Penstemon CampgroundSawtooth National Forest · 4.5 miSchipper CampgroundSawtooth National Forest · 4.9 miPettit CampgroundSawtooth National Forest · 5.1 miDiamondfield Jack CampgroundSawtooth National Forest · 5.8 miThe weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Murtaugh, ID
Typical weather
Typical May night 42°F, day 69°F.
Coldest night of the open season: typical May night 42°F. Bring the bag rated for it.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or moreOutside the published season
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
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
Third Fork Campground 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 →