Thomas Canyon
- Right now
- OpenThe agency lists it open
- A night
- $19–$38Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 4339 on recreation.gov
- Season
- May 1 – November 30Open May 1 through November 30
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 6 notices
In the agency’s own words
Thomas Canyon Campground is located in the scenic Lamoille Canyon, in northeast Nevada, 30 miles from Elko. Visitors enjoy fishing Lamoille Creek and exploring many local hiking trails. Keep reading
Recreation
Lamoille Creek is a popular stream among fly-fishermen. The creek contains brook and wild rainbow trout. Lamoille Canyon offers numerous hiking and horseback riding trails that lead to alpine lakes and vistas. Thomas Canyon Trail begins at the campground, leading past several waterfalls, through an alpine meadow into a glacial cirque. The canyon road is popular for scenic driving and road biking. Many rock climbing routes can be found on the canyon walls.
Facilities
The campground offers single and double campsites, each equipped with a picnic table, campfire ring, and grill. Some sites also have tent pads. Vault toilets, drinking water, and trash collection are provided. During the first-come, first-served season (typically late-September through late-October-dependent on current conditions), there is no campground host on-site and water facilites (e.g., drinking water) are not available as they are turned off for the fall and winter seasons. Please call the local district office for most up to date information.
Natural Features
The campground sits at the mouth of Thomas Canyon, a part of larger Lamoille Canyon, at an elevation of 7,200 feet. Both canyons are within the beautiful Ruby Mountains, a desert island brimming with wildlife, sparkling lakes and streams, wildflower-filled meadows and jagged peaks. Groves of aspen and cottonwood trees provide partial shade in the campground and beautiful fall color. Lamoille Creek runs through the site. All campsites afford breathtaking views of the surrounding peaks and canyon walls. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (775) 738-5171.
What the agency tells you
Campgrounds are generally open from Memorial Day to Labor Day for reservations on rec.gov. However, things can change based on weather and other emergency situations, please contact the Ranger station for the most up-to-date information.
Livestock is not allowed in the campground
Click here for more information on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest
Everything else this campground posts · 3
The single site fee includes one vehicle, the double site fee includes two vehicles, any vehicles over these will be charged an $6 extra vehicle fee at the campground. Double site daily fee is not eligible for a pass discount.
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.
Reserved site held until check-out time on the day after the scheduled arrival date. If you haven't occupied it at any time during this period, your reservation is null and void and we will give it to first come first serve folks. Your reservation will be a no show and no refund will be given.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 43 · 1 tent-only
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 65 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- 1
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…grill. Some sites also have tent pads. Vault toilets, drinking water, and trash collection are provided.…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…also have tent pads. Vault toilets, drinking water, and trash collection are provided. During the…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Waterfall, Lake, Creek, Meadow
- Biking
- Climbing
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 37th darkest of 65 in NV
- Bortle 2
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
recreation.gov lists 39 of the 43 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 · 16
What you actually pay
“The single site fee includes one vehicle, the double site fee includes two vehicles, any vehicles over these will be charged an $6 extra vehicle fee at the campground.” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $19–$38 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
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
43 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 39 mapped sitesAll 43 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 41 of the 43 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. 43 of the 43 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| A | 001 | type not stated | 45 ft | 132 ft | 450 ft | $19–$38 | ||
| A | 002 | type not stated | 45 ft | 141 ft | 326 ft | $19–$38 | ||
| A | 003 | rv nonelectric | 40 ft | 73 ft | 177 ft | 244 ft | $19 | |
| A | 004 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 73 ft | 113 ft | 203 ft | $19–$38 | |
| A | 005 | rv nonelectric | 45 ft | 73 ft | 200 ft | 186 ft | $19 | |
| A | 006 | rv nonelectric | 25 ft | yes | 98 ft | 126 ft | 102 ft | $19 |
| A | 007 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 69 ft | 87 ft | 121 ft | $19–$38 | |
| A | 008 | rv nonelectric | 35 ft | 60 ft | 156 ft | 126 ft | $19 | |
| A | 009 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | 60 ft | 182 ft | 90 ft | $19 | |
| A | 009A | tent only nonelectric | 20 ft | 104 ft | 211 ft | 92 ft | $19 | |
| B | 010 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 68 ft | 106 ft | 331 ft | $19–$38 | |
| B | 011 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 55 ft | 112 ft | 265 ft | $19–$38 | |
| B | 012 | rv nonelectric | 45 ft | 78 ft | 187 ft | 225 ft | $19 | |
| B | 013 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 55 ft | 109 ft | 216 ft | $19–$38 | |
| B | 014 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 85 ft | 214 ft | 104 ft | $19–$38 | |
| B | 015 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 46 ft | 130 ft | 124 ft | $19–$38 | |
| B | 016 | standard nonelectric | 65 ft | 46 ft | 137 ft | 92 ft | $19–$38 | |
| B | 017 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 94 ft | 289 ft | 105 ft | $19–$38 | |
| B | 018 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 80 ft | 193 ft | 247 ft | $19–$38 | |
| B | 019 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 80 ft | 131 ft | 248 ft | $19–$38 | |
| B | 020 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 87 ft | 198 ft | 163 ft | $19–$38 | |
| C | 021 | rv nonelectric | 45 ft | 98 ft | 223 ft | 390 ft | $19 | |
| C | 022 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 103 ft | 127 ft | 422 ft | $19–$38 | |
| C | 023 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 98 ft | 165 ft | 487 ft | $19–$38 | |
| C | 024 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 127 ft | 38 ft | 450 ft | $19–$38 | |
| C | 025 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 76 ft | 61 ftThomas Creek | 394 ft | $19–$38 | |
| C | 026 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 76 ft | 25 ftThomas Creek | 440 ft | $19–$38 | |
| C | 027 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 75 ft | 106 ftThomas Creek | 555 ft | $19–$38 | |
| C | 028 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 75 ft | 148 ftThomas Creek | 504 ft | $19–$38 | |
| C | 029 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 85 ft | 329 ft | 318 ft | $19–$38 | |
| C | 030 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 106 ft | 363 ftThomas Creek | 310 ft | $19–$38 | |
| C | 031 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 81 ft | 295 ft | 234 ft | $19–$38 | |
| C | 032 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 81 ft | 274 ft | 162 ft | $19–$38 | |
| C | 033 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 81 ft | 398 ft | 256 ft | $19–$38 | |
| C | 034 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 81 ft | 328 ft | 180 ft | $19–$38 | |
| C | 035 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 83 ft | 251 ft | 101 ft | $19–$38 | |
| C | 036 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 114 ft | 137 ft | 17 ft | $19–$38 | |
| C | 037 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 137 ft | 70 ft | 135 ft | $19–$38 | |
| C | 038 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 56 ft | 76 ft | 274 ft | $19–$38 | |
| C | 039 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 80 ft | 152 ft | 265 ft | $19–$38 | |
| C | 040 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 56 ft | 38 ft | 282 ft | $19–$38 | |
| S&P | Double, S&P | type not stated | 40 ft | $19–$38 | ||||
| S&P | Single, S&P | type not stated | 45 ft | $19–$38 |
25 of 43 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Terraces Campground - Picnic AreaHumboldt National Forest · 2.3 miZunino/Jiggs Reservation Campground19 miAngel Lake CampgroundHumboldt National Forest · 31 mi
Angel Lake (Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, NV)Humboldt National Forest · 31 miAngel Creek CampgroundHumboldt National Forest · 32 mi
Angel Creek (Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, NV)Humboldt National Forest · 32 miTake I-80 to any Elko exit and head south to Idaho Street. Turn south on 12th Street (from the east) or on 5th Street (from the west), to State Route 227. Travel 25 miles on SR 227 to Forest Road 660 (Lamoille Canyon Scenic Byway). Travel 8 miles on FR 660 to the campground.
The weather
the next four days
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Lamoille, NV
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
Thomas Canyon is in Nevada’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, Mark Amodei (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →