U.S. Forest Service · Sawtooth National Recreation Area · ID

Wood River Group Overnight Area (Tent Only)

ReservableOut of season, no booking; November 22 opens May 22.
Book on recreation.govWe make nothing when you book
Right now
Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
Sites
1All of them booked ahead
6,370 ftElevation
328 ftWater · Big Wood River
7.1 miNW of Ketchum, ID
0%Tree cover
Bortle 2Night sky · 242nd darkest of 523 in ID

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 6 notices

In the agency’s own words

Wood River Group Overnight Area is located inside the Wood River Campground, which has 30 single campsites for RV's and tent camping, which are available for use on a first-come first-served basis. This campground is located on the banks of the beautiful Big Wood River at an elevation of 6400 feet. Ketchum, Idaho is conveniently close, only 10 miles south. Visitors enjoy fishing, tubing and exploring local trails. Keep reading

Recreation

This site is part of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, where outdoor activities abound. Fly-fishing for rainbow, brown and brook trout is popular on the Big Wood River, as is float tubing. A self-guided nature trail begins near the amphitheater, leading to a small cave and a beaver pond.

Facilities

Wood River offers one reservable group site that can be used as a day-use picnic area for up to 150 people, or as an overnight tent camping site for up to 40 people. Also Wood River Campground has 30 single campsites for RV's and tenting which are available for use on a first-come first served basis. Flush toilets and drinking water are provided. An amphitheater with electricity and wooden benches is just a short walk from the site. Roads and parking spurs are paved, but the site surface is dirt.

Natural Features

A forest of Douglas fir, Ponderosa pine, Lodgepole pine and aspens offers plentiful shade within the facility. Colorful summer wildflowers are abundant and willows dot the banks of the river. Temperatures are cool with an average summer high of 78 degrees and a low of 40 degrees.

Nearby Attractions

The 20-mile Harriman Trail passes nearby, offering excellent hiking and biking. Numerous additional trails spur off the Harriman Trail leading to deep canyons, sparkling lakes, swimming holes and more great high country fishing. The Sawtooth National Recreation Area Visitor Center is 2.5 miles from the campground, with a small museum, bookstore and area information. An RV dump station and drinking water are located here as well. Easley Hot Springs is 4 miles north, offering a swimming pool, hot tubs, showers and a small store. Sun Valley Resort is 7 miles south, with hiking, biking, guided horseback riding and beautiful mountain scenery. Popular area events include Wagon Days in Ketchum in September. In Stanley an hour away, an Arts & Crafts Fair is held in July and a Salmon Festival, Quilt Fair and Fireman's Ball in September.

What the agency tells you

Rule

Opening and closing dates are weather permitting, please call 928-537-8888 for more information.

Rule

If this facility is not reserved, it may be used on a first come, first served basis - must be booked in person. Overnight camping is limited to tents only.

Rule

Live music and amplified sound systems must be approved by the SNRA; please call (208)774-3000

Everything else this campground posts · 3
Rule

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.

Rule

Idaho OHV Safety Message

Rule

Click here for more information on the Sawtooth National Forest

Read them on the agency’s own page →

Tents and rigs

Sites
1 · 1 group
Hookups
None
Accessible sites
None listed
Campfires
Allowed, barring fire bans
Shade
Every site
Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Toilets
Flush Toilets
“…use on a first-come first served basis. Flush toilets and drinking water are provided. An amphitheater…”
Drinking water
Yes
“…first served basis. Flush toilets and drinking water are provided. An amphitheater with electricity and…”
Dump station
Yes
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
Hot springs, Lake, River
Fishing
Hiking
Fall color · reported 6 days ago, 24 km away
Past peak
Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026
Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (24 km) · Oct 10, 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 22, 2026 at 10 AM ET, availability opens through May 22, 2027.recreation.govAdd to calendar (.ics)
Max stay10 nightsthe facility record
Sites, a night, from$125From the rate schedule matched to 1 of its 1 sites. U.S. Forest Service publishes no campground-level rate we can read.derived by CAMPANAC
If plans change$10 to cancel$10 to change a reservationrecreation.gov’s schedule
Runs itU.S. Forest ServiceBooked through recreation.govthe agency’s record
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.

We’ll write once, when the season that starts Sat, May 22 2027 is open for booking.

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 · 12

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
Sites, a night, from$125
Derived by CAMPANAC from the rate schedule matched to 1 of its 1 sites. U.S. Forest Service publishes no campground-level rate for this campground that we can read, only per-site rate templates its own record matches to each site’s own type.
Group area, a night$125
These are next season’s rates, May 22, 2027 to Sep 17, 2027. 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
The agency publishes no nightly rate for this campground, so there’s nothing to add the $8 booking fee to. We won’t total a receipt with a number missing from it.
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

rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

1 sites · the site map

All 1 sites

1 of 1 sites located
Group1
Aerial · Esri World Imagery
SleepsUp to

Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 1 of the 1 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. 1 of the 1 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 agency’s directions · the phone number
Coordinate43.79306, -114.45889
The phone928-537-8888
The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Today65°Sunny
Tonight32°Mostly Clear
Saturday65°Mostly Sunny
Saturday Night30°Partly Cloudy

NWS forecast for Ketchum, ID

Typical weather

Typical October night 28°F, day 56°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical January night 8°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.

90°32°0°

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: KETCHUM RS, ID (USC00104845), 9 miles away and 480 ft lower

The land, and who answers for it

who answers for it

Who answers for this land

Mike Simpson, official portrait

Wood River Group Overnight Area (Tent Only) 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 →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

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.
Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (24 km) · Oct 10, 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.