10 Top Camping Locations in the West

The American West is built for roamers. The region is full of established parks, campgrounds, visitors’ centers and scenic waterways, but it is also laced with two-track trails that lead off into public land, inviting the adventurous. The sheer amount and variety of camping destinations makes any directory incomplete by definition. Then there’s the matter of camping style and expectation. If you’re pulling a fifth-wheel camper, you won’t be interested in primitive sites. Similarly, backpacking campers don’t care about electrical and sewer plug-ins. But here are 10 camping destinations for every level and expectation of camper. Consider these starting points; if your first pick is booked, there will be plenty of alternatives nearby.

Yellowstone National Park

• Wyoming/Montana/Idaho

One of the largest campgrounds in America’s oldest national park, Bridge Bay Campground, has 432 sites, nearly all of them optimized for tent campers, and a half-dozen group-use sites, the largest of which can accommodate up to 60 campers. The great appeal of this campground is its central location in the park, with good access to sparkling Yellowstone Lake, Old Faithful, bison- and elk-viewing areas, and fishing and hiking destinations, not to mention well-kept toilet facilities. The downside is that it books up fast. Expect plenty of restrictions, from food-storage requirements to periodic fire prohibitions to quiet hours. The nightly fee is $33, and reservations are made through concessionaire Yellowstone National Park Lodges.

Thompson Chain of Lakes State Park

• Libby, MT

This 20-mile-long string of lakes just off U.S. Highway 2 between Kalispell and Libby is maybe Montana’s best combination of fishing, camping and Forest Service exploring. Every lake in this northwest Montana chain has something a little different, from lake trout and rainbow trout to kokanee salmon to perch, with high catch rates on small- to mid-sized northern pike in Lower, Middle and Upper Thompson lakes. All are swimmable. The Thompson Chain of Lakes State Park has 83 standard campsites and eight group-use facilities. Large pull-in campers can be accommodated at the 37 sites at Logan State Park, located on Middle Thompson Lake.

Sierra National Forest

• Shaver Lake, CA

Big trees, sparkling water for swimming and boating, easy access to millions of acres of glorious public lands and decent fishing. The High Sierras have it all, and Dorabelle Campground above Shaver Lake has abundant sites for tents and RVs, and the extensive trails around the lake are worth exploring. With nearby restaurants and shopping at Shaver Lake and visitor-friendly amenities, it’s not exactly roughing it, but it’s a great spot for families and car-campers.

Mogollon Campground

• Payson, AZ

Consider this popular Forest Service campground just two miles from Woods Canyon Recreation Area to be your base camp for exploring the magnificent Mogollon Rim country above Payson, Ariz. The campground has only 26 sites, half of which are available for advance reservation. If the sites are taken, don’t despair. The Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest has lots of dispersed camping opportunities where visitors can set up a tent for the evening or pull off and car-camp.

Wind River Range

• Wyoming

Getting to the astonishing middle of this remote Wyoming mountain range takes some doing. Requirements include at least two days of hard hiking; the ability to carry your bed, food and shelter on your back; and the grit to embrace thousands of feet of steep elevation gain. But once you get into the high country of rock, ice, lakes and Instagram-able peaks, you won’t want to leave. Camping is where you find it, as long as it’s at least 200 feet from water and trail. You’ll need bear spray and a food-storage plan since this is grizzly country. But its gift is some of the best backpacking campsites in the West.

Grand Lake KOA Journey Campground

• Grand Lake, CO

Sometimes you just need Wi-Fi, a hot shower and firewood for sale. This commercial campground on the outskirts of the little mountain town of Grand Lake offers the usual amenities. What makes it exceptional is its location within an empire of recreation, from fishing and hiking to boating and sight-seeing between Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park and the summer recreation hub of Grand Lake, Shadow Mountain Lake and the upper Colorado River. Charge up here and then head to more primitive campgrounds in the National Forest all around you.

Jessie Honeyman Memorial State Park

• Florence, OR

The Oregon Coast is one of the marvels of the country, with endless beaches, crashing surf, mythic rock formations and abundant public land, both on the ocean and just inland. Oregon has done an admirable job of accommodating its millions of coastal visitors, but for a change of pace, rent a yurt in a state park. The best, in terms of location and amenities, is Jessie Honeyman Memorial State Park near Florence. The beach is two miles west, but there’s swimming in the freshwater lake, all the berries you can pick and sand dunes for days. The 10 rental yurts get you off the ground (and sand) and put a roof over your head—a key consideration in this rainy part of the world.

Lake Cascade State Park

• Cascade, ID

With nearly 300 sites in 10 developed campgrounds inside a well-managed state park and some of the hottest fishing in the West, this central-Idaho fishery should be on every family’s destination. Jumbo yellow perch grab the headlines here, but the smallmouth and largemouth fishing can be exceptional. And for anglers pulling light gear in cartopper boats, kokanee salmon and rainbow trout will keep your rods bent. Snowbank and Big Sage campgrounds are close to the hottest fishing. When you get tired of fishing and swimming, head into the nearby Boise National Forest for hiking and exploring

American Prairie Buffalo Camp

• Malta, MT

Between the sprawling Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge, millions of acres of BLM land and Corps of Engineers-managed recreation sites on Fort Peck Reservoir, there’s no shortage of spots to lay your head in this remote corner of northeast Montana. But few come with bison. The American Prairie’s Buffalo Camp offers a great base for exploring the area. It’s accessible via good gravel roads, has six designated tent sites, a vault toilet and nine RV sites with power. Expect bison to stroll through camp; American Prairie is a private nature reserve that’s restoring bison to the shortgrass prairie of the area.

Caja Del Rio Plateau

• Santa Fe, NM

One of the great gifts of our nation’s public lands is its multiple-use mandate. That doesn’t exactly mean that anything goes, but you can camp, hike, shoot guns, play your guitar and have a party—within limits. You’ll find all of that happening on the scruffy, volcanic highlands west of Santa Fe. The plateau is almost all Forest Service ground, and while there aren’t many amenities or much visitation infrastructure, there’s abundant dispersed camping. Find an unoccupied pull-out, nose in and camp under the spreading stars and endless high-country piñons and junipers.

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• Related: 10 Top Camping Locations in the East, Midwest and South.

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