Sightseeing & food
| Location | Irwin, Idaho |
|---|---|
| Nightly rate (listed) | From $60/night |
| Guest rating | 5.0 / 5 (15 reviews) |
| Maximum RV length | 50 ft (longest listed site) |
| Hookups | None listed |
| RV sites | 3 |
| Book on | Recreation.gov |
From the park's listing on Recreation.gov. Confirm details with the park before you book.
More Idaho RV parks with: Big Rig Sites
This weekend · Not yet releasedRecreation.gov hasn't opened these dates yet
Closest stays by type. Distances are straight-line from Big Elk, not driving.
Available Oct 30 – Nov 1 · 2 nights11 sites open for every night
Available Oct 30 – Nov 1 · 2 nights3 sites open for every night
Not yet released
Big Elk is a Recreation.gov campground in ID. It lists 3 RV or RV/tent sites for rigs up to 50 ft.
Checking 2 nights (your saved dates or this weekend). Tell us what you're staying in to see matching sites and prices.
Availability checked Sep 6 on Recreation.gov. Rates are the provider's nightly rates; totals are estimates before taxes & fees.
You book with the provider. Each row shows that provider's lowest open option for your dates, and which provider our main button uses.
No recent availability data on Recreation.gov: this grid may be out of date, so check availability with the provider.
| Site | Fr 30 | Sa 31 | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| B-1 group standard nonelectric | – | – | $60 |
| A-1 group standard nonelectric | – | – | $60 |
| B-2 group standard nonelectric | – | – | $60 |
✓ available · R reserved · X not available · C closed · W first come, first served · N not yet released
Verbatim from guest reviews on Recreation.gov ↗ (15 reviews, ★ 5.0). Not written or edited by us.
“Well kept camp! Outhouses are clean, trails well kept, fir pits are wonderful. The best part is the camp host. Congrats on a great campsite. ”
“Our family comes here every year. We appreciate the surroundings and the proximity of the water. There is plenty of shade for this site and the new grill stand is so appreciated! ”
“Camp host was very nice. Bathrooms were very well taken care off ”
This weekend (Fri, Oct 30 – Sun, Nov 1): Book online. Reservations online on Recreation.gov — open dates and rates come from the booking site.
Longest RV site listed: 50 ft. Unsure if your rig fits? Check it in the Rig Fit tool
TARGHEE
Open in Google Maps ↗
Big Elk Campground sits along Big Elk Creek on a quiet arm of Palisades Reservoir about 55 miles east of Idaho Falls, reached by heading past the Palisades Dam and turning up Big Elk Creek Road. The site lies at roughly 5,700 feet amid stands of aspens and Douglas-fir with sagebrush and summer wildflowers on the slopes, and the campground's three group campsites are the only developed sites there. Each of those three sites accepts both RVs and tents; Site A-1 includes a roofed picnic shelter and serving tables and can hold up to 160 people, while Sites B-1 and B-2 have picnic tables, campfire rings and grills and each accommodate up to 50 people. There is no electrical service; vault toilets, drinking water and trash collection are provided, roads and parking spurs are gravel, and firewood can be purchased from the on-site host. Individual campsites are not available by reservation and are offered strictly on a first-come, first-served basis. The campground is focused on water- and trail-based recreation. Big Elk Creek provides good cutthroat trout fishing and the occasional kokanee salmon, and a small on-site boat ramp allows launching when reservoir levels permit; when the reservoir is low boats cannot be launched on Big Elk Creek. Across Highway 26 the larger Palisades Reservoir opens up more boating, water-skiing, swimming and lake fishing (wild and stocked cutthroat trout predominate, with kokanee, brown and Mackinaw present), and a larger ramp at Calamity Campground sits less than 10 miles away. A trailhead at the campground starts the Big Elk Creek Trail used by hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders and nearby the Palisades Creek Trail leads toward Upper Palisades Lake and wide views over Swan Valley. Beyond the immediate shoreline and trails, the broader Caribou-Targhee National Forest offers additional opportunities for wildlife viewing, hunting, OHV riding, winter sports and visiting river corridors such as the Snake River and Swan Valley; Fall Creek Falls and its extensive trail network are about 20 miles from the campground.
| Agency / operator | Not listed |
|---|---|
| Booking | Recreation.gov [Recreation.gov] |
| Max RV / trailer length | Not listed |
| Bear storage | Not listed |
| Season | Not listed |
| Hookups | Not listed |
Sources: Recreation.gov — Big Elk. "Not listed" means no source we use states it.
Official facts link to their source; “Listing” facts come from the Recreation.gov listing. Anything we can't source says so.
