Cottonwood Recreation Site

What an amazing spot right along the Salmon river just north of Challis off hwy 93. It’s only 12 spots and very popular with locals. I met some amazing people from the area and all over the country. Six of the sites sit right on the river, but they fill up and quick and people tend to stay one extra night once they get one. I had site #9, which had shade most of the afternoon, was close to the bathrooms and had little to no road noise in the evenings and overnight. There is a swim beach at the boat launch, which is small but uncrowned. Dwayne the camp host was so friendly, offered us a river shuttle and local info. Unfortunately this is his last year, get there soon if you want to say hi! There is a dump station with fresh water for $5, even if you are camping. All in all it was the best $20 I spent on 2 nights of camping the entire trip.

Hard to get your head around that this is BLM rec site! We were on a mission to stay here. 9 years ago we traveled this lovely road and made a reservation at McKay Resevoir (pre-Campendium). Stopped because it looked so beautiful. We had lunch at the picnic area and drove through the campground. The host was mowing the lawns and couples were playing horseshoes! We swore we would come back one day. And so here we are. It was worth waiting 9 years. And the same host is still here, infact he has been the host for over 20 years!!! Water spigots available to fill your tanks near some of the campsites. Dump station with more portable water and the big bonus was swimming in the Salmon River! Our site was my favorite. Don’t come in on a Friday too late in day.

Don’t really want to review this beautiful little oasis as I am afraid I will never find a spot again! We paid $5 with our American the beautiful. There were several spots large enough for our 40 ft 5th wheel. We could not get a water front site, but site 13 was perfect we were tucked in and have a lovely little secluded sitting area. Very dog friendly and the Salmon River was a real treat to swim in during the warm afternoons.

Some road noise, but infrequent and not particularly loud. We had decent Verizon cell service which was improved with our booster.

Potable water on site, some sites can reach a faucet with a hose. Dump station on site is excellent!

While close to the road we couldn’t hear any road noise. The sound of the rushing Salmon River permeated the space so while this isn’t boondocking it does feel remote. No showers. Pit toilets were clean. Water was available from several spigots spread out throughout the grounds. Even got to see an Osprey with his freshly caught lunch. Wish we could have stayed longer.

We loved our short stay here - calm, relaxing, cool breezes and beautiful views. The water can wash away the stress from long travel days.

We pulled in on a Friday and had only a couple of neighbors during our entire stay. The area is well maintained with a friendly on-site camp host. Sites have picnic tables, grills, and fire rings. Garbage, dump, and water fill all in the campground along with pit toilets, day use parking, boat launch, and a swimming area.

While not the best for our solar, we were able to use a portable solar panel in the paved parking spot to keep us topped up. There are a few sites that are more open to the sun, we picked a nice shady spot steps from the river.

Paved parking spot is relatively flat and easy to level. The entire area is workable for larger rigs. At 31' we had no issues getting in/out. Trees on some of the sites may cause issues for those with opposing slides.

Internet is available on Verizon (4GLTE) and nothing on TMobile or AT&T.

Nearby Challis has a great brewery, River of No Return Brewery, a grocery store, bakery and, of course, a bank. We ventured to the Challis Hot Springs to check them out as well as Bayhorse Ghost Town, well worth the visit.

We stopped for one night the end of July 2018 on the way to Stanley Basin. Very well maintained CG, great host, lots of sites with shade. The place was only half full on a busy travel day. The Salmon River abuts one side of the CG. There is water and a dump station on the way in. It's quiet, clean, level paved sites with clean campsites. We pay the senior rate but even full price is a great bargain. We'll stay here again when we travel along this route.