Saddle Creek Campground

I loved this little campground. I came at the end of the season for this spot, during Labor Day weekend, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was cleaner and more well kept than others may find it at different times. I was surprised to have the entire little campground to myself, but even one of the Rangers I spoke to mentioned that the whole area is remarkably quiet compared to usual, even on this Labor Day weekend!

The access to get here is up a long, windy, at times narrow gravel road. I got a giant nail in my tire as I was driving out, and it was almost 50 miles to get anywhere to try a permanent patch; that just happens to be the closest gas station as well, in Joseph. There was a sign warning against trailers making the route up on the gravel, but I did see a few up there, for what that is worth.

This really is a tent-only campground, with a small parking lot not really fit for camping purposes, itself. I suppose some could try, but you're probably better off trying one of the turnouts up and down the road that I noticed more of the trailers pulling off to anyway. Those are going to be even worse for access, however.

If all of the access difficulties work out for you, this spot has an amazing view, right on the West rim of Hells Canyon. Probably one of my favorite views of any campsite I've ever stayed at! And with the view comes amazing silence if you're lucky to get such solitude as I enjoyed, too. Being this far out in the boonies may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I absolutely adore it, and Hells Canyon is one of my favorite remote locations for it, too! Of the campsites I've checked out in Hells Canyon, I think is actually my favorite.

Surprisingly, I got pretty good Verizon LTE here. Up near the top of the fire lookout nearby, I was getting full bars of pretty fast LTE, which isn't quite the case at this campground. On the far North end of the campground, I got 3-4 bars and excellent speed. On the South end, I would drop to 3G on occasion, but the speed on the 2-3 bars of LTE was terrible anyway there. This campground is tiny, so that fluctuation is pretty crazy. You can watch it happen just walking around, without getting winded in the slightest. On the North side, I could stream TV over the LTE without a problem. On the South side, I could barely surf the internet. It's kind of strange.

All of that said, this isn't everyone's cup of tea, but it's a 5 star favorite for me! I would absolutely come back and stay here longer in the future!

The remote nature of the 24 mile long dead-end road from Imnaha means that this tiny roadside tents-only campground may suffer from infrequent service. At the end if the first week of June 2016, All the vault toilets along this stretch of overlooks and waysides needed emptying, washing, restocking. Plus this area is likely to close because of early snows at this elevation— 6000 -7000 feet.

That being said, there are many other dispersed camping alternatives up here, but be aware of the abrupt ditches and possible muddy roads if you're game.

The Hat Point Overlook / Lookout at the end of the 24 mile gravel road is well worth the drive, but mind the downed timber in the road along the way. You'll be rewarded with jaw-dropping 360 degree vistas, complete with a herd of mountain goats (which we viewed from the 60-foot tall viewing platform.

The Saddle Creek Campground is about 5 miles away from this historic 85' tall fire lookout.

We thought about staying here, but it was unclear that it would be kosher to squeeze through the large rocks that lined the parking area. Smaller rigs had done so, but we could see that the running boards on our 22' van would get crunched if we tried. Tenters can walk the short distance to the newer picnic tables and fire rings from the gravel lot. Should be pleasantly shady during the summer. Few other folks will be as adventurous!