By:
Submission
Sunny Gulch Campground sits along the shores of Salmon River in the forests of central Idaho.
Excellent fishing is right out your back door on the Salmon River, with rainbow trout, Westslope cutthroat trout and occasional hybrid cutbows and bull trout available.
Sunny Gulch lies in the heart of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. A myriad of excellent hiking and biking opportunities are available, and an estimated 750 miles of trails crisscross the valley and surrounding mountains.
Sunny Gulch offers several campsites, a handful of which are close to a large picnic shelter. These sites and the shelter are perfect for a family reunion, wedding or other special event. The shelter contains a grill, utility tables, a dutch oven cooking surface and eight picnic tables.
Vault toilets and drinking water are provided. Roads and parking spurs are paved.
The campground offers spectacular views of the Sawtooth Mountains. Summer wildflowers are plentiful and lodgepole pines provide partial shade. Temperatures are cool with an average summer high of 78 degrees and a low of 40 degrees.
The Alpine Way Trail begins less than a mile from the campground, and the Idaho Centennial Trail passes nearby.
Redfish and Stanley Lakes are nearby with great boating, water skiing, canoeing, kayaking and fishing. Numerous additional sparkling lakes and streams dot the area.
Popular area events include an Arts and Crafts Fair in July, and Wagon Days, Salmon Festival, Quilt Fair and Fireman's Ball in September.
From Stanley, Idaho, take Highway 75 south approximately 3 miles. Campground is on the north side of the road, between the highway and the Salmon River.
Lower loop closes September 16. Upper loop closes September 21. Camp hosts unavailable after September 16.
Absolutely amazing place, the views the river, the camp host this year barb and rich were the best we have ever seen, dont know if they will be back hope they will be ,
It is dry camping with vault toilets. The sites are well spaced, the views of the mountains are beautiful and the host was pleasant, thorough and accommodating. We will definitely stay here again if we are in the area. It is much better than the crowded campgrounds we saw in the resort area.
Beautiful campgrounds, very well up, kept and in great condition. Beautiful sunrise view of the sawtooth mountains!
hosts were super kind. the bathrooms smell great, which is a first for outside bathrooms. only downside is our site didn’t have good shade half of the day, but still enjoyed our stay.
Beautiful campground with beautiful views.
Well laid out, with lots of space and clean restrooms. Good cell/data reception with Verizon.
Unfortunately there is a reason for a 3 star review instead of a 5 star review this place should have:
We arrived at our campsite after the previous occupant should have left only find a small car still parked there.
We looked around and checked with the host site to not find anyone.
However, about 10-15 minutes later the host drove up in a hurry (she also seemed a bit exasperated, which admittedly I should have noted better at the time).
She told me that the previous occupant was broken down and it would be at least 3.5 hours before a tow could get there, but she would move us to another site.
This is where it started to go astray, in that I simply questioned about this new site and pointed out that I booked the site we had online based on research that we would have no issue fitting, so I wanted to make sure we would fit (and not have damage as per my previous incident, so I had VERY good reason to ask based on a similar experience where we were told we would fit by the CG host, but did not causing damage to our trailer). She got clearly upset at my questioning of her, and when I also tried to note that the car could easily be pushed to a parking area just 50’ feet away (and downhill at that) she got even more upset and stated in a condescending attitude that we are in the middle of nowhere and it takes time for a tow truck to arrive (clearly assuming I never have gone through any of this before and in fact have been broken down in far more remote areas).
I will admit, as per my wife who is the senior customer service person where she works, that as soon as she got worked up, I should have shut up, but still all I was doing was giving my opinion/experience and attempting to make sure we could have a safe place to stay for the night (the site she did have in mind was only open for the night, not our two paid nights). After my attempts to voice my concerns/opinions, she went ballistic and stated she “did not have to take this” and was now going to call the sheriff and have us removed, to which she had the authority to cancel our reservation. My wife was able to change her mind a bit.
I later looked up and found nowhere that disagreeing or voicing concerns was reason for removal, so I found this outrageous for her to make such threats just because I questioned her and gave my opinion (right or wrong).
Late in the evening, after I prayed and gave more thought, plus my wife’s expert opinion on the subject, I felt convinced that while here behavior was wrong under the circumstances, maybe she was having a bad day and when I walked by her campsite to get water, I offered a genuine apology that I did not intend to get her upset and that I should have just shut up and looked at the new site in question.
Her reaction to this was downright bizarre and troubling, rather than accept or reject my apology, she threw her arms up and stated for me to get away as “she did not feel safe around me” (even then I was more than 12’ away).
I talked to my wife and we found her behavior psychotic and far from normal when all things are considered.
This made my wife uncomfortable, and we did not sleep well at night worrying that she might do something.
The Forest Service/concessionaire should be much more careful as to the quality of persons they have as CG hosts. In this case we are not talking just normal disagreement, but a total lunatic who thinks she has total power over everyone, especially if they simply question her.
