Every camp below carries three numbers from the Forest Service list: how many people it holds when the Middle Fork Lodge gauge reads 2.5 ft or less, about 4 ft, and 6 ft or more. The feet are that gauge’s height (USGS 13309220), the number boaters trade, and the second number in a LateBoof reply (“2,800 cfs / 4.21 ft”). 21 of the 98 camps are gone at 6 ft or more, and 13 more shrink.
A blank on the list means the Forest Service gives no number: 33 camps have none at about 4 ft, and Indian Creek Beach has none at any level. Those show as “Not listed”, and the level filter leaves them out at that level rather than guess. Read the numbers either side.
The capacities are limits. A group may not use a camp rated for fewer people than it has. Groups top out at 24 on the Middle Fork, so a camp rated for 30 takes any permitted group. Each camp also carries the Forest Service’s use level for June and for July and August: low, mid, high or very high.
Every camp on the Middle Fork is assigned; none is first-come. The River Office emails the permit holder a camp request form 14 days before the launch date, and builds your itinerary from it.
Trip length follows group size: up to 8 days for 1–10 people, 7 days for 11–20, and 6 days for 21–24. Rules change; the Salmon-Challis National Forest page is the authority, and this summary was checked against it on 2026-09-30.
Showing all 98 camps.
No camp matches all of that. Loosen a filter.
The steep, cold upper river: Velvet Falls and the Powerhouse rapids, three hot-springs camps between miles 7 and 13, and a run of camps burned in the 2007 fire. At low water many trips skip it and fly in to Indian Creek.
A small camp with a good eddy, less than a mile below the Boundary Creek ramp.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
A small, rarely used camp just above Dorr's Rock.
High water: No camp. The Forest Service gives it no capacity at 6 ft or more.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
A gravel camp that guides call the coldest camp on the river.
Low water: It gets better as the water drops.
High water: Room for 10, down from 20.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, high in July and August.
A small camp below Velvet Falls that is hard to spot from upstream. It is also the usual lunch stop after running the falls, so expect company at midday.
High water: No camp. The Forest Service gives it no capacity at 6 ft or more.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
A well-liked camp on a big bend, with a sandy pull-in and a mix of shade and sun.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use mid in June, mid in July and August.
The first hot-springs camp on the river. The camp is on a bench, so there is a carry, and the soaking pools sit in the cobbles at the back of the bar.
Low water: The small pools in the cobbles appear as the river drops.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use low in June, mid in July and August.
A five-person camp that disappears at 6 ft or more. Neither source says more about it.
High water: No camp. The Forest Service gives it no capacity at 6 ft or more.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
A large camp spread through the trees. The marker is the big boulder in the river just above camp. The downstream end burned, but there is still plenty of room.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use mid in June, mid in July and August.
A medium camp on a bench above the river. The Forest Service rates it smaller at about 4 ft (10 people) than at either low or high water (15).
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
A six-person camp on a bench above the river, easy to float past.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
A large camp beside Joe Bump's cabin, a Depression-era homestead. The ditch a few men dug to water it still cuts a long scar across the bench. One of the busiest camps in June.
High water: The eddy is easy to miss at higher water: stay on the inside of the bend.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use high in June, mid in July and August.
A 12-person camp that some boaters call a secret gem for small groups.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
Tent sites tucked among the shrubs, with a trail downstream to the Sheepeater hot springs.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use mid in June, mid in July and August.
A large hot-springs camp with two pull-ins for different set-ups. Across a muddy, tepid stretch are several pools at different temperatures, and the minerals draw wildlife.
Low water: The lower pull-in, the easy park-and-cook one, closes off as the river drops.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use high in June, mid in July and August.
A large camp marked by a boulder stacked with flood logs. The 2007 fire took the shade trees.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
Burned in 2007 like most camps in this stretch, but it holds a big group at every level.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
A big camp with no shade, another casualty of the 2007 fire.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use mid in June, low in July and August.
A large camp burned in the 2007 fire, with a good swimming hole when the river is not too high.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
A small camp up on a bench, burned in 2007.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
The Forest Service rates it for 30 at every level and allows layovers. Neither source describes it further.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
A gravel bar on the slow bend boaters call Dolly Lake, with tent sites up in the trees. One of the busiest camps in June.
Low water: At medium and lower flows a boulder island appears that you can swim out to.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use high in June, mid in July and August.
Named for the big dead tree you land just below. Tent sites spread through the trees behind camp, and there is a scramble up the rock outcrop behind it.
High water: The landing comes up fast at medium and higher flows.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use mid in June, low in July and August.
At the mouth of Pistol Creek, with an easy park-and-cook landing, the creek to hike or fish, and pools below Pistol Creek Rapid to explore.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use mid in June, mid in July and August.
A short, steep carry up the bank to a camp with room to spread out in the trees. The snags across the river are good for birds. It is on the Forest Service's PDF camp list but missing from the table on its web page.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
The heart of the trip: big ponderosa camps, Sunflower Hot Springs, the Middle Fork Lodge and its gauge, heritage sites and airstrips, ending at the huge bar at the mouth of Loon Creek.
On the Forest Service list at Indian Creek, where low-water trips fly in to skip the upper river, but with no capacity given at any level. Ask the River Office what it holds before you request it.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
A large, shady camp just above the mouth of Indian Creek, with the creek to explore. The pull-in is fast.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use mid in June, low in July and August.
A 12-person camp on a bench, landing just below a small cliff. GoRafting calls it a hidden gem.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
A large camp with the old Pungo Mine to explore. The ground above the creek is closed to camping to protect Native cultural sites.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use mid in June, mid in July and August.
A park-and-cook gravel beach under a big ponderosa, with tent sites on the benches behind and a flat ponderosa grove a short walk downstream. One of the busiest camps in June.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use high in June, mid in July and August.
Looks across at Marble Rapid. There are two ways in: from the top of the pool, best at high water, or below the small cliff. Busy all summer.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use high in June, high in July and August.
A sandy beach that takes a strong pull to break through the eddy line. Bigger groups put the kitchen on the beach and the tents up in the trees.
High water: At medium and higher flows, aim high for the eddy.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use mid in June, mid in July and August.
An eight-person camp beside Sunflower Hot Springs, some of the most scenic riverside pools anywhere, with a hot shower at the base of the cliff. Expect a steady stream of soakers in camp and in the eddy.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use mid in June, mid in July and August.
A large camp across the river from Sunflower Hot Springs, close enough to visit them. The trade-off is a steep carry up to the bench.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use mid in June, mid in July and August.
A huge, park-like camp under well-spaced ponderosas. Busy all summer.
Low water: As the water drops, land higher up. The lower beach leaves you dragging boats upstream to leave.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use high in June, high in July and August.
Across the river from State Land Left and a little below it. Rated for 30 at every level. Neither source describes it further.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use mid in June, high in July and August.
Just above the Little Creek pack bridge. The bar is all cobbles, with good tent sites behind it. The Thomas Creek airstrip, on the same bank, is busy at low water.
High water: Room for 10, down from 20.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
Past the Little Creek guard station cabins: land among the fallen trees and camp on the bench. Some of the biggest ponderosas on the river stand around the cabins.
High water: Room for 10, down from 20.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
Pull in at the island.
Low water: GoRafting says it is hard to reach below 3.5 ft, though the Forest Service still rates it for 30 at low water.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
A large camp right below Jackass Rapid. Pull over as soon as you are through.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use high in June, mid in July and August.
A long camp with a good gravel bar at lower flows.
High water: No camp. The Forest Service gives it no capacity at 6 ft or more. GoRafting says it cannot be reached from about 4 ft up, and the Forest Service lists no capacity at 4 ft and none at 6 ft.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use mid in June, mid in July and August.
A sunny camp with a good swimming hole. GoRafting calls it best for a small group.
High water: Room for 10, down from 20.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
A short, rocky carry up to a flat bench with plenty of room.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
A small camp among big trees, some of them dead.
Low water: GoRafting says the river gets too shallow to land here as it drops, though the Forest Service rates it for 10 at low water.
High water: No camp. The Forest Service gives it no capacity at 6 ft or more.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
A large camp with a good swimming hole and tent sites on the bench above the gravel bar. There is a small hot spring, but GoRafting says it has mites and does not recommend soaking.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use mid in June, high in July and August.
Named for the rock island standing in the river. Tent sites are in the trees, and there are camping restrictions around the cultural site nearby. The landing changes a lot with the flow.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use mid in June, mid in July and August; do not gather downed wood for fires here.
A popular camp with tent sites tucked into the brush downstream. The upper bench holds the remains of Native pit houses and is closed to camping.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use high in June, high in July and August.
Below Shelf Rapid: look for the big downed tree on the gravel bar. The camp is on a treed bench with room for any size of group.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use high in June, high in July and August.
A huge gravel bar at the mouth of Loon Creek. The hot springs are about a mile up the creek and the Lower Loon Creek airstrip is behind camp, so expect visitors. The only camp the Forest Service rates as very high use in June.
High water: Hug the right bank above the Loon Creek confluence or you will float past.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use very high in June, high in July and August.
A small camp with good hiking, including the trail up to the Loon Creek hot springs.
High water: No camp. The Forest Service gives it no capacity at 6 ft or more.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use mid in June, mid in July and August; do not gather downed wood for fires here.
Hospital Bar hot springs, the Tappan homestead and canyon, Camas Creek, the Flying B Ranch, and a long run of grassy-flat camps down to Big Creek.
A small camp on a pretty bend, across the river from the Hospital Bar hot springs.
High water: No camp. The Forest Service gives it no capacity at 6 ft or more.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, mid in July and August.
A spacious hot-springs camp, with the pools right at the river's edge at its upstream end. Guides call it Inhospitable Bar for the wind that rips through.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use low in June, mid in July and August; do not gather downed wood for fires here.
A 10-person camp well above Cub Creek, easy to float past.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
Shares a grassy flat with Lower Grouse. Depending on the flow, park at the upper end of the beach so you can get out in the morning.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
A big beach of sand and cobbles with tent sites in the trees. The landing is a tight eddy on the outside of the second turn in Grouse Creek Rapid: stay right to make it. Busy all summer.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use high in June, high in July and August.
A camp on the island itself. Fred and Daisy Tappan's homestead cabin, still used by hunters, is close by.
Low water: Only the right-hand channel goes, and the landing near the bottom of the island is tricky.
High water: Take the channel left of the island and land near the top.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, mid in July and August.
An eight-person camp that goes underwater at higher flows.
High water: No camp. The Forest Service gives it no capacity at 6 ft or more.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
A small camp in the heart of Tappan Canyon, just above Tappan Falls.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
At the mouth of Camas Creek, one of the bigger tributaries, with shade under big trees and the creek to explore and swim in.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use low in June, mid in July and August; do not gather downed wood for fires here.
Park along the cobble bar and set up the kitchen in the shade just above the fallen logs. Tents spread out through the grass.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use mid in June, mid in July and August.
Named for the swimming pool in front of camp. A short carry up to the bench, and camp spreads out downstream.
Low water: A beach or two often appears at the river's edge.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use mid in June, high in July and August.
Kitchen near the boats, tents up a short, steep hill on the upper bench.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use mid in June, high in July and August.
A small camp in the ponderosas, within sight of Funston, with good hiking.
High water: No camp. The Forest Service gives it no capacity at 6 ft or more.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
A flat camp close to the river with shaded tent sites and an easy carry. A hard hike to Aparejo Point starts upstream behind camp.
Low water: The landing gets shallow.
High water: Room for 15, down from 30.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use mid in June, high in July and August.
A roomy camp with a bit of a carry and plenty of hiking.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use low in June, mid in July and August; do not gather downed wood for fires here.
A small camp near the Flying B Ranch, which has a small store with ice cream. Neither source describes the camp itself.
High water: No camp. The Forest Service gives it no capacity at 6 ft or more.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
A camp at the Flying B airstrip, which mostly serves guests of the ranch.
High water: No camp. The Forest Service gives it no capacity at 6 ft or more.
Sources disagree: GoRafting puts the Flying B airstrip on river left. The Forest Service list, followed here, has this camp on the right.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
A big camp that many groups float past without noticing. Little shade. The Bernard airstrip, the last on the river, is close by.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
Hidden behind the riverside brush. The landing can be rocky, then a short carry to a flat, grassy, mostly sandy bench.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
A well-laid-out camp: kitchen on the sand by the boats, tents on the grassy bench behind, some shade, and the hard hike to Johnson Point. Busy all summer.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use high in June, high in July and August.
A mix of sand, shade and sun. Despite the name, bring firewood.
High water: Room for 20, down from 30.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use high in June, high in July and August.
A sandy kitchen right where you park, with tent sites strung out along the trail downstream.
High water: Room for 20, down from 30.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use high in June, high in July and August.
Plenty of room on a grassy flat.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use low in June, low in July and August; do not gather downed wood for fires here.
A little more shade than Grassy Flat I. Watch for poison ivy in the cobbles between camp and the boats.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use mid in June, mid in July and August.
A popular big camp in an evenly spaced ponderosa grove, with shade and a swimming hole.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use mid in June, high in July and August; do not gather downed wood for fires here.
An easy carry to a long, grassy bench behind the trees.
Low water: Land at the lower end, below Woolard Rapid.
High water: Land at the upper end, above Woolard Rapid.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use mid in June, high in July and August; do not gather downed wood for fires here.
A small, pretty camp across from Kimmel Creek, with the Middle Fork trail running behind it.
High water: No camp. The Forest Service gives it no capacity at 6 ft or more.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, mid in July and August.
A gravel-bar camp that exists only at lower flows. The mid-river bar off camp is a textbook example of imbrication: cobbles tilted and stacked like roof shingles.
High water: No camp. The Forest Service gives it no capacity at 6 ft or more.
Sources disagree: GoRafting calls it a small camp. The Forest Service rates it for 30 at low water.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
Four people only. Groups use it more as a base for exploring Big Creek and Waterfall Creek. Below here the trail leaves the river and the Impassable Canyon begins.
Forest Service: layovers allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
A small bench rated for 20 that GoRafting calls extremely cramped at that number; worth it if you plan to hike the side creeks. The Forest Service's camp list puts it above the one-night line, but its web page draws that line at Big Creek, a tenth of a mile upstream. Ask the River Office if it matters for your itinerary.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
Below Big Creek the trail leaves the river and the walls close in. During the control season a group gets one night down here, so choose it carefully.
Four people, with a swift pull-in just above Cutthroat Cove Rapid.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
A small low-water camp across from Cutthroat Cove, an overhung cove big enough to float several rafts into.
High water: No camp. The Forest Service gives it no capacity at 6 ft or more.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
Four people in a small grove of trees.
High water: No camp. The Forest Service gives it no capacity at 6 ft or more.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
A giant sandbar with big views, steep country behind it to explore, and good swimming. Camping this far up the canyon leaves a long last day to Cache Bar.
High water: Room for 20, down from 30.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use mid in June, mid in July and August.
A smaller beach just below Elk Bar.
High water: No camp. The Forest Service gives it no capacity at 6 ft or more.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
A small camp at Redside Rapid, with Golden Creek to explore just downstream.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
A tiny, beautiful beach for a few people. The Tombstone pictographs are a short way upstream on the same bank.
High water: No camp. The Forest Service gives it no capacity at 6 ft or more.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
A long, narrow, beautiful camp across from Ship Island Creek: kitchen at the upstream end, tents strung out below, the groover far down behind a rock. Busy all summer.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use high in June, high in July and August.
A small camp named for a lightning-burned tree.
High water: Room for 2, down from 15.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use low in June, mid in July and August.
The main camp has room for about eight tents. In some years a lower sandbar adds space, though GoRafting says not lately.
High water: Room for 10, down from 30.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use high in June, mid in July and August.
A small camp at the foot of the boulder shore at Nugget Creek, where Earl Parrott's cabin stands.
High water: No camp. The Forest Service gives it no capacity at 6 ft or more.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
A beautiful camp looking at Cliffside Rapid. Do not mix it up with Cliffside camp, about a mile downstream, when you read your permit.
High water: Room for 20, down from 30.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use high in June, high in July and August.
A large, flat camp on top of a rock shelf. Getting gear up from the boats is hard work.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use mid in June, mid in July and August; do not gather downed wood for fires here.
A small camp on the left just above Cliffside.
High water: No camp. The Forest Service gives it no capacity at 6 ft or more.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use low in June, mid in July and August.
Often confused with Cradle Creek camp upstream. The eddy is trickier than it looks, so be ready as you come around the corner.
High water: Room for 6, down from 30.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use high in June, high in July and August.
A large camp on a tall shelf bar, with a tricky landing at every level. Stoddard Creek has cool pools to hike to on a hot day, and good pictographs.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use low in June, mid in July and August; do not gather downed wood for fires here.
A large, secluded sandbar, and a popular one.
High water: Room for 4, down from 30.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use mid in June, high in July and August.
A very small camp that only exists at low water.
High water: No camp. The Forest Service gives it no capacity at 6 ft or more.
Sources disagree: The Forest Service rates it for 12. GoRafting says a group of more than 8 may end up sleeping on the rafts.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
A very small beach, the last camp before the confluence, gone at high water.
High water: No camp. The Forest Service gives it no capacity at 6 ft or more.
Forest Service: layovers not allowed; use low in June, low in July and August.
Every camp has an aerial from the USDA’s National Agriculture Imagery Program, which is public domain. These were flown between 29 Sep 2021 and 2 Oct 2021, with the Middle Fork Lodge gauge at 1.4 ft (411–421 cfs), in the 2.5-ft-or-less column: they show the camps at low water. Each frame is 1.2 km across with north at the top. The Forest Service publishes river miles, not coordinates, so a frame is centred on the camp’s mile along the river’s mapped centerline, which is good to about a quarter mile: the camp is in the picture, near the middle, on the bank the entry names.
What an aerial cannot show is the camp from the boat, or the same beach at high water. Nobody publishes ground photos of these camps that can be reused, so each entry has room for a low-water and a high-water photograph, and they are empty.
Mile, river side, all three capacities, layovers, the hot-springs, heritage and no-wood flags, and the use levels on every camp come from the Forest Service, Middle Fork Salmon Campsites (2025). It matches the table on the Forest Service’s Middle Fork page except that the web table leaves out Airplane camp. That the feet are the Middle Fork Lodge gauge’s height comes from GoRafting, Middle Fork of the Salmon River Flows & Levels and North Idaho Rivers. Camp names are spelled as that list spells them, because that is what the request form uses. The descriptions are LateBoof’s own wording; details beyond the Forest Service list were checked against GoRafting, Middle Fork of the Salmon River Rafting Guide, and where the two disagree the Forest Service figure is used and the camp says so.
Nothing here comes from a LateBoof trip yet. Beaches move, creeks blow out, and camps burn; a description is a starting point for a conversation with someone who was there last season, not a promise. Checked 2026-09-30.