About this place
This is over 3,000 acres of steep, west-sloping public land. Sagebrush and grass, with mountain mahogany scattered through.
Borah Peak stands at 12,655 feet. It is the highest point in Idaho.
The ground here moved within living memory. On 28 October 1983 the Lost River fault slipped in the Borah Peak earthquake, the largest ever recorded in Idaho. It left a fresh step in the ground about 21 miles long at the foot of the range, up to about 9 feet high. Near Doublespring Pass Road you can still see it plainly.
From up high the country seems to run on without end.
People walk here, backpack, watch wildlife, hunt, ski across country, snowshoe and take photographs.
The facts
- Cost
- Camping fee not confirmed
- Roads around it
- Recorded as four-wheel drive
- Type
- Open area. Camp anywhere within it
- Managed by
- Bureau of Land Management
The roads around this place are not maintained for a regular car. That comes from the Bureau of Land Management, who record the kind of vehicle that uses each route. Those records cover the roads nearby. They do not cover the last stretch in to the campsite, and nobody has checked that part. Treat this as a warning. We are not promising what you will find when you get there. If you have driven it, tell us what it was like and we will say so here.
Getting there
Custer County, 15 miles northwest of Mackay.
Coordinates 44.07777778, -113.82
Open in Google Maps Agency page
What is near here
A few more of our own spots are within reach of this one, along with some better-known places.
- Mount Idaho Directions
- Mount Church Directions
- Leatherman Peak Directions
- Goldburg Wilderness Study Area Directions
- White Knob Mountains Wilderness Study Area Directions
Every distance on this page is the driving distance. A short distance can still take a long time. The road may be closed for the season, covered in snow, or washed out. Many of these roads are dirt. Plan your route before you leave home. Out here there is often no phone signal to look it up on the way.
Nearest town and supplies
- Mackay, ID Directions
- Sun Valley, ID Directions
Sun Valley is big enough that you’d normally expect fuel and somewhere to buy food. Nobody from here has been to check, so don’t count on it if you’re running low.
Why the drive to town is usually twice what the map says — what we found measuring every campsite in this guide.
When it’s time to move on
On most public land you can camp for 14 days before you have to move on. Check this site’s own limit before you plan a long stay. When you move on, the Bureau of Land Management usually wants you at least 25 to 30 miles away. So the free campsites closest to you are the ones you cannot use.
One in this guide sits inside that 25 miles. The nearest one you could move to is Goldburg Wilderness Study Area, Idaho — 25 miles in a straight line, but a 37 mile drive.
This guide covers five states and does not list every free campsite, so there may be something closer that we do not hold. Check this site’s own rule before you rely on it.
Have you been here?
Fees and access change, and the records do not always keep up. If you have been, tell us what you found.
Thank you, that is recorded. It helps the next person.
Add road notes for this site
The thing we cannot get from any government record is what the drive in is actually like. If you have done it, this is the most useful thing you can leave behind. We read everything before it appears, and we print a first name with it if you give one.
Thank you. A person will read it before it goes on the page.
Where this information comes from
The description on this page is ours. The facts in it, and the fee and facility details below it, come from the Bureau of Land Management’s own records, read in August 2026.