About this place
Three campsites on Josephus Lake, near the edge of the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. Each site has a picnic table and a fire ring.
A trail leaves the campground heading west into the wilderness. It branches through a region full of lakes before reaching the Wild and Scenic Middle Fork of the Salmon River.
The lake is too small for a motorboat.
There is a vault toilet.
The facts
- Cost
- Free to camp
- Roads around it
- Narrow and rocky. High clearance recommended
- Toilet
- Yes, a vault toilet
- Type
- Specific campsite
- Managed by
- Salmon-Challis National Forest
The roads around this place are not maintained for a regular car. That comes from the US Forest Service, who grade every road by the kind of vehicle it is looked after for. 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
Drive north from Stanley on Highway 21 for about 17 miles. Turn onto the Seafoam road, Forest Road 008, and follow it about 20 miles to its end at the lake. The road is narrow and rocky, and high clearance helps.
Coordinates 44.548898, -115.142638
Open in Google Maps Agency page
What is near here
Nothing nationally famous is close. These are the landmarks nearby.
- McGown Peak Directions
- Merritt Peak Directions
- Alpine Peak Directions
- Mount Regan 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
- Stanley, ID Directions
- Cascade, ID Directions
Cascade 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 “at least”: this route is hard to measure. We worked the drive out twice, with two separate mapping tools, and they gave different answers. That usually means there is no road close to the campsite, so the drive doubles back a long way. The figure above is the longer of the two. The real drive could be further still, so check the route before you set off.
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. This is Forest Service land, and each forest sets its own rule for how far you have to go, so check before you travel.
The nearest other free campsite in this guide is Jerry's Creek Camping Area, Idaho — 26 miles in a straight line, but at least a 43 mile drive. Two more sit closer than 25 miles, if the rule here allows them.
Why “at least”: there is no road right at this campsite, so the drive is hard to measure and the real one could be further. Check the route before you set off.
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 Forest Service’s own records, read in August 2026.