About this place
Campsites are scattered around Lost Valley Reservoir, and many of them sit right by the water. None are marked or numbered, so you pick a spot.
Most are hard to reach in a big RV, and some tracks down to the shore are deeply rutted, so good clearance helps.
Come early. The reservoir is drawn down all season. By late summer the water can be well back from where you'd want to camp.
There is nothing laid on at all. Everything you need comes in with you.
The facts
- Cost
- Free to camp
- Roads around it
- Some need high clearance
- Type
- Open area. Nothing is marked out
- Managed by
- Payette 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
Head 8 miles southwest of New Meadows on Highway 95. Turn onto Forest Road 89, Lost Valley Reservoir Road, and follow it to the reservoir.
Coordinates 44.961620, -116.471930
Open in Google Maps Agency page
What is near here
There is another spot of ours within reach, and some better-known places further out.
- Payette Lake Directions
- Box Creek 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
- New Meadows, ID Directions
- McCall, ID Directions
McCall 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. 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 Upper Payette Lake Camping Area, Idaho — 26 miles in a straight line, but a 42 mile drive. Seven more sit closer than 25 miles, if the rule here allows them.
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.