Free Camp Guide
Aerial view of Popcorn Island

Idaho Bureau of Land Management

Popcorn Island

Camping fee unknownSet campsite14-day limit
Camping fee not confirmed Nobody has written down what it costs to camp here, so we can’t tell you. It might be free. It might not. We read through the Bureau of Land Management’s records in August 2026 and found nothing either way. Watch for a sign when you pull in, or ask them before you set off. How often is a free campsite actually confirmed free? We counted.

About this place

A one-acre island at the northern end of Killarney Lake. You reach it by boat.

One camp unit, one picnic unit and a vault toilet. On an acre, that is plenty.

The facts

Cost
Camping fee not confirmed
Roads around it
By boat only. It is an island
Stay limit
14 days
Toilet
Yes, vault toilets
Type
Specific campsite
Managed by
Bureau of Land Management

Getting there

28 miles southeast of Coeur d’Alene, and you can only get there by boat. The nearest launch is Killarney Lake. From Coeur d’Alene, take US-90 east 19 miles to the Rose Lake/St. Maries exit, follow Highway 3 south for 4 miles, then turn right onto Killarney Lake Road for 3.5 miles.

Coordinates 47.52527778, -116.5683333

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.

There is no road to this campsite, so every distance on this page is a straight line, not a drive. Getting back to a road comes first, and the real trip will be longer. Plan it before you set out.

Nearest town and supplies

St. Maries 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.

These are straight lines too. There is no road in, so there is no drive to measure.

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

You can camp here for 14 days. After that you have to move on, and 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.

Two in this guide sit inside that 25 miles. The nearest one you could move to is Maiden Rock Campground, Idaho — 40 miles in a straight line.

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.

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.

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; opened and read by a person on 2026-08-27.