About this place
The Salmon Falls Dam was built in 1910 to supply irrigation water. These days it matters more for recreation.
The Bureau of Land Management runs Lud Drexler Park just above the dam. That park is not free. Camping there costs $15 a night, and day use is $5 a vehicle.
The free camping is out along the river. There are level, dry patches beside it where you can camp rough.
The fishing here is remarkable. Brown trout, chinook and kokanee salmon, yellow perch, black crappie, channel catfish, smallmouth bass and walleye all live in the reservoir.
This is the best walleye water in Idaho, and trophy fish are common.
There is ice fishing in January and February, and hunting for antelope and upland game birds in season.
The area sits about a mile northwest of Jackpot. From mid-April to late June you can float Class I and II water.
The trout fishing in the river is good too, and in between there is wildlife to watch and plenty of rock to climb.
The facts
- Cost
- Camping fee not confirmed
- Type
- Open area. Nothing is marked out
- Managed by
- Bureau of Land Management
Getting there
8 miles from Rogerson. From Twin Falls, take Highway 30 west 6 miles to the junction with Highway 93. Go 30 miles south to Rogerson, then turn west onto Three Creek Road. Salmon Falls Dam is about 8 miles along.
Coordinates 42.03312, -114.72132
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.
- Lower Salmon Falls Creek Wilderness Study Area Directions
- Bruneau-Jarbidge caldera Directions
- Matterhorn Directions
- Jarbidge Peak Directions
- Marys River Peak 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
- Jackpot, NV Directions
- Filer, ID Directions
Filer 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.
Two in this guide sit inside that 25 miles. The nearest one you could move to is Jarbidge River Launch Site, Idaho — 34 miles in a straight line, but a 61 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.