About this place
Over 5,000 acres of public land. The canyon walls through it are steep.
The ground runs from 1200 feet at the Salmon River to 3800 feet up in the Mahoney Creek drainage.
The Salmon River is famous for whitewater rafting. People also fish here, walk, and come to look at the country.
Snow Hole itself is a Class IV rapid, the hardest on the lower Salmon. Boaters pull in on the left bank to look it over before they run it.
The facts
- Cost
- Camping fee not confirmed
- Type
- Open area. Camp anywhere within it
- Managed by
- Bureau of Land Management
Getting there
Eight miles southwest of Cottonwood, in Idaho and Lewis Counties, along the Salmon River and its steep canyon walls.
Coordinates 45.98111111, -116.5641667
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.
- Tolo Lake Directions
- Nez Perce National Historic Trail Directions
- Nez Perce National Historical Park Directions
- Dworshak Dam 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
- Cottonwood, ID Directions
- Grangeville, ID Directions
Grangeville 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. 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.
Three in this guide sit inside that 25 miles. The nearest one you could move to is Meadow Creek Campground, Idaho — 32 miles in a straight line, but at least a 48 mile drive.
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 Bureau of Land Management’s own records, read in August 2026.