Big Springs - Caribou Campground, Pocatello, ID

Big Springs - Caribou Campground is located in the Westside Ranger District, Caribou-Targhee National Forest (1 hr 12 min east of Pocatello, ID) with an elevation of 6,329 feet. There are a total of 16 campsites. The campground is normally open from the end of May to the beginning of September. 14 sites can accommodate RVs and trailers between 35 and 70 feet. All sites are currently reservable. Reservations can be booked up to 6 months in advance. Fees range from $20.00 to $80.00. Activities include biking, fishing, hiking trails.

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Campsite Reviews (33)

3.9 out of 5

5 star		48%
4 star		21%
3 star		12%
2 star		12%
1 star		6%

@AprilS3605335 · Camped on Jul 11, 2024 at Campsite #3

LOADS of horse flies! Regular flies! Horrible!My campsite wasn't full shade as they said.There was no toilet paper. We brought our own. When ther forest service people stopped by on Friday they put OUR TP in their lock and didn't leave anymore.Other than that we had a good time. The sites were awesome spaced apart and well set up. Enough shade. Walking paths and creek were close and awesome. Lava has enough to do and amenities. We loved the park and floating the little river.The road in is definitely a 15mph gravel road. There is NO cell service about 2 miles before the turn.

@BradJ1676D4A53 · Camped on Jun 5, 2024 at Campsite #23

Lots of issues with this campground. First, be aware there is no water available here even though the website says there is. Also. there is no campground host. Apparently, they are having some issues getting a host for this site which is understandable but should be notated somewhere so you know what you're getting into. As a result the vault toilets have no toilet paper and are not very well maintained and many of the sites have broken tables and completely full fire pits since no one has been taking care of them. Because there is no supervision, having a reservation doesn't really mean anything since someone could be in your site when you get there. Essentially, all the sites are first come, first served. And oh yes, even though it is clearly posted that atv's and motorcycles are not allowed to operate in the campground, be prepared for kids on dirt bikes and atv's running around, even in your site!Too bad, the actual campsite is in a nice location but I wouldn't recommend reserving here until they get things fixed.

@MichelleM70561 · Camped on May 31, 2024 at Campsite #15

It was a beautiful campground, but it was not ready to be open. We paid to stay in a place with water and bathrooms, and the water was off (it said it was on) and the bathrooms were open with one roll of TP, so we had to buy some. There was no host, and someone was on our site. We had to go find another site, which was easy since it wasn't busy. I just wish they didn't charge for services that aren't there! Very pretty, lots of bugs so bring spray. Some sites have shade and others do not, so bring your shade. Pretty area.

@JamesM9879118 · Camped on Aug 25, 2023 at Campsite #2

Campsites weren't accurate to map. Changed to a group site that wasn't listed. Water was off for hygiene reasons. Found out everyone else was just paying 1/2 price (because of the water issue). Canceling would have only returned $40 of the $112 I booked the sites with. No camp host present. Overall, just a frustrating experience.

@TrentA50D34E7D · Camped on Aug 18, 2023 at Campsite #6

Long 7 miles of dirt road to reach the campground. Once you make it, its a quiet, shady little campground.

@DeeJ9895459 · Camped on Aug 25, 2022 at Campsite #7

The camp host put us in a different camp than the one I selected because he thought we wouldn't fit there, which was fine. The camp was fine but nothing extraordinary.

@JillP7409688 · Camped on Jul 28, 2022 at Campsite #2

This campground is in a beautiful location! The little creek that runs through it is fun for the kids. The road to the campground is single lane and not maintained very well. The campground itself is overgrown with brush and trees and could use to be trimmed back everywhere to make it more camper friendly. There is water at the campground, but only to fill a bucket. The hose bibs aren’t threaded, so you can’t hook up to water to fill your camper. The hosts did a good job keeping the bathrooms clean, but they did not monitor ATV use in the campgrounds at all. It was not allowed, but they were in and out of our campground all weekend, although they did maintain a slow speed. The camp hosts were less than pleasant to deal with and started yelling at us the moment we arrived. They did come back and apologize, however a calm and quick explanation would have been much better than yelling at us. It takes about 30 minutes to get into Lava from the campground.

@LarissaJ900291 · Camped on Jul 28, 2022 at Campsite #21

To get there we had to take a dirt road (22 minutes) that was very bumpy. The campground road had deep ruts which was challenging for a camper, and the site markings were worn making it hard to find our spot. Not a lot of room for a tent - lots of sagebrush.

@RonL4335082 · Camped on Jun 25, 2022 at Campsite #31

Great Camp site but need more space for tents. Much of the space has sagebrush making setting up tents difficult, Not much of a problem if you are mainly RV but we still just tent it. There was space in the trees for the smaller tents. Restrooms were well maintained and very clean.

@bradn2569325 · Camped on Jun 19, 2022 at Campsite #31

Group campsite had great views and plenty of seclusion. Plenty of room for a large group and it has nice access to trails.

@HeidiB1808423 · Camped on Jun 3, 2022 at Campsite #5

Beautiful area. We had fun doing a little hiking in the forest. Crying babies at night, but that couldn't be helped. Fairly clean restrooms. Our 12 man tent wouldn't fit on the tent sight, so we had to put it on the gravel. But, it was a good experience.

@CristianC81422 · Camped on May 30, 2022 at Campsite #29

Had a great spot not too far from river

@NicklausR60963 · Camped on Sep 10, 2021 at Campsite #31

Excellent place to camp

@NicklausR271 · Camped on Sep 10, 2021 at Campsite #31

Excellent place to camp

@CyndeeZ877 · Camped on Sep 2, 2021 at Campsite #5

Our family had a great time camping here over the weekend. Excellent place to ride 4-wheeler’s, take hikes, enjoy the scenery. Our camp host and hostess were very friendly and helpful. Best camp hosts yet.

@CyndeeZ2138288 · Camped on Sep 2, 2021 at Campsite #5

@DavidV5073563 · Camped on Aug 25, 2021 at Campsite #23

Great camping area at the end of the road. Good trails for walking and a nice creek nearby. Was an easy drive into Lava Hot Springs for the day. Campsite well kept, vault restrooms were some of the cleanest we had seen. Will be back.

@MarisaR536 · Camped on Aug 25, 2021 at Campsite #2

Beautiful and clean. The sites are already leveled, made it super easy to set up. Some sites had pavilions, benches and tables. Camp host let us use atvs at 5mph through camp. Bathrooms were kept clean, No spiders or awful smell. I would go back again.

@DavidV733 · Camped on Aug 25, 2021 at Campsite #23

@ElizabethM690 · Camped on Aug 14, 2021 at Campsite #5

Such a fantastic spot! Can’t wait to go back! Lots of hiking trails and spaces to ride 4wheelers.

@AaronA302 · Camped on Jul 15, 2021 at Campsite #4

Campground was clean and very family friendly. The hosts were great.

@AMYN951 · Camped on Jul 9, 2021 at Campsite #7

We LOVE Big Springs and have been going there for 10+ years. Unfortunately a box of rocks could do a better job at communicating than the camp host. We clearly woke them up from a nap around 2 p.m. when we just wanted to ask a few questions, she was instantly upset and telling us what we couldn't do, when all we were doing was asking questions about a few 1st come 1st serve sights (we already had 4 reserved sights). She said how hard it was to do books and was charging my parents with a Senior Pass $7.50/night when the sign clearly said $7.00/night because she had no change. Which didn't matter because we had $14 to pay for 2 nights. We did pay $15 because she couldn't understand that we didn't need change and we didn't want anymore confrontation. She did tell us quite time was from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. then campers in the group sight kept their generator on all night and all day. Just a little frustrating when its suppose to be quite and the host did nothing to stop it. We plan on returning as always but hopefully with new camp host!

@LaurenE762 · Camped on Jun 30, 2021 at Campsite #8

We had a great time at Big Springs Campground. The camp hosts were very helpful. There are a lot of nice shaded campground spots. It is fun to walk to the spring. We love the campgrounds proximity to Lava Hot Springs pool.

@JenniferB467 · Camped on Jun 28, 2021 at Campsite #31

Beautiful location! Directions pretty simple to follow. The nature hike to Big Springs was the perfect length (20 minutes round trip) and offered great scenery. The campground also had low visitation so we didn't feel like our group was bothering anyone. Horse flies were awful, though. SO MANY!!! We were constantly getting bit! Campground hosts were MIA for the first two days of our stay, maybe they had an emergency to deal with or something but it still seemed strange.

@AndrewD720 · Camped on Jun 24, 2021 at Campsite #23

Hard to get there but loved the cows during the drive to the entrance. Grass was quite tall. Nice campsites. Only spent 1 night. Not ATV'rs so not ideal for us. Still pleasant but probably won't camp there again.

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