On July 29, 2019, we headed to Porcupine Campground west of Bear Lake in Idaho. We left Smith’s Trout Haven late in the afternoon and headed east and then south a mere 78 miles. Porcupine Campground will be our last stop in Idaho on this journey, and the last two nights we’ll spend with our son and his family. Idaho campgrounds have been exceptional, and I wish Utah would step it up. However, the one thing I won’t miss about Idaho is the boat checks every time and place you enter the state.
We arrived before dark and took site 15 that we reserved earlier in the week. It was an excellent back-in site and quite private as long as you didn’t need to use the tent site that seemed to be adjacent to the neighboring campsite. Our son and family occupied a site a few places west of site 15. We spent most of our campground time at their site, where the children had their stuff, could be in the trailer, and didn’t have to walk down to our place.
On July 30, 2019, we went to the Minnetonka Cave ticket booth and reserved a spot on the morning tour for all nine of us. We then drove to the cave entrance and waited for our tour time. The cave tour was enjoyable, particularly the relief from the outside temperature. While this isn’t a Carlsbad Cavern or Lehman Cave, it is interesting. While there are a lot of stairs, the level of exertion did not exhaust the small children in our group.
After our cave tour, we went to the northeast corner of Bear Lake and swam and played at the beach. The water was relatively warm, and the beach was very gradual. I had to walk about 500′ out into the water to get waist-deep. This feature makes it great for small children and fun for the rest of us.
After swimming, we ate dinner out and headed back to Porcupine Campground, had a fire with the grandchildren and their parents, and ate smores. An enjoyable and exhausting day!
On July 31, 2019, we bid farewell to Idaho for the last time on this journey. We headed south to Evanston, Wyoming, to shop for food and propane, and then headed south to the Uinta Mountains of Utah. We were hoping to find a campsite in the Washington Lake Campground, but without reservations, we left with trepidations.
Nights | Total Nights | Miles | Total Miles |
---|---|---|---|
2 | 134 | 78 | 14343 |
I’m going there this summer but am concerned about maneuvering my 33’ trailer through the campsite. How long is your trailer? Was it manageable?
Jake, our trailer is 30′ and our son’s trailer is 32′, and neither of us had any difficulty navigating the campground roads. We were both on the west loop and didn’t drive the east side, but it didn’t look difficult. Have fun!
What site is this picture from?
We are looking to go there this summer with our 30′ TT (2023)
Carl, The picture of interest was taken from the back of site 15. To the right of the photographer is the tent spot for this site. The tent spot feels a bit close to the neighboring site, but with a goodly amount of trees and brush, the table for site 15 was quite private and shaded.