4 States, 10 Nights, and 1,714 Miles

On June 22, 2023, my wife and I departed with our truck and trailer on a ten-day outing that would end up spanning four states and just over 1,700 miles. Our route is depicted in the figure to the right.

We spent the first three nights at Indian Trees Campground in Montana. The following five nights were spent in the Luby Bay Campground near Priest Lake in Idaho. The last two nights were spent at Cronwell Dixon Campground in Montana, and Riverside Campground in Idaho, respectively.

Indian Trees Campground, Montana

We spent the first few days at Indian Trees Campground. We occupied site 3, one of five first-come, first-served sites. Site 3 is lovely in that the small creek flows adjacent to the site, so you can enjoy the sound of rushing water as you lounge around camp. After several walks around the campground, we selected a few sites worth considering the next time we’re up this way. Site 8 is away from others, but the walk from the parking area to the table and fire pit is quite long. Site 13 is likely the best reservable site. Site 6 is excellent and reservable but it is their designated disability site. Sites 7 and 9 together would be fantastic for families occupying both.

On Friday, June 23, we traveled north to Sula and bought one-day fishing licenses. We then fished on the Bitterroot River just north of Sula. We both caught several fish. The river was much fuller than the last time we were in this area; it was July, the last time we were here, and we had a very wet winter. After fishing, lunch, and an ice cream snack from the Sula store, we returned to the campground and enjoyed a nice soak in the nearby hot springs.

We left Indian Trees Campground on Sunday, June 25, and headed to Luby Bay Campground on Priest Lake in Idaho. From the above map, you can see that we traveled through Missoula, Montana, west on I-90 and north to Priest Lake.

Luby Bap Campground, Priest Lake, Idaho

We arrived at site 52 on Sunday evening, had dinner, and walked all the campground loops. There are several individual sites we liked. Sites 18, 20, 40, 48, and 49 are reasonably private from both sides, and the table and firepit are on the door side of the trailer. Site 52, which we stayed in, is only private from one side. Sites 11, 32, 39, and 42 are great, but the table and firepit are behind the trailer. Site 11 is by the lake and our first choice. There are several combinations of sites that are great when traveling with others. For example, excellent double sites include sites 10 and 11 near the lake, site 16, which is a 125′ pull-through, sites 41 and 43, and sites 50 and 52. For three groups traveling together, sites 13 and 24 would work well.

On Monday, we totally relaxed for the day. We blew up our tubes and headed to the beach at the Luby Bay Campground. We floated for a while and then enjoyed lying on the beach. The water is remarkably warm, given the time of year and the northern latitude of Priest Lake. We were so lazy and relaxed that we went to Hills Resort for dinner: no activities, food preparation, or even dishes to do.

On Tuesday, we drove from our campground to Roosevelt Grove Of Ancient Cedars And Granite Falls. You may notice that the linked site talks about visiting Idaho and things to do there, but this grove and waterfall are both in northeast Washington. I’m not sure you can get there without going through Idaho, but the grove and waterfall are definitely over the border. It is a very short hike from the parking area to Granite Falls. It is quite a bit longer hike to the cedar grove. The hike to the grove is easy and well worth the time. The cedar trees are enormous, and the undergrowth and surroundings are beautiful and peaceful. On our way back from our hike, we stopped at Elkins Resort for some great hamburgers.

On Wednesday, June 28, we took our kayaks around the east side of Priest Lake to Lionhead Campground. This is one of the Idaho state parks around the lake. It cost us $14 for a non-resident day-use pass, allowing us to park our truck and launch our kayaks. From that launch site, it was a quick trip across the open lake to the beginning of the thoroughfare that leads to upper priest lake. The thoroughfare is open to boats of all kinds, but no wakes are allowed, making it a great paddle.

After a 2.5-hour paddle, we reached Upper Priest Lake. This lake is only accessible to hikers and boaters. The return paddle only took about 2 hours, and we stopped several times to feed ducks and appreciate the scenery. I probably said this last time I went, but I will fish along the way the next time I go.

On Thursday, we took another lazy day and enjoyed lying around camp, playing board games, walking the campground, and enjoying the beach for a late afternoon swim. After our swim, we went to Elkins Resort for dinner; the food and service were excellent. After dinner, we drove by a property for sale and dreamed about living near Priest Lake. We love the area but dislike how far it is from the rest of our family. We’re not ready to settle down away from others.

On Friday, we packed up and headed to Seeley Lake, Montana. What were we thinking when we decided to move without reservations on the Friday of the 4th of July holiday weekend? We weren’t thinking, so we didn’t get to stay near where we wanted to be.

Cronwell Dixon and Riverside Campgrounds

After driving for the entire day, we pulled over in Avon, Montana, to eat at the Avon Diner and regroup over food. The food was actually pretty good! While eating, we decided to head toward Helena, Montana and hoped to find something along the way. We ended up at the Cronwell Dixon Campground. We arrived just before sunset and struggled to get our big rig in their little back-in spot. I think it was a combination of being tired and a difficult parking spot, but it took us forever. However, we finally got in, streamed a bit of entertainment, and went to bed. We didn’t set up much and so our exit was quick.

On Saturday, July 1, we pulled into site C-19 at Riverside Campground near Island Park, Idaho. We have often been to this campground and know our way around pretty well. There wasn’t a single site available on loops A and B that are reservable, but we had a few to choose from on loop C. C-19 was a great site. We loved the trees, shade, and the separation between neighbors. From Riverside Campground, it was a straight shot home.

Summary

Our trip was wonderful and relaxing. This is the latest in the year we have begun camping, and I hope we get some more in before the cold weather once again haunts our lives. I hope we get some more later in July and potentially for Thanksgiving. The more, the better!

Our power system continues to function well. We regularly used our microwave oven, toaster, hair dryer, and curling iron. We even used the air conditioner a few times to cool the trailer after we’d been gone all day and yet never had to use the generator to recharge our batteries. We have hit our sweet spot with 800 Watts of solar and 360 Ah of Lithium-ion batteries. While at Priest Lake, we would use about 10% more battery than we were able to recharge, but over five days, this only amounted to half of our reserve. When driving between stops, our batteries fully charged.

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Riverside Campground, Idaho

On July 9, 2022, my wife and I left for Riverside Campground on the Henry’s Fork River. We’ve stayed in this campground but never before in site A16. This site is deep and wide enough to put the trailer at a significant angle blocking views from the campground road to our table and tent area. The only downside to this site is that the tall trees between the trailer and the river blocked enough sunlight to make solar useless. However, with our new batteries and inverter/charger, we have several days of energy and can charge the batteries quickly when depleted. We ran the air conditioning several times on this trip and then simply charged the batteries for a couple of hours at a convenient time. So despite the shade, the place was lovely, and we enjoyed our eight-night stay.

Some friends joined us for most of this trip. Together, we floated the Henry’s Fork River from the boat launch below Big Springs, at 44.497066, -111.271497, down to the highway 20 bridge. The float is simple and very slow. Relaxed paddling results in a two-hour float, while just floating might take three hours. We pulled our kayaks out at the bridge and had a nice lunch at Cafe Sabor, an excellent Mexican restaurant. While on the river, we saw a mother and baby moose standing on the bank. As we carefully approached, the two launched into the water just downstream. We quietly slipped by, hoping to avoid angering the mother. Unfortunately, we came within 20′ of the mother, and she became slightly irritated but remained where she was as we slipped downstream.

On two occasions, we traveled north from our campsite to Cliff and Wade Lakes in Montana. On the first trip, we launched our kayaks from the north shore of Cliff Lake, 44.793543, -111.557453, and paddled for a couple of hours down into a small cove near the southeast corner of the lake, 44.764693, -111.539338. This area has a small boat launch, a small dock, and several small motor boats. We had lunch on the shore and then paddled back to the north beach. The lake is quite clear and has a beautiful turquoise color where it is shallow over the white sand bottom.

On our second trip to Cliff Lake, we went to the Wilderness Edge Resort to see about renting one of those motor boats we saw the previous day. The owner, Mark, was very kind, showed us to the boats, gave us some brief instructions, and sent us on our way. We fished for four or five hours, had our lunch, swam a bit, and returned to settle our bill. Our five-hour jaunt cost us about $65. We didn’t catch any fish, but we had fun. We escaped the lake just in time to miss a significant thunderstorm – good timing.

We decided to fish the Madison River, near the Three Dollar Bridge, on the third trip to Montana. We got a late start and found ourselves at the river about noon. Others were leaving, claiming the fishing had slowed. We went down into the water and immediately caught two fish each. Then we spent several more hours not having any luck at all. We should arrive earlier and give up about noon. The river was much larger than I expected, but it was beautiful and fun to fish.

We spent eight nights at Riverside and never fished in Idaho; that’s funny. We had a great trip playing with friends, eating good food, enjoying lake and river fishing, and just being away. We look forward to fishing the Madison River again and floating a faster portion of the Henry’s Fork River.

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Indian Trees Campground, Montana

July 2019 Trailer Trip

On July 26, 2019, we left Luby Bay Campground in Idaho. We made arrangements to meet one of our sons and his family near Lava Hot Springs, Idaho, so we headed in that direction. We traveled to Indian Trees Campground in Montana.

We made reservations for site 13 at Indian Trees Campground, but I am quite sure that reservations are never needed for this place. We arrived on a Friday, stayed two nights, and the campground never reached even a third of its capacity.

According to the campground signage, it is named Indian Trees because Native Americans came here and peeled the bark away from the trees to get to the soft edible bits. The annual harvest left the trees scarred. Wounds that were made between 1830 and 1890 may still be seen on some of the campground trees. Evidently, we had plenty of food in our fridge because we weren’t tempted to give the trees a try.

There is a small commercial hot spring near Indian Trees Campground. One afternoon we drove by it to see if we’d be interested in soaking, but it wasn’t tempting enough. After my ankle injury at the Pine Flats Hot Spring, I was done with hot springs for a while. However, they did have a very ingenious portable sprinkler that made us laugh.

On Saturday, we drove to Sula, Montana to buy new two-day Montana fishing licenses and then fished the Bitterroot River downstream from Sula. We were quite successful and had a lot of fun. We caught fish on red and green colored Euro Nymphs. The river was perfect for euro nymphing. It’s a river, but not too large, easy to cross as needed, and fun rapids that pour into reasonably deep pools. I’d love to return and fish it some more.

We enjoyed site 13 at Indian Trees Campground. The site was a pull-through that was plenty long enough for our 27-foot trailer and our truck. Also, there were trees between our site and the campground road, providing some privacy. However, the site itself was tiny, and the table and fire pit were very close to our trailer.

When we return to this campground, we’ll reserve, or hope to be lucky and acquire site 8. It is our favorite. It is a back-in site with a driveway that is at least 50 feet long. The site is all by itself at the end of the campground and has a large table and fire pit area.

On July 28, 2016, we left Indian Trees Campground and headed to Smith’s Trout Haven near Lava Hot Springs, Idaho.

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Lindbergh Lake, Montana

July 2019 Trailer Trip

On July 21st, 2019, we left O’Hara Bar Campground and headed for Tin Can Flats Campground. However, during this approximately four-hour trip, we discovered we needed to do some laundry, dump the trailer, and acquire Montana fishing licenses. While doing laundry, we determined to head to Holland Lake Campground to save time and settle us in before dark.

After arriving at Holland Lake, we found both loops full. We tried a local boondocking site, but it was full as well. We finally found a spot at Lindbergh Lake. Our site was a hundred feet from the lake, in a wooded and secluded campsite, and it was free.

We took our kayaks and float tube out on the north bay of this large lake. We tried fishing in the morning and then again near dusk. We had several bites each but didn’t catch a single fish.

The shoreline is densely wooded and makes for a beautiful lake. However, there are many cabins on the eastern shore, making the lake rather busy. This lake is popular for wakeboarding, skiing, and wave runners. These activities lead to a lot of wakes and a noisy environment.

On our last night there we walked to the northern shore and sat on the small boat ramp and watched a lightning storm roll over the lake. It was quite spectacular and made for an enjoyable evening.

On the morning of July 23rd, 2019, we left Lindbergh Lake and headed to Luby Bay Campground in Idaho. We made reservations for a site at Luby Bay, so we traveled with less anxiety and a willingness to see a few things along the way.

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