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Dispersed camping · Idaho

Idaho Panhandle National Forests dispersed camping rules

You can camp up to 14 days in any 30 on this forest, anywhere that isn't posted closed. The card below is the whole rule set — every line links the order or page it came from, and all of it was checked on .

14 days in any 30

Forest Order 01-04-00-25-002 (signed May 19, 2025; in effect May 20, 2025 through September 30, 2030) sets the counting by season for areas outside developed sites: from the Saturday before Memorial Day through Labor Day, "camping or leaving camping equipment in any one area or campsite is limited to a total of 14 days during any 30-day period. Camping is prohibited for the remaining 16 days on lands administered by the Idaho Panhandle National Forests" - in summer the remaining 16 days apply forest-wide, not just at that site. From Labor Day through the Saturday before Memorial Day the same 14-in-30 limit applies, but "camps must be relocated at least 5 miles away (road miles) from the original site to qualify for a new 14-day period." Developed campgrounds are 14-in-30 yearlong. Regional Order R1-2025-01 (effective Aug 1, 2025 - Jul 31, 2030) additionally caps Idaho forests at 14 consecutive days per site and 28 cumulative days per calendar year, with a "site" defined as the campsite plus all NFS land within a 1/2-mile radius.

Where you can camp

Allowed unless posted

"Passes or permits are not required for hiking or dispersed camping on the Forest" (forest passes page). Forest Order 01-04-00-25-002 regulates camping "in all other areas" outside developed recreation sites via seasonal stay limits rather than prohibiting it. source

Keep your distance

  • 300 ft — Stay-close corridor rule from the MVUM: "Motor vehicle use off of designated ROADS for the purpose of dispersed camping is permitted on National Forest System Lands for up to 300 feet from the centerline of the road." Applies along routes the MVUM marks for dispersed camping ("Dispersed Camping, Both Sides" symbol); verified on the Coeur d'Alene River Ranger District MVUM (2020) - check your district's current MVUM. source
  • 100 ft — "Motor vehicle use off of designated TRAILS for the purpose of dispersed camping is permitted on National Forest System Lands for up to 100 feet from the centerline of the trail." Same MVUM scope note as the road corridor rule; verified on the Coeur d'Alene River Ranger District MVUM (2020). source

Roads and vehicle access

Check the motor vehicle use map

The district MVUMs designate which routes allow motor vehicle use and mark where off-route vehicle access for dispersed camping is permitted (up to 300 feet from road centerline, 100 feet from trail centerline, per the Coeur d'Alene River RD MVUM legend). Free MVUMs are available at forest offices and via the Avenza Maps app.

Fires right now

We don't watch this forest's fire orders yet — check its own site before you light anything. Here's what stage 1 and stage 2 mean when an order is up.

Closures and special orders

  • Occupancy and Use Order for Camping - Order 01-04-00-25-002 The forest's stay-limit legal text, covering all five ranger districts (St. Joe, Coeur d'Alene River, Sandpoint, Bonners Ferry, Priest Lake): seasonal 14-in-30 dispersed limits, developed-site limits, 2-vehicle and 8-person caps per single-family campsite (10 on Priest Lake island sites), and a site-saving prohibition. In effect May 20, 2025 through September 30, 2030.
  • Northern Region occupancy and use order - Order R1-2025-01 Regional layer on top of the forest order: 14 consecutive days per site and 28 cumulative days per calendar year on Idaho forests; also prohibits pallet/hardware firewood and shooting at refuse targets. Effective August 1, 2025 through July 31, 2030.
  • Idaho Panhandle Seasonal Food Storage Order - Order 01-04-00-24-001 Food storage requirements April 1 through December 1 on the Bonners Ferry, Priest Lake, and Sandpoint Ranger Districts (bear country) - store food and attractants as the order specifies.
  • Rose Lake Area Closure - Order 01-04-03-26-003 The Rose Lake informal recreation site beach area is closed for public health due to high lead levels in soils, sand and dust - do not camp or picnic there while the order stands.

Rules checked against the pages linked above — the full list is below the card.

Rules change by forest order and posted signage — confirm with the Forest Supervisor's Office, Coeur d'Alene, ID at (208) 765-7223 before you go.

How to read these rules

Dispersed camping means camping outside a developed campground — no fee, no table, no toilet, no water. You pick an already-used spot, pack out everything you brought, and the rules above are the whole deal you're agreeing to. The stay limit counts the way the card says it counts, not the way it counts on the forest next door: some places count per spot, some across the whole forest, some inside a radius, and moving a short distance often doesn't restart the clock.

Distance rules come in two shapes. Keep-away rules ("at least 100 feet from water") protect the thing you're camping near; stay-close rules ("within 300 feet of the road") keep vehicles on ground that can take them. A line marked recommended on the card is the office's guidance, not an order — the rest are enforceable rules, and a posted sign at the site beats everything on this page.

The motor vehicle use map is the legal answer to "can I drive in there to camp" — if a road isn't on it, that road is closed to your vehicle, and many forests only allow roadside camping along the roads the map marks for it. It's a free PDF; download it before you lose signal.

Fires are a separate rule with a separate clock. Nothing on this page says you can light one — the card's fire line says where that answer lives today. If a fire is allowed when you get there, buy your wood near camp — hauling firewood from home is how tree-killing pests reach new forests, and the BTU chart says what that local bundle is actually worth.

Where these rules come from

Every rule above was read on the forest's own pages and orders on the dates shown — nothing here is borrowed from another forest or an old guidebook. The managing agency is U.S. Forest Service, Northern Region (R1).

Before you go