MURDOCK CG, Sawtooth NF, ID

Murdock CG, Sawtooth NF, Ketchum, ID

RUN BY:   Nat’l Forest Service

LOCATION:  43.804810  -114.420192

Last visit:  4/30/2018

UTILITIES:  None

COST:  Probably – see Notes

DISCOUNTS: 

OUR RATING (1-5):  Category I. Score 3+

NOTES:  This was one of those last minutes changes of plan that really worked out well. We were going to be traveling further south and west out of Boise, ID but there was a big storm brewing. We decided to turn into the Sawtooth mountains to avoid the storm. We figured that we’d rather face snow that high winds and torrential rain. The campground gate was open and rangers drove by but there was no signage or fee information/envelopes at the registration kiosk.  There was quite a bit of snow on the ground. I’m sure that there is a fee when there’s no snow. We had a lovely two days. Lots of snow but beautiful. 

Environment:  Heavily wooded high mountains.  

Amenities:  None

Dump:  No

Public Water: Probably during season.  

Toilets:  During season

Showers:  No

Laundry:  No

Phone Service:  No 

Nearest Propane: (Sorry. No idea. I would guess Ketchum.)

Location:  Idaho State Rte 75 to Ketchum.

Proximity to shopping: Ketchum is a sky resort town. Should have just about anything you want.

Camping Population:   No idea. We were alone.

Sites:  Roomy. We had a great view.

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RATING KEY:    category - score 

Categories:  I - established campgrounds where one might spend a vacation or several days

                    II -  boondocking, dry camping where there are no designated sites and no amenities but

                               one might choose to stay for more than a night.

                    III - over-night areas 

You must remember that we are scoring 1 thru 5 according to things which are important to us: the environment, cost, amenities, location, safety, camping population, site, phone service 

* There are people who are not full-timers and van-dwellers by choice. We try hard not to be demeaning or assume that they are bad people but sadly, as you find in the poorer parts of a city, there seems to be more crime. Many call these people van-dwellers. That isn’t really accurate even though they do often live in vans. We know quite a few van-dwellers who have good incomes, are full-timers by choice and prefer a van to other types of vehicles. To try to show some respect for people who have a difficult lot in life, I’m calling them ‘residential campers’.  It is only when you get a high proportion of residential campers in an area that you find an increase in petty theft, etc.