Camping at Black Rock Campground Near Idaho City

Over Labor Day, we camped at Black Rock Campground, which is about 45 minutes off-road from Idaho City. It's a pretty area, tucked in next to the North Fork of the Boise River. The fishing didn't look that great, since it's only about 18 inches deep this time of year, but the kids had a blast wading in the river. Good thing...I forgot to bring the fishing poles. But we did catch a little gopher snake!

Going on Labor Day weekend was a bit of a gamble, since we didn't plan the trip in time to make reservations. So we just went hoping to find an empty spot, and we lucked out. There were two spaces with reservation tags on them, but one of them had expired. I think other last-minute campers probably saw the tag and left thinking it was full.

In spite of being packed when we got there, it was a nice trip. The spaces are far enough apart that you don't feel like you're on top of your neighbor. Besides, most of the campers cleared out before lunch on Labor Day, leaving the place to us and one other family until we left around 2:00. 

Things I forgot this time

Forgetting things is enough of a regular occurrence that it warrants a featured headline in almost every post-trip blog. This time, I only forgot three things (that I remember, at least):

• The aforementioned fishing gear
  
• The rain fly for the tent
  
• The fire regulations for this time of year

Don't forget your rain fly

As usual, Diane was more worried about these last two items than I was willing to let on. Don't get me wrong. I was worried. I just didn't want to let on that I was worried. It's a guy thing.

So I nonchalantly let her know that I had thought well ahead for such an occasion as this, and had brought a huge tarp that could easily cover our huge tent should a surprise rain storm blow in at 2:00 am like it did last time we came to this very campground at around the same time of year. It would be no trouble at all. I didn't mention that I had very little to secure this makeshift rain fly, of course. I tried to insist we would be at the height of fashion in the campground with a ginormous brown tarp over our tent, but that bird didn't fly very far.

As it worked out (it always does, which is why I never learn from these mistakes), it was a beautiful, clear night, with gorgeous starry skies. Diane was quick to point out how visible it was through the porous netting that makes up the roof of our tent.

Check seasonal fire regulations before camping 

As for the fire regulations, it has apparently been a dry season. I should have checked online before we left the house, but that would have been too easy. In the midst of so many other detailed preparations for the trip, it just seemed like a minor thing. Until we got there and found out we couldn't build a fire to cook dinner or breakfast, at least. Then it didn't seem so minor any more.

So I did what any reasonable guy would do: pointed out how well-prepared I actually was for this turn of events, and bluffed my way through it confidently until I figured out if the five inch camping burner I threw in at the last minute would actually work. I had no idea how much fuel was left in the thing, as I'd never actually used it. It came from my dad's collection that he used when he was working. That's how old it was.

I was relieved to find that it had quite a bit of fuel in it, and that I was able to get it started. I was not as relieved to be cooking two meals in a sixteen inch skillet over a five inch burner, but it was certainly better than admitting failure and going home early!

It's been a busy summer, so it was nice to get the kids out for this little road trip. I recommend this campground for families, but keep in mind that there are not a lot of spaces there. Because of that, they don't allow family reunions or large group camps at Black Rock. If you go on a holiday weekend, you might want to make reservations at Reserve America. And if you decide to just go and risk it, make sure to read the reservation notes to see if they've expired.

Photos at Black Rock Campground

Here is a link to the full slideshow from our trip.

Following are a few highlights: 

Technorati Tags: Black Rock Campground, Boise River, Breakfast, Camping, Family, Fire Regulations, Geography, Travel,

Click to add your tags...,

or Close

---

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Show/Hide comments

Show/Hide comment form

Title
Comment
Name
Website
Write the displayed characters
	Add Comment