America’s Camping Report Card
Idaho
#30 of 43 for camping
Better than 31% of graded states · overall grade B+ — campers like it.
Graded on 12,291 written reviews from Idaho - no star ratings, just what people wrote.
The breakdown
Letter grades reflect how campers actually felt about each topic - A means they loved it, not that it beat other states.
What campers praised
- beautiful area127
- beautiful campground121
- beautiful scenery97
- beautiful place94
- beautiful location76
What campers warned about
- dry creek4
- little shade4
- reservoir very low4
- creek dried up3
- few trees / little shade3
- Praised by
- 46.4%
- Warned by
- 2.7%
- Rank
- Better than 48% of graded states
- Confidence
- High confidence
Net sentiment +0.437 (±0.010, 95% CI) from 12,291 written reviews, 64% from federal campgrounds. Graded vs. every other graded state.
What campers praised
- very clean206
- clean203
- clean bathrooms168
- well maintained143
- clean campground113
What campers warned about
- bathrooms not cleaned8
- bathrooms need more cleaning4
- bathrooms not clean4
- bathrooms not well maintained3
- dirty bathrooms3
- Praised by
- 36.1%
- Warned by
- 7.8%
- Rank
- Better than 71% of graded states
- Confidence
- Moderate confidence
Net sentiment +0.283 (±0.011, 95% CI) from 12,291 written reviews, 64% from federal campgrounds. Graded vs. every other graded state.
What campers praised
- friendly camp host62
- friendly and helpful hosts54
- friendly hosts54
- great hosts45
- great host43
What campers warned about
- no camp host24
- camp host absent13
- no camp host present10
- rude camp host9
- no campground host8
- Praised by
- 29.9%
- Warned by
- 5.8%
- Rank
- Better than 67% of graded states
- Confidence
- High confidence
Net sentiment +0.241 (±0.010, 95% CI) from 12,291 written reviews, 64% from federal campgrounds. Graded vs. every other graded state.
What campers praised
- spacious sites60
- great campsite29
- large sites28
- well spaced sites24
- nice sites23
What campers warned about
- sites close together9
- very small sites7
- sites very close together6
- no shade5
- small sites5
- Praised by
- 34.2%
- Warned by
- 10.6%
- Rank
- Better than 7% of graded states
- Confidence
- Moderate confidence
Net sentiment +0.235 (±0.011, 95% CI) from 12,291 written reviews, 64% from federal campgrounds. Graded vs. every other graded state.
What campers praised
- good fishing23
- great fishing22
- fishing17
- hot springs nearby14
- river access12
What campers warned about
- beach not great2
- fish were small2
- fishing not biting2
- fishing quality2
- limited river access2
- Praised by
- 24.0%
- Warned by
- 1.7%
- Rank
- Better than 21% of graded states
- Confidence
- High confidence
Net sentiment +0.223 (±0.008, 95% CI) from 12,291 written reviews, 64% from federal campgrounds. Graded vs. every other graded state.
What campers praised
- bathrooms33
- vault toilets32
- restrooms31
- clean bathrooms22
- great facilities19
What campers warned about
- no showers19
- no running water18
- no water available17
- no cell service14
- no hookups13
- Praised by
- 21.0%
- Warned by
- 10.8%
- Rank
- Better than 55% of graded states
- Confidence
- High confidence
Net sentiment +0.102 (±0.009, 95% CI) from 12,291 written reviews, 64% from federal campgrounds. Graded vs. every other graded state.
What campers praised
- quiet238
- quiet campground114
- very quiet101
- quiet atmosphere72
- quiet and peaceful43
What campers warned about
- road noise25
- highway noise18
- road traffic noise9
- highway traffic noise8
- sites very close together7
- Praised by
- 15.6%
- Warned by
- 10.8%
- Rank
- Better than 29% of graded states
- Confidence
- High confidence
Net sentiment +0.048 (±0.009, 95% CI) from 12,291 written reviews, 64% from federal campgrounds. Graded vs. every other graded state.
What campers praised
- family friendly20
- friendly campers7
- friendly atmosphere5
- dog friendly4
- everyone was friendly4
What campers warned about
- people not open to share2
- asked to make others feel welcome1
- campers act exclusive1
- campers seemed judgmental1
- common area treated as private1
- Praised by
- 2.4%
- Warned by
- 0.5%
- Rank
- Better than 19% of graded states
- Confidence
- High confidence
Net sentiment +0.019 (±0.003, 95% CI) from 12,291 written reviews, 64% from federal campgrounds. Graded vs. every other graded state.
What campers praised
- free14
- free camping13
- $10 per night7
- $5 per night7
- great price6
What campers warned about
- too expensive4
- you get what you pay for3
- $10 per night2
- $8 dump fee2
- charge too much2
- Praised by
- 4.0%
- Warned by
- 3.2%
- Rank
- Better than 38% of graded states
- Confidence
- High confidence
Net sentiment +0.008 (±0.005, 95% CI) from 12,291 written reviews, 64% from federal campgrounds. Graded vs. every other graded state.
What campers praised
- close to town25
- easy access24
- easy to get to21
- easy to find18
- close to boise12
What campers warned about
- no cell service6
- rough road5
- rough road in5
- close to road4
- bumpy road3
- Praised by
- 9.3%
- Warned by
- 10.1%
- Rank
- Better than 19% of graded states
- Confidence
- High confidence
Net sentiment -0.008 (±0.008, 95% CI) from 12,291 written reviews, 64% from federal campgrounds. Graded vs. every other graded state.
What campers praised
- safe6
- felt safe4
- felt very safe3
- feel safe2
- fenced property2
What campers warned about
- no cell service3
- theft from campsite3
- co detector went off2
- felt unsafe as solo female traveler2
- fire danger from dry plants2
- Praised by
- 1.1%
- Warned by
- 3.0%
- Rank
- Better than 12% of graded states
- Confidence
- High confidence
Net sentiment -0.019 (±0.004, 95% CI) from 12,291 written reviews, 64% from federal campgrounds. Graded vs. every other graded state.
What campers praised
- better wifi helps book trips2
- booked again in september2
- booked another trip2
- booking next year2
- can be reserved2
What campers warned about
- hard to get reservations14
- hard to get a spot8
- hard to reserve4
- reserved site given away4
- reserved site occupied4
- Praised by
- 2.0%
- Warned by
- 5.1%
- Rank
- Better than 5% of graded states
- Confidence
- High confidence
Net sentiment -0.030 (±0.005, 95% CI) from 12,291 written reviews, 64% from federal campgrounds. Graded vs. every other graded state.
What campers praised
- dog friendly6
- dogs allowed5
- dog-friendliness2
- enforced reservation rules2
- fires allowed2
What campers warned about
- quiet hours not enforced7
- no fires allowed6
- dogs off leash3
- no wood fires allowed3
- rules not enforced3
- Praised by
- 1.0%
- Warned by
- 4.3%
- Rank
- Better than 43% of graded states
- Confidence
- High confidence
Net sentiment -0.033 (±0.004, 95% CI) from 12,291 written reviews, 64% from federal campgrounds. Graded vs. every other graded state.
What campers praised
- no bugs8
- few bugs6
- no mosquitos4
- wildlife sightings4
- not too buggy3
What campers warned about
- mosquitoes30
- lots of mosquitoes24
- mosquitoes everywhere11
- mosquitos11
- lots of flies7
- Praised by
- 1.0%
- Warned by
- 8.0%
- Rank
- Better than 14% of graded states
- Confidence
- High confidence
Net sentiment -0.070 (±0.005, 95% CI) from 12,291 written reviews, 64% from federal campgrounds. Graded vs. every other graded state.
We read every written review of a campground in Idaho and used AI to label what each camper praised or complained about, across 14 topics. A topic’s score is the share who praised it minus the share who complained, and the letter is absolute: A means campers loved it, F means they were frustrated — on a fixed scale, not a curve. So a topic isn’t marked down just because another state scored higher. Switch to Raw numbers to see the share who praised vs. warned behind every grade.
The rank (Idaho vs. other states) is shown separately, because most states are genuinely good overall — the ranking is what tells them apart. The overall grade is the average of the topic grades, weighted by how often campers raise each one.
Only states with at least 2,000 reviews are graded, and every topic carries a 95% confidence interval from its sample size.
Topic weights
- Scenery15%
- Campsites15%
- Cleanliness13%
- Facilities12%
- Staff & hosts10%
- Things to do9%
- Crowds & noise8%
- Getting there6%
- Bugs & weather3%
- Booking2%
- Value2%
- Rules & policies2%
- Safety2%
- Welcoming1%
Methodology v3-absolute-grade-plus-rank | 43 states graded | updated June 2026.