Introduction:
This is one of the nicest campgrounds we have stayed at since heading out on the road two years ago.
2020 update: Still one of our favorites, even after four years.
Click here to read about our criteria for campground reviews.
The Basics:
Overall Rating: 4.5/5
Price per night / Discounts: $35 / W/E sites come out to about $35 per night, while FHU sites come out to about $38 per night. The Idaho State Parks charge an additional fee of $5.00 per day for your tow car. The camping rate simply covers the RV itself. Which is annoying.
Campground website: Henrys Lake State Park
Our Site #: 2018 - Site 60, 2020 - Site 62
Privacy Rating (how spacious and private do the sites feel):
4.5/5: While there aren't many trees between the sites, there is so much open green space, you'll never feel like you're on top of your neighbors. There is one long road with back-in sites and then two loops with back-in and pull-through sites. All are well spaced, though the sites along the straight road feel a bit larger. The sites in the loops, however, have more trees around them. Either way, you really can't go wrong.
Location Rating (accessibility to points of interest or to major highways):
4/5: If you're looking for a place to park while exploring Yellowstone, this is a reasonably priced alternative to the overpriced parking lot campgrounds closer to the park, but it will take about 25 minutes to reach the west gate (and then you'll be driving all through the park.) We didn't mind at all, but our stay did require a fair amount of driving. Closer to the campground, there are plenty of other options to keep you busy - national forests, wildlife preserves, and Henrys Lake itself offer tons of options for recreation. We spent several days just hanging out at the campground - hiking the trails, kayaking out on the lake, and enjoying our site. As for supplies, again, you will have to drive a bit. Most of the bigger options are in West Yellowstone, though there are a couple smaller convenience stores south of Island Park.
Site Quality and Big Rig Accessibility Rating (utilities and accessibility of campground hook ups):
3.75/5: The sites here are very large, but many are notably sloped... we had to use a lot of our blocks to get level in site #60 and we saw several other sites that were even worse. On the other hand, our first site (we actually had two separate back to back reservations) was #81 and it was perfectly level. Unfortunately, the sites are just inconsistent. Utilities - W/E only for the majority of sites, but there are a couple sites with FHU - worked well.
2020 update: We were in site 62, a fantastic location, but very sloped. We had to use all of our leveling blocks for this one.
Technology and Customer Service Rating (online resources, reservations, campground wifi, and staff):
5/5: We booked our sites through Reserve America which makes things very convenient and the staff at the park could not have been nicer. We ran into some complications while we were there and the staff really looked out for us. I cannot speak highly enough of their kindness and helpfulness.
2020 update: Still as friendly as ever.
Overall Value Rating (the overall value of the campground; was it overpriced for what it was?):
5.0/5: Given the beautiful spacious sites, the hiking trails, and the park's close location to Yellowstone, the price here is more than reasonable. While we don't love the additional daily fee for our tow car, we don't mind paying to have access to such a beautiful and well maintained park.
Summary:
We have nothing but great things to say about this park. Not only is the campground absolutely beautiful, but the sites are spacious, the park offers a number of nice benefits - including free kayaks and seminars about things to do in the area, and it's located about 25 minutes from the west entrance of Yellowstone National Park. While most sites are W/E only, there are a handful of FHU sites as well. We rarely use campground showers, but we actually used the ones here a couple times and they were fantastic - the building is brand new and each shower is housed in a separate room with a changing area. The single ding on this park is just that a lot of the sites are unlevel. Given all the other positives, we were happy to overlook this one negative. We really enjoyed our stay here and look forward to our return.
2020 update: No changes here. We came back this year and would come back again in the future.
Too Funny,
We were at Henrys Lake June and July this year, stayed several weeks at the State Park. We may even have said hello to each other. We also loved this park and rated it as one of our favorites! Wish we had found your site before hand. As another FTF (3 years now) we will be following your travels.
Wow, what a small world! I’m glad to hear you loved Henry’s Lake as well. What’s not to love, right? It was absolutely on of our favorite parks. It would definitely have been nice to connect while we were there. Hopefully we’ll cross paths in the future! In the meantime, I’ll be sure to check out your site!