Review: Wellington Snow Park Campground and Rafting Riggins
Review: Wellington Snow Park Campground
My family were going to be visiting Idaho and taking our rafts there, and I was invited for the entire duration of their activities, though I was kayaking with Yue and Beatriz for part of them, so I left later.
On the 16th, I left Wyoming for the 638-mile trip to Riggins, Idaho. There was a wildfire on my way there, and it was getting late by the time I was in Boise, with still quite a bit of mountain-road travel ahead. I stopped in Horseshoe Bend and picked up Subway and kept driving, but decided to find a spot to camp on the way, as getting in at 11PM seemed terrible.
I passed a number of USFS places and came upon a county campground located at 9712 Idaho 55, Cascade, Idaho, 83611. It was almost dark, so I decided to hit it up, and it was pretty cheap.
I was the only person there, and the caretaker came to see me while I was setting up, saying that I’d snuck in on him. He had the personality of a wet cracker, but wasn’t really mean. Just odd. I managed to get the site farthest back from the road, and was right by a very pretty creek. The mosquitoes were terrible, so I set up quickly. Thankfully, the water was nearby and was delicious.
From the road, this campground looks terrible, but once you’re in it, it can be pretty nice. It served me well for my quick overnighter, and it’s not marked on any maps or literature, so I imagine that it stays pretty quiet.
Rating: I liked this campground for what it was. It was well kept, pretty enough if you ignored the entry area (which is for whatever happens when it becomes Wellington Snow Park at winter, and looked like a gravel pit), and also has a nearby bar that serves food if you’re into that. Given how my rating system works, this is worth 3 stars.
Review: Rafting Riggins and Allison Bar Camping
The drive to Riggins is very beautiful, and I grabbed more Subway in fancy-pants McCall. I got in at 1100 and my parents and I went to scope out a campsite. They were staying at the Big Iron motel, but I preferred to camp in my tent by the river if I could. We did our first rafting on the Salmon with my sister Brhe and her husband and child (and dog), then I went and set up my tent about 20 minutes out of town to the east. The sand patch I picked is Allison Bar, but before I stayed there, I went back to town and we all ate the 7 Devils, which is pretty tasty.
My campsite was quite nice with no one else around the first night, though the second night some people set up across the river and upstream a bit, but too far for me to really hear them. I did some fishing and watched Stranger Things.
The next day we rafted a couple times with some of Wendle’s, who were nice. The water felt pretty good, too, which one rafting party found out all at the same time. 😉 Below is a video of Time Zone Rapid. We ate again at the 7 Devils!
We ate again at the 7 Devils, and I left the next morning. The drive back was about 11 hours, which sucked. I love the canyons of the Salmon, so I made a little video of them, though.
Rafting is always great, and so for this review, I am going to rate Wendle, who is my stepdad! (Because we wouldn’t get to go rafting and he’s the nicest tough-guy you’ll ever meet.)
🙂
WENDLE
- My scientific rating system. Click this to have an approximate understanding of the rating!
