Trip Report: Weekend Camping Near Sun Valley, ID

Ketchum is a cute, laid-back resort town in south-central Idaho. Known for skiing at Sun Valley in the winter, there’s also loads to do in the summer, too. The downtown streets are lined with restaurants, bars, shops, and outfitters. Hiking and mountain biking are the summer activities of choice and there are plenty of shops willing to rent you a mountain bike. Of course, I also found a little bookstore, one of my favorite places to visit when traveling.

We camped up Warm Springs Road, approximately 20 minutes from town. We found a marked dispersed campsite (#11), right on the river with loads of room and no one else around. Non-campers have plenty of hotel options in town to fit most budgets. After setting up camp, we decided to explore town a bit. We ate dinner on the rooftop patio at Whiskey Jaques. The food was typical bar fare, but it was definitely a cool place to hang out and have a few pints. They have live music several nights a week, too.

After a leisurely breakfast, we hiked to Norton Lakes- a 5 mile out-and-back with about 1500′ of elevation gain. It was hot, so it was a little more of a slog than I was hoping, but so worth it! The wildflowers were out in force, too, which made for even prettier scenery. My friend brought her inflatable paddle board, so we all took turns cruising around on that. There are few things more refreshing than a mountain lake on a hot day. We had two Australian Shepherds with us and they appreciated the water, too.

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Back at camp, we made dinner, built a fire, and watched the Milky Way emerge. Sun Valley is a designated dark sky area and the moon was nowhere to be seen, so the stars were popping. I wish I got a better picture. I need to up my astrophotography game.

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The next morning, we drove a few miles up the road to Frenchman’s Bend Hot Springs. Water bubbles up from deep below at 125F and is cooled by the river. There are several places to sit and soak your aching muscles. If only there was complimentary mimosa delivery! The hot springs are accessible year-round, though I suspect you’ll want 4WD in the winter. After we had our fill, it was back to camp for breakfast and packing up to head back home. I wish we had another day to explore and we all agreed that we’d definitely be back.

Ketchum is about 4 hours from Salt Lake City or 2.5 hours from Boise. There is a small airport in Hailey, SUN, serviced by Delta and United and filled with loads of fancy private jets.