We decided to take a scenic drive and go car camping with the dogs over Fourth of July weekend.
Too busy to go both Saturday and Sunday nights, the question was, where would we find an available campsite on the second night? The answer: The Indian Creek campground along the Selway River deep in Idaho's forests.
The road to the campground is surrounded by wilderness - the Selway-Bitterroot to the north and the Frank Church-River of No Return to the south - and driving there takes about four hours from Missoula. In our time there, we only one other family camped nearby and we saw few other vehicles.
Getting there was something of an accomplishment for us. We have a brand-new SUV and have been reluctant to put the dogs in it. Gigi, in her mid-teens, has a thick coat and sheds constantly; 8-year-old Belle has never traveled well, getting anxiety attacks whenever she's in the car and drooling nonstop. (This was, by far, Belle's longest drive.) With plenty of covers to protect the interior and Belle tethered, we made the drive.
The campground sits next to a horsepacking trailhead where Indian Creek meets the Selway River. There's plenty of soothing sound from the rushing river as well as scenery to take in. A few trails leave from the area, but with Gigi too old for any real hiking, we mostly wandered and lazed during our stay.
Considering all the water from this year's high snowpack, we were surprised that the mosquitoes weren't too bad. We all got some bites, but they really only bothered Belle, to the point that she tried to get in the tent on her own. She succeeded in getting between the ground cover and the floor of the tent. After some assistance, though, she was content inside.
On the way home the next morning, we took a short side trip to the historic Magruder Ranger Station, which was closed but nonetheless in a nice setting.
See more photos here and here.
Directions: From Darby, drive 7.4 miles south on U.S. Highway 93, then turn southwest on the West Fork Road. After 11.3 miles, continue southwest on Nez Perce Road. After 16.1 miles, the road crosses into Idaho at Nez Perce Pass and becomes the Magruder Corridor Road. Turn north on Forest Road 6223 after 18.7 miles and continue 5.3 miles to the campground. This section of the Nez Perce/Magruder Corridor Road is a mixture of gravel and pavement.
