Broken Wheel Campground

The northern tip of the Great Basin - interesting to learn how the dunes formed in this unlikely place. The S.P. touts dark skies and quiet camping, but one requires a vivid imagination to block out the glow of Boise city lights and the fighter jets from the nearby base passing overhead every 90 seconds until nearly midnight. Sites are very clean, as was bathroom. Park was not full, thankfully, because spots are fairly tight. Not sure we’d rent the sand sleds again - even with waxing, they didn’t exactly fly. Staff at the info center was lackluster. Probably won’t come again

Friday and Saturday nights throughout the summer they have star parties, 5$ per person. We saw Saturn! They also have scorpion walks at night, with a UV light the scorpions glow. You can rent a sled to ride down the sand dunes and borrow a fishing pole if under 13 and try fishing. Just past the dunes is a great spot to bird watch. Does get very hot in summer in the afternoon, but lots to do early morning and evenings. Clean showers and bathrooms. Dump station.

Not much to recommend the place. Many sites have water and electric. Dump station. Sites seem close together. Not sure what you do here. Sand dunes are big but basically only two giant sand dunes. There is an observatory that would be fun but no schedule posted and doesn’t look used. Is quite a ways from the freeway. Very very very windy. I would stay again but only for an overnight passing through

Stayed here one night on a drive thru because my usual stopping point at Three Island Crossing SP had full reservations. It was fine for one night. Toilets were clean and stocked. Staff were very friendly. It was kinda cool seeing big sand dunes somewhere where you’d least expect them. Stayed in the Broken Wheel Campground. Sites #30, 31 and 32 are nice with some shade and on the outside of the loop. I don’t think there is much here to keep your attention for more than a day or two.

Nice desert park. Stayed here several times. Broken Wheel is definitely the nicer of the two loops. Spaces are further apart and bigger shade trees. Eagle Cove is fine, but spots are very close together and only a few sparse trees around the perimeter. Sites are semi paved with picnic table and fire pit. Water and electric only. 2 drive up dump stations are available for free. Can easily walk or drive to the dunes, but not much else to see or do. Great for last minute reservations when other parks are booked up and only an hour east of Boise. Dark and quiet at night so perfect for star gazing. Summer is HOT so hope you have an AC!

I camped here about a week ago. I’m not sure how the reviewer below me only paid $15. A basic tent site is $34 for non-Idaho residents, even with no amenities in the winter! All of the signage says this and i even confirmed with a ranger in the visitors center. Electric sites were only $2 more per night, so I just went with an electric site. It was a bummer to not have access to showers, I was really looking forward to one. The pit toilets were clean but always feel a little gross.

At night you could hear the hundred of geese on the nearby lake, and a few coyotes. It was nice, not unpleasant. No AT&T cell service in the campground though.

This was a 'check the box' local trip in close proximity of home and the weather was not conducive for a higher elevation campground. There are probably 3 main reasons to stay at this park; Fishing, Sand Dunes, and Observatory. Although one could add Bird Watching, Kayaking, or Canoeing. The sand dunes are remnants of the great Bonneville Lake some 15,000 years ago. The large dune, is ~470 high and is reported to be the highest in North America. There are 2 small lakes in the park, one larger than the other, and its reported that there are trophy size bass to be caught. There are also bluegill but the water is too warm for trout. There are primitive trails that go around each lake, and the lakes are not quite joined. The trail around the big lake starts at the picnic area and its probably best to go counter clockwise around the lake as the prevailing wind will be at your back for most of the time. Mosquitos are quite thick and aggressive nearest the lake where both the lakes are surrounded by groves of mesquite and cottonwood trees. The trail around the big lake carries the hiker at least on side of the large dune, and one can hike to the top if so inclined. Kids will 'sled' down the dunes when the temperature is not too hot to do so. The trail around the big lake is ~2.5 to 3 miles long, There is an observatory with a large reflective telescope where night celestial programs are held. However, in this time of Covid-19, you might guess that the observatory was not having any programs as of this date.

There are 2 campgrounds, Broken Wheel and Eagle Cove. Broken Wheel is the more developed campground where partial hookups with 30/50A and water can be found. Of course not all sites have 50A, but if 30A will do, then #18 and #20 would be my first choices next time as there is shade, but the trees maybe a problem for taller rigs at these sites. Some of the sites will have a nice windbreak shelter over the picnic table which is handy when the blows at 35mph, as it often does when a front is moving through. There are showers and flush toilets at Broken Wheel. However, I noticed that while the Men's toilets had 3 sinks, 1 urinal, and 2 stalls installed, only 1 stall and 2 sinks were operable. Soap was found in only dispenser. I will say that the Men's toilet was found clean. There is a 2 station Dump Site that serves both campgrounds. However, if you want to flush out your black water tank like most people do, you will need to put your own water hose on the washout arm as the park keeps only a 6 ft garden hose with no end fitting affixed. There is also garbage bins located across from the Host Site in Broken Wheel.

There was a bit of a hassle upon our arrival. I had reserved #8 online the night before and when we arrived, I found another name affixed to the site stake. The camp host was nice, but he was not able to help resolve the issue as he was not able to get online to get the matter cleared. Rather, he directed me to the Visitor Center, where a lady was able to move me to another site. Please know that while most or all sites in Broken Wheel are advertised to be 50ft., I would say that is questionable on some sites, in particular #8 looks to be about 35 to 40 feet, but admittedly I did not actually measure the pad. All pads are gravel and the loop and connecting roads are paved.

Our site had 30A/50A electricity, water, sand tent pad, picnic table, and fire ring. All sites in Broken Wheel are back-in, but Eagle Cove has some pull-throughs that are similar to many commercial RV parks. Eagle Cove is also closest to the small lake, and one could carry a canoe, float tube, or kayak to the small lake. But, there are ample parking at both lakes where you can leave your rigs while you are fishing or boating. There are no good beaches for swimming and cattails skirt both lakes in the shallows.

There is a Visitor Center that reportedly has Wi-Fi connectivity and they sell certain sundries, water and have some interpretative exhibits and taxidermy of critters.

We received very little AM/FM signals, but did have about a half-dozen TV stations, including IDPTV which is the Boise PBS station. Cell phone coverage, at least for Verizon, was sketchy at 1 to 2 bars.

We basically had 2 days of periodic rain showers and very gusty winds. We felt sorry for the campers in tents as there were nowhere to get out of the wind unless you were lucky enough to have a site with one of the wind break canopies.

We came here for an overnight stop on our way to Stanley, ID then came again on our way to Oregon! The first time we stayed we were in Broken Wheel and only bad 4G on ATT, but the second time we were in Eagle Cove and had 2 bars of LTE. Make sure you stay for the observatory activities on Friday/Saturday it is WELL worth it! We didn’t get to do much on the sand dunes since the sand was hot and we have 3 kids but they do offer boards and helmets. We did the junior ranger program and the kids learned a lot. Definitely a fun stop!