South Tourist Park Campground

We had a range of spots to choose from. It was self pay with a little envelope and drop box. The site we chose was level right by the water so we had a nice view outside our door. No hookups.
Our major problem was it seemed to be a hangout spot for people. It was so quiet during the day, but they came out of the woodwork at night and we could hear them congregating. Loud cars, lots of talking. Felt a little sketchy.
There were some campers that had looked like they were there for a while even though there was a stay limit.
We did not use the bathrooms, so I can't say what condition they were in.

This is a very easy stop over and Idaho Falls offers a bit of everything. The park has very well kept grassy areas, pretty level sites, and a long, clean dump station with separate potable and flush water spigots. We stayed for two nights and probably would have stayed a third to check out more of the area if our schedule had allowed.

However, campers beware. There are some negatives. It is close to an active train track and the 6:15 am train was on time. There weren’t too many running, but be prepared for some noise. The proximity to the road did allow for some road noise, but not too bad. The worst noise came from the generator running all night by a neighbor, who appears to be one of several who are here full time. There weee also more than one occasion that one of these folks confused the loops for a race track, so please keep an eye out if you have children or pets. The bathrooms are dated, but served the purpose.

I don’t want to make it sound all bad because we did enjoy the park and being right on a 10-mile river walk multi-use path. You just need to keep your expectations realistic if you choose to stay here. We would potentially stay again if passing back through the area, just with good earplugs.

I drove right past the Campground Host because I was looking at the excellent Site 4 right across from the restrooms and on the river. The drop box for your site fee is right in front of her rig and sign saying campground host…I was tired and drove on to the tent area sort of in the back 40. She actually drove over to me to invite me to Site 4 since I was traveling alone and some of the people in the back area were kind of sketchy…and a lot of people just traverse through on foot looking to bum or steal.

South Tourist Park is located along the Snake River on the southwest side of Idaho Falls. It is a lovely park with green grass and large paved campsites. There are a few back-in sites, but most are pull-through wide spots off the campground road. It is well laid out so it seems to work for most of the sites and ours was perfectly level. We stayed in site 8 which is about 10 feet from the riverbank. The river is calm and makes for a nice paddle upriver to the falls. There is a boat ramp in the park and a few sites are right on the river and would allow a camper to launch a kayak or canoe from their campsite. The dump station is well-designed and has rinse as well as potable water. Another plus is that a paved bike trail runs through the campground. The trail leads back to downtown Idaho Falls following along the river.

There are a few downsides to South Tourist Park. The park is located in an industrial section of town and is bordered by a pre-cast concrete plant and an aggregate yard. You will hear backup alarms and heavy equipment throughout the early morning hours and remainder of the day. There are also railroad tracks nearby so you will get train horns at all hours. As previous reviews mention, there does appear to be a number of campers simply living in the park despite the 14-day limit. Our experience during the week was that they were largely quiet except for the barking dogs. The long-term visitors were clustered around the bathhouse and there were few available sites in that area. If you keep following the park road along the river, it crosses the bike path and there is a "loop" with a number of sites suitable for large rigs. That area was never full during our stay.

I needed a place to camp near Idaho Falls, so I had to take my car to the mechanic in the morning. This place was perfect. Site number six was right against the water, and I was able to take my paddleboard out on the snake river. Super placid and peaceful.

The two big downsides are: quite noisy with road traffic, lights that stay on overnight, and no water spigot (we refilled in the bathroom sink which was a little inconvenient).

Overall, though, I’m grateful to have found a decent spot in the city.