IMPORTANT: This campground changed owner/management a few years back. Any poor reviews from 4 years…read moreago should be ignored, the new owners are incredible and made our camping experience super easy. This campground is INCREDIBLE! The views and access to the river are unbeatable. They are constantly improving the area, this is already the best campground in Lava. If you are looking for things to do while in Lava, Portneuf also has an equipment rental tent where you can rent anything from tubes to side by sides at super affordable rates. I highly recommend staying at this campground if you are looking to camp in Lava Hot Springs.

My family and I LOVED this campground! The hosts and owners were absolutely amazing kind people!…read moreThe campground is absolutely beautiful! Nice grassy areas situated right on the Portneuf river. It was so fun to raft the river and end right back at the campsite! If you are in Idaho near here this is the place to be! We will definitely be back!

I love to camp here. It's quiet, peaceful and Beautiful!! Looking out over the water, watching the…read moremoose and little bunnies around the campsites. There's a nice restroom with shower and flushing toilets. The campsites are kept clean and well cared for by the staff at Willow Bay. Can't wait to go back there this year and do some fishing.

What a wonderful experience all around . We stayed 2 nights on our way to The Tetons and…read moreYellowstone. The customer service we received from Chris and Jason, the clean facilities and the amazing views helped make our decision to stop on our way back home to Oregon . Same friendly 5 star service and gorgeous views. Truly a gem !! Sincerely, The Phillips

This is not easy on and off Highway first off. Also the RV area is very small. This is a big place,…read morebut it's all full timers in trailers, very old and not maintained. RV area has big shade trees, that's about it. Never looked at bathrooms because it (yes 1) looked super old. Not room for very many big 45 footers. Office staff was nice.

Unbelievably they took our reservation two months in advance with NO deposit. When we arrived…read moreeverything went smoothly and the staff is warm, friendly and service was excellent. This is not a fancy high end park full of high end rigs. The park is beautifully maintained and spotless. There were a good number of permanent to semi-permanent residents... and the sites are very tight. Our two tandem sites accommodated both Motorhomes and both Toads. We did not need to unhook... but did to go out to eat. The electrical tested perfect and voltage was excellent... no faults or errors. We would have rated the park even higher if there had been cable tv and the sites had afforded any privacy at all. We were traveling with another couple so the tandem sites was not a problem for us... and was explained to us prior to arrival. The location is convenient and the park was quiet for us.

The noise from the highway and trains was horrible. Likely because we were in a tent but it was…read moreuntil late in the night and sounded like the train was driving through the middle of the KOA. We have stayed at a lot of KOAs over the country and the noise here is by far the worst. Definitely recommend getting a site as far away from the road if possible and be prepared for the noise because the highway is literally right next to the campground. Otherwise, beautiful campground with very clean facilities. I liked that they had separate individual bathrooms with toilet and shower in one for more privacy.

I've stayed at a fair share of KOAs and because they have a very user friendly website, we tend to…read moreuse them in many states. This won't be the case moving forward. I'm sick of the up charging some KOA owners do and this particular location takes the cake. They charge well over $100 a night for an RV spot then proceed to charge extra for every kid, pet, and extra person over 2 people each night. The host at check in even had a clip board to have the guest initial they agree to these charges and numbers provided. In addition they give you paperwork with fines listed if you leave things in the site at check-out. It wasn't the warm and friendly check-in we felt at other campsites KOA or not. This Holiday level KOA does not offer any special amenities like a swimming pool, kiddo activities, jumping pillow, or decent river access for wading /swimming. I'm not sure what makes this one this high level of a KOA except location. The allure of the is for the hot springs in town. This KOA grounds are large with three levels of wide and spacious sites. They also offer cabins but some cabins are just a small box with beds and no bathroom. Bathrooms are located quite a ways down the road in the main office. Sounds miserable to have no toilet or sink for washing up close by. On the end of the property are nicer cabins with all the amenities located just next to the river float entry. But those nice cabins do not allow pets. Also keep in mind that the campsite is right up against the road and very near a double train track that is very active. It's not that bad and can still be peaceful but not quiet from traffic and trains that sound like they are vibrating off the canyon walls as the train enters the narrow ravine where the campground sits. It was entertaining during the day but that first night it was a terrifying rumbling sound. The up side is it's within walking distance into town where all the fun activities are. There are so many other campgrounds in the area that might be worth checking out as another alternative.

At Smith's Trout Haven you are essentially camping in a big field behind someone's house. But…read morethat's just fine, because they take good care of this place. There are picnic tables and fire rings at every site, and there are several covered pavilions available. There's a small playground, and a few ponds stock with fish you can fish for. The Port-a-John's on site are very clean and well-maintained. The owners are very friendly and will go out of their way to help you with any needs. It's mostly an RV park, but they do have several tent sites available too. There is electricity at many of the sites, but there is no running water anywhere in the campground. That's really not much of a problem, though, as most of the guests are in RVs. Even if you aren't in an RV it's still not an issue, since if you are visiting Lava Hot Springs it's almost certainly for the pools and you can take your showers at the pools instead, like we did.

Very bad place, the energy the owners give is very not welcoming I recommend looking into other…read moreplaces that have more of a good atmosphere.

Very very nice lady at the front desk. I came rolling in at 7pm after a full day of driving and got…read morea camping spot. Yeah. She pointed my dog and I to the must needed pet area right away. Thank you. The camping area was huge with lots a green grass and lots of shade. Yeah, a must needed shower. Free coffee at 9am. It was so quiet and peaceful at 10pm. Thanks again!!!

Why does this KOA close at 6pm? VERY inconvenient and obviously the management doesn't care about…read morethe customers.

I would not recommend staying here!!!…read more What started as a simple motel stay turned into a serious safety issue. The door to our room suddenly became completely inoperable, trapping me, my boyfriend, and our child inside. The only way we could get out was by climbing through the window. Thankfully, our room had a large enough window to escape. Some of the other rooms only have small, high windows, which could have made the situation much worse. When I informed the front desk, the employee's response was shocking: "Oh yeah, we've been having issues with that door." If they already knew it was malfunctioning, why was it never repaired before putting guests in that room? The employee tried and failed to open the door, then told us, "Luckily we have one room available tonight." We then had to wait about three hours before moving. When the room was finally ready, we had to pass all of our luggage out the window and move everything ourselves. Instead of enjoying the little vacation time we had left, we spent it dealing with a problem that could have been prevented. While we appreciated being moved to another room, it doesn't change the fact that this was a major safety hazard. At checkout, we politely asked if there was any compensation for the inconvenience, lost vacation time, and, most importantly, the safety risk. We weren't asking for a full refund--just a reasonable gesture of goodwill. Instead, we were immediately met with resistance. An employee even told us, "The owner is a stickler." When we spoke with the owner, Tyler, he dismissed our concerns almost immediately, saying, "Things happen." There was no apology, no accountability, and no indication that guest safety was a priority. Based on our experience, this property is poorly maintained, and management appears unwilling to address serious issues or stand behind their guests when something goes wrong. I cannot recommend staying here, especially if you value your safety and expect reasonable customer service when problems arise.

We knew the place was old but took a chance. The bed was comfortable, carpet seemed fairly new,…read more and the bathroom looked to have been updated within the last several years. The rest was trashy, which wouldn't take much to fix up. The nightstand, dresser, and chairs were OLD and extremely worn out and damaged. OLD like from the 80's. There was a hole in the wall up by the ceiling. Paint was peeling. Plastic on the mattress pad was shredded.....should have been removed. Wouldn't stay here again.

We have passed this Devil Creek reservoir many times and looked down at the RV sites along the…read morewater edge. We finally had the opportunity to stay the night while traveling South. We camped in a 30 ft travel trailer. It is a rustic RV park, most sites have full time trailers that folks must use on the weekends because we saw very few people on a Sunday evening in June. Checked in with the camp host, pd $30 for full hookups for one night. Pull through site, with a lovely view. There is a cement pad and picnic table. Gravel sites, I would recommend this park if you don't need restrooms or showers and are self/contained. This park met our needs for a one night stop and the view was absolutely beautiful. The surrounding hillsides were green, lush, and birds were abundant. There is a boat ramp, some small docks to fish off as well as the damn. Great for boating and kayaking. I'm probably being generous with 5 stars but I loved our front water view and it was peaceful.

The Reservoir is nice but the campground is horrible! Broken glass and trash throughout the…read morecampground. The campsites are sloped and we witnessed many people drag the back of their RV's across the ground as they were pulling in and trying to position the RV on a flat level area. The campsites are crammed in so close you can reach out the window of your RV and touch the RV next to yours. You also have to share the picnic table and fire pit with the campers next to you. The water connections are old and drip constantly creating mud holes. The bathrooms are outhouses and no showers. There's no grass anywhere. The camp host didn't come around and greet anyone or check if everything was alright. Nope, won't be staying here again!

Beware the trains Great access to town. Fun place to visit Many local restaurants to pick fromread more

Super overpriced, $100+ a night with taxes. Facility was under major remodel with backhoes n heavy…read moreequipment and no discounts for all the noise. Shameful. Park was clean, bathrooms too. Had laundry but never used it. Staff was unmotivated at best. A bit obtuse. Very close to their cute town. Walking distance to all. Many other parks in area along creek too. I'd definitely check those before coming back here.