Craters of the Moon - Arco KOA Journey

This was just a quick stopover for us as we traveled across southern Idaho but if you are planning a visit to Craters of the Moon National Monument and you are unable to stay in the park or, like us, your rig is too big to fit, this KOA in Arco will do just fine. It was clean, well-maintained and quiet. We did notice another campground nearby (Mountain View) which might be a slightly better choice depending on price, mainly because the sites seemed to have more shade from taller trees.

This was a delightful KOA in the country—-no trains or road noise, The staff was very helpful, the grounds were well kept and most of the sites had shade. Nice little pool, decent laundry facilities and good showers. It was a great place to recharge after a week in the boonies. Good place to stay if you are visiting Craters of the Moon. Call for reservations, they fill up at night and the website doesn’t show all availability.

We stay frequently in KOAs with our 33 ft Airstream. This KOA was a very pleasant surprise. It was very clean, easy to get into and out of, and had a very friendly and helpful staff.

They had a wine-tasting in the evening while we were there - which was a bit unusual compared with other parks. The site we stayed in was level and had a big tree which gave us some shade.

If you want hook-ups for your RV in Central Idaho while visiting Craters of the Moon NM - this is an idea choice!

I really wanted to like this park based on other's positive reviews, but I’m sorry to say I just didn’t for several reasons. First and foremost is the “kid tax”. That’s what those of us in Fulltime Families (an RV club of families traveling fulltime) call it when a park charges extra for kids. Sometimes I don’t mind the kid tax if there are plenty of amenities for kids, but this park does not have anything special. There is a playground, but most parks have those and our kids have outgrown them anyway. They have a pool, but the water was too cold so our kids went in for less than 5 minutes. There is a nice dog park, and dogs are free (but we don't have a dog). We see that at many RV parks: no charge for pets with a fancy dog park, but kids cost extra and nothing special for them to do. It sends the message that the park prefers pets more than kids. I know that some retired (kid-less) couples don’t like a lot of kids around so maybe that is the park’s way of discouraging families from staying. Anyway, we were there for a week and the extra charge for our 2 kids came to $56 for the week, and for what? There was nothing there that was worth us paying an extra $56 (we didn’t even eat the free breakfast either).

My 2nd complaint is that I reserved our site 7 months in advance. I know most people do not plan that far in advance, and I specifically requested a site that was not too close to a neighbor. Instead they gave us what was probably the worst site in the park. It was so close to a permanent neighbor that our picnic table was practically on top of her propane tank, which incidentally was being checked for leaks by the propane company several times that week. In addition, the sewer at the neighbor’s site was being worked on while we were there. Our site being so close to this neighbor meant that the propane workers and sewer worker were in our site many times that week working on those things. Our site also backed up to the check-in building and dumpster so there was constant people traffic just behind us, while tenters across from us were always cutting through our site to get to the main building or restrooms. When we pulled in, the park was nearly empty so I asked if we could have a different site near the back of the park where it wasn’t so congested, and she said they didn’t have anything available. Really? Even though nobody else was there yet? More RVs pulled in later, but since I wasn’t able to reserve a specific site I doubt those others were able to either, which means those sites were available when we got there. And I also doubt the other RVers reserved 7 months in advance with a specific request like I had.

After we got settled into our cramped site, we read in the campground info that if you are not happy with your site within 1 hour of checking in, you can receive a refund and leave. Well by the time we had gotten settled in the site and started to read over the campground info we had already been there for more than an hour so it was too late to take them up on that offer.

In summary, this park may be fine for people with only pets and no kids (or those that don’t mind paying extra for kids), and those that don’t mind being packed in like sardines. I will say the staff was friendly, and I’m sure some people would probably like this park, especially if they can park in a different section that is not so cramped.

Just fyi, since we travel fulltime and work remotely I like to let others know about the connectivity. Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile all worked pretty well, but at times were slow. The campground WiFi worked surprisingly well, sometimes better than our own hotspots.

We are normally not big fans of KOAs, but this park was a pleasant surprise, being very laid back and mellow.. Upon arrival, two staff members in the office were welcoming and accommodating to our needs. We explained we wanted to see Craters of the Moon, needed only a one night stay and a dry camping spot would be fine. They let us camp in a tent site, and showed us where we could connect our hose to a spigot in the morning to fill our fresh water tank and where the dump station was located.

Sites are spacious and there is lots of grass between them. The park also has three rental cabins and some tepees. The restrooms and showers are bright, airy and very clean. The entire park is well maintained and very quiet at night. In the morning there are free waffles and coffee. They also offer a limited menu from an on-site cafe and will bring your order to your rig. WiFi worked great, but we were there in mid-Sept. and the park was only about a quarter full, so I can’t speak to how good it works in the busy season.

Craters of the Moon National Monument is only about a 20 to 30 minute drive away and well worth a visit.

Price reflects FHU, level, shaded site with KOA Member discount. Friendly hosts who offered some nice personal touches to our stay including the free waffles and coffee in the am and their little "Paper Plate Cafe'" for an evening meal delivered to our rig. ($)
Although we didn't use them, bathrooms and showers were clean, as well as laundry. Appreciated having the pool open so were able to swim a couple days. Small, quiet town with a nice grocery market. Great proximity to Craters of the Moon NM. (We biked the loop on a very windy say.) AT&T and Verizon were minimal but campground wi-fi was exceptional. We'd stay again.

A nice quiet spot away from the highway and no train tracks! Great place for sleeping. The owners have a cafe with food delivery to your camper! Gravel sites, pretty level. Propane, groceries, even occasionally wine tasting! Has a playground and a small pool. Free waffles and coffee in the morning too!

What a great place to stay. A nice quiet spot away from the highway. The owners have a cafe with food delivery to your camper! Gravel sites, pretty level.Free waffles and coffee in the morning too level, shaded site with KOA Member discount. Friendly hosts who offered some nice personal touches to our stay including the free waffles and coffee in the am and their little "Paper Plate Cafe' We loved this campground.

Stayed overnight coming from West Yellowstone. Location convenient to go to Craters of the Moon National Monument (19 miles). Site had 30 amp service, water and no sewer. Other sites had the full hookup option but this was fine for our stop-n-go visit. Headed out in AM towards Salt Lake City... location minimized back-track driving.

Stayed here 9/13/2020 to 9/17/2020. I picked this as a base to explore Craters of the Moon and it was perfect for that. It's a really easy drive down to the park from here, and with an electric hookup I was able to leave my dog behind in the rig.

The campground itself is a pretty typical KOA. Basically a big flat lot with the sites all pretty close together. There is an area that was more shaded with trees, but I was in the more open area where I only had water and electric hookups. The dump station is on your way out and was easy enough to access. It had rinse water and I was able to unhook the hose they had on it and use my own hose for the sani flush.

This KOA does feel like it's a little more remote than others and therefor it's much quieter than some of the other KOAs I've been to. Also the office has a nice little general store where you can pick up beer and a few other things which was handy.