Beauty Creek Campground

This was a lovely place to camp. The ground is hard, so you will want some sort of pad or mattress to sleep on. The creek bed was dry while we were there, but there were signs that it did run with water regularly. If you are approaching the site from intestate 90, the turn off is not well marked. It is after Beauty Creek Resort and immediately before the bridge over Beauty Creek. There is a sign for a National Campground, but it doesn't say Beauty Creek on it. If you do cross the bridge and then turn around, there is a National Campground sign that DOES say Beauty Creek about midpoint on the bridge. The toilets are clean and easy to get to and, when we were there in august, they did not stink.

The campground is supposed to be hosted, but when we arrived the host was not present and we didn't see anyone show up. We were not there for long, we left at 5:45 AM to get back on the road, but given how clean the site was in general, I would guess that someone would be through later in the day.

Beauty Creek Camprgound has one long row of campsites. Some sites are shaded and some have good enough sun for solar (our spot being one of them).

There's a little bit of noise during the day from the road but otherwise it's quite peaceful.

I had one of the few sites that got sun for solar. Both internet and OTA TV signals were good. Only downside were 3 places where limbs were low enough to scrape the roof of my Class C. Trailers and other lower profile RVs would be fine.

This is a forest campground with just a few spots.m Some of the sites are just suitable for tents and a few are suitable for solar. Ours was one of them. The site was long and narrow and some of the trees might make it difficult for taller RV's. Despite having a narrow paved area there was a large wooded seating area.

This is about 11 miles from the beautiful city of Coeur d'Alene and was the nearest public campground we could find. It is also close to the lake, with a public boat ramp just a few miles away. The scenic byway takes you along the east shore of teh lake and you can pick up the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes cycle path at Harrison. You can also walk to Mineral Ridge recreation area, which has a nice short hike, with great views of the lake.

Some of the sites are first come first served, a few are reservable. There are no really facilities here apart from pit toilets and trash, no showers, dump station or recycling.

My only complaint here, would be that the host ran an industrial size generator pretty much all the time. We were far enough away that we could barely hear it. But if I had been in one of the lower number campsites I think I would have been really bothered by it.

This is a little different style review (and long). We were the camp host here for most of the 2016 season. So this review is more general info about the CG rather then a review of my thoughts as they may be biased.

GENERAL INFO:
- There is a self pay station. Just find your space, fill out your envelope and drop it in the box. Cash and Check's only, Host cannot take CC's.

- You do not have to check in with the host if you have a reservation, just go to your site and enjoy.

- No power throughout the campground. Solar is really only useable in the field sites (1 - 11). If you have ground solar you might be able to get creative in the upper sites.

- It is basically one long road, one way, you have to go all the way to out the exit and come back around on the main road to get back in.

- The campground is VERY busy, especially Thur - Monday after Memorial Day. Most weekends the reservable sites are reserved. Due to it's proximity to the freeway (about 5 mins away) LOTS of through travelers stop just for the night. Due to the type of traveler that comes through it is not uncommon for the sites to be all taken at night, and for the campground to be almost completely empty during the day (i.e. people come in in the evening and take off the next morning).

- During the week I recommend getting there before 7pm to get a site, and on a weekend I recommend getting there between 4 and 5PM to get a site.

- On the weekends people start driving through to get sites as other people leave as early as 10am. I recommend grabbing an envelope as you drive through if you are there on a weekend or later in the evening. If you find a space GRAB IT, put your stuff down, put the tag on the site and then go up front and pay (you have 30 mins to pay). I have seen MANY times where a person finds a site, goes back around to pay, and while they are paying someone else drops their gear on the site and marks it as theirs as it appears unoccupied.

- The creek is VERY seasonal. At the beginning of the season it has water, but as the season wears on the creek disappears underground further and further up the creek. It is rare that the creek has water past Memorial Day at the campground (though if you go hiking or driving further up the FS road there will be water all the way to Mid June or Early July usually).

SITE DETAILS:
- There are 19 campsites in the campground of which 6 are reservable and the rest are first come first serve (4,5,6,11,14,19 are the reservable sites).

- Sites 1- 9 are basically in a large open field. There is no privacy between these sites.

- Sites 1 - 8 are Tent sites only, and of those sites, sites 1 and 4 have covered shelters. You pitch your tent out in the field. There is a post with your site number at the parking space and out in the field. Using the marker in the field + the picnic table and fire ring and looking at the sites around you, you can figure out the boundaries of your site.

- Site 9 is in the field but actually has a driveway and can accommodate an RV. Depending on the overhang of your rig, if you back up to the stop you can park about a 30 ft rv in there. Site 9 also has a covered shelter over the table. This site is still in the field and not a lot of privacy.

- Site 10 is a weird site. Basically the parking spot is a wide spot in the road. So you just pull up and parallel park against the field. The firepit is close to the road but if you are tent camping you can go straight back almost to the tree line to get more space. Only a small camper or trailer will fit here (like a pop up or teardrop). You do not have room to extend out a slide on the drivers side as it will impede on the road.

- Site 11 is another weird site (online maps are wrong about sites 11 and 12). It is a short driveway that is at the wrong angle. It's a good tent spot or good for someone that is Van camping, in a Class B, or has a really short trailer i.e. pop up. If you have a trailer I recommend coming through the loop backwards to back into this site.

- Site 12 is the first site that gets into the trees and is private. As you are looking at the site, there is a trail that goes down around the trees to the left. If you follow this trail down you will see that there is a big opening in the trees for this site. This makes it VERY private. It's a great site for a tenter as you can put your tent down there and be alone. It has a long driveway for an RV BUT it kind of sucks that your outdoor area is a bit of a walk from where your RV will be parked.

- Sites 13 and 16 have an okay length driveway and then have a private clearing in the trees off to the side.

- Site 14 is a double site. You can fit two large rigs side by side in there (have had 38ft 5th wheels and 40 ft motorhomes int here before). Has a large clearing (enough for at least half a dozen tents) and two fire pits and two tables. If you reserve it you MUST pay for both halfs (so $40 a night). But if it is not reserved and you grab it first come first serve, you only have to pay the full $40 if you are parking more then one vehicle (vehicle / trailer combo) there.

- Site 15 is one of my favorites, nice long driveway (have had MH's almost 40 ft in there) and a nice clearing in the woods.

- Site 17 has a very wide driveway, almost like a double but is considered a single. This is one of the most coveted spots there.

- Site 18 has a longer driveway and can fit longer rigs. Lots of trees make it a bit tighter fit around the driveway but has a private clearing in the trees and you can access the creek from this site.

- Site 19 is reservable but can be frustrating for people. If you back in the doors to the rv or trailer will be on the wrong side (right along some trees with the opening and outdoor area on the other side). So it works best for truck campers and small motorhomes that can pull in. The pad is long, but there are two trees (one on either side) right against the side of the pad, halfway back. This makes it nearly impossible to deploy slides on modern larger rigs. A smaller trailer or MH with a single small slide can probably position themselves okay, but if you have multiple slides, big slides, deep slides, etc. you are going to have a problem.

Price reflects senior discount. We liked our site- it was large, shaded, but we still got sun on our solar panels during much of the day. There's great biking on the Coeurs d'Alene trail & the Hiawatha trail. Both trails are about a half hour drive to trailhead but so worth it!! BEAUTIFUL LAKE!

Campground has vault toilets and our site was very private. We backed up to creek (down short path) but there wasn't any water in July.

We needed a place to crash for the night but didn't want to be at Walmart. There was one spot left when we arrived. Site #12 was very spacious and private. We enjoyed taking the dogs on a walk around the forest. It's very beautiful and close to the lake. We only stayed one night since it's $20 for no hookups. There is also a water spigot and trash cans around the sites. Very clean and well managed. We dumped at KC RV dump station for free.

The campground host was so friendly and helpful. They give 50% off to all national park pass holders (not just senior and access like usual) making this place $11.50 per night.

The spots are grass and gravel but we’re level enough. The area is pretty even though the creek bed was dry while we were there in mid July.

My only complaint is there were bees (i think yellow jackets?) everywhere so you really couldn’t enjoy being outside

Tried to stay here, but ended up leaving due to all the trees hanging down right over the (narrow) road. They were low enough any vehicle over 6' tall will be getting a good scraping. We have a 34' 5th wheel, 12' tall, so backing out of that one-way road was no fun.. We weren't willing to take the risk to do damage to our unit. Shame, since it looked like such a beautiful area.

While the drive along the lake is beautiful, the campground is nothing special. Just sites with no scenery and no cell. I’m glad there were no sites available when I pulled in. Drove to Bell Bay which is much more scenic. If you want to be near Coeur d’Alene, go with Beauty Creek. Bell Bay is an hour away with cell.