Overnight Camping at Bogus Basin + Other Tips
We’ve learned a lot traveling to ski areas that participate in Powder Alliance and Freedom Pass, including Bogus Basin. Here’s what you need to know about overnight camping at Bogus Basin, as well as other tips for planning a successful road trip to this Idaho ski resort.
Our Trip Dates: December 2019, February/March 2023, April 2023, March 2024
Introduction to Bogus Basin
Bogus Basin is a non-profit recreation area located in the Boise National Forest, serving Idaho’s capital city of Boise and the rest of the Treasure Valley since 1942.
I had no idea non-profit ski areas existed until I started planning our first trip to Bogus using our Loveland season passes and Powder Alliance benefits back in 2019.
Bogus might be best known for downhill skiing and snowboarding, but they also have a Nordic trail system for cross-country skiing, fat tire biking, and snowshoeing, as well as a tubing hill. In the summer, Bogus offers lift-served and cross-country mountain biking, scenic chairlift rides, a mountain coaster, and more.
What we love about Bogus Basin
It’s one of the larger ski areas we’ve visited that isn’t on the Epic or Ikon Passes. I automatically assumed all non-profit ski areas must be small, but Bogus Basin is 2,600 acres with 1,800 feet of vertical! Their footprint is comparable to Copper Mountain, Alta, Snowbird, Jackson Hole, and Grand Targhee.
It’s a fun playground for advanced skiers and riders that appreciate ungroomed laps all day. We were lucky our 2023 visit included almost a foot of new snow over two days, so we could enjoy all of their off-piste terrain. Their double-black runs weren’t scary steep, so if you’re a confident single-black rider wanting to get your feet wet in some expert terrain, Bogus might be a good training ground for you.
Bogus offers budget-friendly lift tickets. Adults will pay between $19 and $79 during the 2023/24 season depending on the time of day you intend to ride. Check out Bogus’s winter lift ticket options.
Bogus Basin’s website, address, contact info, and hours
bogusbasin.org
2600 N Bogus Basin Road, Boise, ID 83702
(208) 332-5100
info@bogusbasin.org
Bogus Basin’s pass affiliations
Bogus Basin’s mountain stats
- Annual snowfall: ~250 inches
- Skiable terrain: 2,600 acres
- Night skiing terrain: 200 acres
- Vertical: 1,800 feet
- More stats
Driving to Bogus Basin
I think Bogus Basin Road is the curviest road we’ve driven to a ski resort. It is over 16 miles long and takes about a half hour to travel with good weather. It’s not particularly scary, just tedious.
Tip: If you plan on overnight RV camping at Bogus Basin, stock up on anything you need in Boise before heading to the ski resort. Once you get to the top, you probably won’t want to go back down and up again.
Parking at Bogus Basin
See Bogus Basin’s Parking & Lodge/Dining Map.
I recommend parking closest to the base area at the J.R. Simplot Lodge, especially if you need to purchase or pick up a ticket using Powder Alliance or another reciprocal partner pass. Pioneer Lodge does not process tickets and the Frontier Point Lodge is related to Bogus Basin’s Nordic trails.
Our favorite place to park is along the hill between the Parallel Parking Only signs.
How to use your 2023/24 Powder Alliance benefits at Bogus Basin
Visit the ticket windows at the J.R. Simplot Lodge and show the agent your qualifying season pass with Powder Alliance benefits. While we didn’t have to show another form of ID, I’d recommend bringing something like a driver’s license with your photo.
If you don’t have one already, you’ll need to pay for a reloadable RFID card (likely $5) that is good for the first of your three free days. You must return to the ticket windows to reload your RFID card on each additional day you intend to ski/ride at Bogus.
You can place the RFID card in a pocket on either side of your body. Just make sure you do not put it in the same pocket with another RFID card or credit card.
Bogus Basin lift and trail navigation tips
It took us quite a bit of exploring to figure out how to travel the mountain efficiently and to find the best terrain. Studying the trail map was only semi-helpful as it is not to scale, but so are most ski area trail maps.
If you’re an advanced skier/rider, here are tips on navigating the mountain.
To get from Deer Point to the Pine Creek Base, take Deer Point Express #1 in front of the J.R. Simplot Lodge.
Exit skier’s left and stay as high as you can on cut runs and past the Showcase #4 lift until you see the Nugget Cat Track on skier’s right. (The trail map makes it seem like you should take the Alpine run to the Nugget Cat Track, but when you see the sign for the Alpine run, do not take it. Stay high and continue past it.)
The Nugget Cat Track is fairly long. Good news is that it has enough pitch that an experienced snowboarder should be able to maintain speed the entire way without having to unstrap. Watch out for powder days when it’s not tracked out or on sticky spring days.
When you get to the end of the cat track, you’ll be on Upper Nugget below Mary’s Ridge and just before Deadwood. You can pick your path from there.
To get from the Pine Creek area to Superior Express #3, go to the top of Pine Creek Express #6 and exit skier’s right. Stay high and follow the Cabin Traverse cat track a short way until you see the top of Superior Express #3. You can pick your path from there.
To get from the tops of Pine Creek Express #6 and Superior Express #3 to the J.R. Simplot Lodge and Deer Point, follow the Cabin Traverse cat track until you see the Ski Patrol shack just beyond the top of Superior Express #3. You can drop into “The Face” behind the Ski Patrol shack or keep following Cabin Traverse until any point you’d like to drop in on skier’s right.
“The Face” is not named anywhere on the map, but in talking to locals, “The Face” encompasses all of the double-black runs that you see on the trail map between the tops of the Pine Creek and Superior lifts and the bottom of Showcase #4, including Tiger, Liberty, Last Chance, Power Line, and Omar’s Inspiration. While these runs are labeled double-black, we didn’t find the steepness particularly scary. However, this area is ungroomed and there are many natural obstacles. You should feel comfortable off-piste before entering this area.
To get from the J.R. Simplot Lodge to Superior Express #3, take Morning Star Express #2 in front of the lodge and to the left of the bottom of Deer Point Express #1. When you get off the lift, look straight and you’ll see the War Eagle run which is the fastest way to the bottom of the Superior lift.
I can’t comment on getting to Bitterroot #5 as it wasn’t open during any of our visits.
Tip: Avoid picking a line that ends in thick bushes, dense trees, rocks, or inescapable gullies. I am used to ski areas that rope off everything that doesn’t have perfect coverage. Not at Bogus.
My favorite area for spring skiing was Superior Express #3. The snow wasn’t icy or sticky with temperatures in the 50s. Everywhere else was super sticky and slow.
Overnight camping at Bogus Basin
Bogus Basin’s overnight RV camping policy.
Bogus Basin allows overnight camping in their dirt parking lots, but campers may only take up one parking space. In other words, vans and truck campers only. See their Restrictions & Policies page for more information and the specific dirt lots where camping is allowed.
It’s hard to tell which lots are unpaved when there is snow, so you’ll want to take a look at Bogus Basin’s Parking & Lodge/Dining Map. It’s not necessary to check in with anyone upon your arrival. If it snows, snow removal staff might ask you to move.
Notes: The Buttercup lot is only open on weekends and holidays according to the map. The parking lot was not signed as closed or roped off when we showed up on a Monday evening in February 2023. It was unplowed with several inches of snow which could be a scary situation for a two-wheel drive vehicle without chains.
Also, the dirt parking lots approved for overnight camping get very slushy and muddy in spring or when temperatures are warm. 4WD or AWD is highly recommended. We found Lot #4 extremely rutted in April, so high clearance might also be helpful. We found the best conditions in the Silver Queen lot.
If you stay overnight in Lot #4, you can ski down a cat track to the J.R. Simplot Lodge to pick up lift tickets.
If you stay overnight in the Silver Queen lot, you can also ski down to the J.R. Simplot Lodge. From the parking lot, walk across the road and the Silver Queen run will go down to your right. When you ski to the bottom, you’ll be at the J.R. Simplot Lodge.
To ski back to the Silver Queen lot and Lot #4, you’ll take the Morningstar Express #2 lift. The trail map is not helpful in figuring this out, but when you get off the Morningstar lift, you’ll see Pioneer Lodge.
To the left (or back) of the lodge, you’ll see a sign for three green/beginner runs, including Lulu, Pioneer, and Silver Queen. Follow signs for the Silver Queen run. You’ll be on a cat track until the cat track ends at the Silver Queen parking lot. If you parked at Silver Queen, obviously you’ll stop there.
If you parked at Lot #4, the Silver Queen run will drop down and become a much wider run. Hug the right side of the run until you see a brown sign directing you to Lot #4 via a cat track.
If you’re an advanced skier/rider and don’t mind going off-piste, you can also get back to the Silver Queen lot and Lot #4 from Superior Express #3. When you get off the Superior chair, you’ll do somewhat of a tight U-turn to follow the traverse that travels under the chair past the black “Experts Only” sign. (Though, the words on the black sign are hardly visible.)
Traverse as high and as far as you can until you see the Greenie’s Run sign. Descend there until Pioneer Lodge and the top of Morning Star Express #2 come into view. Ski to the back of the lodge and follow the Silver Queen signs as noted above.
Other winter camping near Bogus Basin
The following Boise RV parks are open year-round.
Boise Riverside RV Park – 45 minutes in Garden City – We haven’t stayed here yet.
Mountain View RV Park – 50 minutes in Boise – If you’re noise-sensitive, this won’t be the place for you. It sits next to I-84 and Boise Airport. However, this RV park has clean showers and a laundry room.
Hi Valley RV Park – 50 minutes in Eagle – We’ve stayed here a few times on our way to and from McCall. It’s a great place to stop before you head into the mountains or after you come down ID 55. The bathroom facilities are dated, but the showers are hot and clean, and you get your own private space behind a lockable door.
My Place Hotel-Boise/Meridian – 60 minutes in Meridian – This isn’t a place for overnight camping, but I think it’s worth mentioning. We rarely do hotel stays, but in July 2019, our Winnebago Revel was towed to Mercedes-Benz of Boise. After service was complete, we were too exhausted to drive back to our camp spot in McCall, so we stayed at this My Place Hotel. The nightly rate was one of the cheapest in the area, but that doesn’t mean we had to lower our expectations. It was comfortable, clean, pet-friendly, and the front desk staff was very friendly.
Ambassador RV Resort – 70 minutes in Caldwell – Ambassador is more than an hour from Bogus. However, if you happen to be traveling west of Boise, they have extremely clean, private shower rooms, each with their own toilet and sink. They even provide cotton bath mats which is rare at RV parks.
Their laundry room is also spotless. You can’t find a spec of dust in their window sills, that’s how clean it is. Cost to wash was $1.50 per load and $1.50 per load to dry in February 2023.
If you’re staying on this side of the Boise area, we highly recommend the Tacos Colima Taco Truck on Paynter Avenue in Caldwell. We struggled to find good Mexican food in Idaho until we found this place. It’s in our top 10 favorite burrito spots. Call (208) 968-8808 for more information.
Cell service at Bogus Basin
When we first visited Bogus in 2019, service was sometimes non-existent depending on where we were parked. In 2023, AT&T worked well enough in the parking lots nearest the J.R. Simplot Lodge, Lot #4, Pioneer Lodge, and the Silver Queen lot. We could stream entertainment without any issues. We did not test other locations around the mountain.
If you’re down in the Boise area, you shouldn’t have trouble with cell service.
Conveniences near Bogus Basin
Since Boise is the capital of Idaho and the most populous city in the state, you should be able to find most everything you need. I also like Eagle, just west of Boise. Here are some of our personal favorites.
Grocery shopping: Albertsons (16th & State) and Whole Foods Market in Boise and Albertsons (Eagle) in Eagle.
Pet supplies: Bark n’ Purr in Boise and Northwest Pets in Eagle.
Emergency veterinary services: WestVet in Garden City.
RV service and supplies: Camping World of Meridian in Meridian.
Mercedes Sprinter service: Mercedes-Benz of Boise. It’s the only Mercedes in Idaho. Our Winnebago Revel was towed from McCall to this Mercedes in July 2019. They got us set up in a private room for work, and our dog could rest comfortably.
Ski areas close to Bogus Basin
- Tamarack Resort (Indy Pass 2023/24) – 116 miles / 2.75 hours in Tamarack
- Little Ski Hill – 124 miles / 2.75 hours in McCall
- Brundage Mountain (Indy Pass 2023/24) – 130 miles / 3 hours in the Payette National Forest near McCall
- Soldier Mountain (Indy Pass 2023/24) – 130 miles / 2.75 hours in Fairfield
