Brundage Overnight Camping + Other Tips for Your Ski Trip
Are you planning a ski trip to Brundage? Here’s everything we’ve learned over the years, including Brundage overnight RV camping info.
After we bought Brundage season passes for the 2018/19 season and spent over two months in McCall, Idaho, Brundage became one of my favorite ski resorts in the west. We returned for a week during the 2019/20 season using our Loveland season passes. And when ski resorts started announcing reservation requirements for the 2020/21 season, we decided to keep things simple. We parked it in McCall for the winter and purchased Brundage season passes again. We will keep going back!
What I love about Brundage Mountain
After a storm, we can find powder stashes in the trees all day and sometimes for days afterward. We spend most of our time on the Centennial chair, and we love Meadow Bowl. They don’t groom a lot of trails after larger dumps, so there is more powder to enjoy.
Powder Previews. When there isn’t enough snow in the earliest parts of the season to groom runs, Brundage opens trails for “Powder Previews“. Great for people that enjoy powder and an off-piste experience.
One inch powder days. Living in Tahoe for many years, an angry inch of snow was nothing to get excited about. The inch likely blew away or just meant dust on crust. At Brundage, they measure snowfall from their base, so that one inch could really mean there’s more the higher up you go. Plus, we find that Brundage gets consistent snowfall and those baby storms add up. With limited sunshine and perfectly cold temperatures, conditions stay amazing on and off-piste and powder is deeper than you might expect.
Tree skiing. Christmas Tree Valley and Johnny’s Glade might be the only trails on the map that mention anything about trees, but you can find perfectly spaced trees all over the mountain.
We think Idahoans are some of the friendliest people in the United States. The kindness we experience any time we are in McCall is quite overwhelming. The local Boiseans you meet on the chairlift show a genuine interest in getting to know you.
Website, address, contact info, and hours
brundage.com
3890 Goose Lake Road, McCall, ID 83638
(208) 634-4151
Send a message
Hours of operation – Open 7 days a week.
Pass affiliations
Indy Pass 2023/24 – Get two free days at Brundage using an Indy Pass, and a third day for 25% off.
Brundage’s mountain stats
- Natural snowfall (base area average): 320 inches
- Skiable terrain: 1,920 acres, plus 420 acres lift-accessed backcountry
- Vertical drop: 1,921 feet
- Guided snowcat skiable terrain: 18,000 acres
- More stats
Driving to Brundage
Brundage is located off ID 55 up Brundage Mountain Road about 4 miles. It’s an easy 15-minute drive from the town of McCall.
The nice thing about going to Brundage is that you’ll never sit in traffic. Just watch out for vehicles towing snowmobile trailers turning onto the road, and deer!
If you’re coming from the Boise area, there are two highway choices depending if you’re closer to Caldwell or closer to Eagle and downtown Boise – US 95 and ID 55. I think ID 55 is more scenic, but US 95 feels safer to me (less vehicles) and less curvy. Both highways can close due to landslides. For road conditions, check the Idaho Transportation Department site. See ID 55 (SH-55) here, and US 95 here.
We also like US 95 for cheaper fuel. We seem to always find the cheapest diesel at Maverik stations in Caldwell, Payette, and Weiser.
If you’re coming from Oregon, you might find cheaper fuel if you wait until you cross the border into Idaho. We use GasBuddy to check fuel prices.
Parking at Brundage
Brundage is actively improving the mountain, which includes building a new base lodge that’s scheduled for completion by the 2024/25 season. Roads, traffic flow, and parking were also reconfigured and improved in time for the 2023/24 season.
There are four parking lots at Brundage – Main Lot, Easy Street Lot, Centennial Lot, and West Lot. View the layout on Brundage’s site.
Main Lot
Park here for easy access to services at Main Lodge, including Guest Services, ticket windows, food and beverage, retail, and rentals. Main Lot is also the best place to park for access to Bluebird Express, the Mountain Sports School, and uphill access.
Easy Street Lot
Park here if you are a beginner and already have a loaded RFID card. From here, you’ll have easy access to Easy Rider and Easy Street.
Centennial Lot
Park here if you already have a loaded RFID card and for easy access to Easy Rider, Easy Street, Bear Chair, and Centennial Express.
When you enter the parking lot, stay left to be close to Easy Rider and Easy Street. Go to the far right to be in close proximity to Bear Chair and Centennial Express.
On the slope side of the parking lot, there is a cat track where most people set up for tailgating and the easiest ski in and ski out access.
RV camping and day parking is on the opposite side of Centennial Lot across from the slopes. There used to be two yellow signs to indicate where RVers should park. However, I noticed in March 2024, they were no longer there.
All RVs and trailers must park in Centennial Lot, even if you’re not camping.
I personally prefer to park in Centennial Lot because it’s relatively flat. The Main Lot is sloping which is less comfortable for working in the van, cooking food, or getting water to go down the drain. I also like Brundage’s terrain around Centennial Express most. If you have a dog, there are typically a lot of dogs running around in Centennial Lot.
Note: The ticket booth in Centennial Lot will likely only be open on Saturdays. Hours are unreliable and I’ve received inaccurate information from employees.
West Lot
This is an overflow lot and does not offer easy access to the slopes. I’ve never seen this lot used, but I imagine it gets put to use during peak periods.
How to use your 2023/24 Indy Pass at Brundage
If you do not have a Brundage RFID card
Bring your Indy Pass to any ticket window. Since Brundage now uses RFID cards, you will need to purchase one for $5 (plus any taxes). Your RFID card will be loaded with your first day. You must refill your RFID card each day you intend to ski/ride with your Indy Pass. You can go back to the ticket window or refill it online.
If you already have a Brundage RFID card
You can either go to a ticket window or refill it online.
If you choose to refill it online, please note, it took some digging for us to find the Indy Pass redemption option on Brundage’s website. Here’s a direct link to the Indy Pass Reservation option in their eStore.
The page says Indy Pass Reservation. However, reservations aren’t required, so I’m not sure why it’s labeled that way. You’re just redeeming your Indy benefits and loading them on to your existing Brundage RFID card.
The online process will prompt you for your Brundage RFID card number that is printed on your RFID card.
If you’re redeeming Indy Pass benefits for more than one person, the process will be a little more involved.
For each additional person, the system will trigger an email from Indy Pass to the personal email address of the Indy pass holder. The email will include an account verification code. That code is needed to complete the Indy Pass redemption process on Brundage’s site.
The process might take several minutes to complete.
A note about ticket windows
The ticket windows at the Main Lodge in the Main Lot are open all days of the week.
The ticket booth in the Centennial Lot seems to have unreliable hours, and I’ve received conflicting information from employees about when that booth is open.
The walk to the Main Lodge from the Centennial Lot is not recommended if you happen to be parked or camped at Centennial.
However, if you’re in the Centennial Lot, talk to a lift attendant at the Easy Street chair. A few times, they’ve given us a temporary lift ticket that you hand to the lift attendant at the top (one-time only and you must be on your skis or snowboard). From there, you can skate or walk over to the Main Lodge.
Lift & trail navigation tips
For the best views
Go to the top of Bluebird Express and exit straight. Walk or skate to the edge for views of Payette National Forest.
Or, head to the Lakeview lift for views of Payette Lake and Long Valley.
What to do if Centennial Express isn’t spinning
The terrain closest to Centennial is generally still open when the chair is closed. To get there, take Bluebird Express and exit skier’s right. Follow the cat track until you see the top of Centennial Express. (The cat track is not shown on the trail map.) Unless otherwise marked, you should be able to ski past the Centennial chair to access terrain on the far side of the ski area. (Lakeview Bowl will likely be the exception.)
Snowboarders, you will probably need to unstrap depending on how far you want to go. On a powder day, this can be a good thing because there won’t be as many people hassling with the trek.
To return to Bluebird Express, take the Bear Chair next to Centennial Express. Bear Chair is typically spinning all days of the week for beginner skiers and riders.
Centennial Lane from Easy Street flattens out before reaching Bear Chair and Centennial. Almost everyone has to skate.
How to get to Hidden Valley
Take Bluebird Express and exit skier’s left. Traverse across the top of the mountain past the tops of Main Street and North until you run into the signed gate.
A fun note about Centennial
We took our last ride up the Centennial Triple on closing day, April 2023. It was dismantled and replaced with a new high speed quad – Centennial Express. The triple chair was a great place to rest my legs, but also where my body would almost always start to freeze. The replacement quad reduces ride time from sixteen minutes to six, and I was excited to use it for fast powder day laps in March 2024.
Overnight camping at Brundage
Brundage allows overnight RV camping at no cost.
Visit Brundage’s RV Winter Camping page for more information.
While camping is free, you must check in at Guest Services in the Main Lodge (Main Lot) for a parking permit first. You can then park in the Centennial Lot along the snow berm opposite the slopes. There should be room for at least a couple of dozen rigs.
Yellow signs used to mark where to park, but they were no longer there in March 2024.
There are no amenities offered aside from restrooms at Main Lodge during regular business hours, which is not within a friendly walking distance.
However, Centennial Lot has two vault toilets and a few portables that always seem to be unlocked. They’re not my favorite, though, as they’re often very smelly, unclean, and out of hand sanitizer.
Other winter camping near Brundage
McCall RV Resort – 20 minutes in McCall – If you’ve been camping at the local ski areas, this is a great place to top of your batteries, dump, fill up on propane and water, take a shower, and catch up on laundry. I love their private bathrooms each with their own shower, toilet, and sink. It’s one of the only places that I’ll go without shower flops.
McCall RV Resort also has an indoor heated pool, indoor hot tub, and steam room if you need some muscle therapy after skiing.
If you don’t want to stay at McCall RV Resort but need to fill up on potable water or propane or take a shower, call them at (208) 634-5646 for more information.
Creekside RV Park & Campground – 20 minutes in New Meadows – This place is owned by Brundage, but we’ve never been there.
Cell service at Brundage
Cell service at Brundage is unreliable. While I can get a signal with both AT&T and Verizon , the strength and usability varies depending on the parking lot and my exact location in the parking lot. Service also fluctuates all throughout the day. Cell signal strength seems to depend on how many people are at the ski resort. For work purposes, I need to use a booster.
Verizon has dropped on me a few times while on a Zoom call on a weekday with few people at the resort. My connection using my AT&T hotspot is sometimes unstable during a Zoom call, but it survives. If you have an important video conference call, I wouldn’t recommend doing it at the ski resort.
On my cell phone using AT&T, browsing the internet sometimes works great on LTE. Sometimes pages won’t load even on a booster. Switching to 4G sometimes solves this problem.
If you have Starlink, I’d recommend using it.
Where to eat and drink at Brundage
If you’re going to eat at Brundage, I like Smoky’s Porky Pig Mac & Cheese at Smoky’s Bar & Grill.
Closest ski resorts to Brundage
- Little Ski Hill – 15 minutes in McCall
- Tamarack Resort (Indy Pass 2023/24) – 50 minutes in Tamarack
- Bogus Basin (Powder Alliance 2023/24, Freedom Pass 2023/24) – 3 hours in Boise
Annual events at Brundage
Brundage’s Light Up the Night: New Year’s Eve Celebration – This is one of my favorite fireworks shows. Everyone lines up along the snow in front of the main lodge and fireworks are launched a few hundred yards away. You can really feel and hear every explosion, and it was a surprisingly lengthy display. Idaho knows how to do fireworks!
Brundage Cardboard Classic – This was a super fun way to end the 2022/23 season at Brundage. Contestants build a cardboard vessel and ride it down Easy Street. Whoever gets the farthest without crashing is the big winner.
All about the local town of McCall, Idaho
The town of McCall is my favorite mountain town. Even though it’s small, it has a lot to offer within 15 to 20 minutes of Brundage.
