A gray 4x4 Sprinter with a roof rack on a two-track through a wildflower meadow, cloud sitting on the mountains behind.

Forest Service campground

Line Creek Stock Campground

Forest Service campground in Idaho Panhandle National Forests, Shoshone County, Idaho. About 3,800 feet.

Managed by
Forest Service Idaho Panhandle National Forests
Elevation
About 3,800 ft As the Forest Service states
Sites
7 7 standard non-electric
Hookups
None listed
Reservations
Recreation.gov

Overview

The Line Creek Stock Camp is located 87 miles from St. Maries Idaho up the St. Joe River on Forest Highway 50. It is at 3800 feet elevation and on the designated Wild and Scenic St. Joe River. The campground includes 7 pull-through camping units (5 available for stock reservations), facilities for stock animals, firepits and vault toilets.

Recreation

Catch and release fishing is a primary activity in the upper St. Joe River. The campground is ideally situated for stock riding. The terrain is steep with over 100 miles of non-motorized and 60 miles of multiple use trail. These can be traveled for day rides and/ or packins. Day hikes and backpacking opportunities are also enjoyed. Many of the trails are accessed directly out of the campground. The St. Joe River Trail 48 winds along beside the St. Joe River for 18 miles to its endpoint at Heller Campground. The Line Creek Stock Camp is also ideally situated for driving for pleasure with primitive roads to travel: to Heller Campground and Montana, to the Surveyors Lookout and other sites along Forest Road 201, to the Snow Peak trailhead and up into Gold Creek and over Gold Pass towards St. Regis Montana. There are three rental opportunities in the area: Red Ives Ranger cabin, Beaver Creek A-frame and Surveyors Lookout. There are four other campgrounds in the close vicinity.

Facilities

There is day and overnight use with vault toilets. There are 7 campsites with fire rings. Six sites have feed bunks and two sites have highline poles. One site has a corral. More corrals and picnic tables are planned in the next two seasons (2024 and 2025). Stock water is available at the river.

Natural Features

The Line Creek Stock Camp sits alongside the St. Joe Wild and Scenic River with convenient access to river. There is a day use area with a pool deep enough for swimming and fishing with a small beach. It is within steep forested terrain with a large open area just downstream. The upper St. Joe is a recommended wilderness area with trail access.

Nearby Attractions

The historic Red Ives Ranger Station and museum is one mile downsteam of the campground. Several trailheads take off directly from the campground but there are many others accessing other areas that are within a short drive. Forest Highway 50 and Forest Road 218 follow along the St. Joe River, providing excellent access for rafting in the spring, floating later in the summer and fishing. There is an outfitter that provides whitewater raft trips in the spring and early summer. There is also a fishing outfitter 5 miles up the St. Joe River trail as well as hunting outfitters in the area. St. Regis Montana is 41 miles away on a combination of paved and well graded gravel roads. (summer 2024 this route will be closed with other access being more primitive). The gateway town of Avery Idaho is about 40 miles downstream and has a small store with gas and fast food, a restaurant with pizza, chicken and beer, a fly fisherman shop with fishing supplies, souvenirs, deli sandwiches and ice cream.

The description, directions and fees are the Forest Service’s own words, from its record on Recreation.gov.

The land around Line Creek Stock Campground

The ringed pin is this campground; the others are its nearest neighbours. Switch on forest roads or BLM routes to see the way in.

Interactive map. Drag to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom, and select any point to see which agency manages the land. Arrow keys pan and the plus and minus keys zoom when the map has focus. A list of every state with its share of federal land is on the Explore page.

Map layers

Layers
Base map
Legend

Federal land, by managing agency

  • Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
  • US Forest Service (USFS)
  • National Park Service (NPS)
  • US Fish and Wildlife (USFW)
  • Bureau of Reclamation (USBR)
  • Department Of Defense (DOD)
  • Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
  • Other Federal
  • State
  • Local
  • Alaska Native Lands (Patented or Interim Conveyed)
  • Alaska Native Allotment

Federal campgrounds, by agency

  • Forest Service
  • Bureau of Land Management
  • National Park Service
  • Army Corps of Engineers
  • Reclamation, Fish and Wildlife and others

State and local land (USGS PAD-US)

  • State land
  • County and city land
  • Regional agency or district
  • Land trust or conservancy

Gaps with no tint inside public land are private parcels, often old mining claims and homesteads. They are not open to the public.

Dashed clay lines on the base map are unpaved tracks from OpenStreetMap. They show what exists on the ground, not what is legal to drive.

Select any point to see who manages the land.

Boundaries are approximate and land status changes. This map is a planning aid, not a survey or a statement of access. Confirm routes, closures and camping rules with the managing office.

Source: Recreation Information Database (Recreation.gov), record updated February 25, 2026. Elevation from the USGS 3D Elevation Program. Seasons, fees, water and fire rules change; the managing office has the final word.