Free Camp Guide
Aerial view of Gooding City of Rocks East Wilderness Study Area

Idaho Bureau of Land Management

Gooding City of Rocks East Wilderness Study Area

Camping fee unknownCamp anywhere in it
Camping fee not confirmed Nobody has written down what it costs to camp here, so we can’t tell you. It might be free. It might not. We read through the Bureau of Land Management’s records in August 2026 and found nothing either way. Watch for a sign when you pull in, or ask them before you set off.

About this place

This is nearly 15,000 acres of public land in the Mount Bennett Hills.

Those hills roll between the Sawtooth Mountains to the north and the Snake River Plain to the south.

The southeastern part is a set of deep canyons cut into rhyolite. Rhyolite columns rise more than 100 feet out of them.

There are hoodoos here. A hoodoo is a thin spire of rock left standing when the softer rock around it wears away.

Where the canyons are shaded, willows, aspen, cottonwood, serviceberry and chokecherry grow in pockets.

Elk, deer, coyotes and bears all live here, along with birds of prey and upland game birds. There are cutthroat trout in the water.

The facts

Cost
Camping fee not confirmed
Type
Open area. Camp anywhere within it
Managed by
Bureau of Land Management

Getting there

14 miles northwest of Gooding, in Gooding County, up in the Mount Bennett Hills.

Coordinates 43.13805556, -114.8091667

Open in Google Maps Agency page

What is near here

A few more of our own spots are within reach of this one, along with some better-known places.

Every distance on this page is the driving distance. A short distance can still take a long time. The road may be closed for the season, covered in snow, or washed out. Many of these roads are dirt. Plan your route before you leave home. Out here there is often no phone signal to look it up on the way.

Nearest town and supplies

Gooding is big enough that you’d normally expect fuel and somewhere to buy food. Nobody from here has been to check, so don’t count on it if you’re running low.

Have you been here?

Fees and access change, and the records do not always keep up. If you have been, tell us what you found.

Add road notes for this site

The thing we cannot get from any government record is what the drive in is actually like. If you have done it, this is the most useful thing you can leave behind. We read everything before it appears, and we print a first name with it if you give one.

Where this information comes from

The description on this page is ours. The facts in it, and the fee and facility details below it, come from the Bureau of Land Management’s own records, read in August 2026.