If you were planning to camp anywhere along the South Fork of the Snake River in eastern Idaho this week, you cannot. The BLM Upper Snake Field Office closed camping on BLM-managed land from Conant Boat Access to Byington Boat Access from August 1, 2026 at 6 p.m. until August 10, 2026 at 11:59 p.m., because of the Big Rock fire near Heise. The announcement was posted July 31 and updated August 2.
Read the scope carefully, because this is the part that catches boondockers out.
The closure covers dispersed sites, not just campgrounds
The order names designated campsites along the river, Kelly Island, Wolf Flats, Warm Springs, and “all dispersed sites along River Road.” That last clause is the one that matters. A closure order does not stop at the developed sites with a fee tube at the entrance. When a field office closes a corridor, the pullouts and the informal spots go with it, and there is no sign at most of them telling you so.
Trails are closed too: Cress Creek, Stinking Springs, and all other hiking and biking trails in the Kelly Canyon and Heise areas.
The river itself is open. The BLM says boating is not closed and that boaters in the canyon will be allowed to take out at Byington. So a day float is legal and an overnight is not, which is an unusual split and worth reading twice if you had a multi-day trip booked.
Why the date may move
The BLM gives two reasons for the closure: firefighter and public safety during suppression, and “post-fire emergency stabilization and rehabilitation activities.” The second one outlives the fire. Burned ground above a river corridor sheds rock and debris, and crews need the road to work on it. An August 10 end date on a fire closure is a plan, not a promise, and it can extend after the smoke is gone.
Kelly Island is a fee campground in normal times. The field office set 2026 rates in May at $15 a night for a single site, $30 double, $60 group. None of that applies while the closure is in effect.
What to do this week
Check the BLM announcement page before you drive out, not a camping app. The page carries an update stamp, which is how you can tell whether anyone has touched it since the fire moved. Apps and crowd-sourced site listings lag closure orders by days, and they will happily show you a green pin on a spot that is currently inside a closure.
If you need a different plan for the same week, the rest of eastern Idaho’s public land is a wide net and most of it is unaffected. Our Idaho free camping page is a starting point for what agency manages what. Check that unit’s own alerts before you commit, because a district can close a corridor overnight in August.
Where a closure order and any website disagree, including this one, the order and the posted sign win.