Smith's Trout Haven

Ellie Morgan

2024-04

We used to come here for Years! We came last year and absolutely loved it! This year they are changing to a no pet policy and honestly is a bummer as well enjoyed camping here ...guess we won't be back

Nichol Smith

2023-09

We just got back home from our stay here. We were the only ones there during the week. We have been going here for years. We used to absolutely love it. This was probably the last time we will stay here. They are starting to nickel and dime everyone. The only thing we noticed on the website was now charging $10 a night for extra cars. We get up there the owner makes a point to come tell us they are now charging $5 a night for each dog and $10 a night for tents. He was counting the tables to make sure they had not been moved. They were the only campground up there that was not full of people. It’s obvious why now. They don’t tell you all the extras they are charging for until you get there. I get raising the rates but it should all be advertised on the website of all the extra charges, so you are prepared instead of getting up there and having to pay more than expected. There are no trees for shade you don’t get water only electrical. I think they should have water and trees if going to charge extra for everything. Maybe be grateful for the ones staying there still. They have lost us we will be staying elsewhere next time.There are other campgrounds that don’t charge for extra cars and dogs. Better playground for little ones and shaded or at least planted trees so there will be shade. Bottom line nickel and dime everyone maybe plant some trees and add water and just raise the rates.

Anh-Minh Pham

2023-05

We had tons of fun here! It might have been the time of year, but we had a lot of space for my family to spread out and feel secluded. We saw a few deer on the way in and the next morning. We also caught 4x trout in their stocked pond! The owners were really nice and accommodating as well. Definitely recommend if you want to get away from it all. It was a very relaxing experience.

Parker Powers

2023-05

This place was not great. There are no public restrooms (unless you count porta-potties…) and only one small water fill station near the entrance. There is absolutely no shade, you are just camping in a grass field. The spot that we stayed at (spot 16) was on a pretty good incline. It is $10 for every extra car, only one is free. The spots are poorly marked. The roads are just dirt and got very, very dusty when people were driving by. There is definitely nicer places to stay in Lava that are the same price. We won’t be coming back.

Caryn Allen

2021-05

This is a great campground! It's basically the backyard of Walter and Karen's home, but it's huge and fits a lot of campers and RV's. We stayed 5 days/4 nights over Labor Day weekend and while it was busy, it never felt crowded. They had swings and see saws set up throughout the campground for the kids to enjoy (which they did!) and porta potties stationed throughout. I do wish the porta potties were serviced once during our stay because they filled up pretty quickly and were less than savory. There was potable water available and pavilions (with a power outlet) for the bigger group sites.The campground is only a mile away from the city of Lava Hot Springs, including all the recreational stuff, grocery store, and dining options, which made it really convenient when we wanted to go swimming, tube the river, or forgot/ran out of something for a meal. Do be aware that the campground is situated right next to a field with cattle, and not far from train tracks, and they are not exactly quiet. The trains ran and blew their horns pretty much all night long. The kids played hard and slept right through it, but the combination of the cows and the trains made it harder for us to rest sometimes.If we ever decide to vacation this area again, we would definitely stay here again. It really is a beautiful place, and Walter and Karen are super nice.

Stephanie Harris

2023-05

What a nice place to stay. The whole place is grass, so you don't have to deal with the mud, which was nice, because it did rain a lot while we were there. We still had a wonderful time. My grandkids loved the seesaws. And the view is breathtaking. There's potable water at the front and electricity at the campsites.

Thomas Clemins

2023-06

We made a reservation here and when we arrived, we were bottoming out in both campsites that they gave us. We politely told them that their campground wouldn’t work for us as we didn’t want to damage our rv.So, they now want to charge us a cancellation fee ! FYI !

Michelle Martinez-Brown

2023-07

This place is fantastic! It's well kept, the owners are really nice, and it's great for kids. The only downfall is the weeds that poke you. They are like cactus weeds. Past that I highly recommend.Nearby activities: There is a playground, basketball hoop and fishing.

Octavio Jr Castillo

2023-05

This place is awesome! We go to lave often and this is the only place we stay. There is lots of space, grass everywhere and really well maintained. The owners are there and willing to help with anything. The fishing is fun and of course lava is an amazing town to get away from the normal routine of life and relax.

Meg B

2023-05

We stayed here a couple of nights with family, all in tents (not RVs like most campers here).Pros:-super close to Lava Hot Springs. Like 5 minute drive.-lots of space for big groups-swings and teeter totters for kids. Nothing fancy. Imagine the swing set that's been sitting in your grandma's backyard for the past thirty years and you've got the idea. But the kids had a blast!-big areas for playing things like soccer or football-fire ring with grill and picnic table at all (most?) sites.-porta potties were quite clean and well maintained. And plentiful! Our tent site had four in close walking distance.-we didn't even go over by the pond, but if you're into fishing it could be fun.-the store sells ice for $2 and wood for $6.Cons:-no bathrooms. Just the porta potties.-no sinks-only potable water comes from two spigots near entrance. Bring a bucket or something to carry water for washing/teeth brushing. And it is cold. Good for drinking, not so fun for face washing. But no weird taste!-you are literally camping in a field with hundreds of other people in tents and RVs. There are less than ten decent shade trees so don't count on shade.-no privacy. Nothing to block light/noise from neighbors. No firm boundaries between where one site ends and another begins.-we stayed over a weekend, end of June. It was packed. And loud. Our next site neighbor blasted their music literally all day for two days. Quiet hours allegedly start at 10, but you can still hear people for another hour or so. Someone did come by and ask kids to be quiet and RVs to turn off generators, which we appreciated. But if you are hoping for a quiet experience in nature, look elsewhere. This felt more like an all day tailgate party.-you pay per car. One (but only one) is free. Any others are $10 per night. We thought since we paid for two tents (12 people) that we would get two cars in free. Nope. Seems like it would be a good idea to make one car free per tent since you have to pay per tent already.Overall, seems like a great place for RV camping. Not quite as awesome if you're in a tent.

Rosco P Coltrane

2020-05

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Nicole Burton

2023-05

We enjoyed our stay here. We stayed in a tent site that had shade trees and was close to the little pond. Our 2nd night saw a rainstorm that never let up until morning. We stayed warm and dry, but the owner came down to check on us first thing in the morning to make sure we were all good. We will most likely return on our next visit to Lava Hot Springs.

Holly Elwood

2019-05

While the couple that owns the place were very nice, I can't recommend staying here. We were planning on staying for 2 nights, but changed our minds after the first. Part of the reason we picked this campground was because the website says it's a quiet place, but that is not the case at all. It is away from noisy traffic, which is nice, but it is all too close to the train tracks. We heard a train right after we arrived, but just crossed our fingers that they wouldn't be coming by at night. They definitely did come by at night. Every 30 minutes or so all night long. They were loud enough to wake my children, and keep us up most of the night. You can see the trains from the campground. They are by no means quiet. I did enjoy the playground for my kids, but it was old and run down. The outhouses were disgusting. It's not like I expected it to be clean and pleasant smelling, because it is an outhouse, but they were all so very full. They were in desperate need of being emptied. Because of being so full the smell was unbearable. They also had no toilet paper, not that they are required to provide that, but I wasn't prepared to need my own. The fish pond was unusable as they did not keep the weeds at bay. We could bare even see it. They did provide lots of picnic tables and fire pits, which was nice. Even though I don't know that there is a campground in Lava that isn't too close to the tracks, because it goes right through the town, I won't be returning to this one.

Annie P

2020-05

Stayed 2 nights here and thought it was very nice. The scenery was gorgeous, playground equipment for kids to play on, outhouses with toilet paper, nice green grass and picnic benches. You can hear plenty of birds and cows. Oh and if course you can hear the train. The tracks go right through downtown lava hot springs. No matter where you stay in Lava you are going to hear that train multiple times a day. I would recommend and I would stay here again!

Bailey Southern

2019-05

This campground is the best one by far. Super reasonable prices and the host is very nice and sweet. He greeted us by name every day and always checked on us at night to make sure we had everything we needed and that we were still doing ok. There is 2 small fishing ponds you can fish from and a cute trail that overlooks the whole camp. The campground has electric and places to get water. Portable toilets are available and are cleaned weekly. We ended up staying here for a family reunion and had plenty of space to spread out. It is grass on all sites and is kid friendly with a few playground equipment toys. The host also has firewood and ice for purchase and this campground is about mile from downtown Lava Hot Springs. Well worth it for sure!

Paula Valenzuela

2020-05

One of my favorite camping grounds! The view is spectacular. It's a short drive to main street but far enough that the train doesn't bother you when it passes by (passes by often). Price is reasonable. People were friendly. The only thing I can't comment on is the bathrooms since we had an RV.

Jennifer Gardner

2019-05

We had such a great time camping here! The lawn is beautiful, they have porta potties, and it is so close to the water park. The only reason I gave it 4 stars is because lights are supposed to be out at 11 p.m. When we are camping we like to stay up late and hang out with friends. We stayed up late anyway but we were really careful about being quiet.

Natalie Malan

2021-05

Stayed here over Labor Day weekend to go to the hot springs. Campsite was greener than I imagined. Porta potties for a bathroom and a hose at one end of the campsite to fill drinking water. Campfire pits had a cooking grate on top. No showers or running water other than the one potable water hose. Cute hiking path up a hill with a gorgeous view over in a hidden meadow beside by the pond. Nobody we saw caught any fish. Ice available at the office. Campsite was loud and trains go by and honk multiple times (3-4x) every night so it was very hard to sleep. People didn’t keep their dogs on leashes very well so don’t go if your kids are afraid of dogs roaming. Nice playgrounds for kids in the campsites too. Bring a hammock if you get a site with a tree.

Kiyla Hulet

2022-05

We had the best experience here at Smiths Trout Haven. The owner/staff was amazing to work with, and services were great! We loved that there was enough space for us and our family to have fun. Small entertainment for kids like a swing set and teter totters let the kids have more fun as well.Very clean and well kept. Very quiet at night and pleasant to be there.

Lars Barlow

2018-05

We were all very happy with this campground. We had a few minor things we would have liked improved.Let's start with the criticisms. Water is the number one thing we would have liked to see more of. The water is a bit far away. Basically none of the sites have access to water directly. We managed pretty well with a few trips to the water. My mistake was not bringing something large to carry it in so we had to make more trips than we would have wanted.I think it could use a few more shade trees.That's all I can think of. On to good stuff...We had pavilion 7 during weekdays. That left us with pretty close to half of the entire campsite all to ourselves. The kids in our group had a lot of room to run around. They brought us a teeter totter. We had a swing set nearby.We basically had a lot of room. We had room for our tents and RV, room for a lot more than we had. We setup some lawn games. It was great.We also really liked the lawn. It meant a lot less dust and mess to deal with. Especially with kids.Location is just about perfect. The campground sits just about 1 mile from the middle of Lava Hot Springs. It means you can be away from the busy area but close enough, really, to walk there if you wanted. Because we were mid-week we didn't bother as parking was available.The owners are very friendly. They stopped me one day on our way back from town just to see if I liked the spot they gave us and to see if we needed anything.They also run a small store. They sell ice for a very reasonable $2 a bag. Ice cream novelties for $1 each. So, basically, in a town where things might be price hiked they are just being reasonable.We did a little fishing. It costs you by the inch. But, they put larger size fish in the pond. We caught a few 10 inch fish. But we saw some that were easily 16-18 inches. It was very exciting.Finally, the price. We rented a pavilion, paid for 2 family sized tents and had 1 RV with power. We ended up paying about half of what any of the places closer to town would have cost us.I fully recommend Smith's Trout Haven. I will be staying there again.

Cynthia Gutierrez

2021-05

This campground was nice and i know that i would have enjoyed staying there, if it were not for the hosts. We were constantly treated like children given strikes for being too loud despite two other camp spots throwing actual parties that were actually loud. The two hosts constantly harassed us for anything that they could while leaving all other campers alone to be loud and to participate in all the activities that give us the reason to go camping. We were in a very large group of almost 50 people including children and even at a whisper we were too loud. The hosts also tried to cause conflict between our camping group and others. They continued to try and place blame for calling our campsite loud on other campers even after we spoke to those at surrounding campsites. I would recommend the place but not if it is still managed by the same people. They ruined the whole experience for us and we wouldn't want them to ruin someone else's camping trip.

Adrienne Kennett

2018-05

Lovely little campground! The owner is very kind and attentive! I felt very relaxed and safe! Grassy places for tents with a couple great trees, playgrounds, and plenty of fire pits, picnic tables, and pavilions. Best of all it is priced well below the other places in town.

Michelle Je (The Crocheting Dog Mom)

2021-05

I love this place. Spend time here every summer. Great place if you need electric hookup and somewhere close to town. The only downfall is other campers that don't use common courtesy with both noise and just walking right through your camp (has nothing to do with the place obviously just people).

Whitney Johnson

2022-05

Absolutely love the tent camping area with the creek, trees and picnic tables. Plus a giant field! Prices are great and it’s an all around good time. May is best time to go, creek is full of water and the plants are in bloom.

Mary Ann Gubler

2021-05

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Robert Kelley

2023-05

Went for a family reunion and despite certain parts being reserved for it no-one at the office could tell us where those spots were so we ended up scattered all over, almost no shade at all if you lucked out and found some it didn't last for more then maybe an hour. Fishing was pointless me along with several other people spent hours at the pond and couldn't even get a nibble, for being a trout farm it was as if there was NO fish in the pond at all. Had some very loud and rowdy neighbors that were playing loud music well past quiet time with no after-hours contact for the office, couldn't even talk to anyone in the office the next day as the office was closed. No access to any fresh water only water available was irrigation water that was brownRestrooms: Had no restrooms just honey bucket (porta potties) that weren't very clean and no option for hand washing unless you brought you're own water.

Miranda Hoppock

2021-05

Huge camping spots!! Short walk or buggy ride to town, nice pond to fish from, well maintained grounds, extremely accommodating camp hosts. Only reason I dont give them a higher rating is because they don't have water/sewer hookups at sites or have a dump station nearby. We will absolutely return though!!

Shelly Radvin

2023-05

Love it here and enjoy coming once or twice a year! They just added a bridge to the fishing ponds! Beautiful views and fun to watch the wildlife! Eagles, deer, fish, etc..

Tera Vineyard

2020-05

This is for Earl. We have been coming to Smiths Trout Farm for over 10 years. And Earl always was so helpful. And in all those years we never had any complaints against us and Earl always said we were great guests. But under this new management we were accused of dropping F bombs and it wasn't us , it was a camp behind us that was having a fight. On Saturday night we were told we were being to loud even though we were only playing two guitars and singing. We were told to shut it down and go to bed or the police would be called. After we shut it down two other camps were up till one in the morning playing music but nothing was said to them. I felt we were singled out and that has never happened in all our years staying there. We were a larger group this years but that just shows that we tell people that this is a fun place. Needless that will not be the case with this new management. Don't know it it's a problem now that we drink and are not LDS but can say that we did nothing different then we have done other times but we were not treated the same. But they say change can be good and I guess we will will find out we have checked in a few new places. But would like to thank Earl for past years.

Liz Magnusson

2023-08

It is close to Lava Hot Springs. The porta potties were kept clean. There isn't any trees.