I say Caribou NF because there's another Big Springs Campground just west of Yellowstone, though I since discovered they don't allow horses there, though there are pullouts along some roads that are open to horses, and that have creeks apparently. No, this Big Spring is just north of Hot Lava Springs, just SE of Pocatello. On the way, we stopped at Flying J to dump, get gas, (though Hubby forgot to fill up the generator tanks, a habit we just haven't gotten into yet) and have breakfast. Then we stopped at a little supermarket in Hot Lava Springs for groceries (which, when you enter this quaint little town, has a huge waterpark next to the entrance, and it was packed!), then proceeded to the horse camp. The last 7 miles was gravel road, mostly narrow with just a few passing areas, and with quite a few nice turnouts along the way, with a creek along most of them, providing us with an option if the horse camp doesn't work out. We arrived, Hubby went up to check it out (only two horse sites!), while I went down to the regular campground to look for a trail map and get water in the holding tank. While I was filling the tank, the Camp host came by in his ATV, and I asked him about trail maps, and he said he had one that I could look at but none to give away (but if I wanted one I could go by the park ranger's office in Pocatello!) Rather disappointing, but I had downloaded one, not a very good one, but it was better than nothing. Meanwhile, Hubby radioed that one space was open, and it looked like a nice spot, and besides, it was cooler up here that further down the road where we had come, so I drove up and we set up camp in no time, all done before 3:00, including satellite dish. I lost my cell phone signal miles down the road, so it doesn't look like I'll be checking any email while we're here! Had a relaxing afternoon and evening, something that will be in short supply between now and our trip to DC, so we took full advantage of it! We did have a visit from a flock of sheep that strolled through the campsite during the afternoon, but the horses didn't seem to mind them much, thank goodness.
