Boise Day Trip: Spring Wildflower Bloom at Camas Prairie Centennial Marsh

Spring outfit with Vetta white lace blouse | Camas Prairie Centennial Marsh | Cotton Cashmere Cat Hair

If there’s one thing you need to do in southern Idaho in the springtime, it’s catch the camas lily bloom at the Camas Prairie Centennial Marsh Wildlife Management Area!

The wildflowers bloom every spring from about mid-late May to early-mid June. We tried to catch the bloom last year during the second weekend of June but missed out by a few days. It was a treat to see the lilies in bloom this year! Korri brought his drone out and got some cool aerial footage of the flowers. I’m putting together an Instagram reel, so keep your eyes peeled for that! (And Korri shared drone video of the bloom in his first ever IG reel!)

Camas Prairie Centennial Marsh

The Camas Prairie Centennial Marsh is a protected wildlife management area located a few miles south of Highway 50 and 10 miles west of Fairfield, Idaho. It’s located approximately 1.5 hours from Boise, making it an easy half day trip! We spent about an hour frolicking through the wildflowers. The Camas Prairie is a shallow wetland for the early part of the year, and many bird species call it home (or at least, a temporary home), making it a fun and popular destination to bird watch!

Don’t forget to bring bug spray, as the bugs were out in FULL force while we were there. (Look closely in the photos and you may be able to see blurry black specks, lol.) I’m honestly surprised that any of the photos turned out, I was moving around so much trying to avoid the bugs! I would also recommend shoes that can get wet/muddy, as it is a marsh and there are wet areas and areas that may look dry but are quite soft underfoot!

The Camas Prairie isn’t just beautiful to look at and enjoy—the camas root has historically been an important food source for the local tribes and still is today. The Shoshone—Bannock Tribe forages the camas root in the Camas Prairie Centennial Marsh annually. We were able to watch a forage of the root last year after the bloom hand ended, and they pulled up buckets of them! (It is not recommended to forage camas root by yourself the first time, as there is a similar-looking root that is called “death camas” that can result in, well…)

Did you know that there are two Camas Prairies in Idaho?
There is a Camas Prairie in south Idaho (discussed here) and a Camas Prairie in north Idaho near Grangeville, which where the Nez Perce Tribe forages camas root.

Other things to note: There is an outhouse available for use, but no camping is allowed. The roads into the management area are dirt and gravel but are in good condition. Fairfield is the closest town.

Idaho must-see: Spring wildflower bloom at Camas Prairie Centennial Marsh | Cotton Cashmere Cat Hair

Now that I’ve hopefully convinced you to add the Camas Prairie wildflower bloom to your Idaho bucket list, let’s chat about what I’m wearing. 😉

You know me… I love a good opportunity to dress up for my destination! As I knew we were headed to the Camas Prairie, I tried to think of my most appropriate spring outfit. I couldn’t get white out of my head and luckily it was cool enough to wear my airy white lace blouse by Vetta. I flipped the top around so the v-neck was worn in the front for the first time, and I loved the look! Unfortunately, this style is now no longer available…but I linked a really similar option below!

I kept the rest of my look super simple because I didn’t want to take away from the beautiful camas lilies! I added a basic pair of denim shorts (my fave from Madewell), a straw sun hat (it’s quite floppy but the sun protection was appreciated), and my Hunter chelsea boots, which were perfect for this outing and trudging through the soft marshland.