What Is A Sheep Camp?:
Most of you reading this post will probably have seen a “sheep camp” before. Even if you did not know what they were called, you will recognize them in the pictures in this post. These are a very wonderful part of our Western Heritage that we are lucky enough to have at our farm.
If you are not familiar with how these were, and still are used, here is an explanation:
Out here in the West sheep graze over long stretches of public land during the growing season. For example, there is a sheep rancher that grazes his sheep all the way down the Boise front (the foothills on the eastern side of Boise) during the spring and early summer, and follows the sheep up into the higher elevations as the summer goes on. 
South of the Idaho border, in the mountains of Northern Nevada, there are vast swathes of prairie that are at elevations of 7,000 to 10,000 feet. Sheep ranchers follow their flock all across that terrain as well. These areas are remote, so the nearest services are 50-75 miles away by dirt road. And, the sheep need someone with them constantly. So, what does the sheep herder do for housing?
This is where the “sheep camp” comes in. Or really, the ‘mobile’ sheep camp. All a sheep camp is, is a covered wagon with amenities needed for living built inside of it. At one end there is a bed, or really a mattress set on top of a frame. There is a bench seat, a fold down table, some shelves for holding flour, coffee, etc. and a “sheepherder’s stove” for baking, cooking and heating (if necessary). The wagons were traditionally covered with canvass that needed to be waterproofed. However, today there is an improved cover that lasts much longer and does not need the waterproofing.
Autumm and I spent the first night of our marriage in one of these sheep wagons that was built by her great uncle and great aunt and then purchased by her father. We just brought it home from her father’s farm in Buhl, Idaho along with another one that he purchased from his aunt and uncle. We will be refurbishing these over the summer!
If you would like to know more about sheep camps, I suggest the website of these folks here: http://idahosheepcamp.com.
Also, the owners of this website were my guests on the D&B Supply Radio Show and Podcast and you can listen to that episode through this link.
We have never ventured into agritourism on our farm, but these sheep wagons might be the start of that. On my podcast, Off-Farm Income, I interviewed a gentleman from San Jose, California who rents out a bedroom in house through Airbnb. He advertises it as renting a bedroom on a farm because he has some chickens in his back yard in the middle of the city, and it draws people who want that experience.
If he can advertise his San Jose back yard as a farm and get people to flock to it, we certainly could do the same with the sheep camps. That is not actually our intention. These are family heirlooms, and they were being stored in a barn. However, they are falling into disrepair and we would like to return them to their prime. Plus we have an awesome spot to put them by the creek on our farm. Perhaps when they are completed and put into place by the creek I will write blog posts about our farm while sitting inside for inspiration.
These wagons link us with our Western Heritage, and they are practical as well. That is evidenced by seeing them still in use by sheep herders throughout the West. They are also wonderful reminders of why this life is so special. Being able to have the room to display a piece of history like this makes living on a farm all the more special.
We hope that you will come see these wagons one day, especially when they are complete!