During 2024 we traveled throughout Utah, visiting five national parks and many more amazing sights. We did not have any Thousand Trails or other campgrounds; we only stayed on dispersed camping sites in Utah for our entire visit. Although we were truck camping, there were only a few sites we would not have felt comfortable pulling in our travel trailer. There is so much boondocking in Utah that it is very easy to find spots near the national parks and other areas. The only area we had difficulty finding a spot was near Salt Lake City. So we bypassed that area and went to the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway, where we saw lots of moose!
Gemini Bridges Road Dispersed Camping
GPS: 38.7114, -109.7271
Moab, Utah
The GPS coordinates for this dispersed camping in Campendium actually led us past the Mill Canyon Dinsoaur tracksite which has a small campground. However, there are many designated spots along this road. The pictures in Campendium look as though the travel trailers, etc. took a right to sit beside the rock. We, though, continued along the Cotter Mine Road and found an amazing spot on a really bumpy road. The Cotter Mine Road is really bumpy and we would not feel comfortable pulling our travel trailer on it. But, if you have a truck, van or car, these spots are great.
There is some UHVs that travel the road for some off-roading. They were very considerate. The designated campgrounds are not near each other, so you have some privacy and quiet. Hiking in the area is a lot of fun. You can visit the Mill Canyon Dinosaur Bone Trail and the Mill Canyon Dinosaur Track Trail. This is a great place to boondock for Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. We stayed here for almost a week.
Hole in the Rock Dispersed Camping
GPS: 37.723, -111.527
Escalante, Utah
This boondocking campground is huge! There are many designated campsites on the campground. We would be very comfortable pulling in our travel trailer and leaving it while we explored. Bigger rigs can easily fit in this campground; you just have to check out the individual sites for ruts and travel slowly on the road. This is a great spot to explore Escalante.
Our Verizon cell service was good. In fact, we really had few issues with our cell service at our boondocking spots in Utah. We stayed in this campground for several days.
Hurricane Cliffs Designated Dispersed Campsites
GPS: 37.1866, -113.2228
La Verkin, Utah (near Zion National Park)
This is BLM dispersed camping that allows a fourteen-day stay maximum. There are many campsites and roads leading into the designated campgrounds in Hurricane Cliffs. This is fifteen minutes away from Zion National Park.
We stayed here for over a week exploring Zion and taking care of some maintenance on our truck. The individual campsites 55 and 56 are very private and were our favorite. However, we also sat on one site that had a road going through it. The sign for the Hurricane Cliffs boondocking lists the sites for tents and for RVs.
You can easily pull in bigger rigs into the campground, making sure you find the bigger campsites. Most of the main roads are well maintained. We would have parked our travel trailer and felt easy about leaving her while we explored the area. There is some public and UHV noise, but it is pretty quiet and secluded. Our Verizon service was excellent here.
Tom’s Best Spring Dispersed Camping
GPS: 37.728, -112.2487
Panguitch, UT 84759, Dixie National Forest (near Bryce National Park)
This is a great spot for boondocking on BLM land. Per Campendium, the maximum stay limit is 16 days. Although we turned right on the first road that led to smaller campgrounds, there are larger rig campgrounds further down Road 117 off Highway 12. However, an A and a fifth wheel did fit into the first campground.
This is an awesome designated campsite campground. Some of the campsites are pretty close together. However, we would have no concerns about leaving our travel trailer while we explored in this area. As in most areas of Utah, our Verizon cell service was good. It is a very quiet area. We stayed here a few days.
Hancock Road Dispersed Camping instead of Hog Canyon Dispersed Camping
GPS: 37.1364, -112.5997
We looked for boondocking near Kanab, Utah after returning from the Grand Canyon North Rim. At first we tried Hog Canyon Dispersed Camping, GPS 37.0812, -112.5295. The road is rough, and although there is a large parking lot closer to the entrance of the road, it is not very private. Also, our cell service was not good in Hog Canyon. Jessica was not comfortable staying overnight and we would definitely not leave our travel trailer at this location.
However, we traveled further along highway 89 and found a Hancock designated campground on the left side on the way to Pink Sand State Park. The campsite was quiet and secluded and we stayed for several days. There was another campground right across the road and we saw vans and Class Cs check it out. But we saw no one pull in to camp. The campsites are very sandy and we might have been more concerned if we were pulling our travel trailer. Luckily, we had no rain while we were there. However, if there had been a forecast of rain, we would have left rather than chance getting stuck.
We probably would not pull our travel trailer into the Hancock boondocking simply because of the sand, although Campendium has pictures of travel trailers at a site. Our Verizon cell service was good and we stayed a few days at this boondocking site.
Freemont Road Dispersed Camping
GPS: 38.1263, -112.6224
Heading North from Kanab, Utah towards Salt Lake City, Utah, we decided to park overnight in the Freemont Road Dispersed Camping. The first area is just a large gravel parking lot. However, there are a couple of campsites further down the road. When we arrived in the early afternoon, we were the only ones there. However, we were really lucky and a Jeep SUV pulled up and asked if he could pull in. We had no idea that the person in the Jeep would be a gentleman from Switzerland traveling throughout the U.S. and that we would visit and chat the entire next day about traveling, customs, and languages. It was a chance meeting that gained us a friend and changed our view on future travels. We stayed two nights rather than our expected one-night stay so we could visit.
Larger rigs should have no issue finding enough room at this BLM land. The dirt road may be a little rough but it is not too bad if taken slowly. Cattle does roam this area and the gate may be closed. There are two more campsites further down the road. However, you cannot hear the highway much at the first parking lot. There is no shade, but our Verizon cells ervice was very good.
Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest near Salt Lake City
Our game plan was to boondock in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest and hike to Donut Falls and Lake Blanche near Salt Lake City. Using the Campendium App, Jessica thought we could find dispersed camping nearby with Forest Road 182 Dispersed Camping 40.5308, -111.5945 or Big Flat Dispersed Camping 40.56, -111.5577. However, this area is extremely tight, even for just our dually truck. It is a very busy area and trying to maneuver around all the people was difficult. We were frustrated and a little tense on the narrowness of some of the roads and the amount of traffic and people. We were grateful we had not tried this area with a travel trailer. We may have missed some boondocking opportunities in this area due to our frustration. However, we simply skipped our hikes and continued to travel north after we thankfully reached highway 15 again.
Christmas Meadows Campground
GPS: 40.825, -110.802
This area in the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest is amazing. We stayed at the Christmas Meadows Campground. However, there is a lot of boondocking in this area. It is free to stay if you are primitive camping, as we were in our truck. However, our America the Beautiful Pass would have covered the fee with our travel trailer.
Although the Verizon cellservice was not good in this area, we enjoyed our stay of several days. We saw lots of moose early in the morning and late in the afternoon. Christmas Meadows is a long gravel road that also has permanent summer homes on it. The road traffic can be a little much sometimes. However, there is a lot of other boondocking sites besides the Christmas Meadows area. Some boondocking sites are nearer the wetter areas where we saw moose.
This is a beautiful area with plenty of campsites for larger rigs. Just make sure and check out the fees for staying here and check in with the office. We stopped and chatted with the Ranger who told us about the camping regulations and fees and when and where to see moose.