West Cheap or Free in Utah

[Bob Thompson]

Here's my current list for Utah. Utah is a wonderful and scenic place to visit so there should be a lot more places to Boondock than what is shown here. I've also included a list of free or cheap dump stations. Enjoy!
Utah:

Utah Dump Stations:
Green River Gas-N-Go I-70, Exit 158
Green River West Winds Truck Stop I-70, Exit 162
Nephi Circle C Truckstop I-15, Exit 222 South of Provo
Also, there is a new Flying J on the south end of Nephi, it also has a dump
Ogden Flying J TravelPlaza I-15, Exit 346
Payson Fuel America Express I-15, Exit 254
Richfield Flying J TravelPlaza I-70, Exit 40
Snowville Flying J TravelPlaza Hwy 84
Vernal Naples Truck Stop Hwy 40
Wendover Phillips Bonneville Truckstop I-80, Exit 4

Utah Camping:
BryceCanyon Area: At junction of Hwy 12 and 63 to BryceCanyonPark go North on un numbered road toward Antimony 4.3 miles immediately past 3rd cattle guard, left. Good solar, several sites for as many as 5 large rigs. N 37 43.907 W 112 05.679

Between Bryce & RedCanyon-from jct. of SR89 & SR 12 go E 7.5mi look for Rd #117 & sign to Tom Best Spring. Coming from West 4.3 mi E of RedCanyonVisitorCenter. R both the 2nd & 3rd 2-dirt roads on Right. access nice camping areas very open areas, good hiking & biking. Do not attempt when wet as road is very slippery.

MOAB:
Willow Springs Road North of Moab, with several nice to very nice primitive sites. To get to Willow Springs Road, go north from Moab past the entry to Arches NP. After a mile look for the small green sign on right: "Willow Springs Road" (slow down it comes up quickly). Turn right, go from 1/2 to 2 miles back, and along the way you'll find a few trails to either side that end up at fairly level primitive sites. One or two of these will put you behind hills that give you relatively great privacy. Most but not all will have adequate space for turning around if not occupied. Road noise is not bad at all this far from the highway. If you go as far as the pipeline pumping station, turn around (the trail gets a bit rougher hereafter). The BLM allows free camping up to 14 days.

MOAB: Just north of town before where the highway bridge crosses the river, there is a free campground on the east side of the highway.

MONTICELLO - Wind Whistle campground. Hwy-191, Needles Overlook Rd, 21 mi N of Monticello, 10 mi S of La Sal Jct. Free. Any size rig.

MONTICELLO - Loyd's Lake. Turn W off US-191 on 200 South. Head W toward Abajo Peaks Mtn Rd for 1 mi, turn S and go about 1.5 mi to two large gravel parking areas overlooking lake. Well marked. Good fishing.

NAPLES - City park on 1900 st 1 block off 40 hwy had electrical outlets...need extension cord no water spigots in park.. but water at 24 hour fuel island one quarter mile north on 40 hwy also water at the water slide in park city park is 2 acre,

NEPHI – This is a good one! Nephi off Hwy 15. Take the second Nephi exit Hwy 132 go east about 5 miles until you get to Nebo Loop Road and the National Forest Service. Turn north (left) and after you have gone about 2 miles, beside the road for several miles there are dispersed camp sites beside the river. No restrooms, picnic tables, or fire rings. There are lots of trees for shade. We stayed here in 2005 and really enjoyed it. It is quiet and pleasant. Free.

St. George BLM: Location: Just off Utah Highway 18, 25 miles north of St. George. What to See and Do: Beautiful reservoir located on the lower slope of PineValleyMountains, surrounded by BLM, and DixieNational Forest lands. Visitors may fish, boat, and camp. How to Get There: Take Highway 18 northwest out of St. George to well marked paved road between MM24 and MM25. Road has a BLM "Baker Dam Reservoir" sign located on your right. The road leads to the reservoir (visible from Highway 18) and travels across the dam to the far side. A picnicking and camping area is located on the west side of the dam. Other sites around the reservoir are on private land. Please respect the landowners’ property.

ST GEORGE - GunlockLakeStateBeach. From St George, go N on Bluff St to Sunset Blvd. Turn left, go thru Santa Clara. It is about 20 mi from I-15. Some places on left side along Santa ClaraRiver.

San Rafael Swell and the SinbadUTAH--exit 129 off I-70 heart of this remote spot should be a national park. This camp is immediately adjacent to the highway, but you can get back 1/3 of a mile in the mesquite and junipers. The camp is 30 miles west of Green River. If you have a short trailer you can climb the burm . Otherwise, just go to the right of the burm and it's flat and moderately treed back about 1/3 mile.

THOMPSON SPRINGS - Located on I-70 about 100 miles west of Grand Junction, Colorado. Take the Thompson Springs exit and follow the paved road through town to SegoCanyon which is about three miles past the town. SegoCanyon offers free camping with a pit toilet (no hookups). At the campsite there are Native American petroglyphs and pictrographs. Please respect the spirituality of this place. Also, about three miles past SegoCanyon is the old ghost town of Sego.

Torrey , Fruita Campground (NPS) Nearest Town: Torrey , Cost: $10 or less Details The campground is in Capitol Reef National Park and fills up fast in summer. All sites are primitive. Several free primitive campgrounds are nearby. The park and campground are reached via either Utah Route 24, via Highway 12 from the west. Restrooms, but no showers.

VEYO: Baker Dam Reservoir Campground Nearest Town: Veyo , Cost: $10 or less. Details: BLM Campground 18 miles north of St. George on Utah Route 18 at a 5,000-foot elevation. 19 RV campsites in a shady camping area are by the reservoir formed by the Santa ClaraRiver. 3 sites will handle big rigs.

GooseneckState ParkNearest Town: Mexican Hat , Cost: Free In southeastern Utah 4 miles off highway 163 down state route 316, some 8 miles from Mexican Hat. Be prepared as you pull in to feel disappointed. There is a pit toilet and picnic tables. Until you approach the edge of a cliff and gaze 1000 feet into one of the biggest entrenched meanders in North America. In a one-mile expanse the river is 6 miles long, snaking back and forth. Free camping is allowed anywhere. No water, great view but really off the beaten path.

FishLakeNational Forest Campgrounds...
Bowery Creek Campground -- FishLake
Doctor Creek Campground -- Just before you get to FishLake
Frying Pan Campground -- A few miles beyond FishLake -- Follow the road
Gooseberry Campground -- SalinaCanyon, I-70 -- Watch for exit sign a few miles east of Salina
Johnson Reservoir -- A few miles beyond FishLake and Frying Pan -- Follow the road
Koosharem Reservoir (BLM) -- West side of the Reservoir, next to Highway 24
Mackinaw Campground -- FishLake
Maple Grove Campground -- Four miles east of Highway 50 between Aurora and Scipio -- spectacular color in the fall!

Wendover near the Bonneville Salt Flats From I-80 take the Bonneville Salt Flats exit. The road will go out onto the dry lake area. When the road "Y"s go to the left. About ¾ of a mile from the "Y" there will be a primary dirt road to the right, take this road. This will be the main dirt road at the base of the hills on the north side of the salt flats, You can camp along this road . We camped here in 2005. There will be a BLM sign beside the road which will list use restrictions.
In West Wendover , which is actually in Nevada, you can overnight in the Red Garter Casino parking lot, but if memory serves me, the asphalt parking lot had lots of slope to it, so finding a way to get level may be difficult. The Red Garter is a primary landmark and is easy to find.

[Boondocker]

Another great list Bob, I will be taking your listings with me when I hit the four corners and Rockies this summer.

[mmccurdy]

Just stayed in a nice (and cheap) spot last night:

KNOLLS BLM off-highway vehicle area, $6/night, no hookups but they did have toilets. Exit 41 off I-80 and proceed to south side of Highway (old frontage road), follow it around until you see a shack on the left and a small sign to turn left into the area. There's a bulletin board and a self-serve payment box.

[Lumatic]

On the way in to the Needles in Canyonlands NP. Turn off on dirt road a couple of miles north of park boundary on BLM land. Camp anywhere. A mile or 2 in are some interesting rock formations a mile or 2 further is a nice little waterfall you can jump off with a big deep pool below. Ask locally for more specific directions.

[dogpound]

Bob;

Another National Forest Campground 12 miles south of Montecello, Ut. is Devils Canyon. With a senior's pass it is $5.00 other than that it is $10.00. Loop A has been totally paved and has picnic tables and great fire rings. Lower loop is in process of being updated but has nice shady spots.

Bob
FCU
#10105
Air # 28748

[DumOleBob]

This is called the Lockhart Rd. 38.10'32.73N -109.39'59.36"W

Lots of fine boondock sites and two BLM camps with pit toilets. Get there by mid-day as this is a well known & hard used area. Too many OHVs - as everywhere in Utah, but still one of the BEST boondocking sites -ever!

Caution - do not cross Indian Creek with any camper of size as it goes for miles w/o turnaround on a very rough road.

Double Caution - don't drive the Lockhart road when wet! Just stay put and it'll dry fast, but not with you in the middle of it! Been there-done that

Do drive your pickup, etc across the creek though - FANTASTIC VIEWS THE ENTIRE RD!!

Bob - dummer than ever!

Originally Posted by Lumatic

On the way in to the Needles in Canyonlands NP. Turn off on dirt road a couple of miles north of park boundary on BLM land. Camp anywhere. A mile or 2 in are some interesting rock formations a mile or 2 further is a nice little waterfall you can jump off with a big deep pool below. Ask locally for more specific directions.

[Jim Foster]

Last year we stayed at Snow Canyon, very near St. George. Beautiful dry camp sites in a beautiful red rock setting. The dry camp sites were $15.00, but the view made it well worth it. Would do it again if in the area.

It's only a couple of miles out of town.

[Boondocker]

Originally Posted by DumOleBob

This is called the Lockhart Rd. 38.10'32.73N -109.39'59.36"W

Bob - dummer than ever!

Are these coordinates right? That looks like over half way to Monticello from Moab near UT 211. What am I doing wrong?

[Mexray]

Try these:

38.17505n

109.62108w

I prefer this type of 'decimal' coordinate system, as it's far easier to enter just the numbers, and it's easier to read, copy etc...degrees and minutes are far easier to screw up when you're working with the numbers!

[Boondocker]

Originally Posted by Mexray

Try these:

38.17505n

109.62108w

I prefer this type of 'decimal' coordinate system, as it's far easier to enter just the numbers, and it's easier to read, copy etc...degrees and minutes are far easier to screw up when you're working with the numbers!

Thanks! Looks like I was close. Just added this to my Top Secret Boondock Map

[Lumatic]

Numerous campsites along the river, in the canyon, between Moab and Cisco on Utah 128. $12