Probably the closest free camping to Zion National Park, this isn’t likely to be a solitary experience, but it’s pretty nice! Just before mile marker 24 on highway 9. A few options for bigger rigs (maybe 35′?), many for smaller ones. A sign at the entrance warns of soft sand and the location in the floodplain of the Virgin River. We were there at high runoff and saw no sign of flooding, but perhaps it happens. Serviceable Verizon signal.

Open dry camping along the dirt road from just north of mile marker 18 on highway 18, west 7 miles or so to Gunlock State Park. Fishers tend to camp near the upper Sand Cove Reservoir at mile 2, climbers near the cliffs at mile 2.5, and RVers beyond that as the road descends to a nice creek.

Small (9 site) BLM campground; great dry camping for only $5 per night! No water or dump station on site, just outhouses. No cell reception; most sites could get a satellite signal, as there aren’t too many trees. Important note: due to a sharp turn in the road and small sites, a sign at the entrance reads: max. trailer size 24 feet. I brought in a 26-foot trailer without any problems, but I wouldn’t recommend anything over 28 feet. This makes a great base for exploring Zion National Park, and is much quieter and cheaper than staying in Sand Dunes State Park.

Camping Fee:
$10 per night / per vehicle ($5 w/ATB) $4/$2 Oct-Apr.

Beach Camping on Lake Powell in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
Water and dump station. Cold shower. Flush toilets.

Entry Fees:
1-7 Day Vehicle Pass – $15
1-7 Day Individual Permit – $7 per person
Glen Canyon NRA Annual Pass – $30
Free entry with America the Beautiful (all three)

Directions:
From Page, AZ – Go NW on US-89, in UT just past state line on right.

Glen Canyon NRA
PO Box 1507
Page, Arizona 86040
Fax:(928) 608-6259

Free dry camping at BLM campground on Utah – Arizona stateline. There are currently four campsites, which allow up to two vehicles per site.

* Patrolled, but no campground host
* Elevation above sea level: 5,040 feet (1,536 meters)
* Four campsites: three drive-in, one walk-in
* Restrooms
* Picnic Tables
* Fire Pits
* No trash collection
* No Water
* No Telephone (poor cell phone coverage)

Directions:
From Page, AZ, drive west on Highway 89 for 34 miles (55 kilometers). Drive past the BLM Contact Station and the road to the White House trailhead. Turn left onto House Rock Valley Road. This road is compacted dirt. The Stateline Campground is 9.3 miles (14.9 kilometers) down this dirt road, which can be impassable when wet. It is one mile south of the Wire pass Trailhead.

From Kanab, UT, drive east on Highway 89 for 38 miles (61 kilometers). Turn right onto House Rock Valley Road. This road is compacted dirt. The Stateline Campground is 9.3 miles (14.9 kilometers) down this dirt road. It is one mile south of the Wire pass Trailhead.

BLM – Kanab Field Office
318 North 100 East
Kanab, Utah 84741
Phone: (435) 644-4600

http://www.ut.blm.gov/kanab_fo/

Directions:
From Page, AZ, drive west on Highway 89 for 30 miles (48 kilometers). Look for the BLM Contact Station sign on the left (south). Turn left. Take next right. Pit is up ahead on right.

From Kanab, UT, drive east on Highway 89 for 43 miles (62 kilometers). Look for the BLM Contact Station sign on the right. Turn right. Take next right. Pit is up ahead on right.

BLM – Kanab Field Office
318 North 100 East
Kanab, Utah 84741
Phone: (435) 644-4600

http://www.ut.blm.gov/kanab_fo/

Dry camping/bondocking. $5/night. Whitehouse BLM Campground. Small rigs only!

* Patrolled, but no campground host
* $5 per night fee
* Elevation above sea level: 4,300 feet (1,311 meters)
* Five walk-in tent sites
* Adjacent to White House Trailhead
* Restrooms
* Picnic Tables
* Fire Pits
* No trash collection
* No water
* No Telephone (poor cell phone coverage)

If you plan on hiking in the area, pay close attention to the fees and permits listed on the BLM website to make sure you are in compliance.

Directions:
From Page, AZ, drive west on Highway 89 for 30 miles (48 kilometers). Look for the BLM Contact Station sign on the left (south). The Paria Contact Station is two hundred yards off Highway 89. The White House campground is two miles down a dirt road that begins at the Contact Station. It is adjacent to the White House Trailhead.

From Kanab, UT, drive east on Highway 89 for 43 miles (62 kilometers). Look for the BLM Contact Station sign on the right. The White House trailhead is two miles (3.2 kilometers) down a dirt road that begins at the Contact Station. It is adjacent to the White House Trailhead.

BLM – Kanab Field Office
318 North 100 East
Kanab, Utah 84741
Phone: (435) 644-4600

http://www.ut.blm.gov/kanab_fo/

Overnight permits are required within the Monument for all overnight car camping or backpacking. Permits are free of charge and may be obtained at any of our visitor centers or at developed trailheads.

A number of easy access sites will accommodate larger vehicles. Located among scattered pinyon pine and juniper, this site is a convenient location not far from the town of Escalante.

There is a dumpster at the pulloff area just a little farther along Hole-in-the-Rock Road. Be sure to read the information sign there if you plan to continue down the road.

Directions
About 5 miles east of Escalante on UT-12, turn south on Hole-in-the-Rock Road. After turning onto the Hole-in-the-Rock road at the primary junction, proceed .2 mi. to the forked dirt road on the right. Turn right, then take the immediate left fork (the right fork is a ranch access road with no turn-around and no camping pull-outs). A second access road to these sites originates next to the “Hole-in-the-Rock Trail -Escalante Terminal-” interpretive sign, approximately .3 mi. from the Highway 12 junction (opposite the spur road to eastbound Highway 12). There is also a refuse dumpster near this sign – please pack out your trash.

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
Kanab Headquarters
190 East Center
Kanab, Utah 84741
Fax (435) 644-4350

http://www.nps.gov/glca/planyourvisit/driving-the-hole-in-the-rock-road.htm

On the north side of UT-24 just west of the Capitol Reef border between mile markers 73 and 74 are two gorgeous spots. Look for the dirt entrances and watch for rocks. Each can hold about 5 rigs. The north side of UT-24 is National Forest in this area.

Please use existing sites and fire rings. Camping should be done within 300 feet of the road. Do not drive on meadows to access your camping site. Drive on existing roads or drive along tree line to access campsites

BLM campground along the San Juan River. Most of the sites are fairly large except for the really nice ones along the river. Just a few of the sites have shade trees.
Nice petroglyphs on the rock walls across from the campground.
3 miles west of the small town of Bluff and just off of HWY 163.

Located just a few miles north of Goblin Valley State park this is a BLM lot which amounts to just a big gravel parking lot. If you failed to make reservations for a campsite at Goblin Valley and need a place to park for a few nights this is a close by soulution. On our last trip to the area we saw several RVs parked here.

The Wedge Overlook, in the San Rafael Swell is a BLM Camp area with a half dozen formal sites (no fee at last visit) and a group site. Some of the campsites are very near the edge of a one thousand foot cliff so watch your dogs and children (see photo)! It can be very windy near the edge also. There are several other boondock sites to the east of the road as you approach the overlook itself. Carefully scout those out.

The overlook is what is called the Little Grand Canyon. Yes, not as huge, but certainly as beautiful as the real Grand Canyon. Access is by good, graded, sometime wash boarded, road from Cleveland, UT. A fine place to start your visit into the San Rafael – Utah’s least visited, most interesting and beautiful place. Be sure to ask for the guide to the San Rafael Swell, driving guide at the visitor center in Price or Green River. It is a most valuable tool.

Next drive down the Buckhorn Wash Rd. for some of Utah’s best Indian rock art and a number of fine boondock campsites. I’ll post some of these next.

Another Good Site: http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/price/recreation/NofI70.html

Oh heck,just get your reading glasses out and GOOGLE: San Rafael,UT. And do get that driving guide! Oh,The Google Earth maps were taken before the BLM developed this area.

A short distance north of I 70 (4.2 miles) on an oil & gravel road, Sego Canyon is a great one-night, boondock! It’s also a fine spot to putting you in position to get to the crowded Moab area in the morning.

The “town” of Thompson’s Springs is as close as you’ll ever get to a town on the verge of being a ghost town. Take a moment to view the old downtown. There is an old rail station, hotel, motel, and boarded up stores. This was once a major rail/highway point for all of southern Utah, but not any more – there are no services.

The rock art is wonderful!

Once you get past the pull out for the rock art and certainly by the time you reach the old Sego ghost town turn arounds are VERY limited. I strongly suggest do not take a big rig any farther than the rock art site, the first of which you’ll see on your right. The BLM has a nice picnic/viewing area, but does not allow camping. If you continue up the road a few hundred yards you’ll find two boondock spots just off the road. On the right is an old cowboy corral and there is great rock art on the wall above so you might get visitors coming to see that.

Google SEGO CANYON and you’ll find lots of info on this little visited place.

CAMP ONLY IN DESIGNATED PLACES!!!

A popular boondocking area near the Needles District of Canyonlands Natl Park. Get there early if you can, especially on weekends and holidays. From the highway to the stream crossing you’ll find dozens of user made boondock sites. Don’t go any further than the steam crossing, unless you check it out first. Past the stream may be ok for your pickup camper, but it gets “tight”! There is a wonderful waterfall to the west of the crossing. Some sites have spectacular views; some are sheltered below rock rims.

Very popular with off highway & 4×4 vehicle users. Nice bicycling along the road. Good place for dogs.

The Needles District of the National Park is my favorite! Don’t miss it!!! Also Newspaper Rock ancient Indian rock art site. The Needles Outpost nearer the Nat’l Park has a nice fee based campground, limited services and wonderful hamburgers! The Park Svc campgrounds are very nice, but charge the usual fees.

Also along the road are two free BLM campgrounds with pit toilets, fire rings and tables. The first is Hamburger Rock, which children will love! The second is in the dry creek/Cottonwood bottom, which isn’t my favorite.

Just past the BLM (fee) camps you’ll find some wonderful, free boondock sites.

CAMP ONLY IN DESIGNATED SITES! Area is regularly patrolled. Tickets are expensive. No foolin’! Road can be very slippery when wet.

After passing the BLM official camp sites the road crosses the shallow stream several times. Within about the first 1/4 to 1/2 miles are several nice, user made, sites designated with BLM signs as ok to boondock camping areas.

NOW PAY ATTENTION! Do not go any further than the first 1/4 to 1/2 mile after crossing the steam the first time! The road quickly becomes very narrow, winding precipitous! See attached photo. Strongly suggest you unhook by the BLM Campgrounds and drive up the road, select a site and go back for your rig. If you continue to far you might be leaving your rig up there for all of eternity!

The good news is – Onion creek will blow your mind! Utah red rock, desert beauty at it’s very best! It is a wonderful biking, hiking area or just sittin’ area

Onion Creek BLM camp sites are an official BLM camping area located about 20- miles up the Colorado River from Moab. There are two seperate areas, both with pit toilets, fire rings and tables. One has nice horse corrals. The other can be reserved by groups. Both have wide turn arounds and can handle large rigs.

The area featuers is outstanding beauty, great hiking trails and the road back into the canyon will take your breath away. But, caution, the road from the camp ground back is NOT for big rigs and after the half mile – NOT FOR TRAILERS!

See my next post for free sites along the Onion Creek Rd.

A wonderful collection of ancient Indian rock art. Out in the middle of nowhere! Camp just about anywhere you like. HOT in the summer!!! The petroglyphs are the thing to see not the scenery.

Not that far from St George, UT (like an hour), which has all services and then some, but no services out here. If you like ancient rock art, and I do, you will love Little Black Mountain!

Google it for several other good info sites.

See ya there…DumOleBob
FreeCampsites.net © 2009 | No Comments]]> http://freecampsites.net/little-black-mountain-petroglyphs/feed/ 0 36.9525909 -113.5153580 http://freecampsites.net/san-rafael-swell-green-riverprice-ut/ http://freecampsites.net/san-rafael-swell-green-riverprice-ut/#comments Thu, 08 Jan 2009 05:14:19 +0000 DumOleBob http://freecampsites.net/?p=913
Great Boondocking in the San Rafael Swell just a short way from Goblin State Park. There is a very nice campground at Goblin State Park for a small fee. Goblin State Park is definitely worth a visit, but the entire San Rafael Reef and Swell will blow your mind! The spot marked along the Taylor Mt [...]

Great Boondocking in the San Rafael Swell just a short way from Goblin State Park. There is a very nice campground at Goblin State Park for a small fee. Goblin State Park is definitely worth a visit, but the entire San Rafael Reef and Swell will blow your mind!

The spot marked along the Taylor Mt Road is a BLM camping and group area (no fee), but all along the road you’ll find terrific boondocking locations. Suggest you contact the Visitor Center in Price, or Green River, Utah and ask for the terrific and free guide to the San Rafael. (So you’ll sound like you’re in the know pronounce it as: “San-Ra-Fell”). Plan to spend some time in the Swell. It is a beautiful and fascinating ANY National Park you’ll visit!

There are so many pure boondocking opportunities that one couldn’t begin to count! The Swell has become very popular with off road vehicles, ATV, motorcycle & mountain bikers, but if you aren’t one of them do not be discouraged – The Swell has something for everyone, including a large herd of wild mustangs and burros, world class hiking, ancient rock art and photography!!!

The good roads are fine (well, ok), the bad can be very bad indeed! Suffice it to say that while not manditory a four Wheel drive will enable you to see much more! Get that travel guide with the various road tours and you’ll be safe as a silver dollar.

As in any desert boondocking bring your own water and plenty of fuel!

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