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Dispersed Camping

BLM Middle Fork Shafer Canyon Dispersed

14 Reviews

About

Bureau of Land Management

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Location

BLM Middle Fork Shafer Canyon Dispersed is located in Utah

Coordinates

38.500526970246234 N
109.79428555969385 W

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Access

Drive-In
Park next to your site

Stay Connected

WiFi
Unknown
Verizon
Unknown
AT&T
Fair
T-Mobile
Unknown

Site Types

Tent Sites
RV Sites
Dispersed
Group

Features

For Campers

Alcohol
Pets
Fires

Enjoy dispersed camping on government land and leave no trace. Pack in and pack out. No (or limited) services at this camping area. Permit may be required.

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Contact

General Info

Andrew T.

Guide

Reviewed May. 13, 2024

Incredible Views

Absolutely amazing views. We saw at least 6+ sites along the cliff edge spaced a good 30 or so yards apart. The road getting in requires high clearance 2wd. Lower SUVs (Outback, Rav4, CRV, etc.) could do it being careful. My 4Runner had no issues. There are bypasses around some of the steeper rockier sections.

Aerial shots taken with a DJI MINI 3

Visited April 11, 2024

Month of VisitMay

(6) View All

Gabriel T.

Guide

Reviewed May. 5, 2024

Great Spot!

Plenty of camping spots right along the rim. I was there Sunday morning through Wednesday afternoon and just about every established spot was taken.

Month of VisitMay

(6) View All

Daniel S.

Guide

Reviewed Apr. 8, 2024

Amazing quiet views

High clearance or 4x4 road getting out there. I saw about 4-6 spots people have camped in around this pin, and while I was there, 4 of the spots were taken. Amazing views off the mesa. Nice and quiet.

Month of VisitMay

(6) View All

Matt S.

Guide

Reviewed Feb. 2, 2024

Epic Sight

We found this one through the Dyrt app and was glad we did. We had rented a Toyota 4x4 through Turo and it worked out perfectly for this trail. Definitely recommend 4x4 with some clearance but it’s not overly difficult to navigate or crawl through. Plenty of camp sites along the rim of the canyon. And plenty of privacy if you space apart.

Month of VisitJune

(15) View All

Liam

Traveler

Reviewed Dec. 19, 2023

Hard to beat

Incredible views and not a sound for miles. Worth the drive, anyone who does it without 4x4 and good clearance is a beast or is just ok with trashing their car. Driving south on Island in the Sky road turn left onto the “Big Flat Trail” according to Apple Maps at 38.50379° N, 109.80542° W. Then there will be an obvious fork to the right that leads to the edge of the canyon.

Month of VisitJanuary

(5) View All

Miriam R.

Traveler

Reviewed Nov. 28, 2023

Worth the drive

Definitely a sketchy road! Highly recommend 4X4 & high clearance but we made it with a stock Honda Odyssey mini van! Skill are needed to maneuver around the dirt road, there was one spot where we doubted continuing but managed to get trough & it was so worth it. Pulled into the first spot we found, it was too sketchy to keep going with the mini van. There was snow on the campsite but a spot was cleared enough for us to park. Someone had already started a fire ring with sand but we added rocks around it & made a fire to stay warm. It was quiet throughout the night & clear enough for us to see many stars. Amazing views all around, highly recommended this spot to everyone.

Sitefirst one

Month of VisitDecember

(5) View All

Hannah G.

Traveler

Reviewed Jul. 12, 2023

BEST VIEW EVER

My boyfriend and I stayed a night on the edge of a canyon in the back of his Tacoma. Definitely recommend a 4x4 with very high clearance. I was scared in the truck lol. This is so so worth it the prettiest place I’ve ever camped. Million dollar view for free.

Month of VisitAugust

Ruairi K.

Scout

Reviewed Jul. 2, 2023

Insane views

A car with some high clearance and 4WD is probably necessary for this. The road in is just dirt and not labeled, but you just turn right into one of the paths breaking off the main dirt road and head towards the canyon. There were multiple available campsites when we went with no one remotely near us. Views of the canyon are next level.

Month of VisitJuly

Jannick V.

Traveler

Reviewed Jun. 26, 2023

Best view EVER

The road to the campsites was a bit questionable. A 4x4 would have been nice, but be sure to have a high clearance vehicle. We had a van with is, and besides it being a tad scary sometimes, it was well worth the trouble. The view is absolutely worth it. Pure amazement. Lots of mosquitos, but even 100x the amount would have been worth the view.

Month of VisitJuly

Tracey M.

Scout

Reviewed Jun. 19, 2023

Amazing Spot

I have a Mazda CX-5 and was able to maneuver well enough to get to this spot despite it being recommended to have a high clearance vehicle.

The spot was easy to find as long as I had the dropped pin on Apple Maps giving us directions to the spot before we lost service.

Amazing views, will definitely go back. About 30 minutes from Moab and beautiful views on the way to the site too.

I tent camp and what I learned here is that there is so much rock under the sand. It was very hard to get things staked down because it was only about two inches of sand before the stake hit rock underneath. The tent we managed to secure with rocks and things but the bathroom/shower tent blew over in the night.

Would definitely recommend!

Month of VisitJuly

Emily P.

Traveler

Reviewed Jun. 4, 2023

Stunning!

We were out exploring and came upon this site. We had other plans for the day so we didn’t camp here but man would it be awesome to!

Month of VisitJuly

Cortlan S.

Guide

Reviewed Apr. 25, 2023

Best Canyon Views

This is definitely the place with the best canyon views you can get! The spots are right on the edge of the cliffs (be careful with your pets and in the dark). Fire rings are right up on the edge so can see the entire canyon while you hang out. The road in is pretty short and mostly sandy, but there are some slick rocks and steep drop offs. I would highly recommend a higher clearance 4x4 but there was someone in a VW Tiguan so it’s doable in a basic SUV if you know what you’re doing. Turn in from Island in the Sky/Grand View Point Road. If you’re on your way into Canyonlands going south, the road will be on your left. It’s not marked but the coords are approximately 38°30'01.9"N 109°47'39.4"W for where the turn in is. 1 bar of LTE Verizon but not enough to get a message to send.

Month of VisitMay

(4) View All

John H.

Traveler

Reviewed Jun. 22, 2022

What a view!

Had some difficulty finding the road for this site but glad we did. Per Greg’s review, this road would be very difficult to navigate without a 4 wheel drive with adequate ground clearance. My Subaru Outback managed nicely with X mode. But some additional ground clearance would have been nice. We had the area to ourselves for two nights. Likely because folks simply don’t know about this campsite. The ranger at Canyonlands visitor center was able to help pinpoint the location thanks to Greg’s gps coordinates. The view and the quietness make this site a hidden gem.

SiteI counted three sites on the edge of the abyss. All had fire pits.

Month of VisitJune

(5) View All

Greg L.

Legend

Reviewed Apr. 9, 2022

Wow!! Camp - Overlander only!

This is a great overlander dispersed camp area just on edge of Shafer Canyon and Canyonlands NP. Sign at dirt two track from paved hwy notes no camping for 3/4 mile. The road track in is either sandy or rough rocky and only recommend overlander types, jeeps, trucks, high clearance vans, all with good tires. NO RVs or large TTs are recommended unless you want to leave axle and underbody parts along the route. Cell signal limited to none. Views are tremendous as you are on very edge of Shafer Canyon cliffs. Note that Special Rules are in effect, portable toilet systems required.

Month of VisitMay

(27) View All