Best Dispersed Camping near Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area

We ventured out here in our 26’ bumper pull camper for the night of 6/19. Several trailers and campers looked like they had been posted up there for a while. 

Pros:

-Lots of pull off spots accessible for car camping and very small campers

-Beautiful wildflowers at this time of year-remote and peaceful!

-main dirt was mostly manageable with our camper, some potholes and mud though 

Cons:-

very rainy, hence lots of mud, when we went

-most of the campsites seemed to be washed out right now and unaccessible with our camper

-no accessible turnarounds with the camper until Circle Pond Campground at the end of the road

-bugs were really bad

-no Verizon cell signal

-single lane dirt road just had a couple sporadic pull offs to allow for passing vehicles from other direction

The breathtaking Bighorn Mountains at 9000 ft elevation, good for rigs of all sizes but be advised you may want to scout the road the further you get into the camping area as it can be a bit rough (with water crossing at one point).  

We overview the camping options as well as the amenities available in the area in our video review! 

https://youtu.be/ztjOGUjNkfo

Useful Information: Location: Canyon Creek Dispersed, Ten Sleep, Wyoming 

GPS Coordinates(Canyon Creek Dispersed): 44.160758,-107.128481 

Maximum Stay: 14 Days 

Dump/Water(Cenex): https://maps.app.goo.gl/b44MFQ4ne9h3DpE2A 

Leigh Creek Dump/Water: https://maps.app.goo.gl/SfJmMrKekzLyTKFNA

The specific location given is about 4.5 miles in from hwy 16, and there are numerous areas to set up your camper on the way in. The farther you go, the more private it is. The dirt roads are well maintained, but still a fair amount of rock, so slower speeds are safer. The entire Bighorn NF area is saturated with dispersed camping.

The limit is 2 weeks, and Ranger request that you move about 5 miles, if you want to stay longer. There are locals who come to ride their dirt bikes and ATV's in the area, more so on the weekends, but has not been too much of a nuisance. There is plenty of deadwood in the areas to gather as firewood, and Canyon Creek has a brisk stream of water flowing. Satellite images show it dry.

Elevation of this area is about 9500', so temps are cool and comfortable even in August.

Very dark and clear night sky is great for star gazing. And there is a park dump/fresh water station a very short distance away. Not sure about other cell services, but Zero T-mobile signal, but I had just purchased the Starlink system before heading this way and I'm getting high-speed internet and Wi-Fi calling, in the middle of nowhere! This is my favorite boondocking area so far. Note, this area is suitable for most Big Rigs

This is a one of those secret locations that you look for, the one you don't want to give away but show all your friends pictures of it. If this was a fishing spot you wouldn't tell other anglers about it. If it was a special hunting location you would keep your lips sealed.

Crazy woman canyon gets it's name from a few different legends, but that's not the point of this gem. The tranquility, peace, towering canyon walls that make you feel so small, the freedom of the outdoors and back country quietness, that's what this place should be known for.

We saw wildlife, we relaxed with the sound of the river, this was an unforgettable experience.

Keep in mind there are no facilities here, no toilets, no potable water, no showers, you need to pack in and pack out. This is true back-country camping. The roads are narrow and traffic goes both ways, we had to pass another truck and were just inches from the edge with rushing water below. But this is Wyoming, this is the wild west, one of the great frontiers of the American expansion.

Come here, it's worth it.

We enjoyed our stay here, many spots to pick from, but a few things to be advised about. 

1. When we arrived it looked like a lot of the locals"dropped" their campers there for storage to avoid paying storage fees. However, while we were there the National Forest staff came in several times and started tagging these RVs and most of them were removed within a week or so. 

2. This place is a haven for SxS and ATV traffic on the weekend so it can get loud and very dusty 

3. Hundreds of free-range cattle, so if you are not comfortable with them walking in and through your campsite you may want to pick another location. 

4. There is only one place in all the area that has cell coverage and turns out we camped on that hill without knowing it so we had traffic all day with people parking in and around our campers to use their phones. 

We did a video review of this spot  if you are interested here is the link https://youtu.be/gpm9THujEow 

We enjoyed our stay even with those items we listed above, would stay here again for sure. Thank you to the National Forest Staff for patrolling this area!!!