Ken's Lake Campground

Widely dispersed sites. Beauty in all directions. Very quite. Great spot.

Really enjoyed my two night stay! Short hikes around the camp ground were perfect for stretching the legs, clean bathroom, and plenty of space to set up shop. 15 minutes from downtown. Only downside is there’s no shade/coverage and could definitely feel the winds stronger than other areas.

Glad we snagged a last minute reservation. Many people coming and leaving as no room. Some FCFS sites but all taken. Clean, quiet, and a friendly host. Our dog loved cooking off in the lake. Wonderful temp and full moon for our mid October visit. We had one bay for ATT service.

Awesome location close to Moab. Nicely spaced out campsites with fire pits. Bathrooms at the lake are much cleaner than the campsite ones. The lake is beautiful and you can actually swim in it. 5/5

Came in before dark and set up tent on stone drive in open field. Very difficult to hammer in pegs. It was quiet and easy to get to.

This campsite is beautiful, and fairly close to Moab and the Arches entrance. There are gorgeous views of the mountains and cliffs and the lake is nice to hike around. It was extremely windy which made sitting outside challenging at times, and when it wasn’t windy it was very buggy. Overall a wonderful campground.

This is a no service campground. I used it for an overnight stay. Very warm end of May. Had cell connection through Verizon. Clean space. There is a waterfall that can be hiked to from campsite, planning on doing this this evening.

We spent 4 nights here and it is one of our favorite camp sites! Great sunsets, fun 4x4 trails over the mountain, and quick access to town (Moab), and many national & state parks! Access to the lake, pit toilets, picnic table, & nice fire pit.

This BLM campground is all reserved, 1-48 sites in three loops. The first two loops for sites 1-38 are bigger and best for larger RVs and TTos. Loop 39-48 is more shorter back in spots and best for vans, trucks, tenters. In addition there is a v-shaped dip in road to access loop 39-48 and group site B that will take off the bumpers n bikes on a long RV, so beware. Cell signal is good for loop 1-38 but not so good for 39-48. Sites are $20/$10 senior, and there are vault toilets, dumpster, tables, metal fire rings and tent pads. However...NO water! In addition the campground vegetation has been infested with dense Russian thistle..ugh.

This pin location is for the road to the Ken's Lake DAY USE AREA. The day use area is adjacent to the actual Ken's Lake CG loops.

Ken’s Lake is a great Bureau of Land Management Campground. Found 20 minutes south of Moab, it has many large campsites, spread relatively far apart. The only facilities on site are pit toilets. My only caution is that there is no camp host on site to police reservations. The park tells you to leave something in your site to make sure it stays reserved. We travel in a camper van, so we left behind a lawn chair to reserve our spot, and it got stolen. The next day, we didn’t leave anything behind and our campsite got stolen. Other than those inconveniences, the stay at the campground was wonderful.

Ken's lake is a primitive campground, but it has toilets, fire pits and tables.  But you don't go to Ken's Lake for the amenities.  The sandstone hills immediately next to the campground are what you come for.  I don't think I would camp anywhere else around Moab except maybe in Zion.  Highly recommend this place.  And the starts are really clear out there.

So much to explore and there are some great camping areas. Both day trips and camping stays are an excellent experience!

Spent one night here, best fire pits I’ve ever seen with a grill that moves over the top! Stayed in loop a, spot 7! Would stay here again! Deff not shaded, but it is Moab! Bathrooms were clean. Would camp here again.

Was camping in Moab last weekend in September and boy is it HOT out there with no shade. Ken’s Lake is a great place to cool off. The water was low, maybe about 25% and very muddy throughout. But whatever it was fun to jump in and hang out by the shore. Beautiful views and there weren’t too many people when I went. Dogs love it !

Beautiful views of the rocks! Clean vault toilets. Stayed in the second loop of sites. Short trail to a beautiful waterfall and campsites right next to the river. Only downside was the multitude of red ant nests.

Ken's Lake Recreation Area located just 10 south of Moab is a nice place to cool off or camp during the hot summer months, but not in October. Visited in early October and did not spend time in the nice day area as it was in the low 40's and I was not trying to avoid the heat. That being said the lake looks like a great place to spend part of your day to cool off or do a little fishing. I spent my visit at the campground just down the toad from the day use turn off. Their are two turn offs for the campground. The first turn leads to two camping loops and a group use shelter with horse corrals. The campsite in these two loop are out in the open as only a few small trees are in the area. This area was windy during my stay, not what I wanted on a cold day and night. The wind would be nice to keep bugs away or keep things a little cooler in the summer. While you are in direct full of all the other campers in the loop you do have plenty of room as these sites are spacious and spread apart with lots of room between sites. A little further up the road is the other section of the campground. This section is just inside the tree line and provide a bit more privacy with all the trees and bushes. Site are a little closer together but still nicely spread apart. Their is another group use site with a shelter at the end of this section. All site have picnic tables and a metal fire ring. Vault toilets are found in the day use area and through out the campground. Their is trash bins at the campground but no water so be sure to fill us in town before arriving at your camp. You can not directly access the lake from the campground, there are trails that lead down to the lake.

Stayed at Ken's Lake Campground in early October, and despite to cool temperatures the campground was¾ full when I arrived just before sunset. Found two of the loops full, ended up staying in site 1. Ken's Lake Campground is a fairly large campground located 10 miles south of Moab. The campground has 48 sites but it did not feel that large. The campground is divided in to three loops in two sections. The first section contains two loops, sites are spread a good distance apart which is good since these two loops are almost entirely in the open with only the occasional small tree or large bush. Being in the open the sites were quiet windy during my stay. While the campground is near Ken's lake there is no direct access to the lake from the campground. The upper section located a short distance up the main road has a little more privacy as it is just inside the tree line and sites are nicely spread out. The sites in the upper section are nicer sites in the campground, and provide some shelter from the wind. Being several miles from the highway made for a nice quiet nights sleep. The campground has great view of the La Sal Mountains to the east and the redrock formations to the west All campsites have a picnic table with metal fire rings. Several vault toilets are available through out the campground. Trash service is available. You will need to bring your own water as there is no water available at the campground. Sites are$20 per night. Ken's Lake campground has two group areas, group site A in the lower section is just to the right when you enter the campground. Group site A has two horse corrals. Group site B is located at the end of the upper section. Both group sites have fire grates, picnic tables, a shade shelter and are near a vault toilet.

Small campground just east of Moab, but full of convenience. I found this spot years ago when I was first scouting the area. I loved the location because it wasn't far off the main highway, had decent road access and offered great views, a simple hike to a nice promontory and near running water (unpotable). It's BLM property so you have to pay to camp, but worth it. Gets full easily on weekends. There can be some annoyance with loud dune buggy off-roading nearby, but not after dusk. Decent bathroom facilities available. Fishing just down the road 1/4 mile on Ken's Lake. No cutting or collecting of firewood allowed (bring your own). All sites include fire/grill pits. Good mix of trailers, small RVs and tents.

Such a lovely area! The lake, mountains, large open area, large campsites, close to Moab.

Probably the cheapest paid camping in Moab with cell service. Cows roam through during the day but they don’t bother you. There’s a waterfall nearby. 20/night. Clean sites. Level. Good roads.

Gorgeous views of Moab nestled next to a waterfall. Was able to find a site next to the stream fairly late in the day after the river campsites were all full. Great sunset views and well taken care of. Clean and easy to access restrooms. I’ve stayed here many times and look forward to coming back.

Campground Review: I stayed one night at Ken’s Lake Campground South of Moab on a solo mountain biking/camping weekend. For some reason everyone decided to come to Moab that weekend so finding a campsite near water was quite difficult so I am glad that I was able to find one here. The campground is an easy 15-20 minute drive South of Moab off 191. The scenery is beautiful as you are sandwiched between two large cliffs and you can see the La Sals in the background. There are multiple loops to this campground so you may have a very different experience depending on where you stayed. I stayed at site 5 which is really open/exposed, very small, and no privacy between you and your neighbor (hence the lower rating). Plus I had some loud neighbors that stayed up quite late making the stay less than ideal. I am sure I would have enjoyed it more if I had a little more wind protection from the trees or privacy from my neighbors but overall the site worked for what I needed it to. It was really windy when I visited so keep that in mind—Moab gets some brutal winds that, once your tent is up, will put a fine layer of dust/sand over everything you own. Not a negative on the campground, but just a warning for those first time visitors. Other benefits of the campground—standard pit toilets and garbage service all for $15/night. Overall the scenery and proximity to Ken’s Lake to swim when it is hot make this a good option for camping in Moab.

Gear Review: Renogy Portable Outdoor Water Filter

As a ranger for the Dyrt, I get the opportunity to test out gear from our partners once in a while. I have had the privilege of testing out the Renogy Portable Outdoor Water Filter. General observations and opinion: this water filter is a great addition to my camping/outdoor arsenal.  It was easy to assemble and use right out of the box and has an amazing filtration system (i.e. protects against viruses, bacteria, and pathogens) and it is compact for a hand pump system. I may not use this as my long distance backpacking filtration system just because it is a little big and heavy for that usage but it will definitely go on my shorter backpacking hikes (where I am not counting ounces) as well as my car/general camping outings. If you want an easy to use filter the Renogy Portable Outdoor Water Filter is a great option for the price.

Pros: 1) fairly compact in size and comes with a carrying satchel to keep all the parts together. 2) The tubes were two different lengths you can tell them apart and both were more than long enough to get the job done. 3) it comes with a back flow syringe for cleaning which is nice. 4) There is a pre-filter that helps with large particles then a weight and a foam bobber you can move up and down the tube to keep the input end in a good spot in the water. 5) It had good suction and flow—it filled my water bottles quite quickly once it found a good section of water from which to suck.

Cons: 1) It is a pump filter (as opposed to a gravity feed) so you have to stay there the whole time to filter the water (i.e. can’t really multi-task when filtering water) 2) I had the pre-filter on the input end clog a few times so using it in deeper water makes it more effective. Shallower water runs the risk of lots of clogging and slow pumping.

Picturesque with it's red rock, and the La Sal mountain range in the background, Ken's Lake is a gorgeous place to pitch a tent! It's about ten miles outside of Moab, but worth the drive! We enjoyed all of the hiking that was literally right there at the campground. A stream winds it's way through, and it's perfect for soaking your feet in on a hot summer day! Enjoy a hike to Faux Falls. Remember to take your own shade, and water.

Kens Lake is a hidden gem of the Moab Valley. It's a great spot to camp and is close to town and great biking, hiking, park-touring. Kens lake is actually a reservoir...it has a gravel bottom and the shores / beaches are gravel as well. It's a nice spot to cool off during the heat of the day. Not a lot of shade, no lawns, but it does have a great hiking trail that meanders around the hillside and across a stream. Kens lake is big-rig friendly. My parents parked their toy hauler 5th wheel at a spot in the Kens Lake campground and it was a bargain compared to the RV resorts, with much more character too!