Wingate Campground — Dead Horse Point State Park

I had the opportunity to stay at the brand new Dead Horse Point State Park Windgate Campground. The campground opened in 2018 and it showed. It was clean, convenient and offered great views.

We were using the campground as a basecamp to visit a number of the parks in the area. It is a 20 minute drive to Arches National Park, 20 minutes to Islands in the Sky District of Canyonlands NP and a 2 hour drive to The Needles District of Canyonlands NP.

We stayed in the tent walk in sites. The reality is that each of the walk in sites is no further than a 100 foot walk. There were parking spaces located next to the restroom facilities and the campsite was within easy walking distance. Many of the other campsites had room for tents or RVs and were drive up sites. Each of the campsites had a tent pad, shelter with two walls, picnic table and a campfire pit with a grill. We experienced a cold front which brought strong winds, rain and cold temperatures so the shelter came in handy. I'm guessing that in the summer, the shelter offers valuable shade from the sun. There were Yurts available to rent.

The restrooms were the cleanest restrooms at a campground that I've ever seen. Each restroom offered sinks and toilets, but no showers. There are no showers in the park. There was an outdoor sink that could be used for cleaning dishes.

Beyond the campsites, the Dead Horse Point State Park offers some well manicured hiking trails with some spectacular views. Go straight to the Dead Horse Point Overlook to see the iconic view of the Colorado River bend like a horseshoe. There are a number of other scenic overlooks along the road that passes through the park.

The park office has an educational center and a store. The store sells souvenirs and basic supplies, but the prices were a bit high. You'll find grocery stores and outfitters 20 minutes away in Moab. There was a food truck cafe parked near to the park office, but it was never open during our stay.

Dead Horse Point SP Windgate Campground + Clean + Convenient + Great Views

Dead Horse Point has a new section called Wingate. The older section is Kayenta.

Wingate has wide asphalt spaces, electricity, fire rings, tent pads and picnic tables with wind blocks on 2 sides. There are very few trees...so no shade. (Kayenta has greater shade possibilities.) There may also be some sewer hookups.

Another feature - walk-in tent sites and yurts. There are 4 great looking yurts in Wingate and 5 others near the park's Visitor Center.

Bathrooms - they are private and include an automatic flush toilet, soap dispenser, automatic faucet and hand dryer. No showers but the bathrooms are very nice.

There is a dishwashing sink outside the bathroom. It appears the water is potable but they ask you to arrive with water and help conserve water. Their water is trucked in from Moab....per reserveamerica.com.

Brand new Wingate area, comfortable but no shade

Views, thunderstorms, awesome visitors center, mountain bike trails, continuous changing landscapes, flush toilets, people with way nicer camping gear than us, but no showers. Oh, and an awesome old story to boot. Great place to watch a storm from your shade structure. A truly unique place to take in the best of nature’s bipolar mood swings. 

Kickin’ it at Dead Horse

We arrived in the dark at 10:30pm on July 16th, 2018. 

We had a 3 day stay planned and were arriving very late. Some road construction prior to the 22 mile entrance road slowed us a bit adding an additional 30 minutes to our drive. You'll climb ~1600 feet over the 22 miles making the climb into the park an easy one. The park sits at 6200 feet and with that altitude you'll need to both hydrate well and be aware that you might feel some fatigue after a day or two. Summer is when all the construction is happening so plan accordingly (we ran into this several times). At the new Wingate Campground we stayed in, the place was all new for this season - we might have been the first ever to stay in that site. 

There are both flush toilets and pit toilets. As water is non-existent there, no water hookups are available. You must come with your own drinking water. There are sinks in the facilities but only for hand washing and no water filling of anything. Each site has a nice concrete covered area for the aluminum picnic table which is really needed for the harsh sun, which hits hard in the afternoon during the summer. Fires were not allowed due to high fire danger at the time (our fire pit has never been used). Firewood is available when fires are permitted but they bring it in from afar as there are no real trees either.

There are natural cactus everywhere which help protect the very delicate soil. Unlike campgrounds everywhere else, always stay to the paths.

The views, sunrise, and sunset are amazing from the site or from just down the road at the overlook. On the first morning I was greeted with the bright glow of red when I stepped from our trailer, it was breathtaking. 

The visitor center is just a few hundred yards back down the road and worth spending an hour or so, reading about the area, preservation work, and history.  As with all the national parks, they have a gift shop where you can get all types of things for your adventure including walking sticks, bandanas, water bottles, hats, patches, maps, books, and National Park Passports to name a few. There's also a coffee/food vendor located in the parking lot which is a nice treat. 

I highly recommend spending time at this location but would suggest either Springtime or better yet, Fall for your outing when the temperatures remain under 90.

Beautiful, Quiet, and Eye Opening.

Why anyone visiting arches and canyonland/Moab would choose to stay here is beyond me! I booked this campground based on raving reviews and recommendations. First this campground is double the price of campgrounds in town that have showers, pools, WiFi, all amenities, dead horse has no showers, as a tent camper you are not allowed to park next to your site, supposedly you get a 5.00  credit for this inconvenience. The site and park are nice and clean, with beautiful views. The sites have a two sided structure that houses the picnic table. Beware of the sand and mosquitoes. I included a picture of the yurts they rent, we didn’t stay in those, we tent camped. Some people said it was close to Moab, it’s about 45 minutes away from Moab and arches!

Dead horse point state park, July, 2019

Best campground I’ve ever been to. I would actually prefer the campground to Arches on many days.  Fire pits, electricity. Best off if you have A/C or some way to keep cool. It gets hot during the day. It cools down enough at night, but pretty late. There were awesome trails all along the rim of a canyon with cairns to tell you where the trail was. This campground was so amazing that my kids were not really that interested at the Grand Canyon. They could walk safely along the rim without crowds. It’s at the edge outside of Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands. It looked like it would have been a good base for 4WD trips, too. I cannot put I to words how awesome this was. Really could have just moved in and stayed there. 

Great Arches/ Canyonlands camp

Very clean site! Sturdy , 2 walled shelter with picnic table, nice fire pit. Vault toilets at parking lot (we were the first walk-in) about 30 yards away. The morning sun is super hot and bright so you may want a shade of some sort. The shelter blocks the evening sun. The camp hosts are super friendly. A sink with water for dish washing and flushing toilets are right at the loop entrance. Bring lots of water and ice in summer, it’s HOT! The nights were cool but once the sun came up it got hot! We visited Moab , Canyonlands, and Arches. Get to Arches at sunrise. Dead horse point is beautiful, go in the early am or evening.

Windgate loop #34

We stayed at the Wingate campground in Dead Horse Point State Park. We loved the proximity to the Rim Trail and the Schafer Canyon, minutes of waking from our walk-in tentsite, but that was often overshadowed by the stench of the vault toilets closest to those walk in sites. all the other areas of the campground had a flush toilet facility but our closest one emitted a smell that sometimes permeated our site and always stunk while we were at the car right next to it. Once you got inside the toilet stall, the smell was no longer an issue, but outside it was awful. The campground is accessible with a fairly short drive to Arches National Park.

Walk In Tent sites were in a great location but you could smell the toilet 

Dead Horse Point State Park has two clean campgrounds to choose from -Kayenta and Wingate. Neither one has necessarily had better views than the other one but we stayed in Kayenta. Shorts walks from either one will get you on the trail to many different lookout points and ultimately to Dead Horse Point, a view that overlooks the Colorado River. We watched the sunset from there. We didn’t use the facilities so can’t comment on those. 

Beautiful Views

We stayed here while visit Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. This setup is very nice with a great covered picnic table and grill, with a fire ring right next to it. Had a locker for supplies and a nice big pad for our tent. The bath facilities are extremely clean and the only thing missing is showers. The visitors center was great and staff was super friendly. The park itself is beautiful, and the sunsets and being out of Moab to see the Milkyway at night was amazing. 

One of the nicest State Park campgrounds around 

We stayed in the tent only Wingate spot #36. About 150yd hike in from parking spot. The actual campsite was excellent. Secluded and tucked into some trees with privacy from other sites. The tent pad fit two 4-person tents, with space off the pad for another one. 

Only negative was by the tent only sites there was only vault toilets. The room was very clean but the ventilation was poor and the toilets was swarming with flies and was unusable (they would attack you going to the bathroom—traumatizing). Had to walk 300yds to use the flush toilets by the RV sites, which were great. 

This campground was a close drive  to Dead Horse Point overlook which is great for sunset. Easy quick drive to Canyonlands and Arches too. 

Great park and campsite — bad vault bathrooms

We wanted a camping experience along our girls’ road trip without having to pack all the camping gear. The Wingate yurts were and are fantastic. They are perfectly appointed, clean, A/C is included, the mattresses are comfortable, there is a firepit and propane BBQ. The restrooms are nearby, they are extremely clean (plenty of toilet paper and hand soap), and have water/dish washing areas. No showers. It is a short hike on a trail from the yurts to Dead Horse point overlook. There is a store in the campground and the ranger station sells firewood. We utilized the site as home base to many attractions. Nearby is Moab, Arches, Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands, and more.

Can’t Wait To Return 

This is where I camped my last trip of the season, now I’m back for my first trip!  
Lovely campground.  Asphalt pads, that are level.  If you’re just tent camping, you’ll see a spot for tents behind my camper.  Each site has a fire ring and a covered picnic table.  
The spotless bathrooms have flushing toilets and sinks with soap to wash your hands.  
You’re up on a Mesa here.  The stars are great...no light pollution here.  Moab is about 26 miles away.  Island in The Sky, part of Canyonlands NP, is 4 miles away.  
I highly recommend this campsite!  Bring lots of water, as it has to be trucked in from Moab.

Wonderful camp ground !

My favorite camping trip ever! I think it eats the Grand Canyon-no helicopters or crowds. 

Stunning

Just beautiful...short drive NW of Moab...threat ride up , went in Feb. only one other vehicle...the views are redixulous, go for Sunrise if able...

Magical

We stayed here for one night. The starry night was breath taking. Bathrooms on site. Very quiet, family friendly. Sunrise was perfect. 

Quiet, Dark Skies, Peaceful

Very clean and well maintained campground. Spaces are not squished together and lots of bathrooms (both pit and flush). Deserted in winter ❤️

Gorgeous views!

Spectacular views, well kept campgrounds.  Amazing rim hikes.  Just outside Canyonlands National Park, if you can snag a spot...well worth making this your basecamp.

Quintessential Utah Camping

DID U CAMP NEAR LA SAL LOOP 8/12-8/16/21?? Did you hear or see anything?? Please review videos, pics, go pro’s 38.507019, -109.341093 (their campsite) Thank u! 




DOUBLE HOMICIDE 8/14 11:35 AM!! Broad Daylight!!!

We love a little rustic at our campgrounds that make us feel like boondocking (with power), and this was it! Our 42 foot fifth wheel fit great, the wind breaker around the picnic table was perfect, and my son couldn't stop riding his bike in circles around the campground. You're in the state park, just minutes from the Visitor Center and the iconic Dead Horse Point overlook. Hit one of the trails from the campground, and find a canyon's edge of the west rim. We loved it here.

Incredible place to stay!

Clean, quiet, and gorgeous views. Easy to access. The stars were amazing! Highly recommend staying here! 

Amazing

This state park is a great alternative if you have dogs. The views are essentially the same as canyon lands but less crowds highly recommend!

Awesome!

No water. But the views at the park make up for it. 