Great Western Trail Dispersed

Upon entering Bryce National Park last year we discovered all of the campgrounds were full. We decided to ask a park ranger where else we could camp, he handed us a map (in the pictures) and sent us on our way. About 5-10 minutes outside of the park there is a series of dirt roads on the left hand side that offers free dispersed camping. Forest road 090 or 1173, the main road in the area is called The Great Western Trail.

The spots here are your typical dispersed camping, with no official marking for sites. No picnic tables or restrooms and there a no fire rings. We found a nice clearing with a rock fire ring already made. While driving down the dirt road we did see a few RV's and trailers, i would say you could comfortably take any vehicle down this way to spend a night camping. The road was fairly well maintained, a few bumps and holes along the way but nothing major. Id say all in all we drove about 10 or 15 minutes to find a camp spot.

The distance back to the National Park was about 10-15 minutes from our camp spot, well worth it to stay outside the park and save some money as well as have a nice quiet and private area. The directions we were given by the park ranger had us take an immediate left after the Bryce Canyon NP sign onto rd 090\. We eventually found a spot about a mile or so down that area.

Note on the map, if you follow road 087 down towards the reservoir, the Park Service recommends this as the best place to view wildlife before dusk. Next time you are down in the area, try out these spots. You will not be disappointed.

Little Known Free Spot outside of Bryce NP

Due to fire restrictions, you need to drive 1173 or other older interstate dirt roads to find eligible camping areas. We found a great one about 50 yards back from the dirt road and stayed for two nights. It made getting to Bryce Canyon very easy, and we were even able to make a small fire pit to stay warm as we chilled in the evening. Definitely recommend staying along this trail for your visit to Bryce! Big love

Secluded woodsy campsite

You do have to drive back a little ways (see map) but quite a few spots of varying sizes, pretty spread apart. There were a handful of other people there. There are parts of the road that require 4wd further back but otherwise not a bad drive down a dirt road, leading to nice tree covered, spaced dispersed camping! 

Lovely spot, so close to Bryce!

This area is correctly called Dave's Hollow. There is a camping closure but it is close to the border of Bryce NP.  The rest of this area including FS Rd #088 and FS Rd #103 are still open to dispersed camping.  The corral area right at the beginning of Rd 088 does have no camping signs but that is only for the corral area. Past the corral there are many good camping sites open. The camping restrictions starts at mile 2.2 on FS road #088, the camping closure on FS Rd #103 starts at mile 1.2.  everything before that is open to camping, limited to 16 days.  No water, tables, trash.  Good cell signal however.  See photos of the FS closure map and my screenshot of the area showing obvious camp sites and the camping closure signs are noted as a red diamond.  Note that FS Rd #103 is much better to use than FS Rd 088.  Roads are native dirt little gravel and can be rough and rutted so beware in wet conditions.

Dave's Hollow Dispersed is NOT closed

Lots of space for dispersed camping. Lots of trees for setting up a hammock. Sprint/t-mobile get good service here. 

Short drive from Bryce canyon city and the park!

Cold in April. Went to bed at 34°F and woke up at 19°F so be prepared.

Great and close to Bryce Canyon National Park! Has cell service!

There are about 8 - 10 camp sites along a 2 mile or so stretch of road. Our site was about a mile in. Got 5G service with Verizon! It’s located 15ish mins from Bryce Canyon National Park and 10 Mins from Red Canyon. Highly recommend! 

Hidden Gem

Many parking sites to camp! Enjoy the silence in the woods. No amenities. Drive carefully. Sometimes deers are crossing. 

Quiet place to sleep

We followed the route given just past a U.S. Forestry camp, and noticed sites spread out along the road pretty far apart from each other. We kept going until we found one that we preferred. It’s nestled in the pines but still feels wide open. It’s totally silent other than the wind in the trees. We have a Mercedes Sprinter 170” with just 2 wheel drive and made it just fine. 

Restful Pines

This area is located minutes from Bryce Canyon. Great access point for the national park. Zion is an hours drive. Escalante Staircase less than an hour.

Great location 

the most beautiful blm land i have stayed on! gorgeous views, highly recommend! you need a 4WD to reach the camping section. i was able to drive my 2WD sedan but it bottomed out the whole way. you will not be able to drive if it is wet or raining. 

beautiful

There are ‘no overnight camping’ signs in the very beginning, but past that there are huge camping spots. If you keep going down the road, it opens up more into a field and there are spots on the sides as well. About 20 minutes from Bryce Canyon trails!

Perfect!

The forest road 2367 was passable using a rear driven SUV when dry but judge from pictures if you can make it. 
After negotiating the rough bit there are 3 established spots, some shaded, and a 4th but only accessible with a 4x4. If you can’t make it, there are spots earlier coming from hwy 12, as well as later if you continue on the dirt road towards Bryce Canyon City.

This is a great location for Red Canyon as well as Bryce Canyon trips, the Tropic Reservoir is also short drive away. If you’re visiting in summer, there’s also Dark Ranger observatory 5min away.

Great location for local hiking

Great place for overnight camping. There was a fire place. Beautiful view!

Great Spot but freezing cold at night

A lovely flat spot with established fire pit. Quiet, even with hunters coming through, could hear cows and coyotes, great for stargazing. Only drawback it was super cold! 