McCoy Flats MTB Trailhead

Well off the beaten path. Nearest boondocking neighbor is over a mile away. Good att coverage

Very quiet, not a lot of other campers

3 bars verizon

Lots of mountain bikers

Amazing spot to relax and take in the views of the mountains and valleys in the distance.

Had a great stay at McCoy Flats, there were plenty of spaces to pull off the road and a few developed BLM sites, with vault toilets spread out regularly along the road. Will definitely go back!

Love McCoy Flats! Totally free dispersed camping, so crawl off in there and set up wherever your heart desires and your vehicle allows. Fantastic sunsets and spots to accommodate any vehicle with or without 4wd.

One of the best spots I have found for full time RV/Van life. Extremely quite with amazing sunsets. Full service on AT&T and Verizon. The town of Vernal is close by with a Walmart less tan 10-15 minutes.

Highly recommended!

This place was awesome. I stayed for 4 nights & had the place to myself for 3 nights. There’s 3 miles of road you can disperse camp off of. If you drive 1.5 miles in, thought toilets were added in a really nice area on your left. I stayed there and there was ample room for 10+ rigs & lots of privacy. You can keep going to the bike trailhead and stay too. There’s no water or trash. There’s small trash bags in the toilets but would not recommend that being your main source of disposal. Area is 15 minutes from town, which has it all! If you need a shower, you can go to the community center and it’s only $1.50 for hot showers. Felt safe here and deafly would stay again. Had a fantastic AT&T service and the stargazing was unreal. During my last night, I did have some rodents try to get underneath of my hood so if you’re going to be staying stationary for multiple nights, be aware.

Wide open BLM area 3 miles from Hwy but paved (potholes!) into the TH. Vault toilet but no water, trash or designated campsites. Cell signal is very good on all carriers. Camping seems to be mostly around the TH corrals area. Note there is an extensive network of nonmotorized Mtb singletrack trails in this area, and there does not seem to be any restrictions on e-mtb bikes. Could be hot and windy as no trees or shade here!

UPDATE 2022 BLM has added two more vault toilets in this area besides the original main TH.

Future plans are for a developed BLM CG with fees but dispersed camping would still be allowed outside a set distance (1/2 mile?) radius from any future CG.

Ranger Review: INNO INH120 2-Tray Bike Rack at the McCoy Flats Dispersed Camping

Campground Review: This type of camping is my jam…not crowded, primitive and scenic, and free. The only reason why it is getting 4-stars is because of the wind…not so much my jam. It did die down overnight but then it picked up again the next afternoon. McCoy Flats is located about 6 miles southwest of Vernal, UT and you stay here for the proximity to amazing mountain bike trails. This trail system boasts 46 miles and 15 trials for all skill levels. If you are a mountain biker, this area is not to be missed. The camping, therefore, is dispersed along the main road from the designated trailhead. The main road is paved then you can pull of and set up camp along any unpaved spur road. It is primitive camping…whatever you bring with you is what you have. When you are done, don’t be that guy, and pack out your trash. The area is wide open but is susceptible to wind, which makes this a great area for vans, RVs or trailers. But if there is no wind, tents are awesome. You are also in the high desert plain, so watch for snakes. Because you are within the trail system, you can set up camp close to a trail and not have to move your vehicle, which is nice. The other nice thing about this area is a forest service pit toilet at the trailhead. So if digging a cat hole is not your thing, there is a toilet accessible. Overall, this area is going to become one of our regular haunts not only for the scenery but the trails.

Gear Review: Since we were visiting McCoy Flats, I figured this would be the best time to test out the INNO INH 120 2-tray bike rack and as a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get the opportunity test out gear from their awesome partners from time to time.. The popularity of tray racks have grown over the past few years and this rack clearly demonstrates why. It was super easy to put together right out of the box. It fits both 2” and 1.25” hitches securely so you don’t have to purchase converters which extend the rack out further. It fit our two fatter tire bikes (3” tires) with ease and the grooved channel in the tray would easily fit the skinny road bikes as well. Plus, it can adjust to different size bikes (i.e. kid sizes). 

Sure, it can fit a lot of bikes, but how secure is it? One word…AMAZING! Each tray has two arms which secure over the tires so both the front and back tires are secured. The bikes have very little movement when loaded (any movement detected is normal from the rack in the hitch or due to the car hitting a bump) and the bikes don’t touch each other. This prevents any scratching or potential damage while in transport. The latching mechanisms are durable and easy to tighten/loosen, making loading and unloading super easy. We have had this rack on our car for the past week and due to the ease of use my husband has gone riding every day. When not in use, the rack folds up easily and sleekly (it does not stick out obnoxiously from the back of the car).

Three things I want to warn about. 1) If you are at risk of scraping your car when going over a bump or down a curb, you will definitely scratch with the hitch on. Higher clearance vehicles won’t have any issue, but a car may risk some loud scrapes. The hitch seems to be taking them well, though. One benefit is the trays are slightly tiered, so if you do scrape, you scrape the area where the rack goes into the hitch and not the trays. 2) Be sure to load and secure your bikes with fully pumped tires. While this may be a no-brainer for some, we caught this before heading home. As mentioned, it secures your bike by the tires, so if your tires are low, it may not be as secure. 3) While the rack is metal, it does have plastic coverings and the plastic covering the area between the hitch and the rack has already started to crack along seams. This may be due to the scrapes from bottoming out or perhaps it is designed to come apart as I can push it back together, but in any case it has no impact on the performance of the rack, so I am not too worried about it. 

Overall, the INNO INH 120 is an amazing bike rack and well worth the investment for anyone who is or wants to ability to easily pack up for a ride. I don’t think I will ever own a prong bike rack again.