Best Tent Camping near Bonanza, UT

I have been camping here for about 30 years and I'm only 30 years old. My family and our camp friends have been going here, year after year, for the great camp sites, fun hiking and most of all, the sublime waterskiing. To keep it fairly brief, the camp sites are mainly situated around a large, open, slightly uneven grass area which is great for tent camping and day activities (volleyball, frisbee, catch, BBQing.) Not much shade from the smaller trees but there are shaded picnic tables for each site. Around that are the RV sites with full hookups. The surrounding tent sites are in a more desert like, sandy area where I haven't spent much camp time. The bathrooms are usually clean and in good working order with running water, but nothing fancy (no showers.) The lake has a plethora of awesome acitivites including boating, kayaking, canoeing, swimming, cliff jumping, fishing and does provide some rentals. We usually try to go during the week as it does get quite busy/crowded on weekends.

I love camping at Red Fleet State Park for so many reasons. Surrounded by beautiful red rock and pinion pines, the beauty of the desert will take your breath away. There are fossilized dinosaur tracks in the rocks across the lake, and beautiful hiking trails for you to enjoy. One of my favorite things to do every year is to camp there during Paddlefest. They close down the lake to all motorized vehicles, so that people can enjoy paddle boarding, kayaking, and all other forms of non motorized floating. Live music, vendors, and so much more! The camp spots are limited during this time, so you must reserve quickly. All camp spots have a fire ring and covered picnic table. Some of the tent camp sites have trails down to the lake. There are also two teepees you can rent!

It's a nice little Kim spot about 9 miles from the dinosaur national monument visitor center Utah side. There's a lot of chipmunks and if you have allergies cottonwood trees. Also the ground not to level so for tent camping it's takes a little bit to find a spot to lay your tent. just a few minutes up the road there split mountain which is for group Canton so there's more white out spaces for Tent's but you also sacrifice to tree cover on hot days.

If you are tent camping, this is a great little spot that’s inexpensive and very peaceful and beautiful. Everyone we met here was friendly and respectful. Good place to camp if you are going to Dinosaur National Monument or rafting down the river.

I absolutely love Red Fleet. We stay here any time we are visiting Vernal. Hands down my favorite place. Clean, quiet, boat launch, fish cleaning station, and just beautiful primitive walk up sites. They also have RV parking with full hookups. Tent camping is 15.00 per night.

Red Fleet offers RV sites, tent sites, and even has a couple teepees you can also rent out and stay in. Short walk to the lake. Bathroom facilities with running water. Grassed area with covered picnic tables. Host to the annual DinoTri and also Paddle Fest.

Red Fleet is a very accessible campground. There are several large RV spots with full hookups (30amp, one handicapped spot with 50amp) in addition to tent camping. Boat ramp down to reservoir. Sandy beach and hiking trails. Large parking lot for cars/boats. Dumpster, bathrooms, water hookups, and very fast WiFi (available for $3/day). $25/night for hookup spots, $15/night for regular spot. Pets allowed but must be on leash.

This spot is for OHV parking. There’s a fire ring and we parked to the left of it so we didn’t interfere with parking. There’s 5 sites up the OHV trail that we saw. It was muddy so we weren’t comfortable towing our 19’ rig up the trail. We took our 4 runner up the trail and didn’t need 4wd. If dry, you could tow your small camper in if high clearance. There’s a bit of a rise to get from the road to the grass. Sites are perfect for tent camping.

Was surprised how packed in the RV trailer sites are, they have to back into a spot on pavement between parking lines, right next to each other, the tables and grass areas are behind each parking spot. Tent sites are better since they can walk in and space out a bit. I would never camp here with an RV/TT...it looks like at a Walmart or a casino between the white lines.

This is a great recreation area close to the town of Vernal, about 5 miles out. There is a lake for fishing, swimming and water sports. There is a nice beach with pavilions and picnic sites. The campground has full hook up spots, Electrical, a cabin you can rent and tent sites. There is a great group site that gives you access to the water and has a covered pavilion. There are many walking trails and atv trails accessible from this campground.

Red Fleet is an awesome lake for water sports. The campground is nice. The RV parking and hook ups are actually in the parking lot, but there is a nice green open space with tables that are assigned to each site. The tent camping is a little more primitive along a windy trail in the cedars, also with nice picnic tables. There is a beach area with a floating dock to swim out to. They rent kayaks, paddle boards and canoes. The bathrooms are clean and well kept. There is a boat launch and dock & fish cleaning station. Numerous trails surround the park for hiking, including the Dinosaur track trail where you can actually see dinosaur tracks in the sandstone rock.

Red Fleet Holds its annual Paddle Fest every year around this time. Because camping space is very limited our friends and family went and waited in line bright and early to get spots. At Paddle Fest they shut down the lake to all motorized water craft. This allows for kayakers, paddle boards, canoes, and swimmers to be in the water safely. They set up a giant slip n slide on the boat dock and bring in vendors where you'd normally park after launching boats. They also set up a concert stage and have fireworks at night. Red fleet has 2 bathroom facilities. Tent and RV camp sites with no hookups. They have a fish cleaning station for your daily catches. There is a large area with grass, covered picnic tables, fire pits, and bbq's. Each RV site comes with a tent site on that grass. RV sites are very close together so if someones running a generator you will be hearing it. Fishing is off and on as they killed out the lake a couple years ago and replanted smaller fish into it.

This camp ground is one of the best spots that I ever spent a night at. The scenery is breathtaking, it is very remote and absolutely silent. There is literally no noise whatsoever.

Downside of course is, it is not serviced. So no electricity or water if you are traveling with a motor home. Plus, the camp site is basically only walk-in and mostly designated for tents. With a RV, you will park at some sort of parking lot, close to the actual sites but not really there. That lot is also not big, so if there are a couple more people, it might be hard to find a decent spot for a vehicle. Also you wont have a table right at your spot, since only the tent sites have adjacent tables. However, if nobody is there, you might be able to park right at the river front, which is stunning!

Other than that, and if you are lucky like me - I have been totally alone, it is very, very beatiful. Particularly in October when the trees are all colored in yellow.

This is a great lil campground although I feel like they tried to cram alot of campsites right on top of each other. All sites have picnic tables and firepits with a grill. Its kinda a dry vegetation in the park mostly sage brush and junipers, Some bigger shadier trees towards the lake but you better book those way in advance cause they fill up fast. They have small sites, tent sites, many large pull through sites, and even one small cabin. I did notice 3 bathroom facilities in spread throughout the park though and water spigots throughout. They have recently built a nature trail that runs from the side of the lake around to the front of it so thats a nice lil jont. They do also offer one group site that has a pavilion. This campground is not for anyone that doesnt like to be seen cause most likely you'll have a neighbor right next to you, above you, or below you.

We arrived mid-October, when sites are first-come first-served and the fall foliage absolutely beautiful. Only two loops were open and a good number of sites, including all the riverside ones, were taken. We drove around twice before noticing the absolute gem of a spot A10. Perfect secluded very slight walk-in tent site amidst otherwise packed together sites clearly designed for RVs. There was maybe a 10 or 15 foot walk to a beautiful clearing.

Some rain blew in just as the sun was setting, but the skies opened up a bit later and were absolutely stunning. A true dark sky for real stargazing. It was chilly at night and Jack Frost visited, leaving a beautiful glisten for the morning.

We left to do the scenic drive and spot Petroglyphs. Everything was dried by the warm fall sun by the time we came back around 10am to pack up. We then hit the dinosaur quarry which was SO COOL!

Right next to A10 is the Riverside trail. It's a short walk to a flush toilet with warm water. Always a plus when fall camping!

Green River Campground is located inside Dinosaur National Monument - on the ‘Quarry side’ of the park, in Utah. It is a short drive from the vistitors center and quarry, and is next to the Green River.

BEWARE: We trusted Siri's directions, and she steered us in the wrong direction - she sent us across the Colorado border and to the ‘Canyon side’ of the park. We saw a sign reading DNM, and passed a visitors center, so we figured we were in the right place - we should have stopped at the visitors center, we may have saved ourselves from getting a little lost. After driving 15 miles or so we came to a stopping point - you needed a 4 wheel drive vehicle to continue down a couple of the roads. There was a sign post with a map, but the Green River Campground was nowhere to be seen. Since we didn’t have 4WD we figured the campground was not accessible through the roads within the park, so we had to backtrack back to highway 40 towards Utah to the Quarry side. Lesson learned - follow the directions on the park's website, NOT SIRI!

If you have an easy-up or some sort of shade canopy, I highly suggest bringing it with you when you are camping in this part of Utah! As stadard for the area, most of the campsites do not have much in the way of shade. We camped this past July, and it was extremely hot for most of the day and well into the evening. There were a couple sparse trees in our site, but they did not provide any shade. We tried to rig up a shade canopy with an extra tarp, but there wasn't much to tie it to, nor did we have much rope.

Warning: The area does have black bears, but there were no bear bins in the campground, so you have to lock all of your food and toiletries in the car at night. There are bear-proof dumpsters for trash and recycling though. I was once told by a ranger in Yosemite NP that bears can recognize coolers when peering into car windows - he suggested putting put a towel and gear over your coolers when keeping them in the car overnight in bear territory.

The bathrooms were clean - no showers are available, though.

There were not any water spigets around by the sites, but there was a faucet outside the rest rooms for dish washing and water bottles.

The fire pit had a very nice cooking grate - we always bring a small collapsable grate in case the fire ring doesn’t have one, but no need to use it this time!

It got very windy during the day, and after coming back from a hike we found our tent blown over, despite having staked it down. Stake your tents down well!

We only saw one scorpion in our site for the two nights we stayed - one crawled up by the fire ring and hung out with us next to the camp fire. He was small. I would still suggest always zipping up your tent completely every time you open and close it, and to check your shoes if you leave them outside!

Some sites in Green River are "riverside," but are not directly next to the river - perhaps 30 yards away. We walked down to the river - we did not see any true trails to the river, but we didn't take the time to look around. The river and surrounding moutainous region was beautiful, and the cold water was a great way to cool off after a hike in the heat.

I was able to get some cell service down in the campground, but it was definitely better up near the visitors center.

Green River Campground is a great basecamp for those wishing to explore Dinosaur National Monument! Bring lots of water - it is HOT in the summer! We chose to get up early to hike and beat the heat - afterwards we packed up lunch and drove over to Josie Morris cabin. The Josie Morris cabin is an interesting historical site - what one women accomplished out in the middle of nowhere was impressive! Josie planted a lot of trees on her land, so there is a nice shady lawn with picnic benches and a view - it was the perfect lunch spot! The petroglyphs around the park are a must see, as is the quarry exhibit hall!

CAMPSITE SPECS

Fees: $18/night

Plumbed Toilets: Yes

Drinking Water: Yes

Showers: NO

Picnic Table: Yes

Firepit: Yes

Cooking Grates: Yes

Shade: Limited!

Cell Service: Limited

Animals Bins/Food Lockers: NO

Trash: Yes

I contacted the campground and was told if I got there by 1pm on Thursday I could probably get a site for the weekend.  So we got there at 1 and had a huge choice of spots.  We stayed in spot 72 which was great!  There was sun in the morning but all afternoon and evening there was shade.  There were large trees and plenty of space for kids and 2 dogs.  We fit a large tent plus a truck tent.  Enjoyed the camp hosts as well. I would not recommend staying in the A's as there was hardly any shade.  We had people battling for our spot when we left on Saturday.

Also enjoyed having clean bathrooms with running water! No showers though.

Accidentally ended up here due to GPS but really liked the campsites and people here. True that it’s more for tents, but there are pull thrus. No hookups, but clean bathrooms and only $20 a night.

Hot in the summer but campground has great ranger programs, relatively clean bathrooms, and awesome spots on the Green River. Close to the Dinosaur Quarry (also awesome). Throw a tarp down under your tent... It helps with the dust at this one!