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The Wedge Overlook offers expansive views of the San Rafael River below and the Sids Mountain Wilderness Area beyond. It's wild and undeveloped landscape offers premier backcountry recreation.
Little Grand Canyon trailhead serves as the starting or ending point for those hiking through the Little Grand Canyon. The trailhead is located past the Swinging Bridge and .8 miles west of the Buckhorn Draw Rd. This hike explores the San Rafael river as it cuts through the Little Grand Canyon. This area is a popular 2-3 day backpacking trip with primitive campsites where user are required to practice leave no trace ethics. The San Rafael River should only be floated in small crafts above 200 CFS and large crafts above 500 CFS. Hikers should only attempt to hike this section when the river is below 50 CFS. The hike is approximately 18 miles with numerous river crossings required. The side canyons along the hike offer endless miles of exploring. The trailhead is located past the Swinging Bridge Campground and .8 miles west of the Buckhorn Draw Rd.
The Joe’s Valley Bouldering area offers world class bouldering opportunities with over 188 bouldering sites and 9.7 miles of social trails in the area. The campground is being developed in 2017 and will offer metal fire rings, picnic tables and camping pads.
Buckhorn Draw is a stunning canyon cut into the Navajo, Kayenta, and Wingate Sandstones. Carsonite posts mark where there are primitive campsites where lucky campers might spot bighorn sheep running across the ledges. Camping in Buckhorn Wash is limited to designated sites that are marked with camping signs. Creating new campsites is not allowed. Reservations not available. If there are no marked and designated sites available when you arrive, find another place to camp outside Buckhorn Draw (Check out the Swinging Bridge Campgrounds).
$8 - $15 / night
Buckhorn Draw is a stunning canyon cut into the Navajo, Kayenta, and Wingate Sandstones. Carsonite posts mark where there are primitive campsites where lucky campers might spot bighorn sheep running across the ledges. Camping in Buckhorn Wash is limited to designated sites that are marked with camping signs. Creating new campsites is not allowed. Reservations not available. If there are no marked and designated sites available when you arrive, find another place to camp outside Buckhorn Draw (Check out the Swinging Bridge Campgrounds).
$50 / night
Buckhorn Draw is a stunning canyon cut into the Navajo, Kayenta, and Wingate Sandstones. Carsonite posts mark where there are primitive campsites where lucky campers might spot bighorn sheep running across the ledges. Camping in Buckhorn Wash is limited to designated sites that are marked with camping signs. Creating new campsites is not allowed. Reservations not available. If there are no marked and designated sites available when you arrive, find another place to camp outside Buckhorn Draw (Check out the Swinging Bridge Campgrounds).
$50 / night
Scout
Solid dispersed camp with room for 2 or more campers. Requires solid 4x4 to get to but not technical driving to get there.
There are one or two spots to park in the final 3/4 mile descent to the trailhead offer even more amazing views (they were occupied when we arrived)
Traveler
this place has lots of spots to park, river, trails, and amazing scenery.
Traveler
We rented a van in SLC and needed a quick spot to spend the night on the way to Arches/canyon lands. This was easy to find at dusk with a clear road. LOTS of trash around. You could hear the highway a little bit but the noise wasn’t too bad. We only saw one other person who drove in and then left. There is a nice big gas station/truck stop about a mile away open 24 hours so we went there to use the bathroom and get gas. Not sure why this post calls it Canyon Road. It’s off of Consumers Road then Dump road. We did have service with T-Mobile and Verizon.
Ranger
We needed a place for the night after leaving the crazy busy area of Moab and this was the perfect spot. We will absolutely return again but with the ATVs.
There were several people camping and riding their ATVs and SXSs but when the sun went down it was quiet and so dark. The night sky is beautiful.
Pack it in and out but a perfect place for us. It had rained the day we arrived and it was not muddy and no problem getting in and out.
The road getting in has a bit of wash board so just take it slow.
Traveler
Stayed behind the rest area fairly close to the road. No one else here. Nice scenery quiet. Signs of past partying. Little bit of trash I picked up. Other than that I will stay here again.Gorgeous sunset
Guide
Nice remote site. Two bathrooms.
Traveler
About 10 minutes from Goblin Valley State Park. There’s dispersed camping all along Temple Mt Road and Goblin Valley Road. Follow any of the dirt roads to plenty of sites. We first picked a site on top of a hill but quickly realized how windy it could get so we set up camp just after turning left down Goblin Valley Road. We had the whole place to ourselves, very quiet and great views of the Milky Way. No bugs at night but as soon as the sun came up the mosquitos came out and we quickly left.
Scout
Great stop point for me driving SoCal to Boulder.
Nothing here but the aforementioned moonscape.
Arrived dusk 3Jul24 after a hasty retreat from Last Chance 8 or 10 miles west (mosquitos). Only 2 or 3 managed to track me east at highway speed!
There was no one else here, far enough from the highway.
Pulled into the giant dirt bowl, turned right and drove until front of car was slightly elevated for my sleeping position (back of a wagon).
Proceed with caution in inclement weather or you may get stuck.
ScoutArrived 3Jul24 at dusk. There is standing water marsh with a frac tank, possibly for water for the quarry above. Got out of the car to give dog a break and within one minute was scrambling back in. Drove up hill to the quarry and got out with dog....still very bad mosquitos but some breeze. Hid in the car while dog was out on a long rope for a while, covered with mosquitos. After 10 minutes I had killed most that were in the car and the ones waiting at the doors and windows were gone. I cracked the door and began pulling dog rope to get slack in and then had dog climb over me into back seat.
We drove east one Dyrt to Miller Canyon and it was AWESOME. I remember maybe 3 mosquitos there.
There are only two things I can compare this savagery to (and I am in my late 50s):
Alaska (Last Chance Rd dispersed is WORSE--However, note that when I was in AK I wasn't asking for trouble--I was indoors during mosquito hours--I am sure AK has mosquitos as bad as Last Chance if you go looking)
Canada Boundary Waters Boy Scout Canoe Base (about the same at dusk--only fools wouldn't have camp totally ready to be inside tents before mosquito hours. Mornings were fine.
Traveler
Only one site I felt comfortable pulling a 27 foot trailer but it was beautiful and I wished I could have stayed longer. Watch out for rain. The dry wash beds will flood and I’m lucky I left when I did.
Guide
This spot was a little hard to locate because it’s on trust land and the spots look like junk piles. Yuck! There was so much ammo casings on the ground it looked like a war zone. Obviously the locals use it as a shooting range and do not clean up after themselves. We went on down dump road a little bit and found a spot tucked in the canyon and out of site of the road for a little wind break and privacy. I added that location because it was not as bad. Still to much trash laying around though. I don’t understand why people can not take care of these free resources so they are not taken away.
TravelerThis spot was great. We arrived at dusk and it was still easy to find, although there was a long dirt road (about 2 miles) to get to spots marked with a campfire pit. Two or three cars drove by, but it was still secluded enough that we had no worries. We found a spot by a beautiful stream with cool water. Great stargazing. Safe!
GuideThis is trust land so you will see where a lot of people come back here to target practice. Sadly they do not clean up any of their trash. The area is nice, large and very private.
GuideLots of spots. Visited after a rain storm and dirt was dirt and not clay like others spots in the area. Trees in area will hide other campers.
TravelerFirst of all, the site is very big. It is quiet and ckean. Very little firewood, if You can- bridge your own.
GuideSpent just one night while in transit to Colorado. Lots of spots for selection. Quiet. Some good views. Spectacular sunsets. Even a double rainbow with some rain.
Guide
An easy pull off from I-70. Plenty of space. A group of RVers were there when I showed up. There was a small elevated plateau to the left that I went up (4x4) to set up camp. No bathrooms or water but an easy stop off the highway for the night. Nice views. Stars.
Guide
Many lots available from the main road all the way to the established campground. We had plenty of space for our 2 camper vans and easily accessible. There’s lots to do in the area; walking/hiking/MTB from the sites. No cell signal.
Traveler
This camping spot is a good place to stay if passing through to Salt Lake or to Moab. There is not much out here; however, the gas station before Wellington, is nice! The gas station has amazing coffee, and we discovered it has showers and laundry. The gas station also had firewood for sale out front.
The camp spot has a couple of fire rings. You can still hear the traffic, although not terribly bad. There is broken glass in the surrounding area so be aware. Avoid this spot if it is raining at all as it will give your tires a nice coat of slick mud; even an off road tire can get stuck with this kind of sticky mud!! On the upside it’s a remote camping spot, and the shrubbery offers a good wind break.
RangerFound this area on the way through and decided to stop. There are plenty of trees around for firewood, the top 2 to 4 inches of topsoil are soft, which is nice for leveling out your camping in. There’s some ready stuff on the bottom but nothing I had to put, my rig into four-wheel-drive for. Make sure you get far enough away from the highway or you will hear the road noise that never stops. There are places to camp all over throughout the area. I left early the next morning and saw four other people out and about.
GuideWe found a nice spot after turning down both BLM campgrounds. It was very windy during our visit with wind whipping down the canyon. Over all it was reasonably quiet. You are right off the road but we found that most motorcycles and UTV/ATV's were respectful and drove slow down the road. Cars (mostly small ones that should be driving off road) were driving super fast. They hit the wash dip at high rates of speed. We camped .9 miles past the first BLM pay campground and before the second BLM campground.
GuideThis is a gravel lot. Despite the prior review stating $7.50 for passes. This is not true. No discounts at all. So $15/night for an open gravel lot. Fire ring and pit toilets only. No thanks.
TravelerLarge flat area with quite a few short trees scattered around. Great jumping off point to visit San Rafael swell.
Guide
San Rafael Swell is a large area full of dirt roads, trails, and camping and Lone Warrior Canyon Camp is one of many great locations. This specific location has more space than it seems at first. There are campsites and pull offs in the trees and in the alcoves of the rock. Given that there weren’t any reviews for this spot yet, I expected to be the only one there. It is 12 miles down a dirt road that intersects many other dirt roads. However, there must have been an event of some sort because it was packed. Even so, I still had my own space and wasn’t crowded.
Camping There are a ton of pull offs. Most are side roads like driveways to areas that have a lot of space. One area had 3 campers over 30’ each and several trucks and ATVs - a lot of the areas are like that. So you can come out and set up a city, basically, which would be admittedly awesome. It is a bit crowded (I stayed mid-April on a Wed-Thu) but there is enough space to spread out. I would have stopped earlier but I wanted to come to the exact point listed here to give a good idea of what you’d find if you followed those coordinates. It’s deceptively remote. There are sections of the road/trail that are maybe 400m from I-70 but there is “no access” from the dirt roads to the interstate. Not legal ones anyway. So it’s about 12 miles to this campsite on the dirt road then when you get to I-70, it’s about 45 miles to the next town and it isn’t a big one. Thus it may feel like you’re right there in site of civilization, but you aren’t. Civilization may come to you, though. I chose to just pull off on the side of an unused loop of trail because all the alcoves and treed areas around this location were packed with tents, trailers, and vehicles. Those big adventure tents - one even had a 20’ flag pole. I think it was a waypoint for a trip, I don’t know if this is the norm.
The Approach and Ace Test I used exit 131 Temple Rock/Sinbad Rd which go well together, it would seem. Pavement gives way to gravel gives way to sand at the very end. It is mostly dirt/gravel road and definitely passes the Ace test (for those who don’t know, Ace was my VW Jetta (2wd sedan) that I often took overland). There are some blind hills and a lot of cattle so don’t be mislead by the easy road and fly down it. Speed limit is posted 25 and I’d stick to that. If you follow the coordinates on here, the last probably 400m is deep sand and I would not attempt that unless you have clearance. You may not need 4x4, but definitely clearance. NOT Ace friendly. There is a good parking space at the turn before the final approach, so you could park there and walk the last bit and set up camp in the trees. That would be better for the wind and sand anyway. If it’s raining, then I’d stay away from this area - at least this last 400m stretch - without 4x4 and a friend to pull you out with their vehicle or get covered in mud helping push and dig. Makes for a good story either way.
Activities Hiking is great around this iconic rock. Not hard to get to, as I’ve mentioned, but it’s a process. The people you meet on the rock and have earned the right to share with you so no huffing that it’s crowded or that you’re “in their space.” Y’all know who I’m talking about. So, there must have been a convention because in the space under the rock and the alcove next to it were more than 20 4x4 vehicles. I saw some markers on the way in so it might be this was a waypoint for over landing. Which is awesome. Just caught me off guard as there weren’t any reviews for this spot and it’s pretty full today. Other than hiking, it’s great for photography. Spires and rock formations everywhere.
Weather Mid-April the weather was good. 75 during the day and about 55 at night. It was pretty gusty when I was there which would have been great except that the sand all around the camp is what we call “moon dust” which puffs out and up to your knees just walking through it let alone gusts of wind throwing it around. If you don’t have dust in your car/gear yet, you will - and there’s nothing you can do about. So embrace it and enjoy the extra texture in your food and exfoliating effect on your skin.
Cell service Said I had 1 bar Verizon LTE but could not send iMessages. Can’t access anything so make sure you do your research before you come because you can’t do it out here. I have a Garmin I use to text - mainly for updates on campsite coordinates to my safety people as well as emergency stuff. Water No water, creek dry
Guide
Stopped here for a quick overnight stay. There's a trail out to a petroglyph site which was really neat. We hiked out in the morning and didn't encounter anyone else. The gravel road to the parking area is really smooth. You can camp in the gravel lot but there's also a few different dirt roads that presumably lead to other sites. We stayed at one right off the main parking area and it was quite nice. Pretty level and good cell service with Verizon.
ScoutDispersed BLM good for boondocking one night while traveling. Small Class C, just watch your approach.
ScoutLarge campsite/pullout on the side if the road, the road in was a oittle rough but any adventure van or RV with a confident driver should be fine. Good stop between Moab and SLC.
Discover the beauty of dispersed camping near Cleveland, Utah, where you can immerse yourself in nature without the constraints of traditional campgrounds. With stunning landscapes and a variety of outdoor activities, this area is perfect for those seeking adventure and tranquility.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular dispersed campsite near Cleveland, UT?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular dispersed campground near Cleveland, UT is Wedge Overlook with a 4.5-star rating from 21 reviews.
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TheDyrt.com has all 46 dispersed camping locations near Cleveland, UT, with real photos and reviews from campers.
