Best Dispersed Camping near Elsinore, UT

After visiting two very popular Utah parks -- Zion and Bryce Canyon -- Capitol Reef was a breath of fresh air. And one of our favorite parts about visiting this park is that it was almost totally free!

When we arrived at the visitor center, they informed us that their only developed campground, Fruita Campground (first-come-first-served only, not reservable) was full for the night, and rangers were ready with a handout full of alternative camping areas. We had not dabbled into BLM (Bureau of Land Management) camping before, but this experience would encourage us to utilize it throughout the rest of our year-long trip to the national parks.

This “campground” is located about a mile outside of the national park, which allows great access to everything inside Capitol Reef. Usually free camping like this is harder to discover, but this pull-off is just off the road.

Benefits of camping in BLM land include the cost (free!), solitude (you can be as far away from people as you’d like), and easy access to the national park (in fact, most national parks are surrounded with National Forest Service or BLM land!). Downsides, of course, include the lack of amenities, the sometimes uninspiring scenery, and the feeling of uneasiness (can I really just camp here? For free?)

Capitol Reef’s BLM camping is plentiful, but this site was definitely the best. We were able to drive up on a high ridge of the pull-out area that the RVs could not easily access, so we felt alone and watched the gorgeous sunsets from our campsite each night.

During our five days in the park, we had some favorite activities: backpacking in Upper Muley Creek, hiking to Cassidy Arch, picking and eating fruit right off the trees in the historic orchards, hiking the tough Navajo Knobs trail, and, most of all, the Sulphur Creek trail through a narrow beautiful creek with three waterfalls to climb down.

You can read much more about our four days in the park on our blog: Switchback Kids (Capitol Reef)

We spent a week along Beas Lewis Flat Road just outside of Torrey, to explore Capitol Reef National Park. This is free BLM dispersed camping with a 14-day stay limit, no sites or services provided. The first camping areas off of UT-24 get crazy busy, to the point that it looked more like a crowded RV park than a peaceful boondocking area; however, make a right just past the cattle grate and you can go several miles back in, in search of solitude. Just after making that right there's a small dry wash to cross that requires some clearance and decent approach/departure angles, but other than that the condition of the road is superb. Views stretch to the red rock cliffs north of UT-24 from Torrey to the National Park, including Capitol Reef itself and the Henry Mountains beyond. Cell service was solid on both Verizon and AT&T, and we had no issues working on VPN from our location or streaming HD video. There's a small general store in Torrey with a few staples and even a laundry available, but the nearest small-town supermarket is in Loa, 18 miles west of Torrey. We found the prices there to be reasonable given the location. You may get water and dump at the Fruita Campground inside the National Park for $5.
Watch our full-length video on both the camping and the National Park: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=296k\_D3AZIE

We were not planning on going to Capitol Reef on our Utah trip but we got some unexpected snow at Canyonlands so we headed out early. So glad we made the trip! Capitol Reef had lots of wildlife like Deer and Bighorn Sheep and petroglyphs that were really cool to hike to and see.

Along with the petroglyphs, there is the historic hike to the site of the Pioneer Register.  Mormon pioneers signed their names on the cliff walls as they were traveling though.  Some signatures are over 125 years old. https://utahsadventurefamily.com/pioneer-register-hike-capitol-reef/ does a nice description. 

Me made a stop at Goblin Valley State Park so we arrived to Capitol Reef a bit later than we would have liked. All the standard campgrounds were full but the ranger at the visitor center told us to head out of the park towards the town of Torrey and almost immediately on our right there was free BLM camping land.

Totally free, no amenities, but what a beautiful night!! It was cold! But so quiet even though we had many neighbors on their own Utah adventures. Our neighbors were a single girl in a truck and cab over camper from Alaska, and a couple in a blue school bus. Quite the assortment. Obviously, a variety of vehicles will make it our there.

No toilet, leave no trace, no fires. Totally a park, sleep, and go spot. There is so much to see and do in Utah, that is ok by me! We woke up, drove into Torrey, picked up a cup of coffee, and started hiking down Capitol Gulch with no one else around.

Camped here while doing some hiking in the park, can’t beat how close it is. it’s a decent spot, not exactly the prettiest, but lots of sites though. There’s also a nice little hike (cooks mesa) that’s trailhead is nearby.

I was here during easter weekend so there were a dozen RVs and a group of somewhat noisy car campers, but maybe it’d be more peaceful another time.

The area is literally right off the road, however the dirt road that goes through it is a bit rugged so i’d be careful without high clearance/awd, should be okay though.

Free, but no bathrooms so bring a trowel and some tp ;)

Just to let folks know, this is not a BLM site. BLM sites have a pay station right when you pull into the campground. This one does not, and I believe it is Utah state land that is managed by SITLA . (Google that if you want.). Anyway it was Wednesday October 21, and we pulled in here about 2 PM. I would say the campground was about half full and we did manage to find a spot that was pretty level. There were several spots that had small trees near them and those were all taken for obvious reasons.

We were traveling on Highway 24 South going west, and about 5 miles past the northernmost entrance to the park, is the dirt road that leads to the campground. Past the first dirt road there’s another dirt road with other campers, but we did not go down there.

The best part of this free camping ground is that the Internet is working great! We are not on Wi-Fi, but we have unlimited data and are very happy with our reception.

It is a little close to Highway 24, but as I write this at 11 PM, I don’t hear a thing on the road.

I highly recommend this free campground!