Top 10+ Dispersed Free Camping near Emery, 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)

    This BLM campground now has designated campsites, a picnic table, large deep fire rings, pit toilets and no trash service. Also no water.  The actual site now in October is 

somewhat overgrown with tumble weeds. Ground is very rocky but there are quite a few tents pitched.  

     Views are 7 on a 10 scale.

     Camp fee is now $15 per night. We used a senior pass and paid $7.50

      There also appears to be true dispersed camping on BLM land just to the NE of this organized camp and more about a quarter mile south on a dirt road.  There don’t appear to be any picnic tables, fire rings or toilets.

This is a cool wilderness area. It is state land in between BLM land.  This is an area between the Temple Mt. Campground East and the Temple Mt Campground a few miles NW. We reconned up and down Temple Mt rd. and the campgrounds. The dispersed camping seemed to be the best option for us. The two CG's in the area do have pit toilets but that seems to be the only plus. The East CG is super open and seemed like a staging area. The other CG had some ruins but was also open with no cover. We found a little space on the northeast side of the road back in a canyon that was nice. Only bad thing were the gnats. Last part of May and early part of June apparently is a bad time for gnats in the Utah desert.  

There are quite a few spots on either side of the road that are kind of established with fire rings made from rock that people have put together. You can scramble over the rocks and hike through the washes. Some attractions near by are the pictograph panel, Temple Mt. ,Wild Horse Window, and Goblin Valley SP. There are also antelope in the area. This is a good place to stage out of if you can't get a spot in the Goblin Valley CG.  Remember there is no trash bins so pack it in and pack it out. Bury your poop.