Best Tent Camping near Meadow, UT

Checked in at 8:30pm on a Monday during a cross country drive.  Host was gracious and suggested spot 12.  There  was plenty of availability even late eve (weekday).  All were good, quiet spots.  Spot 12 was across from wheelchair path to creek (Beaver River).  There was a nice bench where path met creek, great for sitting and enjoying morning coffee/fishing/relaxing.  Spots had faucet, picnic table and level tent pad filled with pea gravel-bring good footprint/tarp.  It was quiet, and the creek noise was pleasant.  The road was very close, and you could hear the traffic, but it wasn't a bother (about 2-3cars/hour).  One very nice thing about this campground is the gravel covering all the picnic/firepit and frequented areas.  This completely eliminated the dust that typically gets on everything while camping.  There was shade from trees, but this was is a pretty tight canyon, so there are very few hours of direct sunlight anyway.  Host delivered wood.  Long trails leave right from campground.  No showers, clean vault toilets.

Awesome campground at about 8,600’ elevation, has a couple small creeks running through, water and toilets on site as well. Each site has a metal fire ring (crucial for a campfire during burn bans), picnic table, grill, some sites had an extra fire ring and bench seats. It’s nestled on the mountainside surrounded by aspen forests and farm land. Plenty of wildlife in the area, watch for deer and cattle in the road. We had temps dip down into the teens overnight with a dusting of snow in late September, be sure to pack layers. Overall a perfect spot for tent camping, small campers max, no RV parking or hookups. Not too far from Capitol Reef National Park and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. Highly recommend staying here and going to Grand Staircase for a hike in the slot canyons.

We spent a fun day exploring Cedar Breaks National Monument. However, we lost track of time, the sun was setting and we had not chosen a place to camp. 

Campground Review of Fremont Indian State Park:

We searched on TheDyrt app for nearby campgrounds and found Fremont Indian State Park. We drove down the mountain and around another mountain and found the campground. It was totally dark by the time that we arrived and so we quickly parked and set up our campervan to sleep. 

A gentleman emerged from the shadows and approached our site. It seemed a little sketchy at first. However, he ended up being friendly and inquired if we’d like to join him and his friends around their campfire. After we prepared our campervan and cleaned up a bit, we dropped by the campfire. It turns out the party included some park staff and researchers. One lady was researching dark skies and one gentleman was researching astral alignment with ancient rock art. They shared about their research and showed us some of their amazing photos of the night sky. A warm way to end the day.

The next morning, we woke up to snow on the ground and the nearby mountaintops. Having learned from our new friends that the park contained some pretty significant rock art, we decided that we should check it out. We hiked on a couple of the trails and discovered quite a few of the rock art pieces created by the Fremont Indians. There's an easy trail that is located adjacent to the park office. There are other trails that run along the river. It is amazing that so much of the rock art was in such good condition.

The campsites provide the basics like a parking space, picnic table, electrical & water hookup and firepit/grill. The restrooms were conveniently located close to our campsite and were clean. There are showers behind the restrooms. During the winter the showers may be closed. The campground is somewhat small, but is surrounded by beautiful mountains and bluffs. The staff were super friendly and helpful.

For more info: https://stateparks.utah.gov/parks/fremont-indian/

Product Review of Travelers Autobarn Campervans:

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, from time to time I am provided products to test. For this outing I was provided a Travelers Autobarn Kuga Campervan. 

For more info: https://www.travellers-autobarnrv.com

The best thing about traveling in a campervan is the ease, flexibility, and ability to make detours if needed. 

We picked up our Kuga Campervan in Las Vegas. The Travelers Autobarn office is just west of the the main strip and easy to find. We arrived early in the day to begin the registration process and campervan orientation. The process was quick and easy. The Kuga Campervan is a hightop van conversion with couches, a table, two beds, propane stove, sink, water, kitchen, interior lights, fan, window shades and solar power. We also had the free living package which included kitchen pots, pans, utensils, cups and accessories. It also included sleeping bags, sheets, pillows and towels. The package pretty much made it super easy to get in the van and go. 

The Travelers Autobarn staff member was super friendly and provided an orientation of the basic operation of the campervan. The campervan drives like a normal van, but learning about the camper functions was helpful. 

We had charted a route around Utah and Arizona visiting a number of towns, parks, roadside attractions and hot springs. The day that we started a weather system passed through which made the temperatures drop in the northern part of our route. We simply flipped our route to avoid the cold weather and traveled the southern route first. By the time that we circled north the weather had warmed up and it was perfect weather for exploring. Traveling in a campervan made it super easy to be flexible with our route and schedule. 

On our seven day trip we visited Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, Horseshoe Bend National Monument. Monument Valley National Park, Arches National Park, Mystic Hotsprings, Zion National Park, Cedar Breaks National Monument, Meadow Hotsprings, Valley of Fire State Park and Fremont Indian State Park. 

If we were not traveling in a campervan it is unlikely that we would have had the flexibility to camp anytime and anywhere. We would have never found and stayed at Fremont Indian State Park. It ended up being a gem of a park and a great overall experience. This campervan camping adventure opened up my mind to new opportunities and travels. So much fun!

For more info: https://www.travellers-autobarnrv.com

Great spot for camping with a group. Quite a few spots accessible by car. A couple fireplaces here and there too. A fair amount of fallen pine and juniper wood there to use for building fires. Just remember to drown out your fires with water (there’s a sign).

I do not recommend tent camping here solo though. This wasn’t my first time tent camping solo either. As I was laying in my sleeping bag inside my tent around 11pm, some creature started stalking me around midnight. I could hear it moving and breathing outside my tent. I managed to scare it off by hitting my car’s “panic button” on the keys. I then packed up immediately and left.

Beautiful location and it was a nice place to walk around. Outdoor kitchen and showers as well as community space.

Camping was about $25/night.

You do have to make a reservation on the website and call for details when you get here, Soaking happens in 2 hour windows and isn’t included in the camping fee. Because of where the pools are, I recommend soaking before dark.

If you have mobility issues, be aware that there are stairs to get to the pools and the upper pools require a bit of climbing.

The outdoor kitchen space was a nice space to use after time on the road.

Wow! Talk about about incredible... first of all there is not a camp host so make sure to reserve ahead of time or cross your fingers and hope it’s not a busy weekend. However they have so many different dispersed camping all around so not to fret you will find a place. The bathroom is spotless!!! It’s a vault toilet, nothing special but it’s clean. The US forestry service comes through quite frequently and maintains the camp site and the bathrooms. You have a fire ring with attached grill, table and an additional table where we put our Coleman stove. Nice flat areas for tents and gorgeous trees surrounding. The lake is amazing and we caught trout all weekend. Power bait is the secret!!!! Take a walk and explore the gorgeous meadows and behind the damn a fast running stream where you most likely will bump into some cows and there babies. Fishlake National Forest is stunning and lebaron campgrounds is gorgeous. It’s a small camp ground about 13 sites. And you will always see cows which is neat for the kiddos. It’s a must to come here!!!