Best Dispersed Camping near Mona, UT

Campground Review: In my attempt to explore as many areas in Utah as I can, I came across this wonderful dispersed camping off Highway 40, south of Heber City toward Main Canyon. I had the intention of staying in a nearby campground. But when I felt the price was a bit too high for just one night, I sought adventure elsewhere. I randomly turned off toward Main Canyon and followed the dirt road until I found a spot I liked. I knew I was in dispersed national forest camping when there are signs indicating a 14 day limit. So all along this dirt road, which got pretty rocky at times, are spots to pull off and camp for the night. It can accommodate single tents, multiple tents, RVs (obviously no hookups) and trailers.  There are man-made fire pits so if you start a fire, be sure to put it out completely and observe LNT (leave no trace) camping principles. Whatever you bring in with you is what you have as there are no amenities to speak of. The ground was soft and there were lots of trees from which to hang a hammock. I did forget to fill my water jug before I left my house so I had to search out a small run off stream from which I could filter water. But be sure to have a good water filter if you are going to go this route.  The only real negative I have for this site (or area of sites) is that there was a lot of AVT/Side-by-side/dirtbike traffic. If that type of activity was on my list, this area would be first on my list. However, since I chose not to stay in a campground because I wanted the seclusion, the traffic was a little bit of a bummer. But, because the camping was free and everyone who passed waved and was really nice, I didn’t have too much of a problem with it. Also, the site I chose was right off the road (as majority of them are). If I wanted to hike with my stuff a little more, I found a very pretty meadow away from the road that would have been very peaceful. I guess that will have to be my next spot. OI verall, I have a love for free, dispersed camping and this area is large enough to explore for a wide variety of adventures.

Gear Review: Snapbuds

As a Ranger for the Dyrt, I get the opportunity to test out gear every so often from our amazing partners. I was given the opportunity to test out a new product called Snapbuds. The premise of this product is to help keep your earbud cords organized or untangled by use of magnets. They come in three different colors—grey, black, and white, so you can make them coordinate with your cords or stand out. The instructions are easy to follow and have a few options for how to set these little magnets into different configurations. It also has a really handy measuring tape/picture to make sure you can get the snapbuds in the right spot. I decided to try the standard configuration on my first pair of earbuds. These are designed to be permanent additions to your cords so be sure to pay attention to what direction you snap the magnets on. Once I got them on, I wrapped them up and threw them around in my bag. The magnets held and when I went to use them, all I had to do was pull the magnets apart and the cord was untangled. It was pretty sweet. I also used them while hiking around with my dog.

Overall, these are a pretty cool solution to a long standing annoyance of earbud cords.

How to get there: From Springville, Utah, go about 10-12 miles up East Canyon Road, and keep to the right up Hobble Creek Road. We passed a golf course, a couple paid forest service campgrounds, and a shooting range. The road will narrow and as you go over a bridge, the road turns to gravel and that’s where the dispersed camping starts. We went about 2-3 miles up Hobble Road from the bridge to find our spot.

Pros: Free camping! The view is amazing and we found a few sites toward the top with fire pits. Road was in good condition all the way. Lots of great hiking.

Cons: No cell service with Verizon, lots of dirt bikers and campsites are close to the road. Very crowded on weekends. Also the road is very narrow and people don’t take the road slowly. Proceed with caution.

Overall, beautiful view and very peaceful at night.

Great dispersed camping area with plenty of room! If going all the way to the marked location on the map, only attempt with a high clearance 4x4 or you will not make it! We have a TRX and overland camper and bottomed out on a culvert that dropped off sharply. We went to the marked location only to find a single camping spot on a moderate slope. Recommend stopping two miles earlier in the “Big Glade” meadow, flat and plenty of camping spots. We ended up a mile before that at a cross roads at 8900’. Concur with the ATv traffic from previous reviews, but overall relatively quiet

Easy to get to dispersed camping site.

Open dispersed camping with lots of places to camp. Can get pretty crowded and noisy at times but worth not having to pay for. Can accommodate larger groups and single families. No amenities except for porta potties.

We are full-timers and have a 36 ft Class A with a Cherokee Trailhawk tow. We stayed here for 3 days in early June over the weekend. The dispersed camping area pretty much fills up overnight, with 7 or 8 of us staying longer. There were a few day users as well. The entire area was clean and free of trash. The sites are a little wonky, but we were able to get level. While the CG is far enough from US 6 to not be bothered with road noise, Sheep Creek Rd sees a lot of traffic and hence a fair bit of road noise. AT&T coverage was quite good, with 3 bars of 5G and speeds up to 16 MB/s.

I went through Wallsburg and entered the canyon on the west side and couldn't actually go too far up the path, it's definitely 4x4 required for the entirety of the path, but the first bit can be handled by most vehicles, but have loads of pull offs for dispersed camping pretty much as soon as you enter the canyon.

This spot is just into the Fishlake National Forest. There is nothing fancy about this location. It is just a grassy spot along the road as you start following the road into the national forest. There may very well be cattle in the area and that will depend on the time of the year. But, it would make a great base camp from which to ATV or ride horses.

There is the dispersed camping right when you turn in, however if you keep going up the mountain there is a super small turn off to the right then brings you up a little hill and there’s a few more sites I would have missed if I want so nosey. The view is amazing but the sites up here have so much trash. It’s not hard to clean up after yourself!

First time disperse camping, originally from Illinois so very impressed with the view. Easy to get to. I have a Ford Fusion and was able To easily access lot.

Numerous options for dispersed camping most in large open fields that would fit a number of RVs or trailers. Biggest drawback for us was that the fields were mostly a steep incline (requiring a delicate balance of additional materials to get level). Also, even on a quiet Wednesday late in the season, the area was packed with off road vehicles, which is not really our scene. If it is your scene, this would be a great place for staging with 30 of your closest friends (which seemed to be how this is used!).

We set up at the first site on the left as you enter and it is a nice one for a short term visit. The only draw-back is that it is close to a dirt parking lot that OHV owners use. It is the fourth of July weekend though, so probably heavier than usual traffic. We drove our towed vehicle further down the road and discovered that you enter the Manti-Lasal National Forest in about a mile. If you continue for another 3 or 4 miles you will climb up into some absolutely gorgeous groves of Aspen trees. Although we did not see any Motorhomes up there, there were multiple campsites and several were taken by folks that had towed their 35-45 foot fifth wheels up there. I believe my 29 foot Four Winds could have made the drive without issues, although we did not try it.

We camped at this trailhead while attempting to hike to the Fifth Water Hot Springs. Due to fire activity, the original trailhead was closed so we camped at the "back way" trailhead. There were signs indicating that dispersed camping was allowed in areas designated by a fire ring. Found one near the trailhead parking. Not many flat places for a tent and there was cow manure all over the ground, so not many options for places to put our tent. The "fire-pit" was also filled in with rocks, thinking this may have been related to the nearby forest fires. May have better luck at the other trailhead in the future.

This site is located on the northerly side of the road. A number of fire pits exist in this area. It is readily apparent that others have stayed here in the past and it is a popular spot. Good only one other camper has been here in the 5 days that I have been here so far. There are any number of spots along this road that could be used for dispersed camping. The farther you go along the road the rougher it gets. I was able to find a lot of small sticks that had fallen off the trees to be able to use in my wood stove in a wall tent. It is about 5 and a 1/2 miles to the end of the road up the Canyon.

This is a great spot just a about 2 miles off the main highway. It’s paved until you get to the campground turn off which is a good dirt road. Wide open space with tons of options to tent or RV. There’s a huge sign that says Sheep Creek Campground so you can’t miss it. Drove here with my front wheel drive sedan and tent camped. Train goes by occasionally but not loud enough to disturb. Access to hiking trails all around because it’s national forest land. You can stay 14 days. No permit required. No amenities.

I found a spot on Eight Mile road, just off i-15, near the east side of the national forest. I drove up the dirt road for a while until I found a nice flat spot for the night. 

I could hear some road noise, but had 3+ bars of T-mobile 5g service. Not another person in sight except for maybe 2 cars that drove by during the night. Plenty of cows and cow patties around though!

Bonus: Eight mile road was a shortcut to westbound highway 50 and a nice way to start the drive in the morning.

There’s free camping site served our needs, but at a minimum. Very bumpy road, but doable even in our class C. The biggest problem as noted in the title, is the constant barrage of ATVs, OHVs, and dirt bikes.

Moab seems to be the Mecca for these activities, which is fine. It’s hard to complain when you have a safe quiet place to sleep, which we did. And we spent a lot of time touring Arches and canyonlands national parks. But when we returned in the afternoons, there’s a hell of a lot of dust and noise to deal with.

Not that I’m judging! If I had had the money, I would have been first in line to rent an OHV! Perhaps I was a little jealous of all of those people, and there were many, that brought their own!

The city of Moab is Perhaps 15 minutes south. There was one lane closed a few miles before Moab, and we were caught in several traffic jams.

It didn’t matter though, the city of Moab is a boomming town full of all sorts of restaurants, activities, food trucks, you name it.

There are many companies ready to set you up with a kayak, canoe, ATV, or OHV.

And it was great that you can walk into the local aquatic center and buy a hot shower for seven bucks.

I would probably only stay here again as a last resort.