Best Tent Camping near Park Valley, UT

Beautiful sites with many areas to rock climb. Pit houses don’t stink too bad. Good tent sites.

Dry camp that fits for small trailees and tent camping. Larger trailers have limted spots so check dimensions before reserving..Lots of trails nearby. Mountain bike trail as well. Weather can be unpredictable so be prepared for rain and possible storm occasional which makes for amazing skys.

One group site and multiple walk in tent sites, each with a good level pad. Dark, quiet and starry at night with long views to the south. Lots to explore in locale. California Trail passed nearby.

Be careful which site you book. Many are walk in tent sites or don’t have room for even a sprinter van. We had site number 29 which was beautiful. Definitely recommend staying in the 1-30 sites. Many back up to rocks but all are very different.

There is a large group site that has 2 large tables and a fire pit and most of the other 1 and 2 tent sites have cemented fire rings. Right next to the creek and plenty of Shade make it a perfect place for hammocks. For most of the year this campground is sparsely populated so it's a nice place for solitude. There is also a large ~200' cirque at the end of a 3 mile hike that continues onto the high point of the range and of Box Elder County! Nearby are numerous archaeological sites and the Joshua Tree-esque devils playground

TTo start off this is an Idaho state park and requires a fee to enter (was $10)  This is a great place to go if theres swarms of climbers at the City of Rocks because of the fee which tends to drive away most dirtbag (endearing term for us) climbers haha.  There are a multitude of fantastic routes there and some good bouldering to be had as well.  Another one of the great things about this park is they have yurt, small house, RV, and tent sites, so no matter how you like to camp theyll be sure to get you into something comfy!

While there was no climbing on this trip we did get to see the City in a whole new perspective!  

The breadloaves has one large group site right next to the bathrooms and parking and numerous dispersed tent sites, some with long approaches so check the map on the Gov website!

The breadloaves are thoroughly catalogued on the mountain project website but some classic to try are Bloody Fingers and Carol's Crack.  There is e ough climbing at the Breadloaves alone for a couple weeks of entertainment but the fantastic Morning Glory Spire is nearby as well along with other smaller walls

The campsites are a little on the small side if you have more than one huge tent. We went with friends and got lucky with the last two spots being next to each other so we took them both. We have a huge tent and they had a big one as well. We had spot 26 and 27. The spots are first come first serve. We took a hike and got some amazing photos and had a blast fishing. There are rainbow trout and cutthroat in the lake. There is a bathroom but make sure you bring your own toilet paper. It’s also dog friendly and our dogs had a blast as well. It’s been our favorite camping destination so far. There is also cell phone reception which was surprising.

Basic BLM land, dispersed camping about 2mi outside the City of Rocks on the Bread Loaves side, perfect for rock climbers. At least 3 rock fire pits spaced out for several different groups with plenty of room and flat areas for tents. Appears to be a similar area on the other side of the road too

Great camp ground close to castle rock and city of rock climbing areas.  We were only able to get a reservation for two nights but would have stayed longer.  Nice spread out sites with medium size trees that provide privacy and some shade.  The weather was great (late July) cooling down in the evening for comfortable tent sleeping.  The showers were a huge bonus with 3 young kids and the paved roads were great for bike riding.

Seven miles off the freeway. Not many sites like five or six. Grassy and flat with a picnic shade. Just needed a place to sleep on our way to Utah. Be aware...bathrooms are locked and water is turned off after 10/1. We did find a open bathroom over by the boat launch.

Went down to go climbing.  Wasn't able to get the guidebook due to the visitor center closure (just as the COVID-19 stuff started) but was able to take a nice lap around the main spire and on-sight a few routes for us.  Camped at the main campground for the park (short drive from the climbing).  Campground was surprisingly full for mid-March so we set up the tent at one of the unused "equine sites" away from everybody else so that the dogs could roam a bit.  There is a $5 entry fee and a camping fee as well.  Would definitely go back.

We camped here in October during an unseasonably hot few days. We brought a camper and just parked it at the parking lot....I slept in it with my little ones....the rest of the group set up tents and hammocks down at the actual campsite which is a short distance downhill. If you have a ton to pack...you may not like this site. It has great shade for City of Rocks. It was such a great location for climbing and mountain biking. A trail started right at the parking lot, which is where the bathroom is too. We hope to go again!

We camped at site 58 that can be accessed from the parking lot for the Breadloaves group site. Withing 100' of the site are ~20 routes and one of the mega classics of the City, Bloody Fingers on the east side of the loaves.

The site is a little bit of a walk from the parking lot so bring something to haul your stuff in. The walls nearby face east and provide an excellent opportunity for some night or moonlight climbing. It also provides a good respite from the wind even if tents in nearby sites are getting blown around and has the best shade in the area!

Road is a little rough to get here. We set up camp in the early evening. Hot and the flies were pretty thick. Evening came and it was perfect! Only two other tents that we could barely even see from our campsite. Felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. Loved hearing the creek as we tucked in for the night. The hike the next morning to the lake was a great challenge! There is an unmarked fork at about a mile and half in... go right! We hiked to the second lake. My son fished with hopes of catching a grayling. He took the winning photo of the lake!

Another amazing April camping trip down at City of Rocks. Spent four glorious days hanging out with the old rocks. Head down to the City if you’re looking for some wide open space and solitude, the campground is SO spread out you will never notice if it’s full. City of Rocks is…well rocky, so definitely be prepared to use rocks or other heavy things to help stake out your tents/ezups, which trust me, you’ll want to—the wind and lack of shade make those extra shelters a must! They have water and bathrooms spread throughout the reserve, we were about .25 miles away from the bathroom and .50 from water-no big deal. They have trash and recycling by the bathrooms (which are pit toilets but were clean and stocked while we visited!)

City Of Rocks National Reserve, Idaho

Fascinating, desolate, historical State Park. The visitors center is out on the main road and has a short informational trail with some authentic pioneer wagons. The signage is good, if you need water go to the dump site on the way in, there are no spigots at the campsites. When we visited the water was turned off so I was glad I always carry water with me. The sites are well spaced out, intermixed with the rock formations. Our site was huge, with a picnic table, tent pad and fire ring. There was a rock formation on the back side that you can walk up on and see the surrounding area. There were several rock climbers on Practice Rock across from our site. The dogs were permitted , on leash, on the trails however I was concerned about the numerous cactus so we stayed to the dirt roads mostly.

I spent one night in the City of Rocks National Reserve Campground. Nabbed spot 15 - the best one I saw - which had fantastic views from the front and back of my campervan. Sweeping view of valley and mountains beyond from the front, massive rocks through the window over my bed. There is a picnic table and fire ring on the nearly level site which is also very private, tucked away as it was between large rocks.  I camped in February so I could have been the only camper in the park that night, though there are campsites extending up the main road for what must be half a mile, so there is room for many campers both RV and tents. I saw no one other than the ranger during my stay. The bathroom is a pit toilet, very clean and supplied with paper. There are no amenities like power or water at the site. I left my campervan parked and hiked all around the reserve. Million dollar views for dollars a night.

Stayed: 5/13/2021

Cost: $14/night plus $10 reservation fee 

Site: 61

Vehicle: Volkswagen Atlas

Equipment: Tent

AT&T and T-Mobile: No Service

This is a very unique campground. Sites are dispersed throughout the entire park, as opposed to being condensed into one central location. It makes for some very unique and private sites - no two alike.

We went for site 61 for two reasons. 1) It was the most private that was remaining, even though 2) it was very close to a bathroom. Most of the sites near bathrooms, were more grouped together. The bathroom itself is less than a 1 min walk from the site. We had one neighbor on the other side of us, but you could only see them if you walked by to go to the bathroom. I think that site 61 could be the most private of all, with site 63 having some of the most beautiful sunset views (pictured).

This site was also nice, because it is tucked-in next to a large rock wall, blocking the wind coming from the north. Do be aware, that Area 7 of the campground (sites 61-64), are at a much higher elevation. Driving to the site from the main part of the park, we climbed over 1,000 feet (up a winding, dirt road), ending at 7,000+ feet. So, the temperature is going to be a little different than it is when you’re checking the weather in Almo. It was about a 10º difference when we were there.

Overall, this is a very nice campground with a fire ring and picnic table. All pictures are from Site 61, with the exception of the sunset from Site 63.

#DareToEverywhere

Free NFS campground with 12 well distanced sites along a tiny creek.

The good: Privacy, quiet, free!, babbling brook to fall asleep to, mostly flat sites.

The not so good/things to be aware of: The 9 miles of gravel road to get there are extremely bumpy with washboard surfaces for most of the way. In a small RV, things were bouncing around, shifting in cupboards, and at one point the hood of our engine popped open because of all of the jostling. We ended up needing to go about 10-15 miles per hour most of the way. The pickup trucks whipping around us seemed to have no trouble going a normal speed, even the ones hauling campers and ATVs so this may just be a challenge for RVs and probably regular cars.

The site we ended up at in mid September had two big negatives: 1) cow patties everywhere, and 2) millions of small flying white bugs (not exaggerating) that seemed to be particularly drawn to the cow patties. It actually made it impossible to enjoy spending any time outdoors. There were several sites where they weren’t as bad, but they didn’t work for us due to size or needing to cross a small creek to get to the site. Not sure if its like this all the time, but it was the worst bug situation I’ve ever encountered and I have been camping for more than 40 years. They mostly disappeared after dark and didn’t come back until after 8 am the next morning.

One other thing to be aware of—it is extremely difficult to turn around at the end of the road in an RV or larger vehicle unless you are able to go through a creek that’s above ankle deep. In our jeep, I would not have thought twice, but I wasn’t comfortable in our RV and we had to back out down a windy, narrow road with many encroaching tree branches, making for a very frustrating experience.

All in all, I’m rating the site better than our experience because I think in a tent or in a more heavy duty pickup/trailer combo, this would be a fantastic site. Once we finally got settled and were enjoying dinner, listening to the creek, and drinking a bottle of wine, it was very relaxing and peaceful. Still, if I’d had a crystal ball, I probably would have skipped, given our equipment.