Top 10+ Campgrounds near Payson, UT

It’s pretty as you drive in and if you keep to yourself you might be okay but there are quite a few long term residents along with all their garbage. Several loose dogs, including some cute puppies. We didn’t stay.

Sheep Creek is a decent spot right off the highway if you're traveling through and need to catch some Zzz's. It's close to a few trails, although only 1 of the two gates going towards Strawberry were open, so I can't speak to how the trails are. We stayed 3 nights, and it was quiet enough. It is just an open field but there are plenty of spots for plenty of people. Each night people were pulling in late at night for some shut eye but it didn't bother us as we didn't notice other than the lights. It's good views and free so can't complain much.

TLDR - this is an unregulated campground that works in a pinch.

I've been on the road for almost a year. This is the most confusing campground I've visited to date. There aren't a lot of options in the area, so I bought the $15 camping pass the morning of my stay. It is a big parking lot. I had to ask some paragliders where the designated camping area was (it's against the hill behind the toilets). There are some partially numbers spots, so I pulled into the last one that appeared empty except for some discarded items. Most of these spots are taken up by long term residents. I was nervous I was taking someone's spot, but a local eased my mind by saying that basically no one buys a pass. You take whatever spot you can find, and folks stay as long as they want. I stayed one night with no issues, but won't be back. Spotty cell service and I felt uneasy the whole time. Some positives include a super clean vault toilet and fun paragliders to watch.

This park is pretty and in a beautiful location. However, the spots are small and tight. Our slide was in our neighbors yard area, we were both there for only one night, so we made it work.

This place is very cute for established camping. It has lots of trees and a nice little walking trail. They are pet friendly. They have men's and women's restrooms with showers. They also have a pool for the warmer months. There are 2 small dog parks one for large and one for small dogs. The staff was incredibly friendly and helpful.

We stayed in a back in spot which was very spacious and we had a good distance from our neighbor.

They have designated tent camping area. If you are tent camping they do not allow you to have pets.

Only downside is you are directly next to the Provo airport which did get active around 6 am.

Great for hunt camp or family camping. Easy access to fishing and off-road excursions, hiking and photography.

Clean facilities, but no water or power. The camp hosts were friendly and helpful. Our site was right near the creek, well shaded, and reasonably separated from neighbors. There are hiking trails that lead to climbing walls; we watched one climber struggle for 20 minutes to get past an obstacle. The downside here is the road noise, which could be overwhelming sometimes when motorcyclists, ATVs, or overwound street racers sped by. Access to some amazing scenery in the Wasatch Mountains makes it worth a visit.

Smallish beautiful campground. Site 9 but sites 4, 5, 12 good too. 1 is private but away from toilets. Nice view down the valley to Electric Lake. Decent distance to Scofield. Relatively quiet but sites are fairly close together. 

Food aside: Ate Knorr rice with chicken, spiced it up, and Hatch tortillas for dinner. Also Sprouts Hatch M&C with Wal Mart chicken packet and Old El Paso ranch sauce, both good.

Site 56 was fairly level and had decent shade and access to the showers/bathrooms with still good privacy in the trees. Bathrooms very clean. Road cyclists: excellent access to Empire Pass. Couple of good trails to walk around. Oak Hollow (tent loop) seems bit more spaced out in sites but only has water and 20A and most sites are slanted or have no shade from the late afternoon sun. 

For $5 more, the Cottonwood and Mahogany loops have full or partial hookups. Also good are sites 19, 22, 24, 25, and 79. 

Many sites have issues with level and/or lack of any privacy or shade. 

Food aside: Freeze-dried sweet pork for dinner. Had Sprouts Hatch mac and cheese from box with jerky from hatch, Mexican cheese shreds and garlic powder. Yum. Breakfast was oatmeal with chopped nuts and some strawberries and broken-up brownie Clif bar. Was a bit bland, could have used maple syrup. Other breakfast was frozen pancake bites with maple syrup and butter, fried in pan from frozen, 30 sec per side flipped 4 times.

Stayed in 33B first night and 23C second night. C loop seems a little more sparse and spaced out. Outer loop seems better. Bathrooms very clean and well stocked. Sites mostly level. Pine and aspen, some spots more shaded than others. Easy walk to lake and there is a nice paved trail around it. Spotty cell service at road, none in campground. 

Food aside: Freeze-dried Pad thai with chicken, supplemented chicken (packet from Wal Mart) and it was very good with a bit of heat. Also added garlic powder (always).

Stayed in site 8, which has a shallow and uneven driveway. We used several leveling blocks which helped. Site 6 is ideal in terms of proximity to toilets and relatively level site with trees and a water tap just adjacent. There are 9 total sites, 5 are group sites so tend to be LOTS of people around. Group sites are large and are only$20/night and site 9 is roomy, relatively private and has vault toilets adjacent. Walking trails in/around campground.

Lots of families. Safe. Rather enjoyed a sing-along one night with LOTS of kids.

2nd stay (June): Stayed again for 2 nights, this time in spot 6 which is roomier than 8 and one of only a few single family campsites. Renovation installed a new picnic table and fire pit but removed the tent pad. Water tap still adjacent. 

Big family gatherings due to large family spots, across were 6 RVs in one spot and trucks parked everywhere including on the grass. Fairly quiet and respectful but dogs were allowed to run loose and while seemingly friendly, they were not supervised for pooping. This also means bathrooms were under serious strain esp re: available toilet paper.

Nearby: On Hwy 31, appear to be a variety of dispersed camping spots, most are not well marked. Some appear to have names, but not sure if they are reservable. Most are for "groups" but are typically only $20/night, some smaller group sites are only$10/night. Seem to be largely FCFS. Several have vault toilets adjacent.

Visited nearby Huntington Lake State Park, which is relatively modest in terms of facilities, basically a lake and a campground (no shade). The sites adjacent to the lake look nice (~sites 1-5) and have partial hookups but the trees are sparse. There is a trail around the lake, but it appears mainly to be a gravel road with some benches here/there.

Food aside (freeze dried packs with our own add-ons): Had Peak beef pasta marinara with italian and garlic seasoning. FQ (fart quotient) is low. Had garlic mashed and Hatch green chile mac (from Sprouts). Added pepper jerky to the mashed before water and the cheese (Mexican blend) and one packet of fajita chicken (Wal Mart, about $1.25) and some Kinder's smoked garlic into the mac when it was ready. Also crumbled some 4 cheese Triscuits on top. 

Had Mountain House freeze-dried scrambled eggs in wheat tortillas with cheese, bacon (in at finish), and pepper jerky (in with water). Two servings would have made~4 burritos. Also recommend cutting back on the water to ~2/3-3/4c. Added pepper, garlic powder to eggs. 

Had Mountain House pad thai with chicken for dinner. Didn't add sriracha seasoning but put our own smoked garlic, Wal Mart applewood smoked chicken packet and the supplied lime, peanut butter, and nuts (supplemented the nuts with our own).

The camp ground itself is not bad. You have all the amenities that you could wish for when you are on the road. Including sites with full hook up and showers plus toilets that are in good condition. The camp store has food and drinks available. Very positive were the ladies at the reception. Very helpful and very sweet.

But the location is rather disappointing. Its located at the end of an old street and right in front of a dam, enclosed by some hills. You can hear the nearby highway. Not very pretty.

It feels a little cramped, the individual spots are very close to each other, so there is not much privacy. Plus, it is very expensive. I paid 78$ for a full hook up spot.

Probably better to check out the camp site Hailstone Camp Ground right up the hill, in the Jordanelle state park. It looked so much more beautiful when I passed by there the next morning.

We had one night connected to power and one without and enjoyed both nights. It’s a lovely forested area and the fall colors are just turning. Very friendly gate staff. Highly recommend

For only 25min from downtown provo, this is a wonderful place to go for a night. Super kind camp host and well maintained roads.