Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Salt Lake City, UT

One of our favorite state parks in Utah is only~45 minutes away from Salt Lake City! There are bison, antelope, deer, and many other animals that call this island home. On the west side of the island are extensive muds flats that give you one of the best sunset views in Utah. One of our favorite things to do on the island is hike Frary Peak which is the high point of the island. The top portion of the hike is a rocky scramble, but there are plenty of side trails to beautiful viewpoints during the hike. 

As for the best season to visit the island, we are partial to winter due to the absolute lack of bugs and stunning contrast of the bison on fresh snow. Our 2nd favorite season is early spring before the bugs come out in full swarm! I wouldn't recommend visiting in late spring or summer as there are swarms of all kinds of biting bugs and the temps can be unbearable.

I attempted to camp at Bridger Bay Campground after driving from Yellowstone NP to Salt Lake City in mid August. It is located on Antelope Island within Antelope Island State Park. Antelope Island is an island located on the Great Salt Lake a few miles from Salt Lake City. I chose this campground because it seemed close to the major routes I was taking back towards California. I arrived after sunset and was happy to make it onto the causeway before they shut the gates. Arriving at the campground I noted that most of the sites were taken by trailers and RVs, which should have been a sign. After finding an open site, I got out of the car to one of the most horribly infested campsites I had ever seen. The air was thick with flies and mosquitoes making it miserable to try and unload and set up. The camp site also had several rats scurry around as I flashed my headlight around. At this point I decided to leave, so I did. I had never left a campsite before due to unsavory conditions, nor have I left one since. I got back in my car and drove back over the causeway. The gate was shut, but thankfully opened to let me out. While I’ve heard pleasant things about the island it may be best visited in a different season or time of day. I thoroughly enjoyed the motel I found. Here is more information about the campground and about the park. I hope to make it back someday to watch the Pronghorns, but will not plan on camping.

Holy moly, this place was magnificent! I arrived in the evening and was greeted with an incredible view: a vast lake backed by snowcapped mountains glowing in the light from the setting sun; the lights from Provo, the city across the lake, twinkle throughout the night; and it is definitely worth waking up early to catch the sun rising over the mountains. I slept in my crossover here, and I would recommend this place to anyone sleeping inside a vehicle.

The weather was cold, so I had no issues with bugs (some of the other reviews had mentioned bugs). I do imagine that staying here in the summer might not be as great.

The campground: Getting here is fairly easy. If you're heading south on 68, you'll see a Public Land sign on your right and the turn will be on your left near mile marker 19. The road becomes a dirt gravel mixture, and things do get a bit bumpy the further you go. There's different levels to this area, and while I kept to the road that stayed low, I did see some RVs up in the middle section. When I was there in the late fall, with no foliage, it was pretty clear where other people had stayed. There were about four other vehicles camping, but we were all able to be so spread out that I never saw any of the other people. It was a peaceful and quiet stay. As a solo camper I was very comfortable here.

The downside of this area was the trash; there wasn't anything large, but the ground had plenty of bottle caps, nails, and a little bit of glass. This is why I recommend sleeping in your vehicle instead of a tent. Ultimately, for me, the beauty and quiet of this place far outweighed the trash issue.

The area: This land is located right off of Utah Lake. It's about twenty minutes from the town of Saratoga Springs, and less than an hour from Salt Lake City, which means there are plenty of places to get food and supplies.

Cell service: It was pretty good with Verizon. I was able to watch a live hockey game on my phone.

If I could give it more stars I would, 5+++++. We have stayed at many campgrounds around the country and this is by far the best! Amazing staff, beautiful meticulous clean grounds and facilities, which are plentiful as well. Huge level concrete sites, with privacy bushes between, awesome hook ups, WiFi and cable. Trash pick up, huge dog parks, which are best we've seen. We have paid twice as much for far less. The scenery from the campground is breathtaking. I am writing this sitting at the heated pool looking at snow covered mountains. The town of Heber is so quaint and nice. 20 min to Provo and BYU, 25 min to Park City, and 50 min to Salt Lake City. We will definitely have to make this place a stop on our next westward trip. LOVE IT HERE.

This was our first KOA campground. Overall, we thought it was very nice and would return. Definitely a family orientated campground with lots of activities from swimming to basketball to a game room with free games! We were on Site#722. Level spot. Not much room for our Toad but we made it work. Asphalt driveway with trees and grass patio. Pretty close to neighbors. Laundry room was large and every machine worked. There is a dog park with Astroturf that smells on hot days. But it's a good space for the pups to exercise. Also has a very nice dog wash station several people took advantage of. AT&T and T-Mobile Cell Service worked great. Cable and WiFi also available. We had to extend our stay by 2 days waiting on a package to arrive. Which their office gladly accepts package deliveries. Nearby to restaurants and shops. Only Con was we were there during the Hive Music Festival and the music was thumping and could be heard from our site for two days. Just an FYI to check the concert schedule at the Fair Grounds if that would bother you. We have a white sound machine which helped. We camped at Salt Lake City KOA Holiday in a Motorhome.