Best Cabin Camping near Vernal, UT

We backpacked into Grizzly Ridge Yurt for a one night stay late this last summer. What a fun and beautiful place to stay. The Yurt is situated in a clearing at about 9000 feet. It's surrounded by pine and aspen trees, and at night from the front porch you can see the lights of Vernal in the distance. There is a fire ring located just below the yurt, with plenty of fire wood provided. The yurt is well stocked with two double bunk beds, a propane cooking stove, plenty of pots and pans, and a wood burning stove which kept us TOASTY WARM all night! Remember your own bedding, plenty of water, and lighting (no electricity or water at the yurt). We thoroughly enjoyed reading stories from the guest book.

Last spring we snowshoed into the Colton Guard Station. What a fun experience! It's about a five mile snowshoe from Highway 40. There is a gate in the winter preventing you from going any further than the parking lot on Forest Road 020. There is a cabin and bunkhouse on the complex, both with wood burning stoves (wood provided). The cabin has a set of twin bunk beds, and a futon that folds out. The bunk house has several twin beds with mattresses. There is an old outhouse that you can use in the winter (no running water to the guard station that time of year). We had so much fun playing games by the warmth of the wood burning stove and sledding down the surrounding hills. Our four legged friend enjoyed being able to accompany us on our adventure. Remember to bring your own bedding and water.

This is a great lil campground although I feel like they tried to cram alot of campsites right on top of each other. All sites have picnic tables and firepits with a grill. Its kinda a dry vegetation in the park mostly sage brush and junipers, Some bigger shadier trees towards the lake but you better book those way in advance cause they fill up fast. They have small sites, tent sites, many large pull through sites, and even one small cabin. I did notice 3 bathroom facilities in spread throughout the park though and water spigots throughout. They have recently built a nature trail that runs from the side of the lake around to the front of it so thats a nice lil jont. They do also offer one group site that has a pavilion. This campground is not for anyone that doesnt like to be seen cause most likely you'll have a neighbor right next to you, above you, or below you.

Vernal Dinosoar Koa seems like it has a TON of spots crammed into a small are but all of them have green grass, picnic tables, and grills. Some sites have covered awnings some have large shade trees. What I liked about this campground were all the activity options they gave you, unlike some other KOA's I've stayed at. There was a small but functional K-9 park, a kids park, a swimming pool, a jump pad, and they had bike/3 wheeler rentals, and a mini golf coarse. They had a covered patio off of the pool building with picnic tables for use and just on the other side of the jump pad and kids playground they had a HUGE grassy field that you could go throw frisbees on or even fly a kite. They had spots for small RV, Very Large RVs, One special site that came with cable tv, and numerous cabins for rent. If your looking for something just off of the town in Vernal, So you can visit all the great dinosaur attractions, this would be the place. They did have a small store with firewood, some sundries, and tourist gifts. They also have 2 dump stations for $10 a use out front.

I have been camping here for about 30 years and I'm only 30 years old. My family and our camp friends have been going here, year after year, for the great camp sites, fun hiking and most of all, the sublime waterskiing. To keep it fairly brief, the camp sites are mainly situated around a large, open, slightly uneven grass area which is great for tent camping and day activities (volleyball, frisbee, catch, BBQing.) Not much shade from the smaller trees but there are shaded picnic tables for each site. Around that are the RV sites with full hookups. The surrounding tent sites are in a more desert like, sandy area where I haven't spent much camp time. The bathrooms are usually clean and in good working order with running water, but nothing fancy (no showers.) The lake has a plethora of awesome acitivites including boating, kayaking, canoeing, swimming, cliff jumping, fishing and does provide some rentals. We usually try to go during the week as it does get quite busy/crowded on weekends.

Grizzly Ridge yurt can be accessed in Winter or Summer, by snowshoeing, snowmobiling, 4 wheel drive or hiking in. We decided to hike into the yurt. The hike itself is about 4.5 miles with a 1200 feet elevation gain, it is a good trail and easy to follow. The yurt itself has a nice outside deck, two double bunk beds, wood stove, cook stove and some pans and utensils. People leave cleaning supplies and overall the yurt was pretty clean. The view is outstanding. There is not running water, so make sure you bring plenty... or melt snow in the winter. There is an outhouse on site. There was an occasional 4 wheeler that would come by, but other then that it was complete solitude. They have a journal on site for people to log their experience. It is worth reading.

We rented a TeePee site. It was fun for the kids to sleep in a TeePee. There was a small table with a roof over it. The was also a grill box that we set our gas stove on top of for cooking. The campground sits higher than the day use area. The bathroom had a flush toilet which is really nice. We are to the point where we can get out and do more outdoor activities so we didn’t get out on the water. What we did enjoy was seeing the lake in the middle of the desert red rock. The kids played on the beach for a little while. Our visit was in August and temperatures were in the high 90’s, maybe 100 degrees. That made things hot. The nights were great. Clear skies made looking at stars wonderful. The grounds were kept clean and the staff was friendly and helpful.

My suggestions are to take some kind of extra shade. There are not a lot of trees for shade. Also lots of ice to keep food cool. This park is 15 minutes from Vernal so if you forget anything you can get it with a quick trip to town.