Best Tent Camping near Wendover, UT

Private and quiet spot off the highway to camp near the Salt Flats. If you get a spot that can prevent some of the major winds in this area it will be best for you if you’re camping in a tent. If you’re sleeping in a camper or vehicle it won’t matter.

We stayed at the Bonneville KOA on a road trip from Southern California out to Colorado. Our original goal had been to drive from the SF Bay Area to SLC, UT (US Highway 80 is a very easy, straight shot drive from CA to UT, even for a 650 mile drive), but got a really late start and changed our target to the NV/UT boarder.

The Wendover KOA is definitely a KOA designed for motorhomes and trailers - it’s BARREN - so not a place I would usually want to tent camp. All of the spaces are dirt lots, including the tent sites - no grass, no bushes, no (well, very few) trees, no privacy, no nothing. Again, this is not the environment I would normally want to camp in, but it worked just fine for a short stop between long stretches of driving when covering miles on a road trip.er

This KOA campground would be great for RV users who want to visit the Casinos on the Nevada side of the NV/UT boarder, and for those spending time at the Bonneville Salt Flats for races or recreational fun.

The facilities were clean - clean bathrooms, clean showers. There were fire pits and picnic benches in the camp sites, and WiFi was available on the campus.

KOAs can be really great and convenient (if not full), considering we did not have a reservation ahead of time, and arrived fairly late, but were able to register through an iron ranger near the front office. If you need to find a place to camp in this area, and do NOT have a 4WD vehicle, I️ would suggest camping at the Wendover KOA instead of the nearby dispersed BLM sites located ON the salt flats. When researching where to stop for the night, we considered staying at the BLM campsites as they were FREE and camping out on the salt flats seemed like a cool idea. We decided against it because we didn’t know how my 2WD Honda CRV would fair on the salt, and because KOAs always have nice clean facilities to use.

We got into a conversation with our neighbors about the salt flats (we had never seen them before). They seemed to think we made the correct choice by camping at the KOA rather than the on salt flats… they regularly take off-roading vehicles out to the salt flats, and have seen a dozen or so 2WD vehicles get stuck out on the flats. Apparently the long, vast salt flats are deceptive, and not always as flat as they appear. Also, they said that it can be very difficult to see pooled water while driving out on the salt, so a lot of people get stuck in deep puddles after rain.

CAMPSITE SPECS

Fees: $26/night

Plumbed Toilets: Yes

Water: Yes

Showers: Yes (no coins needed)

Picnic Table: Yes

Firepit: Yes

Cooking Grate: Yes

Shade: NO

Cell Service: Yes + WiFi

Trash: Yes

Animal Bins/Food Lockers: NO

My recent journey from the west coast to east coast brought me to this amazing spot! Definitely going to return it left me breathless at sunset and sunrise.. it was however crazy windy so make sure you bring some heavy duty stakes if your tent camping..

Is pretty typical for a KOA except for the location!  This KOA has all the usual amenities: playground, showers, flush toilets, RV hookups, a pool, and wifi.  Some convenievces can also be bought at the main registration cabin.  In addition to the usual RV sites there are also camping cabins and "tent" sites (which I do not recommend).  There are a couple of unique things about this KOA in that it has shuttles to the nearby casinos and is also a 5 minutes drive from the world famous Bonneville Salt Flats where numerous world speed records have been set.

Stayed: 5/14/2021

Cost: FREE

Site: SEE PIC

Vehicle: Volkswagen Atlas

Equipment: Tent

AT&T: Weaker 5G

T-Mobile: 2 bars LTE

This is a great area, just outside of the Bonneville Salt Flats, and minutes from the towns of Wendover and West Wendover, at the Nevada and Utah state line. Apple Maps had some issues with us getting to these sites, because it thought it was only walkable, and that there was no road. So, if you plug it in and there is a crazy long commute, that could be why.

Once you take the turn off of Leppy Pass Road, there is an open area that had some RVs and others camping out. If you continue east, passing the ‘Silver Island Mountains Back Country Byway’ sign, you will end up at the Volcano Peak Dispersed area. We traveled about 2 miles down this road, going around a curve with a flat area and big rock to the right. There are many more sites this way, but we turned around and chose the site marked in the map picture. Heads up, the road can be a little rough!

We had some cool views of the flats, I-80 in the distance and surrounded by the mountains. It is a little close to the road and there was quite a bit of traffic, so noise and dirt/dust could be an issue. However, it is a beautiful site!

#DareToEverywhere

You can’t camp on the salt flats but this is the next best thing. Unpaved road but very reasonable for even 2WD. There are plenty of sites along the road here and more private ones further in if you have 4WD and high clearance. Easy to get to West Wendover for supplies (and casinos!)

Unbelievable spot! Free, of course. Solitude, great road to it, 4 bars of VZ reception, easy access to I-80 but plenty far enough away to not hear it at all, truck stop at exit, town of Wendover 15 minutes away, worth the extra couple minutes of driving down the road to get to this spot.

This is a pristine area elevated a bit off the salt flats but with views for miles. With the mountains as the backdrop, they make for a great day hike. Wendover is nearby for supplies, and you’ll need them here as there are no hookups. This is a great wide open boon-docking stop over on our way west. Close to Hwy 80, and only slightly off the beaten path, but well worth the detour. BLM land.

Exit Bonneville Speedway. Head N past Sinclair (on right). Veer to left, which is Leepy (if you stay right youre on the Peninsula easy turn around at end) about a mile in Leppy veer to the right on the dirt road. It is wash boarded but totally doable. That leads you to the BLM parking lot. There are tons of spots all around there. To the left will lead you back to Leepy. To the right there are tons more spots. Some level, some not. You will be able to find a turn around spot (I'm towing 33' TT) if you don't want to go the, what I was told 40 mile loop. It is wash boarded. Only potable water I found was KOA in West Wendover. They also have a dump. Has a tendency to get VERY windy.

Bonneville Speedway Access Rd > Left on Leppy Pass Rd till you reach a strange mysterious government building > Right on Silver Island Loop Rd > veer right on Volcano West Rd

Dope spot on a bluff looking out at the entire valley, with Pilot Peak prominently featured.   Plenty of space to maneuver and very level.  Already some fire pits.

Watch the rocks on Volcano West rd as you approach the lookout - I made it with my 25 ft travel trailer, but be careful you don't bottom it out.

You can see for miles in every direction, but limited protection from wind.   Wasn't too bad when I was there but I imagine it could be.

Super close to West Wendover and the salt flats.  There's dozens of campsites in this area so definitely go exploring.  While the roads are generally in good shape, some of have pretty bad wash boarding, especially when towing.

Some cell reception, great for Starlink obviously.

This spot has gorgeous views of the flats and the mountains. However, it can get windy. It was 6-8 mph winds when we stayed and our rooftop tent was not exactly happy about it.

I always love my time in the knolls. Great recreation area if you have atv’s or bikes. Tons of sand dunes, open space for trailers and tents, and breathtaking views of sunrise and sunset.

When we arrived we noticed a lot of camping site options. However, it was very windy make sure if your in a tent the stakes are down properly. Directions are accurate to site locations. We went during the 4th of July week and noticed it got very busy towards the end of the night, large group gatherings.

Great location! Many places to park, lots of space. Please camp here and not on the salt flats, state of Utah has asked people to not camp on the flats.

This was a great stop for us on our way across I-80. Pulled over right at sunset and had the place to ourselves in the middle of July. Pit toilets only and no water. Not much shade but didn't matter to us since we got there at sunset and left early to continue our trip. Tent on the sand!

Like others have said, there’s plenty of spots for everyone. There were some other folks out there, but no one bothered us and we didn’t bother them (sound really didn’t seem to travel too much!). We stayed pretty close to the road and located a fire pit. The spot was beautiful and we had a full moon, which was amazing to watch rise over the flats. Temperatures were nice as well. The wind picked up sometime in the early morning hours and never stopped, which made packing up the tent an interesting feat.

The ground is hard, so make sure to bring something soft to sleep on. The stacks were also a bit hard to get into place, even with a mallet. We also saw (what we assume to be) a kangaroo mouse, which was cool!

Definitely would consider this area again, although we may choose a different spot. Stayed June 21, 2024. FREE campsite.

Wonderful!!!

Management at this KOA was excellent. Very nice and welcoming. The facilities were clean. The campground area is clean and well attended.