Drinks Canyon Campground

The Colorado River was up, and the canyon was glowing with light. A very magical place. There is a lot of road noise right by the campground, but we could focus on the view.

Fortunately I arrived in time to get a space, many others left disappointed. The only drawback is that the campsites are so close to the highway and it is very noisy.

Small but a nice campground on the Colorado River. On highway 128 and only 6.2 miles east of Highway 191 which goes directly into Moab. UT and Arches NP.

When heading out West or just Moab, I stay at one of the BLM campsites along the Colorado River. Can't beat the scenery. I would recommend this campground but get there at check out time. Only $20.00.

Needed a place close to Moab so we could hit the Jeep trails early in the morning and not have a long drive in to town. The site was a clean, nice open space. The only drawback is that you are right off a highway so you will be getting traffic noise all the time at this campground. Being so close to town, it filled up fast. We got our spot around 4PM on a Thursday and there were many people driving through looking for a spot all night but it was full by 6PM. About a 15 minute drive back to Moab from here.

This spot was a life saver when we were looking for a campsite after a long day at Arches! It was not too far from there or Canyonlands which was awesome. You are camping in the canyon and you have beautiful views of the river from the site we stayed at. It was also one of the best places to see stars!

However, it was super close to the road, so that broke the peace a little bit. There were also a lot of cars driving through the campsite later in the night looking for a place to stay, since it is first-come, first-serve. 

The toilet is a pit toilet and the site does not have a water source, so be prepared in that sense. Bringing a lot of water was helpful since it gets very hot in this area! I would definitely stay here again, but try to get a spot further away from the road and closer to the river.

Great spot to pull off for the night as it’s right next to the road. Not much shade, so it can definitely get hot but you do have access to the river via social trails. If you get there earlier in the day I recommend driving further along to Oak Grove, Hal, or Big Bend.

Great for camping in the summer, river is close and clean for a nice dip. You can watch rafts float by later in the night. Plus since it’s in a canyon it really cools from the intense heat of the day.

Nice spot on the Colorado river. Easy to get to and out of to hit up arches in the morning. Fire ring and picnic bench on all the sites. close to the road but after night fall it’s quiet.

We had to wake up early and arrive by 10am midweek in order to secure this site in September.  It was super busy in MOAB!  It was just a 10 minute drive to town, if traffic wasn't at a standstill due to major construction.  Site was clean.  Fire pit hadn't been cleaned of ash in a long time but other than that, it was nice.  Bathrooms were clean.  Awesome to swim in the Colorado river, there is a beach just a short walk away.

Perfect little camping spot located right off of the road small little trails leading down to the water and a nice little private beach where you can relax and tan and swim in the river. Perfect little spot

Upper Drinks campground was a surprise campground find. Located next to Middle Drinks Campground this 4 site campground was empty, while Middle Drinks was full. Middle Drinks has no sign along the highway indicating the campground which may be the reason we found it empty. Sitting between the Colorado river and the highway just like the other campgrounds in the canyon. It was nice having the campground to our selves when all the other campgrounds were full or nearly full. Great views of the Colorado River and its red rock walls. Sites are a bit on the small side. This campground has an out house, but it is not your standard vault toilet, This outhouse has no roof, it is a wooden structure with walls may be 5½ feet tall and no door. Their is a chain you place across the entrance to indicate it is in use, see the pictures. But you will have the best view ever while using this outhouse.  If you are uneasy with using this open outhouse you could take a 10 minute walk over to Middle Drinks campground and use the standard vault toilet. All four of the sites have a picnic table and metal fire ring. No water or trash service at this campground so be sure to load up with water in Moab, campground information sign tells you where the nearest dumpsters are for dumping your trash. So if you are having a hard time finding a campsite in the area, search out Upper Drinks Campground, just look for a turn off just after the large BLM sign for the turn to Middle Drinks Campground, you might just find a campground with no one in it like we did.