Gorgeous Campground At The Back Of Arches National Park
Here you're high up and amongst the beautiful sandstone formations of Arches National Park.
The campground: This is the only campground inside the National Park, and it is located at the very back of the Park. Be warned, traffic often backs up at the entrance to the National Park. Once inside the Park, the drive from the Visitor's Center to the campground can take between 30-60 minutes depending on traffic. Staying here is one of the best ways to explore the Park. There's a trailhead not far from the campground, and being able to wake up inside the park allows you to skip the entrance traffic and get a head start before the crowds flood in.
My campsite had a large concrete pad for parking, a picnic table, and a firepit. The area I set up my tent was dirt, but here that basically means sand. Be ready to have sand everywhere (totally worth it though). I had nightly deer visitors that enjoyed munching on the juniper nearby. The bathroom for my site was a 1-2 minute walk. The bathrooms consisted of flush toilets, sinks, a large outdoor sink for dishes, plus access to drinking water.
The area: If you're traveling from 70, there's not a ton between 70 and the entrance to Arches National Park, but Moab is only about ten minutes from the Park entrance. Arches National Park is vast. It has plenty of scenic spots to pull over on the drive between the entrance and the campground, and lots of different trails to hike with varying difficulty. Even if you're not a hiker you can still enjoy the beauty of this place.
Booking: I camped here in the offseason (November) when it's first-come first-served, and arrived on a day where there was no host. So, once I found my spot, I put my payment in an envelope found near the host entrance. It's worth noting that on days where there's no campground host or park ranger, you cannot buy firewood at the campground.
Cell service: Verizon was unreliable. Sometimes I would have enough service to stream a hockey game, and other times, in the exact same spot I'd have almost no service.