Yellow Circle Road Dispersed Camping Area

There are so many sites to choose from - we went the weekend before memorial day weekend. I went in a group with 15 people between about 7 cars. I have a sedan and made it up fine although super slow. Coming down I went too fast and bent my skid plate. There are spots on the road that are really rocky and some areas are flat. Although, out spot was near the top portion of the area.

Cacti are in some areas but there are plenty of soft spots for a tent. Verizon service was great and there were no complaints there. It wasn't windy when I went and the temps were great. Neighbors were quiet and the views towards Moab were phenomenal.

No toilets or water so bring what you need. Also, no shade where we camped.

This was our second night boondocking near Moab, and it was peaceful. We were the only ones out in this area camping with not a single car driving by while we were here. On the way up we passed several campers right near the entrance of Yellow Circle Road. The campsite provides views of the mountains. The sunset was amazing even through the shrubbery. It does get windy out here in May; however, the shrubbery provides a solid wind break and the wind usually dies down in the evening. There was already a fire ring when we got here. Broken glass was found in some areas, be sure to watch where you step. If one doesn’t have firewood, there are plenty of dead branches laying around to use as firewood. There is potential room for other campers if one decided to come in a group with a similar set up to our camping set up. To get to this campsite, one doesn’t need high clearance; however, parts of the road aren’t crushed gravel (good tires are a must). Enjoy this beautifully, remote campsite!

Quiet, secluded, beautiful vast views of the La Sal range and the Spanish Valley. There are many many sites and other off shooting roads to other camp spots, towards the upper part of the road I would recommend decent ground clearance and 4x4 but it could be done in 2wd with patience.

Drove quite a ways up the road to find a spot, weren’t too many and the road is very rocky. Not inaccessible by any means, probably wouldn’t do it in a car tho. Nice views at the top

Back in on the roads to the farther out sites are loaded with rocks. Was able to make it up a way in nissan Altima nice and slow with a few scrapes. 4wd ideal. Not shade out there, obviously. But night sky view was extraordinary. Fire pits scattered throughout. Some ATV activity. Middle ground between Arches National and Cayonlands Nation Park. Decent t-mobile Reception. Good spaced primitive sites.

The drive in was much smoother than most BLM spots. Could do it in a 2 wheel drive easy. Pretty spot. Not too busy when we were there on a mid October week night.

Took the Rav4. Wouldn't recommend the Honda Civic. Better clearance would be good for the upper sites. Lots of rock ring fire pits but not so far apart as you would expect in dispersed camping. Somewhat busy for a Tuesday in October. Vehicles looking for open sites all through the night.

Great BLM spot with well defined and somewhat private sites. We had 2 bars Verizon. The road closest from Moab was no problem for my van.

This was right outside of Moab. This is a great spot for any vehicle, just a little bit of a dirt off road. There were lots of different spots to choose from and we weren’t parked right next to anyone.

Nice spot but very busy. Not really dispersed you will have a neighbor pretty close. There’s rock fire pits and nice shade. There was a lot of gnats that was kinda irritating but very beautiful other than that. Super close to town and FREE

Great secluded area with a bunch of spots without being crowded. No cell service but not far from the main road or town at all. Too windy for a tent or fire when we came but still has some rock firepits.

We have stayed here a few times as it’s easy to get to. The road was much rougher last years and it’s been graded some so we were able to go up pretty high and and get some great spots.

30 min South drive from Moab, lots of sites and fire pits. 2WD accessible, great site

Lots of places to camp, not too secluded however great energy and free area on camp outside of Moab!

We had a great time here but I’m not sure if we camped “where we were supposed to”. Happy with it!

My wife and I camped with another couple bringing a race car trailer and pickup truck and car hauler with our Jeeps onboard. We found this spot here that was amazing. AFTER CLEANING UP A HUGE MESS THAT SOME A HOLE LEFT, we arranged our gear and set up camp. Best time I have ever had camping. We were even greeted with 4" of snow our last day there! Coming from Houston that was cool. There is no water or restroom so be prepared with your own water and port a poty. Maverick gas station down the road GAVE us potable water access and allowed us to throw our trash there. Our port a poty can be dumped in any toilet so...was not bad.  We wheeled the local trails, camped and cooked all our meals, and never had any incident or visit by any sketchy people or authorities. I believe if you are taking care of the area "treading lightly" you will have no problems here. The stars and views are the best you can expect...especially for free camping. Please Please Please leave the site better than you found it unless you want to lose the luxury of this type of dispersed camping.  We will be back as we did not do all the trails yet.

Little bumpy coming in and went slow on class C with LCI jacks that hang low. The views are magnificent. No camping signs before the camping areas but many camp there anyway as well. Awesome stuff to climb here. ATV here.

This is a pretty big area so there’s space for trailers etc. The road is a bit rough, but manageable for most vehicles. No shade other than what’s cast by the hills and a bit of highway noise, but there are amazing views of the mountains. There are no amenities, but Moab is nearby and has places to fill water, dump station, etc.

Unless you’ve ample off roading experience, outfitted your rig with an assortment of lights, and a decent lift kit, please don’t attempt to climb the mountain beyond a certain point at night. The trail has portions where the road has given out and requires extreme caution as to not tumble down the mountain.

Otherwise, there are plenty of huge camping spots prior to the coordinates listed on this specific site.

Just a couple miles outside of Moab UT. A great spot some friends showed me to camp out under the stars. Primitive for sure, no water, no toilets, picnic tables or anything. But great sunsets, views of the mountains and you can even see Arches from the distance. The stars are so bright at night and you can see the Milky Way. It’s about a 15 minute car ride (have a 4WD or something rugged) up to the top of the bluff where this site was. We saw another site on the way up but someone was there. I enjoyed it a lot. We saw Arches (25 mins away) and Canyonlands (45 mins away) Kens Lake and some waterfall place that was great ! My kind of camping.

Lotsss of places to set up a tent and some RV spots too. Camped here twice and I like it a lot, very nice view. Only downsides are the lack of shade and that some of the spots have a very rough road to get to. Also, watch the big ants. You do not want to get bit by one of those suckers

Free! Easy enough to find if you use the coordinates given by the Dyrt. I only saw maybe 6 official spaces to camp, but there's probably more that I just couldn't access with 2wd. I took the Northwest entrance initially and had no problem getting to the campsite. Just a few bumps. Using the other entrance, I found too many bumps for my minivan to get over.

We got here to find it relatively busy, we are here in a Tuesday and there are at least 10 other campers here. It's a rough road in, the higher up you go on the road, the rougher. We took our travel trailer(22' total) up, just have to be careful. It was a good place to stay, pretty scenic area, was hoping for a bit more seclusion so we could run our generator, whatever though, not a deal breaker. It's a good place for a free overnight. I'd stay again in a heart beat.

The road to get there is bumpy with lots of tire ruts. I did still make it with my 2wd though! The site had a fire pit, a view of the mountain, and lots of place to park. The road clearly states where camping is permitted.

Good roads but many camp spots are subject to road noise from the highway. Has potential to fill quickly as it's pretty close to town. We just needed a place to pull over for the night and get some truck bed sleep, it worked fine for us.

There are plenty of FREE spots available in this general area that is a stone's throw from Canyonlands, right outside of Behind the Rocks Wilderness Study Area. There are a few "campgrounds" along this road, on both sides of the highway. Pay attention to BLM signs and camp only in designated spots. Also, make sure you have a portable toilet or be prepared to pack out your and your pet's waste. There are no toilets and digging of cat holes is NOT allowed!

There are some washes and tricky spots, but several sedans were able to make it in. Obviously the Jeeps here for the rally had no problem at all, and it was fun watching them zoom around. Great place for dirt bikes and ATVs as well. Wish we had one to join in the fun or do some more site seeing!

This was a fairly popular spot, but the sites are all spread out so its not too bad. Make sure you bring everything you need, there are no amenities other than fire rings.

This is a pretty rustic Dispersed site. Plenty of room for lots of rvs and tents. The road getting there is a couple miles and pretty bumpy but doable in most vehicles, even my low wheel drive Saturn. Has fire rings and amazing view of the mountains right there where you camp. There’s a lot of ATV and UTV action that happens across the road, I think there’s a trail so that can be loud, even at night. All in all it’s a pretty good site.

This campground is about 11 miles south of Moab, and one of the only FREE places in camp in the area. There are no amenities (with the exception of occasional fire pits), but plenty of space for campers, large RVs, tents, etc. We were fine with a 2WD car. When you drive in, make sure you are far enough to be in the designated camping area (0.6) miles from the mail road (past the cattle guard). There are several options once you pull in, (the road splits 3 ways), all are good! The one furthest to the left has a little shade and goes up a slight canyon where we saw some people using hammocks.

We camped here for 3 days during our stay in Moab, with three cars and about 8 people and had no issues finding a spot. We set up tents in a slightly "grassy" patch. There is little shade. We packed up every night and did not leave our stuff while we were gone, however- other people did, and had no issues with theft.

GEAR REVIEW

Renology Water filter

https://www.renogy.com/renogy-portable-outdoor-water-filter/

As a Ranger, I occasionally get the chance to test out gear for The Dyrt!

I collected water from a slightly moving canyon stream along one of our hikes in a canyon, and brought it back to camp to filter. I usually do this when filtering water rather than filtering at the source (I've dropped too many things, and it's hard balancing along muddy creekbeds).

What I loved about the Renogy Water Filter, was it's size. It's nice and small and comes with a little carrying case. It was pretty easy to put together (via the photograph/instruction card). I pumped a liter of water in about 2 minutes with set up and balancing. My arm didn't get tired at all, and I could have easily done another 2 L! It was also awesome that the intake tube is so long - for when you are collecting at the source, you have a little more leeway with your set up. I only ran into one problem - my output tube popped out of the clean water nalgene and landed on the ground once, thankfully it didn't get muddy or gross.

A couple cons about the filter include the carrying case and tube storage. It's suede, which is aesthetic and nice, but possibly not the most durable or waterproof for long backpacking trips. Also- all filters I've had in the past came with baggies to keep your intake and output tubes separate to prevent cross contamination. This filter didn't stress that at all, but I brought my own baggies just to be safe.

Final conclusion - This filter is a nice size for backpacking and easy to use. I'll be taking it on all my trips this summer, but might find a different carrying case for it.