BLM Road #71 Gravel Pit Dispersed, near Mount Carmel, Utah, is a fantastic spot for those looking to immerse themselves in nature without the frills of traditional campgrounds. This area offers a peaceful retreat with stunning views, ample space for tents and RVs, and the freedom to enjoy campfires under the stars.

Visitors rave about the spaciousness, with many noting that there’s plenty of room to spread out. One camper highlighted, “There are fire pits, sunset and sunrise views over the valley,” making it a perfect backdrop for memorable evenings. The lack of amenities like drinking water and toilets means you’ll need to come prepared, but that’s part of the charm for many who appreciate the raw beauty of the outdoors.

Located just a stone's throw from Zion National Park, this area serves as an excellent base for exploring the park’s breathtaking landscapes. Campers have mentioned the clear skies, ideal for stargazing and solar setups, which adds to the allure of this location. While the road can be a bit bumpy, it’s accessible for most vehicles, so don’t let that deter you.

With a friendly vibe and a sense of privacy, BLM Road #71 Gravel Pit Dispersed is a great choice for those seeking a quiet escape close to one of Utah's most iconic natural wonders. Whether you’re camping solo or with friends, you’ll find a welcoming atmosphere and plenty of opportunities to connect with nature.

It is the general policy of the BLM that undeveloped Federal Lands under its administration are available to the public for camping and general recreation, with the following provisions: • Camping is limited to 14 days within a 30-mile radius in a 28 day period • Pack out what you pack in • Avoid camping within 200 ft. of any water source • Do not leave campfires unattended • Camp at previously used sites, if possible. • Dispose of human waste properly. The use of portable toilets is highly recommended. If no portable toilet is available, solid body waste and urine should be buried in a hole six to twelve inches deep. The disposal site should be located well away from streams, campsite, and other use areas. Toilet paper should be placed in a small plastic bag and put into your camp trash bag. • Pack out your trash (and a little extra). Do not leave or bury trash at campsites. • Firepans or stoves are recommended when camping on BLM land. • Avoid building new fire rings. Unnecessary fire rings scar the natural beauty of sites and reduce the amount of space available for sleeping and cooking areas. • Use only dead and down wood for campfires. Bringing your own firewood is the best policy to practice. • Do not put cans, bottles, or aluminum foil into a fire ring. • Burn campfire logs to ashes, then douse with water. Do not smother a campfire with soil, as this will make it difficult for the next visitor to use the same fire ring.

BLM Road #71 Gravel Pit Dispersed - BLM

Mount Carmel Junction is the perfect place for adventurous campers and RVers. There's so much to see and do, from exhilarating hikes or bike rides to exploring the local dining and shopping. Ready to plan your adventure? Check out our campgrounds near Mount Carmel Junction and user-submitted reviews.

Mount Carmel Junction

The Best Camping Near Mount Carmel Junction, Utah

It’s a nice area with plenty of room. Once you make a left off the highway onto the dirt road there’s one left turn that’s only accessible by 4 wheel drives. However if you continue and turn at the second left there’s a dirt road most cars could handle. 

Less than an hour from zion

This was our first try at dispersed camping and we hit the jackpot!
 Beautiful, up on a hill with great views of the sunrise and sunset.  Took the advice of the first reviewer to take the second left and the road was easily accessible with our SUV and pop-up. Lots of kindling for a fire and lots of spots to park. 

Beautiful campground just outside of Zion

Followed the review before me. Took the 2nd left. Road is fine for a car. Perfect stop after zion. Got a site with a amazing view. Good spot for a day or two.

Beautiful view

It’s a decent spot. Here first week of November, there were about 3 other campers. There is a dozen spots or so. Big RV at the spot shown in photos so that wasn’t available. I’ve found a fair amount of trash and toiletries around a couple camp sites. Decent views from a couple spots. 

Decent spot

Pin is on the turnoff. Continue down a road in disrepair to several large dirt turnoffs on the way. Road is fine with 2wd, be mindful of wet conditions on dirt sections. I parked the van at the last section which was a very large dirt area with two fire rings. Totally acceptable and was happy to be so close to the park. Enjoy!

Close to Zion, accessible, acceptable

About 15 minute drive outside of east entrance to Zion National Park. Accessibility was good (old broken up paved road that turns to gravel so no 4x4 needed). Some road noise. Main area has various campsites off the main road so not a ton of privacy but great open views!  Cell service (Verizon for us) was hit and miss (and is generally not great in that area). 

Accessible campsite with some nice views

Rolled up to this place after spending a week in Zion (week before presidents day weekend) and it had one other group of two. The view and seclusion is absolutely incredible, over looking nothing but greenery every where you turn. 

The drive up is broken concrete, so take it slow. Pro tip, use the SECOND left turn coming up the hill (unless you have 4x4 and a lot of clearance). The second left is super easy, hard pact dirt and will lead you to the same spot. 

Great LTE for both AT&amp;T and Verizon. 

A spectacular BLM spot with a beautiful view

The road up is rough and bumpy. We did like the previous review said and took the 2nd left. It snowed a few days before and left very large puddles which made us nervous to travel further. There were several options though and I’m sure even better ones higher up!

Lots of options

We found a wonderful spot on top of a hill. The road can be very rough in places but great views

Awesome and close to Zion

Great spot! Go about half a mile down the road, and go SLOW and you should be fine, then take that second left turn like others have said and there are plenty of spots. That first left turn looked gnarly, like you could easily bottom out if you aren’t careful or don’t have clearance. The second turn is pretty smooth and there are some great views of the valley. Not 5 stars because it is a bare bones site, no amenities. I felt safe and it was a pretty spot to park for the night.  

Beautiful views and close to Zion NP

There are so many different spots available for camping. Be very careful which paths you take and be aware of your vehicle's capabilities. Lots of spots available for cars that can go off the beaten path.

Plenty of room!

This area is up BLM Road #71 and was the old hwy. The actual main camping area is an old gravel pit area but views are great, solar is plentiful. Free BLM Dispersed, no signage, no water, no toilets, no trash.  Cell was 1-2 5g bars for me.  Road access is rough broken hwy pavement, just go slow. Second road on left to GP area. 

Nice BLM Dispersed 

Showed up about an hour before sunset only to find that the snow had melted so the area in front of either left up to the campground was flooded with at least a couple feet of water. However there was a dirt area below where you could park so we walked up the hill to find a beautiful campground. We hauled our stuff up, set up our tent and the campground to ourselves for the night. The next night it was raining so we just stayed in our car on the road in and there were a few others off the side of the road doing the same.

  

Pros:

\-beautiful view

\-lots of camping spots

\-Verizon service worked just fine

\-felt safe

\-broken concrete road which kept the road drivable with all the rain unlike dirt roads

  

Cons:

\-make sure to check what the weather is leading up to your trip because too much snow or water could make driving up to the actual campground impossible 

\-road has lots of potholes

Great spot! 

One of the most beautiful disbursed campgrounds we've seen, plenty of space, quiet, privacy and with stunning 360 views. Highly recommend this place. We felt super safe here too.

HOWEVER, the main access road (second dirt road on the left off the broken paved road) to most of the places for camping is currently, May 8, 2023, under a few feet of water and impassable except for serious 4-wheelers.

There are a limited number of spaces right off the broken paved road though. We lucked out and snagged a place right off the broken paved road at the second dirt road on the left, further down not passable.

The broken paved road (BLM Road 71) is on the left about 5 miles from Kanab right off highway 9 going towards Zion NP. It’s easy to miss so keep an eye out as it’s unmarked.

The broken paved road is easily accessible by pretty much all vehicles. We had no problem with our 27 foot Class A and our friend’s 24 foot Class C. Just go slow and you won’t have a problem.

Beautiful, beautiful place!

Awesome place to camp but…MAJOR issue…

Took a little bit to find the large open area where most people were camping, but once we did, there were tons of spots to pick from. Not a bad place for a quick overnight stay

Decent stay close to Zion

We came in around 8PM and there was only one other camper there. Could have been 10-15 more campers easily. Road is a bit bumpy, but we made it without 4WD.

Many many camp spots!

A ton of spots. There were 3 other vehicles and room for many more. Water is still present but you can drive around it or even thru it. Easy to find, basically right off the highway. 

Great Spot

Found a great spot for the night to set up our tent after exploring Zion. It's super easy to find, and you don't need a 4x4 to get here. You could easily use this as a base to explore Zion if you dont mind no facilities. The view was spectacular, and our spot had an already made fire pit. Other camper vans around some other tenters too, all quiet and respectful. Definitely would come back here. 

Tent camping close to Zion NP

Site was easy to find and a great stop right outside of eastern entrance to Zion. Was close to road but traffic noise was minimal and not too distracting. 

Nice site 

We got here around 3h30pm. Place is easy to find, no 4WD needed. Already five others parked around the area. There is even a fifth wheel. Nice view. You don’t hear the road near by. There are a couple of fire pits. Cell phone service between 1-3 bars. 

Great spot

A lot of space for cars, RVs and tents. We camped here with Conquest and few other people around. There are fire pits, sunset and sunrise views over valley. Close to Zion!

Lovely camping with great views

Road is a little rough on the way up but I'd also take pretty much anything up it as there aren't any super deep potholes. 

  

You'll pass a turn off to ORV road but right after you'll see the turn off with plenty of little flat spots that sort of bend into the brush. Great find, clear skies for starlink and solar.

Easy, breezy, beautiful, campsite

Quiet, clean, and great views. Slid in just before sunset and had plenty of of space. 10/10

Great Spot just outside Zion

We drove the ~7 miles on dirt roads to get to the listed coordinates and the vibes were horrible the whole way. We eventually got .2 miles from the listed location and there was a gate that was closed and locked. even if it wasn’t blocked off, i wouldn’t recommend it😅

Closed? 

Awesome location! Beautiful views! Multiple sites 

Open sites sitiated high with open views

I had an amazing time here, and I’m sad I only stayed one night. So serene, so quiet. Great spot with an easy drive to Zion National Park. Only 2 other campers nearby and everyone kept respectful distance for privacy. I parked up on a high-ground area and woke up to a beautiful view. 
Road coming in (before hitting gravel) is ROUGH. Was previously paved, now has a million potholes, so just drive slowly, and weeeeeave. If my minivan could make it out there just fine, I’m sure you can too! Enjoy the solitude. 

Underrated Beauty

Up an old paved road with lots of potholes. Rough, but doable for most cars. Many spots to pick from, and fairly clean. Quiet, and only a couple of neighbors 

Clean and quiet

We stayed just one night here while passing through.  The road coming in from Mt Carmel Junction is fairly steep but a good road.  Stayed with our 30ft trailer in late October.  weather was perfect short sleeves during the day and a hoodie around the campfire at night.  We saw two other rigs on a Moday night.  Plenty of room to turn around.  The stars were amazing.  The half paved road in was very rough but any car can drive it.  Perfect for day exploring zions from teh east side.  We drove into the park through the tunnel once we had dropped the trailer here.  It was about 10 degrees warmer both day and night here than at Bryce Canyon.

Great for an overnighter

Great spot close to the back entrance of Zion National Park. Lots of camping sites, some already have fireplaces made by previous goers. Decent amount of people were at the site, I would suggest going farther into the campsite to get away “Rent-a RV” families. 

Many sites have great views of the surrounding wilderness with canyons in the back and long eyesight views. Sunset and sunrise were especially gorgeous, I can only imagine what they look like in the summer. 

Great place for stargazing at night as well!

Gravel Road

This was a nice, fairly wooded spot within 15 min of Zion entrance. It felt private but there were only 2-3 others there. 

Photos of BLM Road #71 Gravel Pit Dispersed - BLM

Real photos from real campers