Best Dispersed Camping near Dayton, WY

We ventured out here in our 26’ bumper pull camper for the night of 6/19. Several trailers and campers looked like they had been posted up there for a while. 

Pros:

-Lots of pull off spots accessible for car camping and very small campers

-Beautiful wildflowers at this time of year-remote and peaceful!

-main dirt was mostly manageable with our camper, some potholes and mud though 

Cons:-

very rainy, hence lots of mud, when we went

-most of the campsites seemed to be washed out right now and unaccessible with our camper

-no accessible turnarounds with the camper until Circle Pond Campground at the end of the road

-bugs were really bad

-no Verizon cell signal

-single lane dirt road just had a couple sporadic pull offs to allow for passing vehicles from other direction

Turn onto Circle Park Road and the dispersed camping spots start about a half-mile down an easy dirt road. The road is about 3 miles long and ends at either a campground or a trailhead parking area depending on which way you go. The campground is paid, but the entire access road (Circle Park) is dispersed. Multiple off-shoots of various dirt roads, most accessible with 2wd, some requiring more.

About a mile from the entrance is where the "established" dispersed sites start, you'll easily tell by the gate entrance. It was open, but does appear to close occasionally. The first fork you come to you can go left which will require 4wd, or you can continue right on the road. About another mile or so you'll reach the second fork. If you go right the dispersed camping ends and the entrance to the campground begins. If you go left it ends at a trailhead, but has some great dispersed spots before that. No matter what vehicle you drive there are multiple spots for you to enjoy.

A decent amount of traffic due to the campground, I saw about a dozen vehicles an hour on average until the sun set. Cell phone reception is hit-or-miss depending on your location and carrier, Verizon had 0-1 bar of 4g where I stayed. There is water available at the campground if you absolutely need it, though I would slip a couple dollars in the self-pay box as a thanks if you do use it.

Lots of awesome established and rough trails depending on what you're looking for. Lots of birds, and there's a couple of fox families living in the rock formations.

It can be a bit noisy depending on where you stay, but the mountain views during sunset are absolutely stunning. I wouldn't hesitate to stay here again.

The breathtaking Bighorn Mountains at 9000 ft elevation, good for rigs of all sizes but be advised you may want to scout the road the further you get into the camping area as it can be a bit rough (with water crossing at one point).  

We overview the camping options as well as the amenities available in the area in our video review! 

https://youtu.be/ztjOGUjNkfo

Useful Information: Location: Canyon Creek Dispersed, Ten Sleep, Wyoming 

GPS Coordinates(Canyon Creek Dispersed): 44.160758,-107.128481 

Maximum Stay: 14 Days 

Dump/Water(Cenex): https://maps.app.goo.gl/b44MFQ4ne9h3DpE2A 

Leigh Creek Dump/Water: https://maps.app.goo.gl/SfJmMrKekzLyTKFNA

We enjoyed our stay here, many spots to pick from, but a few things to be advised about. 

1. When we arrived it looked like a lot of the locals"dropped" their campers there for storage to avoid paying storage fees. However, while we were there the National Forest staff came in several times and started tagging these RVs and most of them were removed within a week or so. 

2. This place is a haven for SxS and ATV traffic on the weekend so it can get loud and very dusty 

3. Hundreds of free-range cattle, so if you are not comfortable with them walking in and through your campsite you may want to pick another location. 

4. There is only one place in all the area that has cell coverage and turns out we camped on that hill without knowing it so we had traffic all day with people parking in and around our campers to use their phones. 

We did a video review of this spot  if you are interested here is the link https://youtu.be/gpm9THujEow 

We enjoyed our stay even with those items we listed above, would stay here again for sure. Thank you to the National Forest Staff for patrolling this area!!!

We love dispersed camping but hauling a 25’ airstream makes a lot of sites inaccessible despite our lift and rugged tires! But not here! It’s a level, smooth, dirt road where you pull off the side anywhere you choose. (The road is actually 402 and 403 is at the very end behind a closed gate.) Views were breathtaking and most of the land is level. It’s far enough off the main road that there isn’t any road traffic. One mildly-annoying thing is that people drive along the road while their dogs run beside their cars. I guess that’s to exercise their animal but we watched one of these free-range dogs go after another camper’s dog who was tied up. Just an FYI if you are traveling with pets. We didn’t have any issues with mosquitos but there were a few flies. No bites or anything.