Escalante Canyon Road Dispersed Camping

Maybe if we went all the way to escalante canyon there would be more to see, but the road didn’t look great for the 41’ fifth wheel. We stopped early on the road in a nice big pullout. Set up for the night and then we are headed on to the final destination. This was a reasonably nice and easily accessible stopover that costs nothing. Can’t complain too much, but it’s not a destination spot in my opinion.

If you have a larger rig, turn right onto road 74 (off of road 650). On 74 there are larger dispersed sites where you can easily turn around. If you turn left it is 74B and the sites are difficult to turn around or back in large vehicles. There is a quarry at the bend of Escalante Canyon road so there is a lot of quarry truck traffic but not too noisy. Good service with a Verizon and ATT.

Stopped here upon leaving the Grand Junction Air Show based on Campendium reviews. We drove the Canyon Road for several miles, past the river crossing and through a series of ranches, all very obviously marked "private property, no trespassing" etc (They must have problems with people illegally boondocking on their land. We eventually stopped at the USFS historic site of the Walker family cabin, which was FS land, adjacent to the creek, and offerred a shady area to park and (we thought) camp. We arrived around 530PM, started to set up camp while the kids explored the creek... and that's when the mosquitoes came. As we had not set up yet, and our youngest was freaking out from the bugs, we pulled up stakes and drove back up to the dryer desert-like campsites immediately west of Highway 50 (first site on the left/South as you begin down the road). Watched storms roll in across the north and enjoyed a nice evening campfire.

The roads all the way to Walkers cabin were improved surface dirt road, sometimes corrugated, sometimes a bit rough, but no need for 4WD when we went (July). The valley is beautiful but you definitely begin to sense that you're in remote country. No cell service the valley but full access from the high ground adjacent to Highway 50.

We came here from busy Moab Ut so not having any neighbors was such a blessing for us and our dogs. We got free water at the pilot in grand junction on the way to “teo’s spot” using his coordinates, and the spot was excellent as others mentioned. Slow and steady we backed into our rather level site, that was essentially on a big flat rock near the fire pit. Quiet with no neighbors nearby, although we saw people coming and going at a few of the bigger areas directly off of the main road, but we were tucked off to the side. There are trails all over the area for Off-roading, hiking, and horseback riding. The only bother at this location was at times the wind gusts. It would be quite one minute and all of a sudden it would come whipping through for ten or fifteen minutes and then stop. All and all a great free spot.

Using Teo's coordinates (thank you sir) we saw a coupla spots before and he nailed it. Level enough had a fire ring, saw zero trash, nice big spot to pull around. Ah yes a lil far off traffic noise but hay free and level with Verizon? Did I mention the bark rating of 5. Room to roam and plenty of groovy snarfs. And on Hwy 50, "The loneliest road in America" the bluest of highways.

We were having some strange noise coming from our Truck and this fill the bill to park for a bit and get it sorted. There really aren't a ton of spots here. There is a large parking area just after you exit from the freeway. We went to the gps coordinates listed and that spot was only suitable for vans or tents with no good turnaround. We backed out a bit and flipped around and just camped off the main road. We hiked the road the next day and found a nice site which I'll put the coordinates for in the photos.

This was a great spot to stop on the way from Grand Junction to Black Canyon NP. I arrived just after sunset and had no trouble finding the road or a good spot.

The road in was nicely graded - they are doing some heavy equipment work down the road past where I stayed, so I'm guessing the road is being maintained for that.

I found a large spot in the canyon (had to check to make sure no rain was forecast!). Would easily work for a much larger rig.

The only traffic past my spot was after 8am, and mostly rangers and crew.

The road from Hwy 50 is Escalante Canyon Road on the street sign, Google knows it as road 360.

There's not a lot of information on this area that I could find but it's a great place to explore and spend some time. I didn't feel comfortable pulling my 26' TT quite as far as the posted coordinates although I believe it probably would have made it just fine. I saw Priuses and passenger cars heading down that way. I ended up camping a little closer to the main road at 38.777415,-108.253268 and had a beautiful spot on hard rock with blazing fast Verizon service and some protection from the heat and wind from a couple small trees and hills. I had to back in to the spot, as it was too tight to turn around-- about 75' of backing along some loose rock and rutted dirt. Once I was there, I was able to level without blocks.

There are lots of great side spur roads to explore here and access to the Gunnison river, as well as a primitive campground called potholes much further down the main road, beyond the river (no cell service there). Unfortunately, there were a few shell casings and empty bottles/cans when I arrived but not horrible.

The road starts with very easy access and becomes more challenging depending on where you choose to go.

Stayed here two nights in mid March. Sign at the junction with highway 50 just says "camp in existing sites, the best campsites are found not made." Probably drove by 10 other sites in my search for the perfect spot. Spot I ended up in was off the Primative Road to the west of the main Escalante Canyon Road. I saw one class A in a spot closer to the river bottom, but most sites are suitable for a rig upto 25'.

From the spot I camped, I could here infrequent highway noise. But for the most part pure quiet and clear sky. Woke up each morning and took the dog for a walk on a hiking trail to the Gunnison River canyon edge, 1/2 mile each way.

If you find yourself between Grand Junction and Montrose, I highly recommend this site!