Jacob's Chair Trailhead Dispersed Camping

When you enter there’s a small circular lot. Two or three rigs could camp here comfortably. When we arrived it had 3 dusty, cold cars there — hikers on day trips and longer.

Just beyond is one site to the right, where we squeezed in our 21’ trailer, and stayed for 5 days, hiking the dry wash to slot canyons, biking the challenging and dramatic miles to Jacob’s Chair, and day-tripping to National Bridges.

There was surreal quiet and isolation, just what we wanted.

But past our site, the road hairpins suddenly down and left, demanding high clearance and rugged 4WD. It gets no better for the next quarter mile. Do not proceed until and unless you scout beforehand.

This was our second time boondocking. The first, the night before ws just perfect. Would this disappoint us? It did not!. We were coming from the south and missed the turn-off, went a 1/4 mile down the road and easily turned our 25 ft Sprinter van around. We drove in found an area to camp (several) in a circle but based on the reviews here I walked further down the road. I spotted a camp sight off the right side of the road just before the road narrowed and started too drop off quickly. It took about 5 minutes to maneuver and wegot our Airstream Interstate in there without any problems. Whilst we were setting up several others (cars, motor bikes, jeeps) came by. A couple went down the road but all left by night. We had the whole area to ourselves. A great view of Jacob's Chair and views only your own eyes could take in and do justice to this vast landscape. A couple of times we could hear trucks on the main road, but it was a distant sound and after they went through the only other sound we heard was the flapping of a raven's wing as it flew by.

We did not camp exactly here at Jacob's Chair Trailhead, though it was quite full and you'd be more a part of the scenery as you nestled between the endless barrage of pickups, 4runners and Sprinter vans that consume that parking lot on a busy Utah weekend should you choose to come directly here.

However, this road is fabulous. From here to at least Sandthrax Campground several miles north (and no doubt well beyond that), there is nearly unlimited camping and every variety of amazing one could fit into the pumpkin pie tones of Southeastern Utahopean boondocking.

Maybe you're the type who rents a 1 800 RV 4 Rent, pulls in right next to the only other camper for miles and fires up the generator? There's a spot for you. Maybe you like side of the road camping where you can splash in the river and count which there are more of, Colorado Mountains or Utah Arches license plates whizzing by. There's a spot for you, too. Or maybe, like us, you like to disappear beneath a bridge that then leads to a river crossing which morphs into a narrow road not fit for anything larger than a very small van or pickup, a place that definitely will require 4 wheel drive and touching up your vehicles paint someday? There is a spot for you too, my friend!

Let me paint a picture in 1000 words or less. Imagine streams still chilly enough from the winter's runoff where you can freeze tootsies free of their feet by morning and lounge luxuriously in come the midday heat. Rock formations, the work of history's endless tale, assume so many different shapes and sizes they ignite the brain's imagination in a way that makes the clouds so jealous for having stolen their game, they just tend to float on by in the afternoon wind. Dreading that call from your mom? You really should call her, she's worried and just wants to let you know that she loves you, however you won't be doing so from anywhere between Natural Bridges and Hanksville, this is the land of the lost signal and more or less you'll be forced to endure the backdesert isolation that only comes with being in a region that God and man have equally forsaken, while simultaneously neither has done much to alter the unfettered grandeur that our natural world holds when the dark arts of society--with their eye of Sauron cell phone towers and nightstalking city lights--come to improve the already absolutely perfect.

It constantly amazes me at exactly how much goodness they baked into this corner of Utah, and where the crowds have caught onto Moab, Zion and seemingly everything in between, here a man can be left alone with his thoughts. Assuming you don't bring the kids. I brought mine and they wouldn't leave me alone at all. Luckily I've gone deaf years ago and don't let on, so it was still absolute joy.

And thus, in short, anyone who loves the real deal, get out there without any forgetting anything because few stores are further in-between should come and camp here, but please don't, since I want to ensure maximum loneliness anytime we choose to revisit this temple of a region.

PS. We saw a guy with a bumper sticker depicting a bear with deer horns which read "BEER." Seriously, was your dad that funny? :)