Klondike Bluff Road Dispersed Camping

We snagged the first spot past the BLM sign on the right hand side. That way we didn’t have to drive down the BUMPY road every day going in and out. While the views were a little less spectacular, the road noise was almost non existent, the area was cleaner and quieter than Willow Springs, and cell service was great. A 15 minute drive to Arches, 22 into downtown and closer to 30 to dump and get water (free) at the south side of town. 40 minutes or so to canyonlands and dead horse. Considering the campground prices in this area and the competition for river spots…. This spot was stellar.

The blm removed all the dispersed camping here and changed it into a paid fcfs campground called North Klondike. $20/night, $10 with the pass. Your money buys you picnic table, fire pit and our house.

It's still the great view, but missing the charm of being dispersed.

Once you choose a site, you can pay on rec.gov. there are codes to scan. The group area is reservable.

The road in is now VERY washboard, like the large equiptment to make this campground couldn't grade it??

We stayed here for five nights the week before Thanksgiving as a landing spot to explore Arches National Park and surrounding sights. We had been warned the first mile of the road in was pretty bad, but that it got better after that. This turned out to be accurate. It was good for the second mile, but we would not take our Flying Cloud 25 any further due to road conditions. We had a lovely large campsite in the first two mile stretch with beautiful views of the La Sal mountains, Arches Tower Arch area, Klondike Bluff, and the occasional balloon taking off across the road near the airport. The sites are really spaced out. We had minor adjustments to level though some sites we saw looked more challenging. While we could see Rt 191 and the airport, we heard nothing from either. We were able to drive in a bit in our pickup and then hike up to Tower Arch from the Klondike Bluff recreation area. The nights were very quiet and the sky was brilliant with stars. The only downside was just beyond the two mile mark was the trailhead for the Klondike Bluff biking area so we had quite a bit of dusty traffic going by our site during the day. If we could have got in just a bit further, this wouldn't have been an issue. There were other bigger rigs in further--we just didn't want to risk it.

Stayed here for 1 night luckily before the heat kicked in the next afternoon. Nice boondocking spot but with the heatwave over 110 degrees it wouldn’t be bearable out here. The sunset colors were beautiful, and the noise was minimal considering it’s pretty close to the highway. We didn’t make it all the way in because of the bumpy and rocky entrance, so we settled for the 3rd or 4th spot that we saw coming in.

Visited 6/1-6/11. Easy to find. First mile of road is rocky & very bumpy, then goes to just bumpy washboard. Numerous pull offs for any size rig, mostly level. Very windy and dusty and HOT. The regional airport is nearby and provides entertainment with parachuters, hot air balloons, etc. Moab is about 20 minutes away, Arches is only about 15. This camping area is a bit further away than a couple of the others but is far nicer, more secluded, with good hiking/biking. Go eat at the food truck area and go rafting!!

We had plenty of room and very little traffic on the main road. We were only 1 mile from the highway, but could not see or hear it. We had a great view of the snow covered La Sal Mountains as well as the red rocks of Klondike Bluffs. It was only about 20 minutes from Moab and a great hub for exploring Arches and Canyonland. The only downside was the wind - it was windy almost every day and it kicked up quite a bit of dust, to the point where often it was unbearable to be outside. This put a bit of a damper on our time here.

We filled water and dumped at the Maverik in Moab for free, but keep in mind that it can get crowded and you may need to wait in line.

Cell coverage with AT&T came and went, but was mostly usable late at night.

I arrived on a rainy morning, and the road in was a thick muddy sludge, so I took a site not too far from the highway, in order not to chance getting stuck (I have a Subaru Forester w/ AWD).

Otherwise, the site worked well for me in general. I had good cell reception, so I could work uninterrupted. People were friendly. The site was clean. It's close to Arches & Canyonlands.

The proximity from my site to the highway was a bit annoying, but not terrible. It's wide open, so don't expect any privacy or shade from the sun. I probably would've gone farther in had it not been raining when I arrived.

We scouted all the boondocking spots (w/ Verizon service) north of Moab before bringing our trailer in. We don't have 4 wheel drive so wanted to make sure we could make it with our 30' TT. Every time we passed Willow Springs dispersed area it was PACKED, didn't matter what day of the week it was. Dalton Wells has a long sandy wash you have to drive through, and the sand is deep enough there was no way we would have made it without 4 wheel drive.

Klondike Bluffs is about a 15-minute drive to the Arches gate, 30 minutes to Canyonlands, and 25-30 to Moab. The road is really rocky and bumpy at the start, and the further back you go it gets a little better. The spots vary a lot along this road, some are great and level with wonderful views and others are really unlevel with no views. We camped in the first pull-off which was pretty level and easy to get to the main road for exploring every day. There is a bit of highway/train noise but nothing too bothersome.

While we were there it rained heavily for a day and made the road impassable for us without 4-wheel drive. Beware if you don't have 4-wheel drive and it's been raining! Thankfully the desert sun dried up the muddy mess by the next day. Cell phone service with Verizon was great and we were able to work and stream just fine. Overall we enjoyed our stay and would definitely stay again!

We arrived a couple days after a rain event which made for very slick, muddy conditions on first section of the road back to Klondike Bluffs. Conditions quickly improved once we started going up first hill. Slow going with the Airstream; large rocks scatter the road. Got set-up high on one of the hills for spectacular views and great mobile service (AT&T).

Lot's to explore in immediate area, from MTB trails to small canyons to interesting rock formations. Other trailheads close bu. Only 15-20 minutes into Moab. The gravel road is busy on weekends with local and visiting users.

Site quality varies greatly, but all impacted sites are far from each other.