Miners Canyon Dispersed Camping

Holy moly, this place was magnificent! I arrived in the evening and was greeted with an incredible view: a vast lake backed by snowcapped mountains glowing in the light from the setting sun; the lights from Provo, the city across the lake, twinkle throughout the night; and it is definitely worth waking up early to catch the sun rising over the mountains. I slept in my SUV here, and I would recommend this place to anyone sleeping inside a vehicle.

Just a heads up, this review is from mid-November 2021; things may have changed a little. The weather was cold, so I had no issues with bugs (some of the other reviews had mentioned bugs). I do imagine that staying here in the summer might not be as great.

The campground: Getting here is fairly easy. If you're heading south on 68, you'll see a Public Lands sign on your right and the turn will be on your left near mile marker 19. The road becomes a dirt gravel mixture, and things do get a bit bumpy the further you go. There's different levels to this area, and while I kept to the road that stayed low, I did see some RVs up in the middle section. When I was there in the winter, with no foliage, it was pretty clear where other people had stayed. There were about four other vehicles camping, but we were all able to be so spread out that I never saw any of the other people. It was a peaceful and quiet stay. As a solo camper I was very comfortable here.

The downside of this area was the trash; there wasn't anything large, but the ground had plenty of bottle caps, nails, and a little bit of glass. This is why I recommend sleeping in your vehicle instead of a tent. Ultimately, for me, the beauty and quiet of this place far outweighed the trash issue.

The area: This land is located right off of Utah Lake. It's about twenty minutes from the town of Saratoga Springs, and less than an hour from Salt Lake City, which means there are plenty of places to get food and supplies.

Cell service: It was pretty good with Verizon. I was able to watch a live hockey game on my phone.

It was nice to have a place to stop and stay for two weeks that is close to town and felt very safe. The lakefront is closed for camping now and has been for a while regardless of the previous review in 2022 saying they were camped on the waterfront. It's overgrown and fenced off permanently. There is no cell signal down by the lake, the best signal I got was T-mobile up on the grass, about 100ft from the road. I had 3 bars of T-mobile and 1 bar Verizon. It was quiet for all the ATVers there. Beautiful views. I went up to Saratoga and sat in the hot spring which was amazing. There aren't any 'sites' like previous reviews have stated so Im not sure about that, unless they mean the parts where the grass is worn down from parking there, but it's an endless field with a little mountain in the middle that I climbed and got a great view from also.

With 5th wheel, took a couple sites before we were happy. Landed with large windows facing lake, lovely.

Starlink is a little slower, but maybe cos I am roaming. 60 meg down, 7 or 8 meg up. Visible and Verizon pretty good. Cricket 2 bars

No facilities, but we’re self contained

Maverick gas station about 5 Miles’ish down the road has free dump station

This may be my favorite place to stay in the northern Utah area. 30 minutes away from Provo, less than an hour away from Salt Lake City, and nearby Saratoga Springs has anything else you may need. Arrived on a Sunday morning and it was quite busy, but was able to pull off to the side and wait for overnighters to pack up and head out. Had nice and reliable Verizon coverage that made working and streaming a breeze. The views of the snow capped mountains was definitely the highlight for me. It could get quite windy, but that’s the only drawback for this site. I plan on coming back next month as well!

Stayed here for 3 nights. It was windy the first night but the weather calmed down. It is funny that you can boondock and feel like you are far from civilization but yet the city of Saratoga springs is right there. Several overnight only people came and went but everyone kinda kept to themselves. Great view of the snow capped mountains across the lake

I had the bad luck to be here overnight when it was so windy you couldn’t even see the lake. Beautiful spot in the morning after the wind died down and visibility improved. No services, dry camping only, pack it in, pack it out. Some of the “roads” are quite rutted and deep. The main road coming in is hard packed gravel, but the roads in between were sand and mud. On a wet day you’ll need a 4x4. I just pulled off the main road onto some grass so I would have enough traction to get out in the morning and I’m glad I did because it rained overnight. Some sites are marked with signs that say “Private Property” so I’m not sure what that’s about. You’ll have to travel for quite a few miles to get here for I-15, so keep that in mind.

This is one of those sites that you're tempted to give a false negative review about just to keep it under the radar. But, in the spirit of free spirits...here's the honest review:

It's hard to believe this place is as quiet and peaceful as it is given it's proximity to town. The bustling town of Saratoga Springs with every amenity you'd ever want is just 15 minutes north of this boondocking location. Once you arrive, the wide gravel road leads you towards the lake. You can go all the way to the end and park near the lake, but I chose to stay on the ridge (advantage: solar!!). I'm 38 feet long and pull a GMC Acadia toad and had no trouble at all getting to a great, level, spot overlooking the lake. Bonus: my Verizon 4G is fast enough here to upload to my YouTube channel and stream some Roku shows with my Orbic hotspot (5 bars 4GLTE without a booster on the hotspot; 2 bars on the Samsung S9 Note).

There are a dozen or so others here but there is more than enough space to have privacy. You can see my neighbors in the photo and here's a link to a quick walk around of my camp: https://youtu.be/cNUE3dIFkxc

The GPS coordinates listed in for this site are dead accurate. I'm actually parked at these exact coordinates! Perfect spot!

You won't get much in the way of night skies here; there's too much light pollution from Provo across the lake. BUT, the twinkling of the distant Provo city lights at night hold their own beauty. If you park with your nose facing North, you'll be greeted by an incredible sunrise over the mountains on your patio. The setting sun in the evening will light up those mountains and reveal their colors while your rig provides lovely shade for enjoying the show and a warm campfire.

NEGATIVES: (1) The lake isn't a swimming lake; algae bloom + high salinity + mayflies (swarms of them even in fall). All of this can be avoided by camping on the high ground and simply overlooking the lake from afar. (2) Because you're close to town(s), there is some overhead jet noise occasionally; distant, but it's there. (3) As others have pointed out, there is some litter; shotgun shells, brass casings, nails where it's pretty evident someone burned a pallet or two; nothing terrible though.

10/10 will add this to my boondocking rotation!