Old Highway 89 Dispersed Camping

We stayed here with our 42’ 5th wheel while visiting Zion and Bryce. There aren’t many sites but if you are lucky enough to nab one you won’t be disappointed. Beautiful surroundings and although our neighbors were close it was not a problem. Most people had atvs and said there are great trails nearby. 5 minutes away is Mount Carmel where we had a great meal at the Thunderbird restaurant. We also played golf at the little course.
And the Chevron will let you dump for free with a fill up. They also have water.

The drive in was gorgeous. Came in from the south on 89. The dispersed area isn't marked or anything, but there is a road to the old 89 pad between MM 79-80. There was easy access for us with our 40' and toad. We were able to quickly find a great flat spot. It wasn't crowded at all. There was more camping either to the right down the "road" or to the left. Left (more north) there was a very large flat area that had sand piled up around it. Also good for a big rig. There were a few rigs there. Busy weekend in May, but the area wasn't badly crowded. It is right off the road, so there is some road noise. But so quiet and peaceful at night! There is also a dump at the Thunderbird. Free if you purchase fuel, $10 if you don't. Great diner, too! We will probably be back here! It would be a good place to just stop for the night while going through, as well.

Location is central to so much:
~45 min to Zion
~1 hr to Bryce
~45 min to Page
~2 hrs to North Rim of Grand Canyon
~45 min to Grand Staircase

Not to mention being minutes all there is to do right in Kanab!! Be sure to check out Belly of the Dragon, Diana’s Thrown Slot Canyon, Wire Pass to Buckskin Gulch, and the Wave (if you’re lucky enough to win the lottery).

Both Verizon & AT&T had solid signal and were strong enough for us to conduct our video conferencing (Zoom & Google Meets were clear). Though there is spotty/no signal on the main road from the camping area to Kanab.

Plenty of spots for big rigs and smaller rigs/vans. We saw giant 5th wheels and Class As along with 4x4 vans along the path.

I didn't stay here but I wanted to drive through and check it out since it was my backup location. There were many great sites although most were taken even early in the week. The sites towards the north had amazing views. The roads in were well maintained. I drove in by the mining area and drove out on the exit road toward the east on my way to check out Coral Pink Sand Dunes state park about 15 minutes away - very cool by the way (and note that there are two free access points to the dunes before the pay station in the main area).

It looked like there was some decent cell service. I saw one larger RV parked in the mining area next to a stockpile. My only concern was that on the other side of the stockpile a front end loader looked to have been working. May want to consider parking away from the active area so that no issues happen with equipment. Only other thing to mention is that there was a little bit of noise from the highway nearby- but not bad.

My wife and I stayed here for 2 weeks while visiting Zion and Kanab and all the hikes nearby. I loved the view of the sunset on the mountains every night and walking the dog in the forest in the mornings. There was only 1 or 2 other people most of the times and they were very respectful. The road noise was not overly noticeable. We stayed in February of 2021 and had some nice sunny days but also had some freezing windy or snowy days.

I will link our YouTube video review of the site below which includes footage and thoughts on the site.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8E_rFZF_DU&t=2s

If you are confused by the many posts about right turns, left turns a d the Y, here's the deal: the old highway intersects the Y. You can go left or right on the old highway or continue on one of the branches of the Y up a hill to the place most people describe here.
We arrived in the dark with snow on the ground. We went left on the old highway rather than going up the modest hill. We ended up in the gravel quarry, which was not exactly scenic, but also not ugly with a coat of snow and the full moon. Given our brief time there, it met our needs just fine: flat, level and hard-packed surface for our low clearance van.

Just pull into this area and keep going straight on the road. The road has a Y, and you can take either way to go up to a large flat area to camp. It was dark when we pulled in so we decided to camp in this area since it seems safe for the night. When we woke up in the morning we realized what a great camping site we landed on! I walked around and there are many other great sites to camp, (there are roads to the left and right of the “Y”) but none would work for our 37’ fifth wheel. You’re pretty much right off the highway, but faintly see and hear the cars throughout the day/night. Also, just note that there is another entrance that leads you to a construction dirt/sand site that had 2 tractors on it.

Only a few campers throughout our stay, but we pretty much had the whole area to ourselves.

We have Verizon and had no issues with service. There are atv trails connected to the site that lead you to different areas of Kanab.