South Temple Wash Dispersed Camping

This was the first dispersed camping site on a recent trip to Utah in a rented camper van on our third night. We had just visited Canyonlands and needed to find a spot overnight. We were totally in awe of the are and the incredible sunset was amazing. The spot we picked was near the fire road but pretty isolated from the big RV rigs over the hill. I will save this spot for future trips.

You have a choice of camping in the wash of up on one of the ridges. Be aware of the weather, it there is rain planned, the road will more than likely impassable also don’t camp in the wash if there will be rain. With no rain, the road is good, just your standard dirt road. Nothing crazy. Plenty of open space and the scenery is breathtaking. I camped there solo and felt safe. LOVE this place.

Coming from the Netherlands we liked this place.
We stayed here 1 night in May after visiting Goblin Valley, what a surprise was that!
The big campground is paved with gravel, so it is flat and nice for RV's. There is place enough.
Maybe when you go furter on the road, there is more space with privacy. But after this place the asphalt stops and it is a dirt road. We would not take the risk with our rental RV. So we were happy with this flat campground.

This location encompasses a few area, one being the “parking lot”, next was the campground, and last was the other areas. Other reviews have talked about the first two, so we checked them out. Well, we were here April 4, 2019 and during spring break. All the locations were packed! We got very lucky to find one location for two rigs, not level, but we made it work. A lot of noise from OHV traffic! Not too mention dirt/dust. Some roads are very rough, and we didn’t go on them. But the one just west of the Kiosk was the one we took, as we saw a space from the road. No Verizon cell or mifi service!

After passing the turnoff to Goblin Valley State Park, continue on Temple Mountain Rd for some great boondocking opportunities. The road is paved for several miles and there are sites on either side. There is a large level gravel area to the left which can accommodate numerous rigs of any size. We skipped that in hopes of a more private spot. Further along there are more secluded/rustic sites, but when we arrived early Sunday afternoon most were either occupied or the access wasn’t very big rig friendly. The road turned to gravel and less than a mile in there is a large camping/day use area on the right. Score!

You can choose a level gravel site or park out on the dirt with some vegetation for privacy. There are firepits and space for several rigs. A day use/small rig camping area has a covered picnic area. Several other picnic tables were scattered around. There were two pit toilets, but no other amenities. What you do have are drop-dead gorgeous views of Temple Mountain and the surrounding golden sandstone cliffs. Awesome!

There are info boards telling about the mining history in the area and some old mining equipment and stone buildings within easy walking distance of the camping area. If you choose to go past the camping/day use area the road climbs up a hill and there are a few more boondocking sites but we were thrilled with our spot.

We enjoyed Goblin Valley State Park including the hike to the Goblin’s Lair. Little Wild Horse Canyon is a fantastic slot canyon hike and you can do it as a 9 mile loop with Bell Canyon. There are several other highly-rated slot canyon hikes that we didn’t have time for.

We had no Verizon signal at the campsite.

Pay the $13 entrance fee to Goblin Valley State Park and you can dump and take on water there (and enjoy the Goblins!). Water jugs can be filled at the visitor’s center without entering the park.

We were looking for a boondocking spot in the general area to break up a long drive. We're self contained and don't use the facilities. We stayed here on a weeknight in early May.

Following the directions, we found a large gravel parking area with 2 pit toilets that would fit over 50 RVs. There were 5 others already there. We parked at the far end of the lot and needed just a little leveling. Although the other RVs had ATVs, the site was quiet all night.

The road turns to dirt just beyond this campsite and would be ok for RVs, including big rigs (maybe not after rains). We found several distributed campsites of different sizes that were relatively private and another larger gravel parking area with pit toilets and a gorgeous view of Temple Mountain. Although we did not hike, our map showed several hikes starting from a trailhead further on up the dirt road.