Sunglow Campground

Had a list of campgrounds to try to find a spot after exploring Capitol Reef for the day and lucked up with a spot here. There were 2 sites left when we got there around 6 p.m. It was pretty and off the main road, so it was quiet compared to most BLM land right near the park. We had a good tent spot that was back into the woods a little and looked on the red rocks around the campground. The sunset here was BEAUTIFUL and we saw a rainbow over the mountains. Bathrooms have flush toilets and running water. Only downside was the amount of trash around the site and some ATVs in the night. When we pulled in, there were wrappers all around the site from the people who stayed there before.

If you're looking for a place to just pitch a tent for the night, I'd recommend some of the BLM land or National Forest Service closer to the park. The park rangers at the Capitol Reef Visitor center have maps of free land to camp on. We chose Sunglow because it was raining and we wanted a designated site with a table to cook dinner, as we usually do it on some rocks or the ground but it would have been wet.

We over paid for our site. The senior access pass makes the site cost $7.50, but we didn't have the right change and there was no where close enough to get change, so paid $10.

We arrived early on a Thursday and almost all sites were taken except site 8. Even the group campsites had reserved signs on them. Site 8 was very pretty being the furthest up in the canyon, but very unlevel side to side. Later in the day, people came in and took the group sites even though they were marked reserved and were able to stay there.

There are no hookups, although there was water at the group sites. The entrance road is gravel and fairly well maintained. There was a little trail by the creek at the end of the road that was very pretty.

The biggest problem apart from the degree of slope was the wind coming up the canyon. We had both slides pulled in while we were there. Some of the other sites looked more protected by shrubs and trees.

The CG is about 14 miles to Capitol Reef.

We wanted to visit Capitol Reef National Park and didn't realize that Sept/Oct are their busiest months and the campground fills up before 10 am each day.

So we found this small Forest Service campground about 20 miles west of the park on US Highway 24. It is in a beautiful box canyon about a mile off Hwy 24 to the right as you are going west.

There are only six sites here, plus two group sites which can be reserved. We did learn from the ranger that you can occupy either one of the group sites if they are not reserved, but you cannot park overnight in the large parking area by the group sites unless you occupy one of the sites (hope that is not too confusing!).

Since sites 5 and 6 were occupied, and site 2 (which is a pull-through) was too tight for us, we chose site 1, which faces a beautiful rock formation. We used all 26 single leveling blocks as well as 10 double leveling blocks before we were level! It took a while to set up but we were very comfortable here and there was no road noise.

The bathrooms had flush toilets, which were very clean!