Black Ridge Area Designated Campsites

I arrived here July 3rd at around 5PM. The road in was a little bumpy but really not bad at all. I pulled into the first group of sites which is a nice wide area, all pull through spots with fire pits. Nobody else was here. The night was very quiet. Couldn’t hear a thing other than what sounded like somebody firing off either fireworks or perhaps a paint or pellet gun in the distance. One other RV pulled in at around 11PM and made no noise. When I looked out the window in the morning it was just me and that other RV. The scenery is beautiful with views of mountains. The place is very clean. I would definitely stay here again!

We scouted this with our TOAD first and realized theres nice camping with some better areas than others but there was really only 3 areas that our big rig could get into without shaking the heck out of your rig. The road in is a pretty normal dirt road with some wash boards but pretty easy. The very beginning (right off the highway) is a bit rutted but pretty easy to get over by just going slow. Once up on the dirt road, it's easy sailing. You cannot camp within the first .6 miles but then it opens up to camping with space for many. There is a secluded Group site to the right as you come in but we found anywhere that did not have direct line of site of Moab, our internet (cell network) was unusable. As long as you have a line of sight of Moab (between the ridges) then our internet was strong enough to work and watch tv. Others with Starlink, it's open game. We stayed in the large open area to the left which worked great for us. It was busy but that was to be expected in the spring. This spot is about 15min to town and 20 minutes to Arches. Verizon 15 GB down, 5 GB up - AT&T 30 GB down, 15 GB up

With a 45 ft fifth wheel, we have to choose wisely as to where we pull in to camp. The road in was a little bumpy but not bad. We pulled into the first large area on the left. It was a little rutted but very manageable. There are plenty of sites scattered about that will fit large rigs and we even saw a few continue up the hill which was surprising as that road is rough. I suggest scouting if continuing further than the first large area.

Not as pretty as some of the other dispersed areas. A lot of overnight traffic and busy on the weekends but we were fine with that. For the most part it was quiet.

We were there for the UTV trails and there were plenty accessible right from our campspot. Short distance to town and not too far from the national parks.

ATT service was in and out...not great.

We arrived in the afternoon and they had rigs everywhere and they were all kinds.. big small and all between. We’re in a f350 with northern lite truck camper, we got rather high on a mountain and it was beautiful! The roads are quite rough as you get deeper into the area and I could see as other reviewers mentioned about the possibility of getting stuck but hey got to use your best judgement and don’t take any chances and even if not a drop of rain in sight you’ll still need to think as if it is gonna rain and if you would be able get out safely after a pour down. This place is great we loved it and hey you are so close Moab, can’t beat it!!

Boondocking can be a crap shoot. I arrived mid week and it was pretty awesome.
Caution on the turn into the area, there is a couple inch drop off from the road to gravel. There is one little grade to get over so larger rigs need to be aware and approach appropriately. I am almost 37' towing 4 down and did not bottom out but larger rigs might. Follow the road and read the signs saying where NOT to camp. The "dispersed" (and I use that term VERY loosely, see further down) camping is a ways down on the graded gravel road (zero washboard Apr 2022). This is actually a dispersed are although the title says "designated campsites". This is the entrance off Yellow Circle on 191.
I pulled into the first large level area on the left. There are more spots to the right and further up the road but one should scout in their tow vehicle before going too far past this first area IMO. My spot was not too crowded and everyone was a couple hundred feet away from each other. That was mid week :( Then the weekend arrived. This is a VERY popular place. I then had rvs within 20 feet all around me. Not only that they had those construction type LOUD generators and they ran them well into the night (I woke up around 11:30pm and they were still running). I had my ear plugs in so I didn't hear them much. But you'll have to know this place is worse than a CG because there are no rules or management to complain to. I thought about leaving but didn't because I had 2 NPs to go visit. Arches is 25 min away and I arrived at 5:30 am to get in before the new reservation system wouldn't let me in. Cayonlands is about an hour away. Solar was great as this location allowed be to position with my solar was facing south and I was full by 2PM (even with a residential refer). Views were very nice of the snow capped La Sal mountains. You are probably 15-20 mins from the south side of Moab where pretty much everything is available, grocery stores, full range of restaurants, banks, repair, fuel, etc. Verizon and ATT were strong although I did notice some problem where all of a sudden both carriers would slow to a crawl. I am guessing from over capacity towers as there are not a lot of towers in this area. I was able to level pretty easily with my motorhome. Although I did not get any mice there were tons of them out and about. I noticed many on my trek to Arches at 5 AM in the dark. Be aware! It's a beautiful area it is just a real shame how one's experience can be ruined by inconsiderate people. But this is the state of boondocking these days. Although I said I would camp here again I would only come during the week. This weekend warrior inconsiderate folk are not for me. I find so many that consider themselves the most important thing on the face of the earth and I choose not to confront these type of people. I probably should have created 2 reviews. One for during the week which would b a 4-5 and one for the weekend which would really be a 1-2. Plan accordingly.

We were in a small RAV4 so we were not able to really check this place out. High clearance and four-wheel-drive would be preferred to really explore all the this place has to offer. However we were able to find a really decent spot far enough away from all the noisy RVs and noise and lights from the highway. Just took a little time to slowly navigate using a spotter.