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Camping in Moab Memorial Day weekend

Posted: May 18 2015 9:45 pm
by mackt
Hello all. So due to the rain coming into western Utah this week/weekend I decided to go to Moab instead, having briefly been thru there on the way to Canyonlands before. Want to do some exploring in Behind the Rocks Wilderness Area. Finding out camping is a big issue. I camp in the back of the truck in a camper, I will arrive late Saturday and besides, have no tent with which to hold a spot. I have heard Kane Creek Campground "always" has space, but cant get them n the phone. BLM told me I could camp in some of the designated areas along Behind the Rocks road, which would much rather prefer, but Im wondering how far down my two wheel drive Chevy truck can make it, BLM had no road conditions info. Also, typically you could make your own camp on BLM land, but they do not allow that, as they get so many people there. Having said that, if the camps are full and I pull over on some back country BLM dirt road after dark, climb in my truck bed camper and go to sleep, no fire or anything, are they really gonna come along and run me off? For that matter would they run me off from the Gold Bar parking lot? It is huge and online pictures show a field of tents and a parking lot full of cars. Just trying to get some pointers from anyone who may know the area, see if I this trip is reasonable or not or if I should reschedule (other hiking and travel trips planned for this year would make that difficult thought). Sorry if this is the wrong forum.

Re: Camping in Moab Memorial Day weekend

Posted: May 18 2015 10:12 pm
by ASUAviator
Ran into this problem on our way back from Alaska. As we drove down through moab it didnt seem like we were going to find anywhere to disperse camp. We pulled off on a dirt road by hole in the rock to just pass out for the night. I think the best thing to do is know where youre camping before it gets dark. The Abajo and La Sal mountain offer real nice camping if you dont mind a little drive.

Re: Camping in Moab Memorial Day weekend

Posted: May 19 2015 12:18 am
by outdoor_lover
For Truly Dispersed Camping...Good Luck...I had a heck of a Time finding anywhere in that Area. There are a few Campgrounds along the Colorado River Scenic Byway, but they are slightly more "Developed" with Restrooms in most of them. And on a Holiday Weekend, I imagine that Area is going to be Packed Full.... The only place I found to truly Disperse Camp was near Goblin Valley State Park over by the San Rafael Swell...If you're interested in travelling that far out of Moab to Camp, let me know and I'll give you Directions...Otherwise, ASUAviator is probably right, you may have to go up into the Higher Mountain Ranges and I don't even know how much Dispersed Camping there is even up there....

Re: Camping in Moab Memorial Day weekend

Posted: May 19 2015 9:05 am
by SAMBA
Are you planning on mountain biking? If not, then Moab on Memorial Day weekend would not be my first choice of destinations. If you're simply looking for world-class hiking, then Outdoor Lover knows of what she speaks. The San Rafael Swell is slot canyon heaven. The SRS offers lots of technical AND non-technical options.

Re: Camping in Moab Memorial Day weekend

Posted: May 19 2015 2:50 pm
by mackt
Thanks everyone. I'll just do something different. Moab is about an eight hour drive for me, so that was pushing the limit for how far I wanted to go. We will be hiking around Moab spring 2016 anyway but staying in hotels, I'll get my camping trip figured out then. Thanks again