Recommended Dispersed Areas in Utah

EDIT: Or better yet, does anyone know a mild-ish north to south route that would take a couple days to complete? Researching the Smoky Mtn 4x4 Road - Utah Scenic Byway right now.


I'm planning a trip August 29th - Sept 8th for the misses and I. I'm trying to find some good "not so busy" places for Labor Day Weekend in Utah. I was originally thinking of staying in the Moab area and exploring, but I suspect it will be a shit show around there for the holiday and I just don't want to deal with that. I've been researching, but everything seems to point to Moab/Canyonlands/Arches/Zion.

Our first stop is dispersed areas in the Bighorn Mtns in WY, then we head south west to check out Utah as we have never been, then on to Arizona. We prefer dispersed camping, but smaller established campgrounds are ok if the area is worth it. Truck and trailer are plenty capable, however the misses is unfortunately not a fan of overly rough trails or narrow steep switchbacks.

I've been looking at Manti-La Sal NF, looks like damn near every road and trail has dispersed camping, but I have no idea what the various areas are going to offer.

If you have any suggestions please toss em my way.

 

I have no dog in this fight, but I'd suggest that an internet forum is an awful place for people to share less known camping spots (best way to make them more known).

Hopefully you get some tips via DM or something, though.

 

While this is true, theres still plenty of places that aren't secrets but aren't going to be "National Park on a holiday" busy.

For example, I've been looking at Manti-La Sal NF, looks like damn near every road and trail has dispersed camping, but I have no idea what the various areas are going to offer.

 

I don't mind telling you about some places because, like you say, they aren't secrets but also not National Park on a holiday busy. As they say, 90% of the people go to 10% of the places.

Richfield and Salina (the "i" is a hard one like "lie". Welcome to hick Utah) have some great dispersed areas up in the mtns. South of Salina is Pando, a crazy and wild aspen forest.

Since you've never been to Utah, I would say you should check out the Moab area but on Labor Day it'll be a cluster. Though, south of there on Elk Ridge would be a good spot to escape the crowds and you can pretty much disperse camp anywhere up there. It takes a bit of driving to get there, but once there it's a whole 'nother world. (One year, there was a hippie guy who planned to live in his van all winter up there. Everyone told him dumb idea. Next spring, the LEO went to do a welfare check and found him frozen dead in his van.) There's some ruins up there too that are worth checking out (if you want specifics, DM me or you can do an internet search. Some of the better known ruins are online). If you run into Ben, one of the NF rangers who patrol the area, be sure to say "hi." He's a good guy and a friend.

The area west of St. George is a nice mix of Utah mtns meet Nevada desert, but that may be too far west if you're headed to Arizona. One idea, could be to hit this area up, then enter Arizona via the Arizona Strip and meander over to the Grand Canyon.

 

I was just at Alstrom Point on the north side of Lake Powell. I was 1 of 5 or 6 campers. Jeeps and trucks only. The last mile or so was fun with 4x4, ha. But it was windy as f my night there. It was bucking my rtt from 2 to 6am.

 

Here

2 miles from highway

FR...low range 4x4 at 2 mph

Tell the wife...we're almost there..........