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IND2SLC · 10-25-2021, 11:56 PM

This August, my wife and I moved to Salt Lake City and away from all our family in Indiana. Returning home for every holiday isn't practical, so for Thanksgiving this year, rather than go back (Christmas instead), we hope to boondock in a Nat'l Forest/BLM area with our 40' DP in the southern half of Utah for the weekend. No toad. Looking for suggestions of where good spots might be, or how to find them. Obviously, must be easily accessible for a 40-footer. Trying to avoid higher elevations and mountains, they've all been getting a fair amount of snow so far and I'm not quite ready for that!
Thanks!

twogypsies · 10-26-2021, 12:49 AM

Plug in a town and see what comes up on this site:

https://freecampsites.net/#!sterling,+utah

Here's another good site:

https://www.campendium.com/utah

NewBlackDak · 10-26-2021, 08:48 AM

Download the “Ultimate CG” and Campendium apps.

530ktm · 10-27-2021, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IND2SLC

This August, my wife and I moved to Salt Lake City and away from all our family in Indiana. Returning home for every holiday isn't practical, so for Thanksgiving this year, rather than go back (Christmas instead), we hope to boondock in a Nat'l Forest/BLM area with our 40' DP in the southern half of Utah for the weekend. No toad. Looking for suggestions of where good spots might be, or how to find them. Obviously, must be easily accessible for a 40-footer. Trying to avoid higher elevations and mountains, they've all been getting a fair amount of snow so far and I'm not quite ready for that!
Thanks!

Southern half of the state is a pretty big chunk of land. There is dry camping around Moab and some others around Kanab. Long distance between those places so perhaps more of a pinpoint area would be helpful.

UTTransplant · 10-27-2021, 07:37 PM

You are in a great place for boondocking. Just look at some of the apps like Campendium. You can also ask your co-workers. Many of the folks I used to work with in SLC would boondock regularly in massive fifth wheel toy haulers.

profdan · 10-28-2021, 02:22 PM

Have you looked into Kodachrome State Park? Not boondocking, but it is great and also well-located.

My only hesitation about taking a big rig into the boonies in southern Utah is the mud: if there is a rainstorm, the dirt roads turn into soup.

But if the forecast is clear and dry, the sky is the limit. BLM land is usually available -- the BLM interactive online map is helpful, once you learn how to use it. It is not easy to use, at least at first.

SomeDay · 10-28-2021, 02:29 PM

Check out the BLM interactive map as advised! This will give you areas you can boondock on, then use google earth/satellite views and zoom in to see arteries off the main drag = often we've seen RVs in those images to know what size we would fit into. Also Allstays, Campendium, free campsites.net, Ioverlander, TheDyrt and several others also have listings, but the BLM site will show you dozens more options that aren't usually so publicly known. Also the USFS site as well.

Happy B'docking, it's all we do 99.9% of our trips and we wouldn't have it any other way.

IND2SLC · 10-29-2021, 01:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 530ktm

Southern half of the state is a pretty big chunk of land. There is dry camping around Moab and some others around Kanab. Long distance between those places so perhaps more of a pinpoint area would be helpful.

It is indeed pretty big, and I don't have a specific location in mind, but maybe attributes. No open areas, hopefully dry, good hiking nearby, sparse evidence of humans. I think I found a spot in Capitol Reef that's actually paved and well-hidden. May need a Sunday recon drive to be sure it's as real as Google Earth Street View claims!

RunningHard · 10-29-2021, 10:57 AM

Southern Utah is one of our favorites. Always Boondock, take a toad, enjoy! Been hitting S. Utah since 1980....

ByeTheWay · 10-30-2021, 03:02 PM

"Days End" which is a splinter group of the "Escapees" can help. The download is a 900+ page document, updated continually by its members and published for downloading several times a year. It is organized by state. I've been a member of both for 20 years, and I know it has saved me Thousands of dollars. I have used it in the East, West, Alaska, Newfoundland and Canada.

HopsBrewster · 11-07-2021, 06:47 PM

BLM has a good interactive map
https://blm-egis.maps.arcgis.com/app...d9d4d729bc03f7

So does USFS
https://www.fs.fed.us/ivm/

You also need to pay close attention to the weather. Thanksgiving in Utah can be quite stormy, or as pleasant as you please. If it storms, it might be a few days before you can drive out on a dirt road.
OTOH, if you catch a good stretch of wx, you will be hooked.