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Dispersed camping · Utah

Dixie National Forest dispersed camping rules

You can camp up to 16 days in any 60 on this forest, with some corridors limited to marked sites. The card below is the whole rule set — every line links the order or page it came from, and all of it was checked on .

16 days in any 60

Order 0407-25-01 (Mar 11, 2025 - Mar 11, 2030), forest-wide: prohibits "camping within 10 miles of the same location for more than 16 consecutive days, or for more than 16 days in a 60-day time period" — the 10-mile radius is part of the count, so re-camping within 10 miles does not restart the clock. Developed campgrounds count differently under the same order: no more than "14 consecutive days or for more than 14 days in any 30-day period" in the same developed site.

Where you can camp

Designated sites in some areas

"Dispersed Camping is any camping activity that takes place outside of a campground" (forest FAQ). Standing district orders carve out restricted and designated-site areas: Order 0407-25-11 prohibits camping at "Forest Service trailheads, administrative sites and/or other facilities, and areas within one-half mile of developed campgrounds unless designated by the Dixie National Forest as an approved campsite" on the Cedar City and Pine Valley RDs, and area orders listed under seasonal closures (Dave's Hollow, East Fork Sevier River, Enterprise Reservoir, Leeds Creek) prohibit "camping in an undesignated area or site" or "camping outside of a developed recreation site" within their boundaries. source

Keep your distance

  • 300 ft — Order 0407-26-04 (May 15, 2026 - May 15, 2031), Powell and Cedar City RDs only: prohibits "camping within 300 feet of designated water sources, including ponds, water troughs, springs, and guzzlers" where posted with restriction signs; parking a vehicle within 300 feet of these posted sources is also prohibited. source
  • 100 ft — Forest FAQ, forest-wide: "Dispersed camping needs to be at least 150 feet from any paved road, at least one mile from any campground and 100 feet from any stream." FAQ-page rule, not a numbered order. source
  • 150 ft — Keep-away rule from the same FAQ sentence: dispersed camping "needs to be at least 150 feet from any paved road." Applies to paved roads; FAQ-page rule, not a numbered order. source
  • 5,280 ft — Keep-away from developed campgrounds, same FAQ sentence: "at least one mile from any campground" (1 mile converted = 5,280 ft). source
  • 2,640 ft — Cedar City and Pine Valley RDs, Order 0407-25-11 (Jul 9, 2025 - Jul 9, 2030): no camping at Forest Service trailheads, administrative sites, or "areas within one-half mile of developed campgrounds unless designated by the Dixie National Forest as an approved campsite" (0.5 mile converted = 2,640 ft). source

Roads and vehicle access

Check the motor vehicle use map

The forest's maps page: "A Motorized Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) is a legal document that shows which roads and trails are open to public motor vehicle use... If a road or trail does not appear on the map, it means that it is not open to public motor vehicular use," and "If you plan on camping, driving off-highway vehicles, hunting, or exploring the backcountry; please make sure you review the appropriate MVUM." District MVUMs are published for Pine Valley, Cedar City, Powell and Escalante. No official page read ties dispersed-camping vehicle access to specific MVUM camping designations.

Fires right now

We don't watch this forest's fire orders yet — check its own site before you light anything. Here's what stage 1 and stage 2 mean when an order is up.

Closures and special orders

  • Order 0407-25-01 - Forestwide Occupancy and Use (Camping) The stay-limit order: 16 consecutive days or 16 days in any 60 within a 10-mile radius for undeveloped camping; 14 days per 30 in the same developed site; also bans camping in closed developed sites. Effective Mar 11, 2025 - Mar 11, 2030.
  • Order 0407-25-11 - Cedar City and Pine Valley Ranger Districts Camping Restrictions No camping at trailheads, administrative sites, or within one-half mile of developed campgrounds on these districts unless at a Forest Service designated dispersed campsite with an assigned site number. Effective Jul 9, 2025 - Jul 9, 2030.
  • Order 0407-26-04 - Cedar City and Powell Ranger Districts Water Sources Camping Restrictions No camping or vehicle parking within 300 feet of posted designated water sources (ponds, water troughs, springs, guzzlers) on these districts. Effective May 15, 2026 - May 15, 2031.
  • Order 0407-21-12 - Powell East Fork Sevier River Camping Restrictions Prohibits "camping in an undesignated area or site" and leaving camping equipment unattended more than 24 hours in the area within one-half mile of the dam and shoreline of Tropic Reservoir and within one-half mile of both sides of the East Fork of the Sevier River south of the reservoir (Powell RD). The order's own text ran June 30, 2021 - June 30, 2026 and is past its stated end date, but the alert was still posted on the forest's alerts page on Aug 19, 2026, with no renewal order listed - confirm current status with the Powell Ranger District.
  • Order 0407-22-11 - Pine Valley and Cedar City Camping Restrictions Prohibits camping at "Forest Service trailheads, administrative sites and/or other facilities, and areas within one-half mile of developed campgrounds" on the Cedar City and Pine Valley RDs (specific locations in the order's Attachment 1); "persons camping in Forest Service designated dispersed campsites with assigned site numbers" are exempt. Signed Jul 5, 2022; in effect through Jul 5, 2027 or until rescinded. Order 0407-25-11 covers the same subject on the same districts.
  • Order 0407-22-03 - Powell Dave's Hollow Camping Restrictions Prohibits "camping in an undesignated area or site" in the Dave's Hollow area (Powell RD, sections along NFSRs 088 and 096 - map in the order); also restates the 16-consecutive/16-in-60-day count within 10 miles of the same location and bans leaving camping equipment unattended more than 24 hours in a designated site. Effective May 1, 2022 - May 1, 2027.
  • Order 0407-26-08 - Seasonal Camping Restrictions at Livestock Corrals No "camping within 300 ft (100 yds) of a livestock corral from May 1 to November 15 that is posted as prohibited" on the Cedar City, Escalante, Pine Valley, and Powell RDs; parking a vehicle against posted instructions at these corrals is also prohibited. Effective Jun 16, 2026 - Dec 31, 2028 (the 300-ft rule applies May 1 - Nov 15 each year at posted corrals).
  • Order 0407-26-05 - Pine Valley Ranger District Enterprise Reservoir Camping Restrictions Prohibits "camping outside of a developed recreation site" on the south side of Upper Enterprise Reservoir, around Honeycomb Rocks Campground, and along NFSR 288 and the northern portions of NFSR 003 (Pine Valley RD); allowed sites are "identified by a tent symbol with a number and a sign identifying it as a dispersed campsite." Unattended camping equipment over 24 hours also prohibited. Effective May 27, 2026 - May 27, 2031.
  • Order 0407-26-06 - Pine Valley Ranger District Leeds Creek Camping Restrictions Prohibits "camping outside of a developed recreation site" on lands on either side of NFSR 032 from the forest boundary to Oak Grove Campground (Pine Valley RD); allowed sites are "identified by a tent symbol with a number and a sign identifying it as a dispersed campsite." Unattended camping equipment over 24 hours also prohibited. Effective May 27, 2026 - May 27, 2031.

Rules checked against the pages linked above — the full list is below the card.

Rules change by forest order and posted signage — confirm with the Forest Supervisor's Office, Cedar City at (435) 865-3700 before you go.

How to read these rules

Dispersed camping means camping outside a developed campground — no fee, no table, no toilet, no water. You pick an already-used spot, pack out everything you brought, and the rules above are the whole deal you're agreeing to. The stay limit counts the way the card says it counts, not the way it counts on the forest next door: some places count per spot, some across the whole forest, some inside a radius, and moving a short distance often doesn't restart the clock.

Distance rules come in two shapes. Keep-away rules ("at least 100 feet from water") protect the thing you're camping near; stay-close rules ("within 300 feet of the road") keep vehicles on ground that can take them. A line marked recommended on the card is the office's guidance, not an order — the rest are enforceable rules, and a posted sign at the site beats everything on this page.

The motor vehicle use map is the legal answer to "can I drive in there to camp" — if a road isn't on it, that road is closed to your vehicle, and many forests only allow roadside camping along the roads the map marks for it. It's a free PDF; download it before you lose signal.

Fires are a separate rule with a separate clock. Nothing on this page says you can light one — the card's fire line says where that answer lives today. If a fire is allowed when you get there, buy your wood near camp — hauling firewood from home is how tree-killing pests reach new forests, and the BTU chart says what that local bundle is actually worth.

Where these rules come from

Every rule above was read on the forest's own pages and orders on the dates shown — nothing here is borrowed from another forest or an old guidebook. The managing agency is U.S. Forest Service, Intermountain Region (R4).

Before you go