Dispersed camping
Dispersed camping in Utah
Camping outside developed campgrounds is free on most national forest and BLM land — but every forest and field office writes its own rules for how long you can stay, how far from the water, and which roads you can camp along. Here they are for 6 national forests and 6 BLM field offices in Utah, each read from that office's own orders and pages.
How long you can stay
Stay limits here run from 10 to 16 days depending on where you are, and each forest and field office counts the days its own way — per location on some, forest-wide on others. There is no Utah-wide number; read the page for the ground you're headed to.
| Forest / office | Stay limit | Where you can camp |
|---|---|---|
| BLM Kanab Field Office | 14 days | Allowed unless posted |
| BLM Moab Field Office | 14 days | Designated sites in some areas |
| BLM Monticello Field Office | 14 days | Allowed unless posted |
| BLM Richfield Field Office | 14 days | Allowed unless posted |
| BLM St. George Field Office | 14 days in any 28 | Designated sites in some areas |
| BLM Vernal Field Office | 14 days | Designated sites in some areas |
| Dixie National Forest | 16 days in any 60 | Designated sites in some areas |
| Fishlake National Forest | 16 days in any 30 | Allowed unless posted |
| Manti-La Sal National Forest also in Colorado | 14 days in any 28 | Allowed unless posted |
| Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest also in Wyoming and Idaho | 14 days in any 30 | Designated sites in some areas |
| Caribou-Targhee National Forest also in Idaho and Wyoming | 14 days in any 30 | Designated sites in some areas |
| Sawtooth National Forest also in Idaho | 10 days in any 30 | Designated sites in some areas |
"Designated sites in some areas" means camping is generally allowed but certain corridors and high-use areas are limited to marked sites — each page names the orders that draw those lines. We don't list campsites or coordinates anywhere on this site: the rules are ours to summarize, the spot is yours to find.
Fires are a separate rule
None of the pages above says you can have a campfire — that answer changes with the weather. We don't watch fire orders for these particular forests yet, so every page says where to read the current order before you light anything, and the forests we watch have their stage on one list.
What stage 1 and stage 2 mean — and remember the county you drive through sets its own burn rules on private land.
Rules change by forest order and posted signage — confirm with the ranger district or field office before you go. Every page above names the office and, where published, the phone number.