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Dispersed camping · Utah

BLM Vernal Field Office dispersed camping rules

You can camp up to 14 days on this field office's land, 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 .

14 days stay limit

BLM Utah statewide dispersed-camping sheet: "There is a 14-day camping limit while occupying any campsite on BLM-managed lands." The Utah sheet states no rolling window and no move distance. BLM's national camping page adds the service-wide framing - "Dispersed camping is generally limited to 14 days within any 28-day period" and after the limit "visitors must move to a new location - often at least 25 to 30 miles away" - but that is general guidance, not a Utah-specific published rule.

Where you can camp

Designated sites in some areas

Statewide: "Free dispersed camping is allowed throughout BLM Utah-managed lands except where posted... Camp only in previously disturbed sites or areas." On the office's Green River corridor (Floating the Green River brochure, joint BLM/USFS): "River Section A - No camping allowed. River Section B - Camping restricted to listed sites; portable toilets required. River Section C - Camping allowed anywhere on BLM land along the river; portable toilets recommended." Fantasy Canyon is day-use: "camping at this site is not allowed." source

Keep your distance

  • 300 ft — Statewide BLM Utah rule: "Camp at least 300 feet from range improvements. Range improvements can include corrals, gates, livestock waters and livestock pens. 43 CFR 4140.1(b)(7) prohibits interfering with lawful range functions and can result in a citation." source
  • Directional statewide rule, no number stated: "Camp only in previously disturbed sites or areas. Do not dispersed camp in the vicinity of developed recreation sites such as picnic areas, campgrounds or trailheads." source
  • Little Hole National Recreation Trail only (Spillway to Little Hole, 7.2 miles): "No camping, fires, or horse use is permitted along this trail." The trail runs the Section A stretch co-managed with the Ashley NF's Flaming Gorge NRA - the brochure is published jointly by BLM Vernal and the Forest Service. source
  • Recommended: 200 ft — BLM's national camping guidance recommends: "Stay at least 200 feet from lakes, rivers, and streams to protect water quality." No field-office-wide numeric water setback appears on the Utah pages read. source

Roads and vehicle access

Ask the district which roads allow camping

BLM travel-management equivalent of the MVUM rule, from the BLM Utah statewide dispersed-camping sheet: "Only travel on designated routes. Check with local offices for off-roading information." No Vernal FO travel-map page stating an off-route parking distance for camping access was verified.

Fires right now

We don't watch this office'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

  • Green River corridor camping rules (Floating the Green River brochure, produced 2019) Section A (Spillway-Little Hole): no camping. Section B (Little Hole-Indian Crossing): camping only at the 14 listed float-in sites, portable toilets required; reserve at recreation.gov or register same-day at the Little Hole Camp Registration Board. Section C (Indian Crossing-state line): camp anywhere on BLM land along the river, portable toilets recommended. A Flaming Gorge Use Pass is required to access the river corridor at Spillway and Little Hole.
  • Fantasy Canyon - day use only "Fantasy Canyon is open year round, however camping at this site is not allowed."

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 Vernal Field Office, Vernal at (435) 781-4400 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.

On BLM land the travel maps play the same role a national forest's motor vehicle use map plays: they show which routes are open to vehicles, and camping access usually means staying on those routes and pulling into already-used sites just off them.

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 office's own pages and orders on the dates shown — nothing here is borrowed from another forest or an old guidebook. The managing agency is Bureau of Land Management, Utah (Green River District).

Before you go