After checking out a handful of dispersed camping areas south of Moab and finding none that were suitable, we headed a half hour north of town to this dispersed camping area on BLM 143. It turned out to be a great base camp near Canyonlands and Arches National Parks!
After spending a couple weeks camping south of Grand Canyon National Park and then a few days outside of Blanding, UT, we continued to head north to Moab, UT with the intention of spending a couple weeks in the area to explore Canyonlands and Arches National Parks. We had a few dry camping spots in mind but had no idea in what condition we’d find any of them, so we left Blanding with plenty of time to check them all out and set up camp.
We found the Strike Ravine and Yellow Circle Road dispersed camping areas to be busy, with a lot of OHV traffic and plenty of dust being blown around by the wind. Neither area suited our tastes so we continued north to check out BLM 143, where we found plenty of space and quiet campers without an OHV in sight. We set up camp here and made plans to visit the nearby national parks the next weekend.
How to get there
BLM 143 is located approximately 30 minutes north of Moab off of US Hwy 191. The camping area is north of the mountain bike trail head, and no driving off the road is permitted before then. Once you reach the camping area you will find plenty of open space to set up camp near an existing fire ring. This is also where you will find the Copper Ridge Dinosaur Tracksite. Arches National Park is a 20 minute drive south, and Canyonlands National Park is 45 minutes southwest.
Amenities
This area is dry camping only. There are no water or RV disposal facilities, nor trash facilities. Water and RV dumps can be found in Moab at one of two places: the Maverick station on the corner of US Hwy 191 and S 400 E, and Farm and City Feed & RV Supply store.
The Maverick station is the busier of the two because it’s free. The dump station has rinse water only, but fresh water can be found on the side of the building across from the dump station. The Farm and City store is rarely busy and costs $5 to dump and fill water if you do both at the same stop, or $5 each if you do one or the other. This is also the best place in town to get propane in my opinion, so if you need propane and water/dump then I strongly suggest paying the $5 to avoid another stop and long line at the Maverick station.
Trash is a different story. We did not find any public trash facilities, nor is there a landfill here (or anywhere near here for that matter). We ended up stockpiling trash and taking it with us to dispose of at a more convenient location.
What to do
Moab is a very popular destination for the off-roading crowd. There is plenty of outdoor space to take Jeeps, off-road vehicles, and mountain bikes. We came to the area to explore Canyonlands and Arches National Parks, both of which were already busy in late April/early May.
The camping area itself has plenty of mountain biking trails, and is also where you can walk the trail to the Copper Ridge Dinosaur Tracksite. We explored the trail but did not find much to look at. There are also free-roaming cows grazing here, which our pup was very interested in keeping an eye on for us.
Most of our stay here consisted of breezy to windy days, full of sunshine, and temperatures ranging from the 30s to the 80s (degrees in Fahrenheit). It did rain a couple days, which resulted in sticky mud in parts of the camping area.
All-in-all, we really enjoyed our stay here. The camping area was quiet and not too busy, there was plenty of sunshine for our solar panels, and the conditions were nearly perfect for our evening walks. This will be our first choice to set up camp should we return in the future.
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