Calf Creek Campground

The sign at the top of the steep entrance road says RV’s over 25’ not recommended in the campground. What they don’t say is that units towing will likely have a challenge turning around unless you drive through the ford and the rest of the campground. There is NO parking for units towing or for units bigger than a pickup camper or a van. My combination is 30’ overall and there was only one possible, very tight location in the campground. I was able to turn around in the parking lot (before the campground) because I was there before the lot filled up with other hikers.

If you fit, the campground could be nice, especially the portion on the other side of the creek because it wouldn’t have hiker foot traffic past your site.

(I hesitate to praise Calf Creek, because it's popular and there are only 13 sites, so I was extremely lucky to get the last one. I don't want to reduce my chances of staying here by encouraging everyone else. But at least the folks with large rigs and long trailers will have to pass.)

Calf Creek flows all year long through a narrow, oak filled, red rock canyon. It's a gorgeous oasis. There are steps down to the creek for those who want to splash in the (chilly) water. A three mile hike takes you to a waterfall. There's also a day use area.

The sites were made with tent camping in mind, though there are a couple of small pull-through sites and one double-wide site. Separation between sites is good. There are the usual tables and barbecues, and potable water spigots are scattered about.

Highway 12 runs along cliff, but the only vehicles you'll probably hear are occasional Harleys.

Being at the bottom of a canyon far from civilization, there's no cell service.

Drove here from Arches National Park. Got here late in the day so no spots but a kind couple who saw us drive through let us stay on their site for the night. Found a spot the next day. Loved this camping spot!!! You must hike to the falls. One of the highlights of our 7500 mile trip. Also must go to Kiva Koffeehouse. You can use their wifi and get a great cup of coffee. While we were there they were putting up sign to limit size of vehicles that could use. I think 25 ft was the limit. Get there early to get a spot. Creek can rise and we heard that after we left some campers vehicles were stranded for a couple hours.

Calf Creek is a tiny little campground between the towns of Escalante and Boulder, right along Route 12. This part of the country is incredible, and the drive between these two towns can't be missed. Gorgeous scenery; the road was built by the CCC in the late 30's.

The campground is signed for no rigs over 25 feet, and you should heed this warning. I squeezed into a site with my 16 foot camper van, but I'd call even that a stretch. The sites are really built for tents. They are not level nor particularly forgiving.

There are a handful of sites on both sides once entering the camping area, then to continue to the rest of the campground you need to drive through a creek (running over concrete). No issues while I was there because the creek wasn't too high, but not sure what it'd be like in the rainy season.

Stayed in March 2017 and there was no water or flush toilets - just one long drop. All other amenities were padlocked. Most of the sites were overgrown with brush and shrubs. No cell service.

We stayed here for a few nights in October in order to hike the Lower Calf Creek Falls hike with our dog. We prefer boondocking but weren't able to make it to Hole in the Rock Road nearby so stayed here instead, which was useful because you have to pay for day use as well anyway. The sites are small, but the two of us and our dog fit just fine with our truck and pop up in one of the pull through sites. The campground is in a neat little canyon leading to Calf Creek Falls and, as others have mentioned on here, the drive between Boulder and Escalante is super cool and definitely worth doing in the daylight. We'd camp here again if we wanted to hike Lower Calf Creek again, and if we just wanted to stay in the area we'd probably go stay at Hole in the Rock for free, which we drove down one day and it was pretty fabulous boondocking from what we could see.

Perfect location for hiking through the desert canyons to find an amazing waterfall. Camp sites are small, but surrounded by beautiful rock canyon walls and a babbling creek. Water was still turned off for winter when we were here in early April. Very popular with day hikers, so not as quiet as more remote campgrounds.

I was headed to Red Canyon (Tom's Best) when I found an open spot here - it was too good to pass up. Sites 1-6 are on the near side of Calf Creek while sites 7-13 are on the far side. This involves crossing the creek which might be tricky if the water is high. There is a loop at the end by sites 12 & 13 but it is tight and the sites not very big, plus there are some low branches. So sticking to the 25-foot limit is probably a good idea. Most of the campers were van & tent, though I fit into site 3 just fine. Dry camping but water and vault toilets are available. There is a host as well.

Sites 1-6 are right on the road that leads to the Calf Creek Trailhead so you'll have lots of people hiking by, to and from the falls all day. But that ends at dusk and all is very quiet. Great fun and the air smelled so good. The hike to the falls is up and down, mostly sand. Even this time of year it was pretty hot when I started out mid-afternoon. But that meant the crowds at the falls were thinning and the return hike was much cooler and the light much softer. The brochure with points of interest along the way to the falls is well worth having. The falls were awesome! No cell service to be had.

First, the camp host, Richard, is amazing. He was friendly, helped me review options and find a spot, and I saw him do the same with several other parties. Give this guy a raise or a bonus!

Everything was clean and in working order - bathrooms, spigot with water, communal group cooking and eating areas, and also site areas.

Folks were friendly - while some rowdy youngsters were there in the afternoon with a giant speaker, they did leave (yay). I went on a hike to the falls, which was beautiful. All the folks on the trail were so friendly!

Returned to more friendly folks and a relaxing quiet evening. Loved how quiet things were, though the creek sounds probably helped to lull me to sleep!

Be prepared - I had no service driving up to, in, and leaving the campground. Expect to not have service for a while and know your next stops.

100% would return, for the day or for camping.

We stayed here for two nights on an amazing 2 1/2 week trip through southern Utah, and this was the best campsite we found on the entire trip. Road and sites are very tight. We were driving an SUV and pulling a 22' travel trailer, and I would definitely not try anything bigger in this area. We came in on a Thursday afternoon and talked briefly to the camp host to see if there were any open sites. He was nice but unfortunately not all that helpful, telling us to drive in and see. The road is extremely tight, barely big enough for one vehicle and very winding. We immediately encountered a massive pick-up towing a toy hauling trailer, and had to negotiate a way for him to back up and pull in to an adjacent pull through spot in order for us to get by. Then we encountered the bridge with the creek running across, and wondered what we had gotten ourselves into. After crossing the creek, the first campsite (#7) was open, and was large enough for our car and trailer. That turned out to be an amazing spot, as you could walk from the campsite up the creek to a couple of open pools where we lounged on chairs in the river, totally private. Definitely the best spot in the campground. The hike to the lower falls was amazing, and definitely worth the effort. We also hiked the Upper Calf Creek Falls, which is very different but also amazing. The rock formations and molten iron deposits are incredible. Be sure to hike beyond the falls up river, as there is a small secondary falls and pool that is incredible.
The only bad part is that it is very popular spot, and we had people coming by at all hours to ask when we were going to be leaving. On our last day we were considering staying another night until a large group of younger male hikers/climbers moved in to the site just next to us with a couple of pick-up trucks and a dozen backpacks, and we decided it was time to move on.

Arrived at 5 pm and got the last two spots.
Quiet and peaceful. Bathrooms on entrance side were closed so had to walk over to the far side.
Several sights could have fit two vehicles. Ours only could fit one each.

Great to hike from site up to Calf Creek Falls and have check out be 2 pm.