Uinta Flat Designated Dispersed Campsites

At 8100 feet in elevation, Uinta Flat was a great stop for us on the way to the North Rim. Temps were comfortable here when just an hour away in Cedar City they were in the 90's.

We stayed at the closest spot to the main road (37.510731,-112.617700) so we could have cell signal. There are more spots down the road that look more like official campsites, but ours had some tire tracks and a couple fire rings so we figured it would be ok. A ranger drove by at one point so I guess we were fine.

There's a lot of OHV activity here, so there's some noise, but otherwise it's a beautiful setting. Lots of deer.

Not boosted, AT&T - DOWNLOAD: 5.16Mb/s, UPLOAD: 0.97Mb/s

We were looking for a place to camp in the general area to be relatively close to Cedar Breaks National Monument and Bryce Canyon National Park. We stayed 2 weeknights in late May in our 25 foot MH.

We stayed at a campsite off FS-290. There were several more sites nearby, although we were alone both nights. The sites are fairly level and mostly shaded. There are many ATV/OHV trails and we saw several pass by, yet it was a quiet stay. At 8,000 feet, the temps were much cooler than in the valleys, yet not quite as cold as the sites near CBNM at 10,000 feet. There were a few deep ruts in the road which were passable in our rig. There were 2 bars of Verizon LTE coverage (4 with an antenna/boster) and 2 bars ATT LTE coverage unboosted.

CBNM was 20 miles and BCNP was 45 miles away.

No bathrooms.
A heard of sheep.
Many RVs with a variety of ATVs/UTVs already setup when we arrived. They weren’t riding the trails well into the night though.
Close to the small town with a decent pizza place.
Would recommend, counting literal sheep has never lead to a better sleep

We went into the Forest a little bit and found nice camp spots throughout. Loved the pines mixed with aspens. The only bummer was the amount of wasps flying about so bring a trap. This place is ATV heaven with trails and roads all over to explore.

We were here over Labor Day weekend. We were fairly close to the main road highway 14 so we had decent cell service. From our camp of 5 rigs we could count 50 to 60 other rigs in the little valley we were in. Atv and side by side traffic all day every day and dust like we’ve never seen before. I was absolutely disgusted by all the trash left behind, especially the piles of toilet paper from the people tent camping behind us. This is really a beautiful area to boondock but not on a holiday weekend. We would stay here again on an off weekend or weekday. No problem at all getting our 38 foot fifth wheel into the area.

If you feel adventurous to drive in the woods a bit, lots of great camping spots along the roads in the woods. We found a clearing bug enough for multiple RVs and see many rock rings for campfires. It’s quiet because we are further back from the main road. We came in, by the heard of sheep, and took the road in the middle, down through the woods, down a little hill which was steep, and around the bend in the road is a clearing, fairly level. Roads are rutted in some places but our 22’ Class C was ok. We are a wider class C and didn’t have any trouble driving the roads but once you go down the roads, you are committed because not easy to turn around until you get to the clearing. The road to the far right is better to drive on and can be easily seen on Google satélite image maps.
Previous campers left some trash and a ridiculous amount of cigarette butts in the campfire ring. Today was dry but in rainy season, roads could be quite muddy.
As you drive around the land area, cell service varies. The higher up you are the better. In the clearing where we parked we had two bars Verizon and AT&T. Some spots had three bars, some had one. Depended where you parked.

It's a beautiful, scenic place, especially in the middle of the week, but come the weekend, oh my...

The gravel road in is well maintained and there are a few wide open places with a few trees where you can camp. However, because of the 14 year plus mega-drought, the top soil has turned to a half-inch or more of fine brown dust that likes to get on everything, even your clothes. Welcome to the 'Grapes of Wrath!' -- the mega-dust storms can't be too far away.

Crazy Dust Storm Impacts The Permian Basin (Texas) - Wednesday, June 8, 2022
https://news.yahoo.com/crazy-dust-storm-impacts-permian-000300480.html

And the beautifully pristine forest air of the early morning soon turns into a pitiful, dusty haze once the ATV parade starts up along with the fact that it drives the wildlife away. So much for the sanctity of nature.

The middle of the week is a little better, but come Friday and into the weekend, it seems as if an ATV comes barrelling along every few minutes, and many come by at a pretty good clip, and sometimes in groups as large 13 at a time. Never seen anything quite like it before, but then again, I try to stay as far away as I can from places like this. I guess I must have really goofed on this one.

By Friday afternoon, most of the campers in the large designated site closer to the entrance and next to the main road had moved deeper into the woods or simply left the area entirely.

On Friday, June 10, 2022, the ATV traffic on the main road into the dispersed camping area was horrific. At about 9:00 PM to almost 10:00 PM it was nearly constant, loud, obnoxious and running at a high enough speed resulting in so much grey road dust being kicked into the air that you could barely see the trees the grey dust fog was so thick and pervasive. And the forest around me did end up actually looking like a scene in one of those classic Lon Chaney Jr. werewolf movies, except that this wasn't a genuine type of fog. It really is a lot fun breathing in those very fine dirt particles along with the noxious fumes generated by the internal combustion engine. Not!!!

And Saturday was even worse, didn't actually stop until about 11:20 PM.

If this here ain't the ATV capital of Utah, it must come pretty darn close - I have never seen so many ATVs in all my life.

Was thinking of staying here for two weeks, but decided not to stay for even one.

But if you like to eat lots of dirt, more like dust, in a very beautiful place, this is definitely the place for you.

Now my rig is so covered in thick dust that I can actually use it instead of a chalk board. I was coughing so much that I could barely breathe, and my allergies kicked into high gear. I ended up having to take a cough suppressant so that I could actually get some sleep. This is one place I plan to never come back to ever again, even if it's free. If you like ATVs, their burning lots of fossil fuels, and the taste of road grit between your teeth then this is obviously the place for you. But as for me, "Hasta la Vista" Uinta Flat Dispersed Camping Area, forever more!"

Now you know why I'm the Ornery Toad. It has mostly to do with those darn fallutin' noisy and obnoxious ATVs along with the high cost of gasoline.

Plenty of room for big rigs and toy haulers. Area is huge when you turn off Hwy 14. Road is a little rough just go slow!

We had been looking forward to camping here. We were all excited on our arrival until we got stuck in the mud. Thankfully I was able to disconnect and reconnect to the toy hauler on a different angle. Once we were settled in we enjoyed our weekend here. We had great access to all the dirt roads and with the snow melt all the creeks are flowing. Would definitely stay here again. We have Verizon service and had two bars 4g LTE with 180mb down load speeds

Planned to stay in the area for two weeks, but given the heavy ATV activity and the noisy groups of RVs blasting their music and letting their dogs run wild and menace other groups, I cut my stay much shorter. The wooded sites are beautiful and well-developed with fire rings, but the near constant ATV activity through the area and the continuous clouds of dust and noise puts a significant damper on trying to enjoy the natural beauty of the area. I wouldn't stay here again. This is probably only a good spot for ATVers.