Black Ridge Area Designated Campsites

We stayed here unexpectedly the week before doing Moab (had planned on staying in Valley of the Gods but couldn't get good enough internet for teaching). The easy access and convenience are hard to beat on the way into Moab from the south.

When you first turn off of US-191 there are signs stating "No camping next 0.6 miles" just follow the road around to the right and it is very obvious where the camping starts. Road is in great shape up to the first 'lower' group area. This is a huge area big enough for multiple big groups, we stayed here for the first few days. You can then continue up the hill, or over the wash and around to the right of the hill - both have a variety of group sized and individual sized camping areas. We made it up the hill no problem and set up just off the road for a few days of productivity before hitting the parks.

The scenery is pretty nice although there are power lines running through the area. Verizon LTE wasn't super fast but rock solid at around 5Mb/s all day long. The area is certainly popular but for most of the week there was room for another to rig to get in somewhere - we were not there for a weekend though.

We found a spot in Moab! We arrived on a Thursday because we heard that Willow Springs Rd., and some of the other spots located further north off of 191 can become packed on the weekends. THEY WERE! This location is approximately 11 miles south of downtown Moab, and a 25 minute drive to Arches National Park...we loved it!

GETTING THERE:
-GPS: 38.42535, -109.42
-Get water at the 2nd Maverick you see (on the left, near the end of town while heading south) - VERY convenient dump station and fill up for potable water (they even supplied a hose). It is definitely a hot spot for RVers and 4x4 enthusiasts though, but, no need to get frazzled by the crowds, everyone is there doing the same thing, so we embraced it! =)
-We drove south from I-70 to 191, drove past Arches NP, and through Moab, then turned left onto Yellow Circle Rd. Once you turn onto Yellow Circle Rd., stay left (there is a "no camping" sign to the right, anyway ;). There are plenty of spaces to park (but busier and noisier) in the first large group spots you will see, but, if you continue up the hill (a little rocky and steep, but doable if you're comfortable towing or have a smaller rig), we took the spot directly to the right, and a tent camper shared it with us on the weekend (still very spacious). We really enjoyed this spot, had a beautiful long distance view of Arches NP, met some really fun people on the weekend, and now we want to get a dirtbike - haha!

STATS:
-FREE
-RVs of all sizes and tent camping

EXPLORING:
-We hiked in Arches NP (25 minute drive to the entrance).
-Mountain biked around our campsite, up and down the roads and trails.
-Thought about renting a Wrangler or RAZR, but decided not to spend the $200-$300/day...eek.

DOGS:
-We had a lot of freedom here, and the dogs had a blast meeting other pups and people.

TIPS:
-If you can, arrive Sun-Thurs - it filled up on the weekend, and almost completely cleared out during the week.

Great site, there's a large field at the bottom of the hill that's easily accessible and another large grassy field at the top of a slightly intimidating hill, there's nothing to it and it's worth going to the upper section. The hill gets very difficult to pass after rain, it's slippery and steep and you can easily slide off even with 4WD and good tires and no trailer (ask me how I know).

The lower area has a few campers pretty consistently, and pretty busy on the weekends. We would get a few neighbors up the hill just on the weekends but plenty of space for everyone to spread out.

There are some nearby shooting areas so noise can be an issue, it's quieter up the hill.

We may or may not have lived here for a while, no one bothered us. Definitely considered keeping this one a secret, please don't mess it up!

We loved staying here, as the cell service was much better for working. Met lots of friendly people who were more into the full time RV/van lifestyle, and not as much into the recreation.

It was a very quiet area until a group of 15+ trucks/RVs with their UTVs/RZRs showed up and crashed the site. Ordinarily I wouldn't be bothered by this, however they were very rude and offended that we were camped there. They ended up parking <5 feet away from us, and essentially boxed us out. I respect the party, and realize that it's free camping and anyone can come and go, however you can be nice about it. I think this was just bad luck. We ended up moving over to Ken's Lake Campground for some quiet.

We weren't able to find/access this site when we tried to visit in late September. We followed the instructions of other reviews, but the road in became impassable in our SUV (we had a cargo hitch mount that rides pretty low) before we encountered the site itself. We pulled off the road in a clearing to sleep for the night, but didn't attempt to come back. Was located about half an hour from the entrance to arches. Turn off for the access road appears right before the start of the uphill guardrail.

This Yellow Circle Rd. BLM camp is Just OK would be a nice place if not for all the camp fire spots and trash looks more like a locals party place theres even human wast, nasty, I cleaned up some but was the useless effort.
We stoped for the night at the first spots so can't say how it looks further up the hill could be better, anyways there is some spots further east will check them out.

Update: A mouse decided to take up residence in our rig, and so we left pretty immediately upon finding he had rented out our home with no plans to pay (only plans to chew and poop). Friends parked next to us stayed and have caught multiple mice in their rig. So, if the nights get chilly, expect that you may have a visitor or 7.

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A 'dusty when windy' boondocking spot about 15 minutes South of downtown Moab. Accessible by rigs of all sizes - although the road into the permitted camping areas can be janky and lumpy. There are several 'plateaus' of camping space here, and we were 'bullied' (by friends - the good kind of bullying!) into climbing the hill to the second plateau area to hang out near them. While a bit nerve racking due to the bumpy road up, it was worth it once parked, as this area is less crowded and gives you a nice expansive view to the West, and peaks of snowy (in April) mountain tops to the North.

We arrived on a Saturday, and it was notably busier on the weekend than on weekdays. There appear to be several 'permanent' rigs here claiming space - but they are all well kept and newer. There were a few ATV and dirt bike riders during our stay, but they stayed out of the camping areas and instead enjoyed the hillside trails.

Verizon coverage on the first plateau was solid - 19.38down/3.78up - unboosted or enhanced. We didn't even both to pull out our AT&T.

It is a quiet area otherwise (save for some campfire chatter/music on weekends), and I couldn't hear road noise.

We did not note a lot of garbage in the area - it was actually very clean (opinion) for the use it gets. But, the use the area gets does mean the roads are a bit beat up and foliage has been pushed back and you won't see much wildlife.

If you have a smaller rig, I completely recommend scouting higher than the first plateau for a spot. Runs up the hill found me jealous of rigs that might be able to fit/carry themselves up to the level areas with expansive views and no neighbors. It seems that most people (even in small rigs) tended to just stop where everyone else was parked - but If we had less than a 30' set-up I'd be up that hill for certain!

As others have noted, if there has been any kind of moisture the roads become super difficult. The first pull off to the right was full so we continued down the road but unfortunately it had been a very rainy May. We have pretty decent clearance with our 22’ class C, but it was still sloooow going. Once we found a spot it was fairly flat, there were fire rings and folks were friendly. Unfortunately that evening, some knucklehead started shooting off his gun. I don’t know much about them but it was loud and obnoxious. Of course it also scared away any wildlife that might have come by (the dogs hate it as well). Guess it happens and it is BLM but that’s not the reason why I love RV’ing. It was fine for a night however.

This was the first place we tried to stay overnight for free. Free dispersed camping on this land. The camping was really nice with some great views just right off the highway. There were little fire rings already established and other cars there when we got there late at night. One of my favorite campsites

Pulled off at this location on accident trying to find a different one but I’m glad we found this site! The roads were all dirt and gravel and at times our vehicle had a hard time making it up the cliff sides. There are plenty of signs telling you when you can/can’t camp in an area.

My friends and I had passed a gated RV area on our way in that was shut and we travelled quite a bit up before giving up on finding marked campsites. When we finally found one, it was extremely tempted and just slightly off the gravel road. There were no toilets nearby.

We pitched a tent about 50 feet from our car down on a bluff where other campers had made fire pits. There was one closer to our car and road but there had been a bunch of broken glass there so we decided to sleep away from it all.

The camping itself was pleasant, with the only issue arising was a random truck pulling up by our camp and stopping around 10. We heard a door open and shut but when we went to see what was going on, they were gone. Other than that, it was extremely quiet and peaceful the entire night.

If you’re primitive camping, I strongly suggest making sure your camp is secured down as it gets windy in the evening. If you’re in an RV, I honestly don’t think you’d be able to make it to the higher sections due to the quality of the road.