Horsethief Campground

This is a lovely campsite located just off the road to Canonlands National Park and Dead Horse State Park. Canyonlands is about 16 kilometres past Horsethief and Dead Horse about the same. The price is on the high side for a BLM site - there are no services of any kind but the site quality more than makes up for it. Note that Canyonlands and Dead Horse also have limited services as water must be trucked in. Arches National Park is about 30 kilometres away

Many of the sites will accommodate reasonably large RV's (we camped in a 28 ft. Airstream). The sites, which are generally level, have gravel pads with a picnic table and fire pit and are well spaced out so privacy is very good. All sites are back-in. There are numerous vault toilets throughout the campsite which are kept very clean. During our four days there, a BLM employee (not the campground host) pressure washed the toilets twice and cleaned out the fire pits once.

The campground was busy when we stayed there in early May and was often full by early afternoon. There was a fair amount of turnover each day so arriving in the morning should enable you to find a site. The nearest dump station is in Moab, about 40 kilometres away as is water fill up. There is a commercial campground on Highway 191 near the intersection with Highway 313 where you could stay for a night before or after visiting Horsethief to use their facilities but they don't have a separate dump station.

Access to the campground is via a gravel road about half a kilometre off Highway 313. There is a fairly steep climb on Highway 313 near the beginning but the rest of the highway is fine with a gradual climb towards Canyonlands NP.

I really liked the camphost (he's been fulltiming over 20 years) and paid $7.50 with my Senior Access Pass. # 52 is close to the road so lots of traffic in and out but the camphost suggested since I didn't want to unhook my car from the RV that I could "pull alongside" the site and it worked out fine. Bit of a washboard access into the campground but not that far to get into the entrance.

I got 1X Verizon and was able to pull in email but not use the internet. I did send and receive a few texts though.

It was very quiet at night but during the day cars traveling in and out of the campground were close and visible and dusty. It was fine for an overnight but if I was to have stayed longer, I would have unhooked into a quieter site.

This was a nice surprise when visiting Canyonlands National Park. It's about 10 miles outside the park entrance and quiet, clean and restful.

This is a great spot if you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of Moab. It's also a good alternative to the always full Dead Horse State Park (and after seeing both a nicer campground in my opinion). There are no hook-ups, showers, fresh water, or dump station, but the sites are generous in size with a good amount of space between them.

You can't make a reservation, but it seems that if you arrive before noon on a weekday the chances of getting a spot are high. We really enjoyed this spot as it put us in a great location to hike at Canyonlands and bike at Dead Horse.

The cell service reported is with a booster. Without a booster, the Verizon was slow and the AT&T was not useable.

Horsethief Campground is a large, nicely laid out campground near a ton of great biking. It's between Moab and Canyonlands (Island in the Sky District).

Sites are level(ish) and most are back in sites. I did see some bigger rigs, but many more small rigs, popups, and tents.

Scenery is great, bird watching is decent too.

With no openings at the nearby state park, we opted for Plan B – Horsethief BLM Campground. We were thrilled! The campground is large and all sites are first come/first served. And the sites are fantastic. Spacious and spaced far enough apart with vegetation between to provide some privacy. Excellent views too! Each site has a nice level tent space, firepit, and picnic table. Many sites are large enough to accommodate big rigs. The only amenities are pit toilets, but the staff keeps those immaculate. Even had a guy come clean out our firepit while we were camped there.

And the trails….. oh yes, the trails! Lots of mountain biking right from the campground – heck, right from our campsite! These are multiuse trails so you can hike them too, and there is a short hike only trail. The campground makes a great base to visit Canyonlands – Island in the Sky and a little longer drive will get you to Arches National Park and Moab.
Be advised the campground is dry – no water and no dump, no flush toilets and no showers. There is a dumpster for garbage. At $15 it’s a little pricey for totally dry, but we thought it was worth it.

We had 2 bars of Verizon 4G unboosted.

Like others, we originally tried to get into Dead Horse State Park, but it was full. We really enjoyed our stay here. The sites are very large and there are trails right off the campground for hiking etc. The campsites along the edge have unobstructed views of the desert landscape. The campground is just a few minutes from Canyonlands National Park. It's a little further to drive to Arches National Park, but we used this as our base for both parks. It's also near a Dark Sky area, so the night sky is spectacular. We had service if we walked to the entrance of the campground, but nothing at our actual campsite.

Very quiet with great views. Pit toilets well kept. Great access to Dead Horse Point and Canyonlands Island in the Sky. About 25 minutes to Arches.

So quiet, clean and beautiful! Spaces are spread out and quiet. There was a table and a fire ring. Vault toilet was clean.

We camped here once before but we were on the east end. This Time we were on the Apalacha loop. Beautiful sunsets. Easy back in spot for my 34' trailer and truck. Clean and we were right by a bike trail head that also has 2 one mile nature hikes that loop west to East. Wish we brought our bikes. It was the first trip of the year so it was more of make sure you have the basics ready. Cell Service was just enough to do a few things. Quick access to the madness of Moab. Close to other bike trails, Dead Horse state park and Canyon Lands Park.