Buckboard Campground

We enjoyed this small campground outside of Monticello, UT. We visited the Needles section of Canyonlands in early June and were concerned about that it may be too hot to camp there, so we chose Buckboard up in the mountains south of the park. The campground provides lots of shade, particularly in the small loop. The only reason I didn’t give it a 5 was because it was very windy (25+ mph). While I think this wind event was abnormal, I am concerned that it may often be windy considering there is a wind farm a few miles away.

Came up here to beat the heat as well, successively (mid July). Place practically empty. Sites spaced well apart. Gravel parking, mowed native grass tent pad somewhat hummocky due to tree roots. Picnic table, fire ring, taller BBQ grill. Large center meadow with deer constantly wandering through. Sites under trees for shade. Pleasant, undeveloped campground.

We loved this campground so much! It was so peaceful being up in the woods on the mountain. We went out of season, so no water, but the vault toilets were open and were pretty clean. No showers, obviously, but we went in to Monticello (10mins away) and paid for showers at the Old West RV Park.

The best site is site #1; we switched there from #3 (which was also nice) and stayed two more nights because it was just so nice. Site #1 is tucked in the corner and goes way back: lots of space and kind of hidden from the road. The oaks and aspens were all changing colour -just beautiful!

Every evening, a small herd of deer came and fed in the meadow in the centre of the campground. There was a bear box to store food in but we just kept our food in our car. There is a barbed wire fence and cattle gate bordering the campground.

So nice and quiet in the nights. Only a couple other campers, even on the weekend. Some people came for day trips and picnics on the Saturday and then left.

Service with AT&T was spotty -showed service but didn’t always work.

Eight sites in a figure 8 (front loop 1-4, back loop 5-8). The front loop has two group sites also which can be busy and noisy. Lots of day use. The back loop sites are very well spaced and beautiful, each site surrounded by aspens and pines. Site 8 is the largest site and not huge. My 12 foot trailer and truck just fit lengthwise with room for a duplicate setup right beside it. Each site has a picnic table, fire ring and grill. Potable water is available at each loop. Pit toilets at front loop. I was there at the end of June: meadow flowers blooming, deer everywhere, and the wind whispering through the beautiful aspens- truly idyllic setting. The road up to Buckboard is single lane and dirt but was in good repair. I would definitely go back.