Old Highway 89 Dispersed Camping

Located about 2 miles southeast of Mt. Carmel Junction, or about 14 miles north of Kanab, Utah, and less than ¼ mile from Highway 89, is a good area (37.2043,-112.6761) on BLM land. There are several potential spots in the immediate area, almost all of which are out of sight (but not sound) of Highway 89. A couple of the spots have little windows of visability from the highway.

I suspect this area was used as a source of fill when the new Highway 89 alignment was built. Just over the knoll to the west is an area that looks like it has been recently used as a gravel pit but I didn’t observe any equipment there. I spent two days here waiting for rain storms to pass through the area. The gravel has good drainage, but the dirt areas have enough clay content to build up on your shoes if it’s wet.

In addition to beautiful views to the east (or north if you park further in than I did), there was 5 bars of AT&T 3G, finally slaking my thirst for connectivity after two weeks of camps with none to very little access.

There is no shade, but lots of options for optimal positioning for solar or for a group of three or four rigs. Lots of deer sign in the area, and the trash I picked up was almost all old cans that had once been used for .22 caliber target practice.

So the quality of camping here is really pretty good for being essentially a gravel pit and remnants from the old US-89. We stayed for one day when the good site was taken, so we ended up camping by the gravel pit... which is still far more scenic than 99% of RV Parks out there ;-)
We had usable Verizon 4G, total privacy, limited road noise, great views, and condor footprints around our site. All that and it's maybe a quarter mile of driving after you turn off of US-89.
The second stay was for 2 days because we got the 'good' spot, while there are many nice places to camp, this one is dead ahead when you turn into the area and is obviously the one we are referencing. If it's taken there are 3 other sites down the dirt road from here, or you can continue to your left and end up at the gravel pit area which could accommodate a lot of campers.

I don't have much to add from what the other reviewers stated other than that the ATT speeds were phenomenal...50mbps down 20 up! And that's unboosted and without an external antenna. Cell signal isn't great in this area of Utah in general, so to find a boonedocking spot with such great connectivity (we work from the road) was a treat. You can actually see the cell phone tower about 4 or 5 miles away, so that probably accounts for the strong signal.

We had no trouble pulling into the large spot, directly ahead once you get off the highway. If you're caravanning this large spot could probably comfortable accommodate 3 rigs

This campsite is easily accessible from highway 89 and you only have to drive around a minute or so on a gravel road. I camped here the Sunday before Memorial Day and it was not busy at all.

Good Views, Easy Access off 89, LTE w/AT&T.
Arrived late the first night and it’s very dark out there. Both nights there were 4-5 total campers/RVs staying at the site. Can hear Highway 89 traffic however, so if you’re looking for a more remote spot this isn’t your place. Overall 4.5/5.0 stars from me!

This site was easy to find, the road was wide and still half paved and there were plenty of spots. Only downsides are that it's a bit cold this time of year (3/31) and people left a bunch of spent shotgun shells on the ground. We did hear a couple of big rigs on the highway but nothing that woke us up.

Location was awesome for a few nights of stay. Internet and cell service also good. Parts of roads are paved since it was old HWY 89 so very easy access for any size rig. We saw few 5th wheels and a “tiny home” set up. We were in a 37 foot Class A! It’s about 12 miles from nearest town (Kanab/ has groceries etc ).We also had great connection to our Verizon. MIFI!

The previous reviews provided great location information. The gps coordinations took us right here. And we found the turnoff by first seeing the stop sign. After turning into the location we followed the road to the right and across old us89. And found a spot just up the dirt road a short distance. Yes, you hear us89 traffic, but inside the rig, not so much. And the views are worth it. We used this for a base camp to see Zion, Bryce, and Kanab. Also was low enough not to have snow. Which Bryce had. We stayed here in a 38’ fifth wheel, no problems! The road off US89 is just south of Mt Carmel Junction. Verizon Mifi had 4G with one bar, but great service. Verizon Cell was extended coverage 3 bars. We stayed here April 6-10, 2019.

We Spent two weeks at this location and enjoyed our time there very much. Great location to many hikes and parks and easy access in and out as most reviews stated. We did scrape on the way into the main turn around area while crossing paved old route 89, but we are big, heavy, and low unfortunately. We were on the western side of the turnaround and seemed to be sheltered from some wind, and had great views in all directions. We had the place to ourselves for the most part aside from an occasional person stopping for the night. The two negatives were hearing semi trucks now and again and gunshots on the weekends. I also feel compelled to say there were several piles of animal parts in sight of the camping areas. I am usually down to clean up an area once we get there, but I didn’t have gloves thick enough to pick up what this “in my opinion”poacher left behind. That being said we felt completely safe there, and we would go back if around the area. I’ll bring thicker gloves next time just in case.

Coming from the Netherlands. First we thought the olh Highway was the campground. But that wasn't a good place. But going in a dirt road, we found space enough. A beautifil place with a lovely sight on the mountains. We did not hear te noise of the road.