Quiet campsites (boondocking) Moab and also South Grand Canyon area late march

[Losangeles]

Quiet campsites (boondocking) Moab and also South Grand Canyon area late march

Hi all

We will be in a 4x4 pop-up truck camper, (so easy to off road) and I'm looking to find scenic quiet safe boondocking late march.

Specifically just 2 areas - (sadly short on time and limited to only these 2 areas)

just a tiny bit north or just south of Moab, UT (so easy dinner in Moab that night)

and also at, or very close to the South rim of Grand Canyon.

Yes of course we'll watch for road closures, and watch the weather....

and I believe that roads may close that make it impossible to get to the South rim of the Grand Canyon.

We are fully self contained, and prefer scenic and quiet boondocking.

Thanks for any suggestions!

[LeonW]

A few years ago we stayed at a govt. campsite along the river about 6 miles north of Moab. I don't remember if it was COE or dept. of the interior. There were about 10 campsites. No reservations, but the lady who was running the place to a shine to our dog and let us camp in an overflow area until some campers left the next morning. You can only stay there for two weeks, but the lady also told me that if she went to town, and I told her that I had left the campground and then returned, who was she to argue. As I said, she liked the dog and the fact that we were quiet and well behaved.

[EdColorado]

The closest BLM boondocking , i.e. NOT a campground, area north of Moab is BLM-378/Willow Springs Road. About 15 minutes to town.

It's right here.

38.696730 -109.698382

Since it's the closest it's also the most popular (crowded) but there is lots of room. The quality of this minimally maintained dirt road varies considerably year to year. If you follow it a while, you will get to two nice pit toilets and more camping.

Good cell service.

With a high-clearance 4WD vehicle, you can drive to a hiking trail leading to some dinosaur tracks. Keep going and you can enter the Arches NP without dealing with the mobs at the pay station entry.


If you don't like Willow Springs, keep going north. The next BLM road is Dalton Wells Roads. More free disbursed camping.


Enjoy

[Rossue]

We were at or near where LeonW mentioned...called Big Bend. There is a second driveway north of the first where there is a really nice spot with views of CO River. Also, not to be missed is the hike at the trailhead halfway back to town. Used to be called Negro Bill's. He had a history there with skirmishes with natives back in his day. The PC cops of course renamed it. Now it is called Grandstaff Canyon.