House Range & Notch Peak
Region: Central Utah | Land Manager: BLM (Fillmore Field Office, House Range Recreation Area) | Cost: Free
Notch Peak. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
This is about as remote as camping gets on this site: a desert mountain range rising out of the Sevier Desert west of Delta, dominated by Notch Peak's west face, a sheer limestone drop of more than 2,500 feet, one of the tallest cliffs in the country outside of El Capitan. There are no maintained campgrounds, no cell service, and few other people, just genuine backcountry solitude.
Quick Facts
| Distance from Delta | About 45-50 miles west via US-50/6 (the "Loneliest Road in America"), then BLM roads into the House Range |
| Road & Clearance | High clearance needed in places; clay sections become impassable when wet |
| Rig Suitability | High-clearance trucks, vans, and 4x4s; not for trailers or low-clearance vehicles |
| Amenities | None |
| Cell Signal | None |
| Best Season | Spring and fall; avoid summer heat and any rain |
| Stay Limit | 14 days within a 28-day period |
Map
Getting There
From Delta, head west on US-50/6 across the open Sevier Desert. BLM roads branch south into the House Range toward Notch Peak and Swasey Peak, dispersed camping is allowed throughout the surrounding Swasey Mountain Wilderness Study Area. Roads vary from graded to rough and rocky; scout ahead before committing a bigger rig.
What to Expect
Dramatic desert-mountain scenery with almost nobody around. Notch Peak's summit sits at 9,658 feet, just short of neighboring Swasey Peak at 9,669 feet, and the west face drop is genuinely one of the largest in the country. The area is also known among rockhounds, commercial trilobite-digging operations sit nearby if you want a reason to stop along the way. This is true backcountry: no water, no cell service, and little traffic even on weekends.
Good to Know
Bring everything you need and then some, a full tank of gas, extra food and water, and ideally a satellite communicator like a Garmin inReach, since there's no cell service anywhere in the range and help is genuinely far away. Roads here turn to slick clay when wet, so don't head in if rain is forecast.
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