Mineral Point Road
Region: Moab & Southeast Utah | Land Manager: BLM (Moab Field Office) | Cost: Free
Red rock desert near Moab, representative of the Mineral Point Road area. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Mineral Point Road is free dispersed camping tucked just past the developed, paid Horsethief Campground off Highway 313, northwest of Moab. It's a good pick if you want to be close to Arches and the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands without paying for a site.
Quick Facts
| Distance from Moab | About 30 to 40 minutes, via US-191 north to UT-313 |
| Road & Clearance | Graded sandy road past Horsethief Campground; passable for most vehicles in dry conditions |
| Rig Suitability | Tents, vans, and many RVs at the first turnouts; further in gets rougher |
| Amenities | None: no water, toilets, or trash service |
| Cell Signal | Spotty this far out from town |
| Best Season | Spring and fall; can be busy during peak park season |
| Stay Limit | 14 days within a 28-day period |
Map
Getting There
From Moab, head north on US-191 and turn west onto UT-313, the road toward Dead Horse Point State Park and Canyonlands' Island in the Sky district. Continue past the developed, fee-based Horsethief Campground, and keep going about a mile to a mile and a half further on Mineral Point Road (also called Mineral Road or BLM 340) until you start seeing cleared turnouts and fire rings along both sides of the road.
What to Expect
The first sites are wide open flats, easy to reach, and popular, so plan on arriving with daylight to spare if you want a good pick, especially on weekends. Push further down the road for more privacy, though the surface gets sandier and rougher the farther you go. There's essentially no shade, and sunsets and sunrises out here are excellent, with the La Sal Mountains visible in the distance.
Good to Know
There's no water, no toilets, and no trash pickup, so come prepared and pack everything out. This corridor sits close enough to Arches and Canyonlands that it fills up fast during spring and fall high season, so don't count on it as a guaranteed fallback on a busy weekend. As with anywhere near Moab, previously used sites and existing fire rings are the better choice over creating a new one.
Staying dry-camped near Moab for more than a night or two is a lot more comfortable with a proper solar and battery setup running your fridge and lights. See what an off-grid power system looks like