Middle Canyon Road (Oquirrh Mountains)
Region: Wasatch Front & Uinta Mountains | Land Manager: U.S. Forest Service and mixed public land | Cost: Free
.jpg?width=1200)
Forest terrain representative of Middle Canyon. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
The Oquirrh Mountains on the Salt Lake Valley's west side see a fraction of the traffic the Wasatch side gets, and Middle Canyon Road is the legal dispersed camping option here, worth knowing since neighboring Butterfield Canyon, just to the south, prohibits camping outright.
Quick Facts
| Distance from Salt Lake City | About 40 minutes via Tooele |
| Road & Clearance | Paved lower, graded dirt higher; some spurs need clearance, and the longest runs about 1.5 miles before it becomes impassable |
| Rig Suitability | Tents and vans on the lower pull-offs; not RV-friendly further up |
| Amenities | None |
| Cell Signal | Spotty, better near the summit |
| Best Season | Late spring through fall |
| Stay Limit | 14 days |
Map
Getting There
From Tooele, head into Middle Canyon on Middle Canyon Road. Primitive pull-offs appear just off the pavement lower down, with spur roads branching higher into the canyon toward the ridge separating Middle Canyon from Butterfield Canyon.
What to Expect
Quieter and less developed than the Wasatch canyons on the other side of the valley, with sweeping views back over the Salt Lake Valley and Great Salt Lake from the higher pull-offs. The area connects to trails around the Butterfield Peaks and Oquirrh summit ridge.
Good to Know
Camping is explicitly not allowed in neighboring Butterfield Canyon or Tie Fork, Middle Canyon is the legal alternative on this side of the range, so don't assume the whole area is open. Some of this land is a mix of Forest Service and private mining-company holdings; stick to established pull-offs and respect posted boundaries.
Close enough to Salt Lake for a spontaneous weeknight trip, good territory to shake down a new power setup. See what an off-grid power system looks like