CAMPING: GOBLIN VALLEY AREA

Goblin Valley State Park has beautiful facilities and friendly rangers. There are heaters in the public restrooms and shaded picnic tables available to the public. The campsites follow the pattern of the public spaces by being manicured and well maintained. That's the good of it. The bad? You are about as close to your fellow campers as can be. There are no trees to offer a natural barrier between you and the Smith family.

Goblin Valley is also home to, without question, the most grammable Yurt in all of Utah. You've seen it, you've 'liked' it, you've added it to your bucket list. Ready to be crushed? While it is surrounded by sandstone hoodoos you will be disappointed to find that the photos you have seen are the product of clever camera angles. We drove through the campground at GVSP and were shocked to find that this lust worthy Yurt is a mere 10 feet from the neighboring campsite. If yurts are your jam and you don't mind listening to stranger's ghost stories then by all means, book it. If you like to camp the way we camp, stripping down and enjoying a solar shower and screaming along to Neil Young "Old Man" then consider the alternative and follow us to the BLM land just down the road...

8 miles down the road to be exact. From Goblin valley Road, take a left down Wild Horse Road. You will see dirt roads that stem off towards the hoodoos. These are all Public Land camping options for you to enjoy. When we arrived at 10pm on a Friday all of these were taken, but we wanted to be closer to the trailhead for Little Wild Horse Canyon so we didn't mind driving a bit further. We parked about 2 miles from the trailhead and found our home.

Each dirt road turn out will yield a unique camping site, but the photos below will give you an idea of the area. This wasn't the most stunning scenery we have camped in, but it was pretty freaking gorgeous. The sunset was unbelievable and we had all the privacy we could ever need. Sing-A-Longs ensued.

*BLM camping is public and it's free. This does not mean that there are no rules. Driving should be done on existing roads and camping should be on existing plots. Some places have regulations on open fires, cutting or gathering wood, etc. Check with the local authorities before heading in. It is our responsibility to keep these places as wild as we can. EVERYTHING you bring with you should leave with you. Think of it this way, would you want to pull up to a camping spot and see it riddled with toilet paper and trash? Of course not.*

A view of a Jasper and our campsite. On the other side of the ridge we set up our cook table and chairs to relax away from the road, not that there was much traffic.