- The fine print
- Cedar Mesa in-canyon camping needs a recreation.gov permit; Moab Field Office restricts camping to designated sites in the popular corridors near Moab even though 91% of the field office stays open to dispersed camping.
Utah lists 1,224 federal recreation facilities: 900 by the Forest Service, 306 by BLM, 16 by the Park Service, and 2 across 1 other agency.
Scale, not a free-camping count: this counts federal recreation facilities of every kind (trailheads, day-use sites, boat ramps, developed campgrounds), and most are not free dispersed camping. Source: Recreation.gov RIDB, retrieved 2026-07-18.
Named areas where free camping is currently allowed
- Cold Springs Dispersed Camping Area (Fishlake National Forest)USDA Forest Service · Stay limit: 16 days in a 30-day period forest-wide (Order 0408-25-01)
- BLM-managed public lands in Utah (statewide dispersed camping policy)Bureau of Land Management · Stay limit: 14 days while occupying any campsite
- Bears Ears National Monument / BLM Monticello Field Office and Manti-La Sal National ForestBureau of Land Management / USDA Forest Service · Stay limit: 14 days on BLM-managed lands
Dispersed camping on public land is camping, and it is allowed by default on most BLM and forest land within the stay limit. Pulling off a highway to sleep in your vehicle overnight is a different act with different rules. Which one applies to you.
Stay limits are set by the local field office or ranger district and change with fire restrictions. The managing office's current guidance beats this page.
Free dispersed camping is allowed throughout BLM-managed land in Utah except where posted, and that is the agency’s own statewide policy, not folklore. With 22,759,900 acres of BLM land plus 7 national forests, Utah is one of the strongest free camping states in the country. The exceptions are specific and worth knowing.
The BLM baseline
BLM Utah’s dispersed camping policy is unusually plain: free dispersed camping throughout BLM Utah-managed lands except where posted, “no fees, permits or passes,” and a limit of 14 days while occupying any campsite. That is the default across nearly 22.8 million acres. The “except where posted” clause does the heavy lifting, though. Where a sign or a field office rule closes an area, the sign wins, over the statewide policy and over this page.
In the southeast, BLM’s dispersed camping information for the Monticello Field Office extends the same deal across Bears Ears National Monument and the Manti-La Sal National Forest: free dispersed camping except where posted, 14 days on BLM-managed lands. One carve-out there: in-canyon camping on Cedar Mesa requires a recreation.gov permit.
The Moab exception
The Moab Field Office keeps 91 percent of its ground open to dispersed camping, but the popular corridors near Moab are designated-sites-only. If your plan is to roll in and camp along the busy roads close to town, that stopped being legal. Either take a designated site or drive out past the restriction boundaries.
The forests
Utah’s 7 national forests set their own limits by forest order. The verified example is the Fishlake National Forest, where Order 0408-25-01 sets 16 days in a 30-day period forest-wide. Its Cold Springs Dispersed Camping Area is about as comfortable as free gets: a vault restroom, an information kiosk, and graveled roads and camp spurs. Other forests will have different numbers, so check the current order rather than assuming 14 or 16 days travels with you.
How to check before you go
Read the posted signs at the site, since posting is exactly how Utah closes areas. Check the field office or ranger district page for the unit you are visiting, and pull the Motor Vehicle Use Map on forest land. Fire restrictions change through the season and apply on top of everything above. For the general mechanics, see the BLM camping rules and the stay limits guide.