Coal Creek Dispersed Camping

Columbus Day Weekend. . Saturday night. . . I felt lucky to find this place. But really, it's just an area of dirt and a few trees, not a campground per se. Dry camping. Bring your own everything. I would not suggest tent camping here. I slept in my Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk condo and left early. It's not a place where you would want to hang out. I was glad to have clearance getting in and out of there, but the guy in the site next to mine was driving an old Lexus SUV and did fine. Arrive before dark and choose your route carefully if you don't have good clearance! It is right on the highway, but I did not find it very noisy. Make sure you have good window coverings because neighbors driving in and out will shine their headlights right into your car. The place was totally clean. . no garbage anywhere. Leave no trace.

I arrived early evening just as the sun was setting. Leaving cedar city i turned in on the first road to the right. I was desperate and exhausted and decided to attempt it. I was in a rav 4 but only 2wd and I struggle. There didn’t seem to be any specific road and was sort of a free for all with any easily accessible sites already taken. Hit a dead end and had a bitch of a time getting back out. I finally just parked my car and went to sleep. Leaving in the dark was even worse! Come daylight i saw many more options that appeared much better on both sides of the road had I just kept driving a little bit. I would try those next time but definitely not that first one again.

We really enjoyed our overnight stay here. The sound of the full creek drown out the sound of any cars going by on the road. The mid-May temps were perfect for a lazy afternoon. There were only 3 other campers when we arrived & saw a little bit of traffic through the site in the afternoon-evening. Lots of deep puddles on the road from the spring rain, so have a high clearance vehicle. We saw lizards, humming birds & some large eagles. Quite a few flowering shrubs & cactus too.
The concerning part is the amount of loose garbage & broken glass in several of the sites. Not to mention the "disposable" bathroom wipes. They aren't disposable or bio-degradable. The concept of boon-docking is "pack it in & pack it out". Don't leave it on the ground.
This is one of our first BLM camping experiences so maybe this isn't any different from other BLM camping. Which would be sad. Anyway, bring sunscreen. plenty of drinking water & a damn garbage bag.

I stayed here twice in May 2018 to pick up and drop off someone flying in and out of Cedar City to do some hiking and backpacking in parks and BLM lands of SW Utah.

This area is very close to town, but I had no cell signal due to canyon walls. It’s close to the highway, so expect some highway noise, but camping close to the stream can drown some of this out. This area can accommodate some small campers, vans, truck campers and tent camping. Larger rigs could potentially park at this location, just off the highway. (I also saw some medium sized RVs parked at other locations, down the road closer to town).

A few of the sites here offer a campsite feel, others are simply a place to park. There was a moderate amount of garbage, partially burnt beer cans, etc. It appears this is occasionally a local party spot, although it was fairly quiet both times I stayed. I imagine this area is very full some weekend nights.

For a free location very close to town, it’s not bad.

This site really is best for camper vans and or tent camping. The junipers have grown over the roadways and make access difficult. There are around six good sites but the access to them has steep hills and gullies. Otherwise a delightful place. The creek was running strong in May 2018 and provided background music to coverup the highway noise. Slept very well. Picked up a large black garbage bag full of trash. Suggest campers help keep the site clean for those that follow. Let’s leave the campsite better than we found it.
No Verizon coverage, but just a few feet down the road toward town there was three bars.

This was a nice little spot I found right here on campendium and I was not disappointed. it was super easy to find. It was right on the creek and I had it all to myself. There was a little road noise early in the evening but it was quiet all night for sleeping. I was here mid November so during busier tourist times it may be different. I loved that it was only a mile down the road for the Red Hollow Trailhead, I took in a 12 mile (20km) ride before leaving in the morning. Cell service for verizon for sketchy but I did get 1 or 2 bars off and on so was able to check in with loved ones.