Rules · Utah

Dispersed-camping rules in Utah

Utah sits at the intersection of federal public land, state trust land, and a patchwork of state-park, wildlife-area, and private land. The rules that govern free and dispersed camping vary substantially across those categories. Utah does not require a general state-trust recreation permit; see specifics below for any unit-by-unit exceptions. The federal stay limit applicable to Utah is generally 14 days in a 28-day period on BLM and USFS land, after which you must move at least 25 miles to a new general area. Some units within Utah apply tighter local stay limits in popular areas. Fire restrictions in Utah are issued by the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire & State Lands for state and private land, and by each federal land-management unit independently for federal land. Always check both before lighting anything. The notes below summarize the practical rules most dispersed campers in Utah need to keep in mind, with links to the authoritative agency pages — bookmark those, because the specifics change yearly.

State trust land in Utah

SITLA recreation rules vary; no general permit. Free for general dispersed use; OHV permits separately. The authoritative page is trustlands.utah.gov — read the actual rule before relying on a third-party summary, because state agencies update permit terms more often than federal land managers do.

Fire restrictions in Utah

Restrictions in Utah are issued by the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire & State Lands for state and private land, and by each federal land-management unit independently for federal land. The current statewide picture is published at utahfireinfo.gov. Always check both sources before lighting anything — even a propane stove can trigger enforcement under Stage II conditions.

Specific quirks worth knowing

Sand Flats SRMA outside Moab and the Comb Wash area within Bears Ears require designated dispersed sites only — no random dispersed. Grand Staircase-Escalante limits group size and motorized travel; check the monument-specific pages. Utah enforces year-round campfire rules in some valleys regardless of federal stage.

Agencies you'll deal with

• BLM Utah
• Manti-La Sal NF
• Dixie NF
• Uinta-Wasatch-Cache NF
• Ashley NF
• Fishlake NF
• SITLA

How this page interacts with the rest of the directory

The rules above govern every campsite in our Utah directory. They also govern the regional zones we curate inside Utah — see the regions index for the named dispersed-camping corridors. None of these rules override unit-specific orders posted at the trailhead; if a sign says "no camping," that's the controlling instruction regardless of what this page says.