Hanksville, Utah may just be the most underrated place in all of Utah. With so many people traveling to Utah and visiting places like Monument Valley, Arches or Zion National Park, or even Park City, Hanksville often gets overlooked.
We spent just over a week in the Hanksville area and left only wanting to have more time there. We’re talking otherworldly scenery, amazing milkshakes, and fantastic places to dispersed camp, making Hanksville one of our favorite areas of Utah.
With so much public land in the area, it’s easy to find places to camp for free in Hanksville, however, these are our top five spots!
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5 Things To Note About Dispersed (Free) Camping
- Bathrooms aren’t a thing. Either bring a toilet with you, or know how to properly poop outdoors. Don’t know how? Don’t worry, we wrote a guide all about pooping outside!
- Cell service is limited. We’ve noted which sites have cell service, and recommend maps.me for an offline map app.
- Take your trash with you. Similar to no bathrooms, there’s no trash. Pack out what you pack in.. including organic matter like banana peels and apple cores.
- Water is limited. While you can filter water from the San Juan River in one location, there is not water at any of these places. Bring your own in something like this, and fill up at the BLM office in Hanksville.
- Share the space and be mindful of others. We literally had someone pull up and park right in front of us sitting out and having a drink. They legitimately blazed in, threw their vehicle into park and jumped out to take photos without even a care in the world they were a few feet from us sitting outside our rig.
Free Camping Near Hanksville Utah
- Moonscape Overlook
- Long Dong Silver
- Cow Dung Road
- Goblin Valley
- Factory Butte
The above mentioned locations are not in any particular order, as they each have their own epic Hanksville photography opportunities and scenery. Remember to leave the places better than you found them — packing out all your trash and even other people’s too.
Below, we go into detail about each of these dispersed camping locations, sharing coordinates of where we’ve stayed that we’ve found on other dispersed camping websites.
Moonscape Overlook
- Location | Moonscape Overlook Ledge | 38.451039, -110.839241
- Cell Service | yes
- Accessibility | 2WD low clearance capable
Holy smokes, I don’t know if any of the places we’ve wild camped around the world have felt more surreal than staying at Moonscape Overlook.
As the name suggests, this is a huge overlook into a valley that looks like what you’d envision the moon or Mars to look like.
The views both in the early morning and in the evening light are spectacular, and during the day you’ll continually want to pinch yourself to see if this is truly real.
Now, like most places in this post, Moonscape Overlook is a very popular place for people to photograph both day and night. We saw so many tours pop into the overlook during the day, and many people coming in just to see the view for a few minutes then hitting the road again.
Camping here, you get to take it all in in all the different lighting and will have times of nearly no crowds.
I suggest camping not at the main parking area of the overlook, but instead at one of the places along the cliff’s edge right before you enter the main parking area. (This will make total sense when you’re there).
If you’re looking for those perfect camping pictures where you have an incredible view right outside your tent or van, Moonscape Overlook is the place for you!
Long Dong Silver
- Location | Long Dong Silver Parking Lot | 38.382427, -110.839238
- Cell Service | yes, able to FaceTime
- Accessibility | 2WD low clearance capable
First off, let’s clear the air. Yes, this place is really called Long Dong Silver. And yes, it seems to be a perfectly fitting name for the spire you see here.
Camping at Long Dong Silver is actually like camping about a mile from the famed Long Dong, in the legal camping and driving area of the road to and/or the parking lot. Driving past the parking lot is illegal, and so selfish to do because you ruin the moonlike landscape before you.
So, camp here in the parking area. There is plenty of space to park here and have your own privacy, and in fact, when we stayed here we were the only ones there.
Camping here is ideal because you’re the closest you can get to capturing Long Dong Silver both in the evening light and with the starry sky behind it.
To get to Long Dong Silver without a high clearance vehicle, be sure to take the second road if you’re coming from Hanksville. The exact coordinates for the turn off are the following,
Please, please, please, when you visit this place stay only on the obvious trails and roadways. There ground is fragile, and as you walk you can see the lasting effects of others not sticking to the trails — something I’m afraid will eventually shut this place down for good.
Cow Dung Road
- Location | Purple Hills | 38.412479, -110.784773
- Cell Service | no
- Accessibility | 2WD low clearance capable – not long rigs though this far on the road
Whoever named the things in and around Hanksville deserves an award. The actual name of the road is truly Cow Dung Road, however, you’ll rarely find a sign to it. We talked to a BLM officer and they said people keep stealing the road sign, so they stopped putting a new one up.
Cow Dung Road leads to not only the Mars Research Center, but also to an area where dinosaur bones have been found. And holy smokes, the entire drive is gorgeous.
Once you pull off the highway, it’s easy to see why the Mars Research Center is based on Cow Dung Road. This place is absolutely incredible.
There are established dispersed campsites all along Cow Dung Road, and you really can’t go wrong with any of them. There’s one spot on the drive that is super tight and I wouldn’t recommend large RVs to drive it, as the rocks jet out making it hard to get through even in a van.
Tuck in and find a great place to sleep on Mars for the night… be mindful of the wind, as it can certainly pick up in this area.
Outside Goblin Valley
- Location | Red Rock Formations | 38.579008, -110.797615
- Cell Service | none
- Accessibility | 2WD low clearance capable
A bit further than the other four places to camp for free in Hanksville, Goblin Valley and the surrounding area offer camping near the red rocks and slot canyons.
Again, the name here just kills me, and if you choose, you can go into Goblin Valley State Park to experience the goblin like landscape. However, you can also just drive around in the surrounding area and find some really awesome wild camping!
We camped at a few different places in this area, and were able to enjoy some hikes nearby and just soak in the scenery.
Goblin Valley is a bit different than the other areas in Hanksville, but it still offers some incredible views. If you’re limited on time, I would skip this area and camp at any of the above three places instead!
Factory Butte
- Location | OHV Area | 38.405421, -110.886433
- Cell Service | yes, able to FaceTime
- Accessibility | 2WD low clearance capable
Home to many off roaders, Factory Butte offers free dispersed camping that’s easy to access and far enough off the main highway for a quiet(ish) stay, but close enough for a quick stop through.
In the Factory Butte area of Hanksville, you’ll find lots of bigger RVs as this is definitely the most accessible place to dispersed camp on this list.
You’ll also find many people with their off roading toys and bikes. This can make staying in this area a bit dusty and loud during the day. However, with such a big space to explore, you can certainly find places away from other people.
Instead of staying at Factory Butte, we drove through and stayed at Moonscape Overlook for a few nights instead.. and I would certainly suggest those capable of making the drive to do so!
If you have a larger rig, Factory Butte is the best place to camp for free in Hanksville, Utah.
Camping For Free And Trash
I noted it above, but I’m going to say it again here.. pack out all of your trash with you. All of the locations listed in this post are pristine. Don’t ruin them by leaving behind trash, food scraps, or unburied human waste.
All five of the above locations can be found on iOverlander, one of many van life apps we recommend for not only those doing van life but those road tripping as well.
READ MORE | The Best Van Life Apps For Finding Camping, Dump Stations, Water, and More
Enjoy Nature. Respect Nature
Remember, if you choose to camp for free at any of these locations, you’re enjoying the beauty of Creation. Keep it clean, be respectful of those around you by not running generators or music all day and all night, and for the love of nature — do not damage or kill the live plants and epic scenery in the area!
More On The Monument Valley Area
Learn More | Utah’s BIG 5 National Parks | We’ve visited them all.
Read More | 5 Places to Camp For Free in Monument Valley
Read More | Mexican Hat Utah | A Complete Guide to Hiking + Camping
Read More | A Half Day in Natural Bridges National Monument
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