Balsam (Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, UT)
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $27.45From, per site
- Sites
- 2926 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 14 notices
In the agency’s own words
Balsam Campground is located on the banks of pretty Hobble Creek just 12 miles from Springville, Utah, at an elevation of 6,000 feet. Visitors enjoy fishing and exploring local trails. Keep reading
Recreation
Rainbow and brown trout fishing are popular on Hobble Creek. A few hiking, biking and horseback riding trails are in the area,. Deer Springs Trail begins at the top of the campground and is 1 mile long. Dry Canyon Trails are in the area. Left Fork and Days Canyon Trail can be accessed by nearby Cherry Campground. Kirkman Hollow Trail is accessed along the main road 2 miles to the south. Scenic driving above the campground is available for off road vehicles.
Facilities
The campground contains one group site that can accommodate up to 100 people. It contains picnic and serving tables, a campfire ring, and cement site pad. This group site is a walk-to site accessed by a steep, paved trail from the parking area. Single family sites are available as well, with picnic and serving tables, and campfire rings with benches. Vault toilets are provided.
Natural Features
Maple, fir and cottonwood trees forest the area, providing partial shade, beautiful fall color and some privacy between campsites. Hobble Creek runs through the campground. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (385) 273-1100.
Nearby Attractions
Deer Spring Trail begins at the top of the camp and is one mile long. Left Fork Days Canyon Trail and Kirkman Hollow Trail, for hiking, biking, horseback riding and dirt biking, can be accessed at nearby Cherry Campground. Hobble Creek road is a narrow road tunneled with thick trees and winds through steep mountains. Almost any turn of the road offers a great chance for a short hike. The paved road ends 8 miles up the canyon and continues to climb until it reaches over into Diamond Fork Canyon.
Charges & Cancellations
Change and Cancellation Policies and Fees Overnight and Day Use Facilities: To ensure fairness, reservation arrival or departure dates may not be changed beyond the booking window until 18 days after booking the reservation. Camping / Day Use: A $10.00 service fee will apply if you change or cancel your reservation (including campsites, cabins, lookouts, group facilities, etc.). The $10.00 service fee will be deducted from the refund amount. You can cancel or change reservations through Recreation.gov or by calling 1-877-444-6777. Late Cancellations Overnight and Day Use Facilities: Late cancellations are those cancelled between 12:01 a.m. (Eastern) on the day before arrival and check out time on the day after arrival. Individual Campsites: If a customer cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival they will be charged a $10.00 service fee and will also forfeit the first night's use fee (not to exceed the total paid for the original reservation). Cancellations for a single night's reservation will forfeit the entire use fee but no cancellation fee will apply. Cabins / Lookouts: Customers will be charged a $10.00 cancellation fee and forfeit the first night's use fee if a cabin or lookout reservation is cancelled within 14 days of the scheduled arrival date. Cancellations for a single night's use will not be assessed a service fee. Group Facility: If a customer cancels a group overnight facility reservation within 14 days of the scheduled arrival date they will be charged the $10.00 service fee and forfeit the first night's use fee. Cancellations for a single night's use will not be assessed a service fee. Group Day Use Area: If a customer cancels a group day use facility reservation within 14 days of the scheduled arrival date, they will forfeit the total day use fee with no service fee charge. No-Shows Camping / Day Use: A camping no-show customer is one who does not arrive at a campground and does not cancel the reservation by check-out time on the day after the scheduled arrival date. Reserved campsites and group overnight facilities will be held until check-out time on the day following your scheduled arrival. Group day-use facilities will be held until check-in time on your scheduled arrival date. If a customer does not arrive at the campground or group facility by check-out time the day after arrival or does not cancel the reservation by the times listed under "Late Cancellations" above, the customer may be assessed a $20.00 service fee and forfeit use fees. Refunds Customers must request refunds no later than 14 days after the scheduled departure date. Recreation.gov will not grant refund requests after 14 days of departure. Reservation Fee: For some facilities, tours or permits an additional reservation fee is charged. For some overnight and day-use facilities, an additional non-refundable reservation fee may apply. The non-refundable reservation fee for tours and tickets is $1.00. The non-refundable reservation fee for permits varies by location. Refunds for Bankcard Purchases: Refunds for bank card payments will be issued as a credit to the original bank card. Refunds for Check or Cash Purchases: Refunds for Recreation.gov payments made by check or money order, and cash payments at selected campgrounds will be issued a check refund. A refund will be processed within 30 days of receipt and approval. Please Note: Refund requests made during or after departure can only be processed when approved by the facility management staff based upon local policy. Refunds for Emergency Closures: In the event of an emergency closure, the Recreation.gov team will attempt to notify users and offer alternate dates (as appropriate). If this is not possible, reservations will be cancelled and all fees paid will be refunded. Reservation fees for free tickets are non-refundable in the event of an emergency closure. Recreation.gov Billing Information Reservation transaction will appear on customer's credit card statements as "Recreation.gov 877-444-6777." Changes to Policies and Procedures Recreation.gov reserves the right, when necessary, to modify reservation policies. These policies were last updated July 2018.
What the agency tells you
This Campground is in Bear Country Always store food and trash securely to avoid attracting wildlife -Failure to comply may result in fines up to $5,000, removal from your campsite and/or imprisonment Remember, a fed bear is a dead bear; your actions can save lives
No water available on site; bring all water needed for your stay including drinking water This is a 'pack it in, pack it out' facility; bring trash bags
Dogs or Domestic Pets Owners must -Control dogs by leash not to exceed six feet (6’) at all times -Clean up dog feces immediately -Limit two dogs per campsite Do not allow dogs to -Threaten, or attack people/animals -Interfere with people, vehicles, or property -Cause damage to vegetation or harass wildlife
Everything else this campground posts · 11
Campground Etiquette and Rules Gates open at 7am, Gates close at 10pm Quiet Hours are 10pm-6am No generators after 10pm Camping is allowed only within the designated space provided. Do not go beyond the boundaries of your site Max occupancy is 8 people per single site Reserved campsites will be held until 12pm on the day following your scheduled arrival date Horses/Off-road vehicles are prohibited in the campground Leave No Trace -Put all trash in dumpsters, when provided, or properly stored in your vehicle or bear box -Remove all personal property and trash when leaving -Unclean campsites will be reported to the District Ranger LEO -Leaving food/trash in an unoccupied campsite may result in a $5,000 fine Cleaning fish, animals, or bathing where drinking water is supplied is strictly prohibited Fireworks or other explosives are prohibited. Discharging of a firearm in the campground is not allowed No fighting or boisterous behavior. Be courteous. Keep noise at a reasonable level No amplified music is allowed in USDA Forest Service campgrounds Max Vehicle Length includes tow vehicle
There is a 2-night minimum stay on weekends; 3-night minimum stay on holiday weekends
Trailers/Campers and RVs: Come with water tank filled. Hooking up to spigots or the power in the restrooms, even for medical devices is strictly prohibited
First Come First Served (FF) sites For reservable sites, reservations must be made at least 5 days in advance You must claim a FF site in person on the day you wish to check-in A site listed as FF does not guarantee availability, Recreation.gov does not update FF occupancy The only way to know if an FF site is available is to arrive at the campground on the day you plan to check-in Availability cannot be predicted Many sites are in remote locations, we cannot contact camp hosts about availability Recommended arrival times vary by day. Weekends and holidays typically fill more quickly To claim an FF site, you must be present, occupy the site, and pay at that time There is no waiting list for FF sites
Extra Vehicle -$10 per vehicle, per day (paid on-site cash/check) Firewood -$9
If you booked at a discount without a Senior/Access pass, you'll need to pay the difference in cash/check upon arrival. Only Senior/Access passes qualify for discounts and proof of ownership upon arrival is required
Please understand that camping is an outdoor experience; we do not give refunds for weather or natural conditions Cancellations within 24 hours prior to arrival date will forfeit the entire use fee. Group Site Cancellations within 14 days will forfeit entire use fee No-shows, early departures, or cancellations after the arrival date are not entitled to a refund Failure to arrive at the campsite by 12pm the day after scheduled arrival and does not cancel the reservation, will forfeit site and first-night use fee
For more information on visiting Bear Country visit: wildawareutah.org wildlife.utah.gov For campground Rules and Regulations visit gocamputah.com/rules
Click here for more info about the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest -For more information, please call Spanish Fork Ranger District at 801-798-3571 or Utah Recreation at 385-273-1100 -Visit our website gocamputah.com or Facebook facebook.com/letsgocamputah To reserve a campsite call Recreation.gov reservation line 1-877-444-6777
Don't Move Firewood: Help prevent the spread of tree-killing pests in our national forests by obtaining firewood within 10 miles of your destination and burning it on-site. For more information click here
Please note: Utah Recreation is not responsible for accident or injury to any person or property resulting from the use of this facility and is not responsible for the loss of money or valuables of any kind. The user of this permit assumes full and complete responsibility for the conduct and actions of all members in their party
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 29 · 15 tent-only, 2 group
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 35 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- 10
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…tables, and campfire rings with benches. Vault toilets are provided. Natural Features Maple, fir and…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Creek
- Biking
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Night sky · 432nd darkest of 458 in UT
- Bortle 4
- Fall color · reported 11 days ago, 7.1 km away
- Past peak
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
recreation.gov lists 26 of the 29 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 15
What you actually pay
“Cash, Check, or Scan & Pay (with recreation.gov app) 24 single sites - $31.00 , capacity - 8 people + 1 vehicle 1 group site - $93.00 , capacity - 24 people + 3 vehicle 1 group site - $305.00 , capacity - 100 people +…” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own fee record
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $27.45 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
“Change and Cancellation Policies and Fees - Overnight and Day Use Facilities: To ensure fairness, reservation arrival or departure dates may not be changed beyond the booking window until 18 days after booking the reservation. - Camping / Day Use: A $10.00 service fee will apply if you change or cancel your reservat…” · this campground’s own no-show terms
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 7
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
43 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 26 mapped sitesAll 43 records
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 26 of the 43 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 29 of the 43 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX10 | unnamed record | $27.45–$270.10 | |||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX11 | unnamed record | $27.45–$270.10 | |||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX12 | unnamed record | $27.45–$270.10 | |||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX13 | unnamed record | $27.45–$270.10 | |||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX14 | unnamed record | $27.45–$270.10 | |||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX15 | unnamed record | $27.45–$270.10 | |||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX16 | unnamed record | $27.45–$270.10 | |||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX17 | unnamed record | $27.45–$270.10 | |||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX4 | unnamed record | $27.45–$270.10 | |||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX5 | unnamed record | $27.45–$270.10 | |||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX6 | unnamed record | $27.45–$270.10 | |||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX7 | unnamed record | $27.45–$270.10 | |||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX8 | unnamed record | $27.45–$270.10 | |||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX9 | unnamed record | $27.45–$270.10 | |||||
| S&P | Group100 | type not stated | 35 ft | $27.45–$270.10 | ||||
| S&P | Group24 | type not stated | 25 ft | yes | $27.45–$270.10 | |||
| S&P | Single | type not stated | 35 ft | yes | $27.45–$270.10 | |||
| SNGF | 001 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 159 ft | 47 ft | 224 ft | $27.45 |
| SNGF | 002 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | yes | 56 ft | 38 ft | 158 ft | $27.45 |
| SNGF | 003 | tent only nonelectric | 20 ft | yes | 56 ft | 94 ft | 154 ft | $27.45 |
| SNGF | 004 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | yes | 97 ft | 73 ft | 31 ft | $27.45 |
| SNGF | 005 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | yes | 68 ft | 42 ft | 129 ft | $27.45 |
| SNGF | 007 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 88 ft | 27 ft | 178 ft | $27.45 | |
| SNGF | 008 | tent only nonelectric | 88 ft | 53 ft | 154 ft | $27.45 | ||
| SNGF | 009 | tent only nonelectric | 84 ft | 74 ft | 86 ft | $27.45 | ||
| SNGF | 010 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | yes | 36 ft | 44 ft | 54 ft | $27.45 |
| SNGF | 011 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 36 ft | 37 ft | 80 ft | $27.45 | |
| SNGF | 012 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 20 ft | 16 ft | 125 ft | $27.45 | |
| SNGF | 013 | tent only nonelectric | 20 ft | 16 ft | 145 ft | $27.45 | ||
| SNGF | 014 | tent only nonelectric | 29 ft | 50 ft | 112 ft | $27.45 | ||
| SNGF | 015 | tent only nonelectric | 21 ft | 50 ft | 138 ft | $27.45 | ||
| SNGF | 016 | tent only nonelectric | 24 ft | 15 ft | 169 ft | $27.45 | ||
| SNGF | 017 | tent only nonelectric | 21 ft | 41 ft | 154 ft | $27.45 | ||
| SNGF | 018 | tent only nonelectric | 46 ft | 77 ft | 136 ft | $27.45 | ||
| SNGF | 019 | tent only nonelectric | 46 ft | 117 ft | 169 ft | $27.45 | ||
| SNGF | 020 | tent only nonelectric | 43 ft | 83 ft | 88 ft | $27.45 | ||
| SNGF | 021 | tent only nonelectric | 43 ft | 44 ft | 79 ft | $27.45 | ||
| SNGF | 022 | tent only nonelectric | 54 ft | 23 ft | 75 ft | $27.45 | ||
| SNGF | 023 | tent only nonelectric | 47 ft | 48 ft | 84 ft | $27.45 | ||
| SNGF | 024 | tent only nonelectric | 47 ft | 94 ft | 73 ft | $27.45 | ||
| SNGF | 025 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | yes | 48 ft | 66 ft | 116 ft | $27.45 |
| SNGF | G01 | group standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 159 ft | 70 ft | 108 ft | $82.36–$270.10 | |
| SNGF | G06 | group standard nonelectric | 25 ft | yes | 97 ft | 133 ft | 90 ft | $82.36–$270.10 |
The agency files 14 more records here that aren’t sites for the night. It types every one of them MANAGEMENT rather than a campsite. They’re in the table above, marked for what they are, and none of them is counted as a site.
25 of 43 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
CherryUinta National Forest · 4.4 mi
WhitingUinta National Forest · 8.1 mi
DiamondUinta National Forest · 8.8 mi
Rock CanyonUinta National Forest · 11 miLodgepole CampgroundUinta National Forest · 11 miFrom I-15 take Springville exit 260. Continue east, towards Springville, through the intersection of Main Street and Highway 400 South. At the four-way stop at the end of 400 South, turn right onto Canyon Road. Keep heading east up Canyon Road for about 6 miles. After passing Hobble Creek Golf Course, the road will fork; stay to the right. Balsam Campground is approximately 6 miles from the golf course past the junction of Forest Roads 132 and 058.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Hobble Creek, UT
Typical weather
Typical October night 31°F, day 63°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 13°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
Roadless country, and what’s coming for it
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Balsam (Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, UT) is in Utah’s 4th congressional district. Its representative, Burgess Owens (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →