Buckhorn Draw
1Heads up1 fire 46 mi away
We don’t think it should be. Every campground should hold some sites for whoever drives up.Tell your representative →
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 3 of the next 30 nights read 15:34 UTC
- A night
- $15From, per site
- Sites
- 3332 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 1 notices
In the agency’s own words
Buckhorn Draw has multiple vault toilets and information stations along the main road. Individual campsites have picnic tables and fires rings. Keep reading
Recreation
Buckhorn Draw Road is the main artery for the northern half of the San Rafael Swell Recreation Area. There are thousands of miles of roads and off-highway vehicle trails; from Buckhorn Draw visitors can readily access Cane Wash Road, which leads to some of the Swell's most technical OHV trails, as well as dispersed camping along Mexican Mountain Road. Much of the area outside of the draw is designated wilderness. Motorized vehicles, bicycles, and power tools are prohibited in these areas. Hiking : Calf Canyon and Furniture Draw are popular day hikes from Buckhorn Draw. Those seeking longer, challenging backcountry adventures will find opportunities for backpacking, with trailheads located at the Johansen Corral (west from Swinging Bridge along the San Rafael River) and at the east end of Mexican Mountain Road. Off-roading : Non-county trails are infrequently maintained. Please choose trails appropriate to your vehicle and skill level and bring an emergency kit to self-rescue. Rock climbing : There are many climbing routes along Buckhorn Draw. Please utilize day use areas and general parking lots when climbing or observing. Do not stop or park in blind turns, and do not park in fee campsite if you are not camping there.
Facilities
Vault toilets are located at: Campsites 1-7 Campsites 18-21 The Buckhorn Pictograph Panel (halfway between sites 23-24 and 25-27) Swinging Bridge Campground Different sites are appropriate for different vehicles: RVs: all group sites; 1, 3, 8-11, 14, 17, 27, 30-32 Small trailers: all of the above plus 18, 19, 22-25, 28 Sites 20-21 are down a rough, narrow road with deep sand. High clearance and AWD/4WD required.
Natural Features
Buckhorn Draw is the San Rafael River's longest tributary canyon. Along the nine-mile drive from the top of the canyon to its confluence with the river at the Swinging Bridge, visitors will pass below towering sandstone cliffs. The canyon is mixed sagebrush and riparian, and there are many opportunities to see mule deer within the draw and bighorn sheep in the side canyons. Designated wilderness frames either side of Buckhorn Draw: Sids Mountain Wilderness to the west and Mexican Mountain Wilderness to the east. Wilderness protects outstanding habitat and ecosystems and provides many opportunities for non-motorized recreation.
What the agency tells you
The sizes and improvements of the campsites in Buckhorn Draw Campground vary. Visitors are advised to choose a site prior to paying to ensure it is appropriate to their needs. County roads in the San Rafael Swell Recreation Area are generally well-maintained, but roads may be hazardous during wet conditions. BLM roads are infrequently maintained, and four wheel drive and high clearence are generally recommended if not required. Many parts of the Swell are prone to flash floods. Do not park or camp in washes.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 33 · 7 group
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- 1
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “Overview Buckhorn Draw has multiple vault toilets and information stations along the main road.…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- River
- Climbing
- Hiking
- Historic site
- Horseback riding
- Off Highway Vehicle Trails
- Wilderness access
Full this Saturdayread 15:34 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
OpenBookedNot reservable
Every one of the 2 sites on offer is taken this Saturday, and on the one midweek night after it that the agency has released as well. read 15:34 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t
Watch for a cancellation
Watch this campground
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.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 20
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $15 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.
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 · 5
recreation.gov availability, read 15:34 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
33 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 32 mapped sitesAll 33 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 25 of the 33 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. 32 of the 33 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 01 | standard nonelectric | 247 ft | 4.6 mi | 455 ft | $15 | |
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 02 | standard nonelectric | 308 ft | 4.6 mi | 705 ft | $15 | |
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 03 | standard nonelectric | 308 ft | 4.6 mi | 898 ft | $15 | |
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 04 (group) | group standard nonelectric | yes | 242 ft | 4.5 mi | 255 ft | $50 |
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 05 (group) | group standard nonelectric | 161 ft | 4.5 mi | 390 ft | $50 | |
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 06 (group) | group standard nonelectric | 161 ft | 4.5 mi | 532 ft | $50 | |
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 07 (group) | group standard nonelectric | 470 ft | 4.4 mi | 892 ft | $50 | |
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 08 | standard nonelectric | 109 ft | 4.0 mi | 3,259 ft | $15 | |
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 09 | standard nonelectric | 109 ft | 4.0 mi | 3,165 ft | $15 | |
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 10 | standard nonelectric | 229 ft | 4.0 mi | 3,126 ft | $15 | |
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 11 | standard nonelectric | 229 ft | 4.0 mi | 3,004 ft | $15 | |
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 12 (group) | group standard nonelectric | 1569 ft | 3.5 mi | $50 | ||
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 13 | standard nonelectric | 1543 ft | 3.2 mi | $15 | ||
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 14 | standard nonelectric | 1543 ft | 3.1 mi | $15 | ||
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 15 | standard nonelectric | 1580 ft | 2.9 mi | $15 | ||
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 16 (group) | group standard nonelectric | 2026 ft | 2.7 mi | 1,972 ft | $50 | |
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 17 | standard nonelectric | 628 ft | 2.7 mi | 190 ft | $15 | |
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 17 closed | type not stated | 2.9 mi | 1,438 ft | |||
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 18 | standard nonelectric | 431 ft | 2.7 mi | 759 ft | $15 | |
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 19 | standard nonelectric | 431 ft | 2.7 mi | 642 ft | $15 | |
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 20 | standard nonelectric | 444 ft | 2.7 mi | 1,150 ft | $15 | |
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 21 | standard nonelectric | 1018 ft | 2.5 mi | 1,818 ft | $15 | |
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 22 | standard nonelectric | 189 ft | 2.4 mi | 886 ft | $15 | |
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 23 | standard nonelectric | 189 ft | 2.4 mi | 703 ft | $15 | |
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 24 | standard nonelectric | 157 ft | 2.5 mi | 924 ft | $15 | |
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 25 | standard nonelectric | 157 ft | 2.5 mi | 1,075 ft | $15 | |
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 26 | standard nonelectric | 236 ft | 2.5 mi | 1,252 ft | $15 | |
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 27 | standard nonelectric | 398 ft | 2.5 mi | 1,999 ft | $15 | |
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 28 | standard nonelectric | 398 ft | 2.5 mi | 2,385 ft | $15 | |
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 29 | standard nonelectric | 419 ft | 1.2 mi | $15 | ||
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 30 | standard nonelectric | 238 ft | 1.1 mi | $15 | ||
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 31 | standard nonelectric | 238 ft | 1.1 mi | $15 | ||
| Buckhorn Draw | Site 32 (group) | group standard nonelectric | 378 ft | 1.1 mi | $50 |
25 of 33 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions
Where it is
San Rafael Swinging Bridge CampgroundPrice Field Office · 7.4 miEquestrian CampgroundPrice Field Office · 7.4 mi
Cottonwood Canyon CampgroundPrice Field Office · 11 mi
New Joe's CampgroundPrice Field Office · 11 miNew Joes CampgroundPrice Field Office · 22 miThis campground is located 15 miles from the nearest paved road. County roads in the San Rafael Swell are generally well-maintained but may be impassible for two-wheel drive vehicles in wet or icy conditions. Please travel safely and responsibly. Contact the BLM for route conditions.
From Huntingdon: Take Center Street east out of Huntingdon. Turn left onto Emery County Rd. 332 after approximately three miles, following signs for San Rafael Swell access. Continue straight on this road for 12 miles as it turns into gravel, traveling east and then south until it intersects with the Green River Cutoff Road (Emery Co. Rd 401) at the Buckhorn Information Center, which has multiple kiosks, vault toilets, and a large staging area. Turn left and continue straight for another 2.4 miles, and then turn right at the sign for Buckhorn Draw. The north information station at Campsite 1 is in approximately 1 mile.
From Castledale: Go north out of Castle Dale on Highway 10 and turn right on the Green River Cutoff Road, about 1 mile out and signed for San Rafael Swell access. Continue straight for 13 miles to the Buckhorn Information Center and then 2.4 more miles to the signed intersection with Buckhorn Draw.
From Highway 191: Turn west onto the Green River Cutoff Road midway between mile markers 283 and 284. Stay straight for 28 miles until the signed intersection with Buckhorn Draw is reached.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Cleveland, UT
Typical weather
Typical October night 32°F, day 68°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 10°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
who answers for it · a letter you can send
Who answers for this land
Buckhorn Draw is in Utah’s 3rd congressional district. Its representative, Mike Kennedy (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →
Who can change it · 3
Two offices, two different asks. The draft to the agency asks it to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up. The draft to Congress asks why that share is zero and presses for a published minimum at the campgrounds it funds.
- The member who votes the moneyMike KennedyU.S. Representative · Utah’s 3rd district
- Your senator, on the same appropriationJohn R. CurtisU.S. Senator · Utah
- Your senator, on the same appropriationMike LeeU.S. Senator · Utah
Read the draft, or change the wording
For the camper who turned up, or tried to book, and couldn’t get in. Every draft is written from this campground’s own record (its agency, its unit, its site count and its own weekend) and the buttons above copy whichever wording is selected here.
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Buckhorn Draw, Price Field Office, Utah
Dear Mike Kennedy, I’m a constituent in Utah’s 3rd district. I tried to camp at Buckhorn Draw, Price Field Office, Utah, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 32 of the 33 campsites the agency files at Buckhorn Draw, and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 2 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Buckhorn Draw keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Buckhorn Draw. I’m asking you to put it to the Bureau of Land Management in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Buckhorn Draw (Price Field Office, Utah) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Buckhorn Draw, Price Field Office, Utah
Dear John R. Curtis, I’m a constituent in Utah. I tried to camp at Buckhorn Draw, Price Field Office, Utah, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 32 of the 33 campsites the agency files at Buckhorn Draw, and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 2 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Buckhorn Draw keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Buckhorn Draw. I’m asking you to put it to the Bureau of Land Management in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Buckhorn Draw (Price Field Office, Utah) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Buckhorn Draw, Price Field Office, Utah
Dear Mike Lee, I’m a constituent in Utah. I tried to camp at Buckhorn Draw, Price Field Office, Utah, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 32 of the 33 campsites the agency files at Buckhorn Draw, and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 2 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Buckhorn Draw keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Buckhorn Draw. I’m asking you to put it to the Bureau of Land Management in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Buckhorn Draw (Price Field Office, Utah) via campanac.com