Nizhoni
- Right now
- Closed for the seasonOut of the season the agency publishes
- A night
- $20From, per site
- Sites
- 23All of them booked ahead
- Season
- May 15 – September 30Open May 15 through September 30
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 2 notices
In the agency’s own words
Nizhoni Campground sits in the Manti-LaSal National Forest in southeast Utah, at the foot of the Abajo Mountains. Keep reading
Recreation
Popular activities include hiking, wildlife viewing and off-road vehicle riding. Several trailheads are nearby, including Shay Ridge, Aspen Flat and Red Ledges. The Abajo Loop State Scenic Backway passes by the campground. It leads from the desert floor and red rock canyons to steep mountains over 10,000 feet high, with overlooks and panoramic views. The byway is suitable for passenger vehicles from late spring through fall but is not recommended for large RVs.
Facilities
The campground contains two group sites that each accommodate up to 50 guests. Several single-family sites are available as well. Picnic tables and fire rings are provided, as are vault toilets and drinking water seasonally. Firewood may be collected in and around the campground. Roads and parking spurs are gravel. There is a 14 day stay limit at this campground.
Natural Features
Towering Ponderosa pines forest the site, offering partial shade. Gambel oaks and sagebrush dot the landscape. The campground sits at an elevation of 7,000 feet, and summer temperatures range from 80-90 degrees during the day and 55-65 degrees at night. Mule deer, wild turkeys, Abert's squirrels and the occasional black bear may be seen in the area.
Nearby Attractions
Other attractions in the area include Canyonlands, Arches and Mesa Verde National Parks, Dark Canyon Wilderness, Edge of the Cedars State Park, Lake Powell and numerous archaeological sites.
What the agency tells you
No electricity, water or sewer site hookups at this site
Don't Move Firewood: Help prevent the spread of tree-killing pests in our national forests by obtaining firewood near your destination and burning it on-site. For more information visit dontmovefirewood.org.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 23 · 2 group
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 53 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…and fire rings are provided, as are vault toilets and drinking water seasonally. Firewood may be…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…are provided, as are vault toilets and drinking water seasonally. Firewood may be collected in and around…”
- Firewood
- Mentioned
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake
- Biking
- Hiking
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 63rd darkest of 458 in UT
- Bortle 2
Nothing on the booking system for the next 30 nightsread 15:57 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
Every one of the next thirty nights is in recreation.gov’s record and not one site is being offered on any of them. That’s a campground closed or not yet released for booking, not a sold-out one.
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 · 13
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $20 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 15:57 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
29 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 23 mapped sitesAll 29 records
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 23 of the 29 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| GROUP SITES | NORTH GROUP | group standard area nonelectric | 35 ft | 231 ft | 1.8 mi | $50 |
| GROUP SITES | SOUTH GROUP | group standard area nonelectric | 50 ft | 153 ft | 1.8 mi | $50 |
| MAIN | 1 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 57 ft | 1.8 mi | $20 |
| MAIN | 10 | standard nonelectric | 52 ft | 149 ft | 1.7 mi | $20 |
| MAIN | 11 | standard nonelectric | 51 ft | 84 ft | 1.7 mi | $20 |
| MAIN | 12 | standard nonelectric | 53 ft | 73 ft | 1.7 mi | $20 |
| MAIN | 13 | standard nonelectric | 52 ft | 73 ft | 1.7 mi | $20 |
| MAIN | 14 | standard nonelectric | 49 ft | 97 ft | 1.7 mi | $20 |
| MAIN | 15 | standard nonelectric | 29 ft | 93 ft | 1.7 mi | $20 |
| MAIN | 16 | standard nonelectric | 43 ft | 96 ft | 1.7 mi | $20 |
| MAIN | 17 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 60 ft | 1.7 mi | $20 |
| MAIN | 18 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 93 ft | 1.7 mi | $20 |
| MAIN | 19 | standard nonelectric | 51 ft | 60 ft | 1.7 mi | $20 |
| MAIN | 2 | standard nonelectric | 47 ft | 123 ft | 1.8 mi | $20 |
| MAIN | 20 | standard nonelectric | 46 ft | 57 ft | 1.8 mi | $20 |
| MAIN | 21 | standard nonelectric | 39 ft | 96 ft | 1.7 mi | $20 |
| MAIN | 3 | standard nonelectric | 47 ft | 53 ft | 1.8 mi | $20 |
| MAIN | 4 | standard nonelectric | 42 ft | 90 ft | 1.8 mi | $20 |
| MAIN | 5 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 53 ft | 1.8 mi | $20 |
| MAIN | 6 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 63 ft | 1.8 mi | $20 |
| MAIN | 7 | standard nonelectric | 51 ft | 109 ft | 1.8 mi | $20 |
| MAIN | 8 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 107 ft | 1.8 mi | $20 |
| MAIN | 9 | standard nonelectric | 53 ft | 107 ft | 1.7 mi | $20 |
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX1 | unnamed record | $33.97 | |||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX2 | unnamed record | $33.97 | |||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX3 | unnamed record | $33.97 | |||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX4 | unnamed record | $33.97 | |||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX5 | unnamed record | $33.97 | |||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX6 | unnamed record | $33.97 |
The agency files 6 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.
OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.
25 of 29 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Devils CanyonManti-La Sal National Forest · 7.7 mi
BuckboardManti-La Sal National Forest · 8.4 miFoy Lake Fishing/Camping SiteManti-La Sal National Forest · 8.5 miDalton Springs CampgroundManti-La Sal National Forest · 8.6 miComb Wash Dispersed CampgroundBears Ears National Monument · 20 miNatural Bridges Overflow CampBears Ears National Monument · 24 miFrom Blanding, Utah, travel north on Highway 191 approximately two miles. Turn left on E. Pinion Ridge Road (National Forest Access sign: Dry Wash Reservoir) and proceed 3/4-mile to the stop sign. Turn right on Forest Road 079 and continue approximately 10 miles to the campground on the right side of the road.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Blanding, UT
Typical weather
Typical May night 39°F, day 72°F.
Coldest night of the open season: typical May night 39°F. Bring the bag rated for it.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or moreOutside the published season
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
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Nizhoni 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 →