U.S. Forest Service · Manti-La Sal National Forest · UT

River Bend Campground

ReservableOut of season; the next season isn't published.
Book on recreation.govWe make nothing when you book
Right now
Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
Sites
1All of them booked ahead
Drawn from the record · 7,120 ft · 38% tree cover · Huntington Creek within reach · Bortle 3 sky
7,120 ftElevation
149 ftWater · Huntington Creek
10.6 miNW of Huntington, UT
38%Tree cover
Bortle 3Night sky · 262nd darkest of 458 in UT

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there

In the agency’s own words

River Bend Campground is a campsite nestled in a shaded area adjacent to Huntington Creek. This campground is located along the Huntington Canyon National Scenic Byway on Utah Highway 31. Many recreational activities are available, including hiking, biking and fishing. This campground is sought after by campers looking for solitude outside of typical campground setting. This location is available on a first-come, first-served basis only. Visitors are required to physically arrive at the campground to purchase and claim a site. Once on-site, you can pay for your campsite(s) by scanning a QR code using the Recreation.gov mobile app. Download the free Recreation.gov mobile app on Android or iOS prior to your arrival as some remote areas have limited or no cellular service. Keep reading

Recreation

Many recreational activities are available, including hiking, biking and fishing. Huntington Pipeline Trail: 3.5 Miles Left Fork of Huntington National Recreational Trail: 6 Miles Tie Fork/Wild Cattle/Pole Canyon Trails: 7+ Miles Horse Canyon Trails: 8+ Miles Facilities River Bend provides a double site that can accommodate 12 people, graveled parking spur, picnic table, and fire ring. This campground does not have water on site but potable water can be located at Stuart Guard Station 7 miles away. There is also no restroom on site but a restroom can be accessed 3/4 mile north of River Bend at Little Bear Campground.

Natural Features

River Bend Campground is a campsite nestled in a shaded area adjacent to Huntington Creek. This campground is located along the Huntington Canyon National Scenic Byway on Utah Highway 31. This campground is sought after by campers looking for solitude outside of typical campground setting. Contact Info This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (435) 384-2372.

Tents and rigs

Sites
1
Hookups
None
Accessible sites
None listed
Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Toilets
None. Pack out what you bring in
“…Station 7 miles away. There is also no restroom on site but a restroom can be accessed 3/4 mile…”
Drinking water
None, bring your own
“…table, and fire ring. This campground does not have water on site but potable water can be located at Stuart…”

Around the campground

On the water
River, Creek
Fall color · reported 13 days ago, 22 km away
Peak color
Source: Stated in the agency description · Aug 23, 2026
Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (22 km) · Oct 3, 2026

Nothing on the booking system for the next 30 nightsread 15:34 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.

Booking windowOut of seasonOut of season, no booking. The last reservable season the agency published ended November 15, 2023, and it hasn't published the next one.recreation.gov
If plans change$10 to cancel$10 to change a reservationrecreation.gov’s schedule
Runs itU.S. Forest ServiceBooked through recreation.govthe agency’s record
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.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
Book on recreation.gov

We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.

Every line of the receipt · 9

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
The U.S. Forest Service publishes no per-night rate for this campground that we can read, so there’s no sign price to print. That’s a gap in the record, not a free campground.
The booking feerecreation.gov
Reservation fee, booked online$8
One fee per reservation, however many nights you book, and it’s non-refundable. $9 if you book by phone, $3 in person.
Pass discounts only apply to the recreation (or use) fee for the facility. Other charges such as electricity or water hookups, reservation or other fees are not eligible for a discount.
What a stay costs
The agency publishes no nightly rate for this campground, so there’s nothing to add the $8 booking fee to. We won’t total a receipt with a number missing from it.
If your plans changerecreation.gov
Change fee, moving to dates outside your booking$10
Cancellation fee$10
Cancelling the day before, or the day of$10 + your first night
No-show$20 + your first night

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 · 4

recreation.gov availability, read 15:34 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · record Aug 23, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

1 sites

All 1 sites

Sleeps
River Bend Standardstandard nonelectric

Getting there

the map and the coordinate

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

This Afternoon55°Sunny
Tonight38°Mostly Clear
Saturday56°Sunny
Saturday Night39°Partly Cloudy

NWS forecast for Huntington, UT

Typical weather

Typical October night 33°F, day 55°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical December night 15°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.

90°32°10°

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.

Measured at: SALINA 24 E, UT (USC00427559), 39 miles away and 440 ft higher

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

Roadless country, and what’s coming for it

Roadless
East Mountain30,705 acres · 4 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Gentry Mountain6,441 acres · 5 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Straight Canyon6,017 acres · 10 mi · inventoried roadless area

You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.

Who answers for this land

Mike Kennedy, official portrait

River Bend Campground 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 →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from
Right now: U.S. Forest Service publishes no season and no closure for this campground, and it takes no bookings we can read. That’s a gap in the record and not a locked gate.
Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (22 km) · Oct 3, 2026
Cell signal: the Forest Service’s own campground description, read as text by CAMPANAC. None of this is a measurement. It’s what the land manager published about the place, and phones, carriers and weather all disagree with each other; treat it as a warning, not a promise.