Simpson Springs Campground
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 16:50 UTC
- A night
- $15From, per site
- Sites
- 23All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 1 notices
In the agency’s own words
The campground is situated on the eastern edge of Utah's West Desert near the historic Simpson Springs station on the Pony Express National Historic Trail. Simpson Springs was the site of a significant Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp in the late 1930s and early 1940s, just prior to the establishment of the US Army Dugway Proving Grounds during World War II. Keep reading
Recreation
Hiking, picnicking, OHV riding, mountian biking, horseback riding, wildlife viewing, scenic backcountry byway, Pony Express National Historic Trail.
Facilities
Potable water (seasonally) and accessible vault toilets.
Natural Features
Campground is along the Pony Express National Historic Trail.
Nearby Attractions
Historic Pony Express National Historic Trail site and visitor interpretation. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (801) 320-8300.
What the agency tells you
Simpson Springs offers a more primitive camping experience, while providing potable water (except in winter months), restroom facilities, tent pads, and restrooms. The BLM does not currently have a Campground Host, and does not mark reserved sites each night. Please note that sites 1-10 are reservable online, while sites 11-19 remain available first come, first served for payment on-site. Visitors who reserve sites online must camp in the specific site that they reserved. The BLM is currently working on an improved site design for this campground.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 23 · 1 group
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 98 ft
- Accessible sites
- 16
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Little
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- VAULT TOILETS on 2 of 23 campsite records, ACCESSIBLE VAULT TOILETS on 21 of 23 campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- DRINKING WATER (PEAK SEASON) on 23 of 23 campsite records, WATER SPIGOT on 1 of 23 campsite records
Around the campground
- Night sky · 215th darkest of 458 in UT
- Bortle 3
6 of 22 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:50 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
OpenBooked
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.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 15
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 16:50 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
23 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 20 mapped sitesAll 23 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 22 of the 23 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| A | 001 | standard nonelectric | 90 ft | yes | 443 ft | 236 ft | $15 |
| A | 002 | standard nonelectric | 48 ft | yes | 49 ft | 559 ft | $15 |
| A | 003 | standard nonelectric | 48 ft | yes | 49 ft | 516 ft | $15 |
| A | 004 | standard nonelectric | 48 ft | 28 ft | 614 ft | $15 | |
| A | 005 | standard nonelectric | 48 ft | 28 ft | 586 ft | $15 | |
| A | 006 | standard nonelectric | 48 ft | 54 ft | 720 ft | $15 | |
| A | 007 | standard nonelectric | 70 ft | yes | 54 ft | 666 ft | $15 |
| A | 008 | standard nonelectric | 96 ft | yes | 26 ft | 799 ft | $15 |
| A | 009 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 26 ft | 825 ft | $15 | |
| A | 010 | standard nonelectric | 58 ft | yes | 86 ft | 1,032 ft | $15 |
| A | 011 | standard nonelectric | 98 ft | yes | 113 ft | 1,132 ft | $15 |
| A | 012 | standard nonelectric | 98 ft | yes | 98 ft | 1,226 ft | $15 |
| A | 013 | standard nonelectric | 64 ft | yes | 280 ft | 1,445 ft | $15 |
| A | 014 | standard nonelectric | 64 ft | yes | 98 ft | 1,179 ft | $15 |
| A | 015 | standard nonelectric | 64 ft | yes | 86 ft | 998 ft | $15 |
| A | 016 | standard nonelectric | 90 ft | yes | 22 ft | 759 ft | $15 |
| A | 017 | standard nonelectric | 68 ft | yes | 22 ft | 764 ft | $15 |
| A | 018 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | yes | 98 ft | 692 ft | $15 |
| A | 019 | standard nonelectric | 46 ft | 107 ft | 656 ft | $15 | |
| A | 020 | standard nonelectric | 46 ft | $15 | |||
| A | 021 | standard nonelectric | 98 ft | yes | $15 | ||
| A | 022 | standard nonelectric | 58 ft | $15 | |||
| A | Simpson Springs Group Site | group standard area nonelectric | yes | 2445 ft | 2,153 ft |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Clover Springs CampgroundSalt Lake Field Office · 25 miWhite Sands CampgroundFillmore Field Office · 32 mi
Loop Campground (UT)Wasatch National Forest · 33 miOasis CampgroundFillmore Field Office · 33 miFrom I-80, take exit 199 (Tooele) and travel south on Highway 36 for approximately 40 miles. Turn right onto the Pony Express Road and travel for approximately 25 miles. The campground is approximately 12 miles south of Dugway, Utah, on the Pony Express Road.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Dugway, UT
Typical weather
Typical October night 34°F, day 67°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 16°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
Who answers for this land
Simpson Springs Campground is in Utah’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, Celeste Maloy (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →