Westwater Group Site (Ranger Station)
1Heads up1 fire 48 mi away
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 15:22 UTC
- Sites
- 1All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 12 notices
In the agency’s own words
Welcome to the wild and remote canyons and rivers of Eastern Utah. The Westwater Group Site is located next to the Westwater Ranger Station; the take-out for the Ruby-Horsethief and put-in for the Westwater Canyon sections of the Colorado River. This site is ideal for large groups looking to camp along the river. Keep reading
Recreation
The Colorado River is known for extraordinary boating trips including the Ruby-Horsethief section up-river of Westwater Canyon and the Cataract Canyon and Grand Canyon sections downstream. The Ruby-Horsethief section of the Colorado River, from Loma, Colorado, to Westwater, Utah, is a 25-mile stretch of mostly flat-water with sections of Class I and II rapids. This section of the Colorado runs through beautiful red rock canyons and has many day hiking opportunities offering both solitude and exploration. Westwater Canyon offers boating excitement for experienced adventurers to test their skills navigating 11 named rapids ranging in difficulty from class I to class IV. While boating down the canyon, the area offers views of incredible geology and day hiking with glimpses of abandoned settler cabins and caves. Approximately 10,000 people float this section of the Colorado River each year. The 17-mile stretch is surrounded by the Westwater Wilderness Study Area. North of the site are many motorized and non-motorized trails. These trails include Kokopelli’s Trail , one of Colorado's and Utah's premiere mountain bike trails. It stretches 140 miles from Loma, CO to Moab, UT with elevations that rise to 8,400 feet and consists of four-wheel-drive roads and single-track trails.
Facilities
The group site includes a shade shelter with picnic tables, a fire ring, and a vault toilet where groups of up to 30 people can gather. There are parking spaces for up to 10 vehicles.
Natural Features
The site is adjacent to the Colorado River as it meanders through a valley. Views of Navajo Sandstone walls surrounding the valley can be seen from the site.
Nearby Attractions
The town of Moab, UT, Canyonlands National Park, and Arches National Park are located approximately 70 miles to the southwest. The cities of Grand Junction and Fruita, CO along with McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area and Colorado National Monument are located approximately 35 miles to the east.
Charges & Cancellations
Please contact the BLM Moab Field Office for assistance with changes and cancellations at 435-259-2100. Changes You can make changes to a reservation through your online Recreation.gov user account any time prior to the arrival/first date of the reservation. There is a $10 change fee If you wish to change to dates entirely outside of the original reservation dates. There is no change fee if you wish to extend or shorten the original reservation dates as long as the changes include dates from the original reservation. You cannot make changes to your reservation after the arrival/first day through your Recreation.gov account. However, the BLM Moab Field Office may be able to assist you, 435-259-2100. For reservations with dates at the end of the available booking window (a.k.a. sliding window), you will not be able to make changes or cancellations until the site has been available to the general public for four days. Cancellations Please cancel your reservation if you do not plan to use it. This opens highly sought-after campsites for others to reserve. You can cancel your reservation online through your Recreation.gov user account or through the call center (call center incurs an additional fee). You may also contact the BLM Moab Field Office for assistance. A $10 service fee will be withheld from any refund for a cancellation. Late Cancellations A late cancellation occurs less the 14 days before the arrival/first date of the reservation (a.k.a. cut-off window). Late cancellations will incur a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee. Early Departures If you spend at least one night and then leave prior to the scheduled departure check-out date, please contact the BLM Moab Field Office (435-259-2100) to open the remaining nights for others to use. You will not be able to cancel these nights through your Recreation.gov account. You will be eligible for a partial refund of the nights AFTER you depart that you did not use. If you depart after the facility check-out time, you will not be eligible for a refund for that night No-Shows A No Show occurs if you do not arrive at your campsite or cancel your reservation by check-out time (Noon) on the day after the scheduled arrival date. Staff will hold a campsite until check-out time (Noon) on the day following the arrival date. No-shows are assessed a $20.00 Recreation.gov service fee and forfeit the first night’s recreation fee. Refunds You can submit a refund request through your Recreation.gov account within 7 days of the departure/end date of your reservation. Applicable fees, such as the Recreation.gov reservation fees, service/cancellation fees, lottery application fees, and change fees, are non-refundable. Refunds cannot be issued to any card other than the one used to pay. In the event of an emergency closure, all fees will be refunded. Attempts will be made to notify you using the contact information within your Recreation.gov customer profile. Interagency Pass Discounts Interagency Pass discounts do not apply to group campsite reservations.
What the agency tells you
Maximum group size: 30 people.
Wedding ceremonies and receptions require a Letter of Agreement from the Moab Field Office. Call 435-259-2100 for more information.
Generator hours are from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm. Quiet hours are from 10:00 pm to 6:00 am.
Everything else this campground posts · 9
Additional information is available by visiting the Moab Field Office website at http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/moab.htm
There are no showers, electricity, dump stations or drinking water at these sites but they are available in the town of Moab.
Annual, Senior and Access passes do not apply to group site fees.
Summer thunderstorms can cause flash flooding and gusty winds; stay aware of current weather.
Ravens, chipmunks and other wildlife frequent the sites; NEVER leave food or trash unattended.
Gusty winds are possible; ALWAYS secure your tents, trash, and camping gear.
Reservation calendars are posted weekly on the kiosk near the fee tube or adjacent to the group site.
Amplfied music is not allowed.
Directions: From Grand Junction Colorado (westbound traffic): Take I-70 from Grand Junction, CO for approximately 35 miles to exit 227. Turn south at the stop sign and proceed for nine miles to the Ranger Station and put-in. From the west (eastbound traffic): Take exit 227 on I-70, then head south at the stop sign. Proceed for nine miles to the Ranger Station and put-in. NOTE: Do NOT use exit 221 toward Sulpher when the roads are wet. It may be impassable with muddy conditions. For more assistance, please use this map .
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 group
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 25 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Little
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- VAULT TOILETS on 1 of 1 campsite records
Around the campground
- On the water
- River
- Boating
- Hiking
- Information Site
- Mountain biking
- Off Highway Vehicle Trails
- Off Road Vehicle Trails
- Rafting
- Ranger Station
- Whitewater rafting
- Night sky · 171st darkest of 458 in UT
- Bortle 2
2 of 2 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 15:22 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 · 13
What you actually pay
“Changes You can make changes to a reservation through your online Recreation.gov user account any time prior to the arrival/first date of the reservation. - There is a $10 change fee If you wish to change to dates entirely outside of the original reservation dates. - There is no change fee if you wish to extend or s…” · 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 · 6
recreation.gov availability, read 15:22 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
1 sites · the site map
All 1 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 1 of the 1 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. 1 of the 1 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| N/A | Westwater Group Site | group standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 526 ft | 178 ft | $50 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Westwater Campground (Ranger Station)Moab Field Office · 0.1 miKnowles Overlook CampgroundMcinnis Canyons National Conservation Area · 5.1 miJouflas CampgroundMcinnis Canyons National Conservation Area · 7.5 mi
Rabbit ValleyMcinnis Canyons National Conservation Area · 8.2 miHigh North CampgroundMcinnis Canyons National Conservation Area · 8.3 miFluffle Group Use Camping AreaMcinnis Canyons National Conservation Area · 9.2 miFrom Grand Junction Colorado (westbound traffic):
Take I-70 from Grand Junction for approximately 35 miles to exit 227. Turn south at the stop sign and proceed for nine miles to the Ranger Station and put-in.
From the west (eastbound traffic):
Take exit 227 on I-70, then head south at the stop sign. Proceed for nine miles to the Ranger Station and put-in.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Loma, CO
Typical weather
Typical October night 36°F, day 69°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 15°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
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Westwater Group Site (Ranger Station) 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 →