Windwhistle Campground
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 1 of the next 30 nights read Oct 16
- A night
- $20From, per site
- Sites
- 15All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 8 notices
In the agency’s own words
Located 38 miles southwest of Moab, the campground is nestled against the smooth sandstone of Roan Bailey Mesa. At approximately 6,000 feet in elevation, it is somewhat cooler than Moab in the summer. A one-mile nature trail starts in the campground. Nighttime brings excellent star gazing opportunities. This quiet campground is perfect for exploring the spectacular Canyon Rims Recreation Area. Individual sites are available on a first-come, first-served basis. One group site, Windwhistle Group Site, is available for reservation through Recreation.gov while the individual sites are first-come, first-served. Keep reading
Recreation
Situated on the road to the Needles Overlook, this area abounds in hiking, off-highway vehicle and mountain biking options. You are close to the Needles District of Canyonlands where there are numerous hiking and 4WD trails.
Facilities
The campground has 15 individual campsites and a reservable group site that utilized parking near site 11 and is accessed by a short, sandy hike. All sites share a single vault toilet and spigot with seasonal water. Please do not use this water to fill large RV tanks. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring.
Natural Features
Windwhistle is a wonderful hideaway tucked in the beautiful red rock. This isolated campground is surrounded by cliffs and canyons with great access to viewpoints, vistas and backcountry exploration.
Nearby Attractions
Windwhistle is on the road to the Needles Overlook and Hatch Point. It is close to the Needles District of Canyonlands and the Indian Creek climbing area. Wilson Arch, Ken's Lake and the La Sal Mountain Loop road are all between Windwhistle and Moab.
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 as long as the first day of your reservation stays the same. 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 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). A $10.00 cancellation fee AND forfeit the first night's fees if cancelled less than 14 days before the arrival date (not to exceed the total paid for the original reservation). There are no refunds, modifications, cancellations, or other fee changes allowed with Scan & Pay payments. 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. If customers request an early departure after the facility check-out time, the customer will not receive 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. Campgrounds are inconsistently staffed by volunteers and there is no guarantee that your site will be available on the second day. 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: 10 people.
Vehicle limit per campsite: 2 (trailer and tow vehicle count as 2 vehicles).
Gusty winds are possible; ALWAYS secure your tents and camping gear.
Everything else this campground posts · 5
Ravens, chipmunks and other wildlife frequent the sites; NEVER leave food or trash unattended.
Summer thunderstorms can cause flash flooding and gusty winds; stay aware of current weather.
There are no showers, electricity or dump stations at these sites but they are available in the town of Moab.
Generator hours are from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm. Quiet hours are from 10:00 pm to 6:00 am.
No amplified music.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 15
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 40 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- VAULT TOILETS on 15 of 15 campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- WATER (SEASONAL) on 14 of 15 campsite records
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Creek
- Auto Touring
- Hiking
- Off Road Vehicle Trails
- Stargazing
Full this Saturdayread Oct 16
How full the weekend is nationally.
OpenBookedNot reservable
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 · 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.
“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 Oct 16 · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
15 sites
All 15 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. 15 of the 15 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Windwhistle | Windwhistle Campground 1 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | $20 |
| Windwhistle | Windwhistle Campground 10 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | $20 |
| Windwhistle | Windwhistle Campground 11 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $20 |
| Windwhistle | Windwhistle Campground 12 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | $20 |
| Windwhistle | Windwhistle Campground 13 | standard nonelectric | 22 ft | $20 |
| Windwhistle | Windwhistle Campground 14 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $20 |
| Windwhistle | Windwhistle Campground 15 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | $20 |
| Windwhistle | Windwhistle Campground 2 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $20 |
| Windwhistle | Windwhistle Campground 3 | standard nonelectric | 22 ft | $20 |
| Windwhistle | Windwhistle Campground 4 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $20 |
| Windwhistle | Windwhistle Campground 5 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | $20 |
| Windwhistle | Windwhistle Campground 6 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $20 |
| Windwhistle | Windwhistle Campground 7 | standard nonelectric | 22 ft | $20 |
| Windwhistle | Windwhistle Campground 8 | standard nonelectric | 22 ft | $20 |
| Windwhistle | Windwhistle Campground 9 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | $20 |
Getting there
the agency’s directions · the phone number
The weather
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
The land, and who answers for it
a letter you can send
Who can change it · 2
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.
- 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 Windwhistle Campground, Utah
Dear John R. Curtis, I’m a constituent in Utah. I tried to camp at Windwhistle Campground, Utah, and couldn’t. All 15 sites at Windwhistle Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, the one site recreation.gov was offering there was already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Windwhistle Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Windwhistle Campground. 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 Windwhistle Campground (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 Windwhistle Campground, Utah
Dear Mike Lee, I’m a constituent in Utah. I tried to camp at Windwhistle Campground, Utah, and couldn’t. All 15 sites at Windwhistle Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, the one site recreation.gov was offering there was already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Windwhistle Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Windwhistle Campground. 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 Windwhistle Campground (Utah) via campanac.com