Cook up a getaway with this recipe: Take one deep azure sky, add a bubbling creek shaded with emerald cottonwoods and palo verde, place shimmering red rock canyon walls on each side, set up one crackling campfire, mix the ingredients and pour them right outside your tent. Call it "food for a recharged soul." This is the Colorado Plateau, and once that red rock dust gets into your blood, you can't get enough camping by creeks in southern Utah.
Finding Water in the Desert
Looking for water flowing next to your campsite requires planning and climate considerations. Utah is in the Great Basin and on the high desert-climate Colorado Plateau. Creeks generally flow throughout the year in the mountain ranges, but winter camping conditions are challenging. Snow melt runs freely through major creeks and river courses on the Colorado Plateau desert areas in mid- to late-winter through spring and in wet years into early summer. In the basin or on the plateau, flowing water in summer and fall is generally limited to the Colorado, Escalante, Green, Virgin and San Rafael rivers in southern Utah.
Primitive Camping Ethics
Feeling like you're out on the frontier is what you get from primitively camping at a creek-side location. Pick a level area, set up your gear and enjoy the experience. Primitive camping ethics require the site be left for the next camper in the same pristine condition you discovered it. All waste--even the smallest piece of paper or plastic--needs to be packed out. Management agency policy and camp location dictate how human waste is treated. Some areas require it be buried, others want it left on the surface, and some require packing it out separate from trash.
Public Land Camping by the Creek
Camping on public lands in most of Utah falls under the regulations of different management agencies. Backcountry backpacking or creek-side developed campgrounds are yours only with a National Park Service permit in Utah's national parks and Cedar Breaks National Monument. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) oversight of the other five Utah national monuments gives you flexibility to camp wherever it's safe. BLM, Forest, and Reclamation lands have more creek-side camping opportunities and the fewest restrictions.
The San Rafael Swell
Sit back and take in the jagged canyon shapes adjoining the San Rafael River west of Price in the Manti-La Sal National Forest's San Rafael Swell. This "bulge" in the Earth's crust is a geologic "reef" or "swell" forming canyons, escarpments and mountains. There are many options for hiking and mountain biking from your base camp into this geologic wonderland.
Colorado Feeder Creeks
Watch Mill Creek tumble toward the Colorado River in the La Sal Mountains outside Moab. In spring, camping on the flat side of the creek adds the roar of multiple falls dropping off canyon walls. Deep evergreen forests and fewer visitors than nearby Moab's Arches and Canyonlands national parks let you find really private, primitive camping areas next to creeks.
Virgin River and Zion National Park
Backpack to your creek-side camp with a Zion National Park permit. The Virgin River Trail starts on 50 feet of dry land before you wade into the river hiking nearly a mile through the Virgin Narrows on the in-river trail. Once past this world-recognized trailhead, hiking along feeder creeks or staying by the river opens opportunities for your waterside camping adventure.
Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument
Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument offers a completely primitive camping experience. Backcountry travel requires high-clearance 4WD vehicles to find a creek. Many campsites are vehicle accessible, but some require a short hike. The most dramatic creek-side campsites require challenging hikes and backpacking.
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