By Scott Buehler, Moving UtahMoon Lake
Forest Road 131, off the Mountain Home roads · Fees on site · Late spring to autumn · Directions
Moon Lake is the south slope's headline water and the one most basin households have been going to for generations. It sits at 8,100 feet in the Ashley National Forest under the southern face of a range that tops 13,000, ringed with lodgepole pine, aspen and Douglas fir, with a 54 site campground spread across two loops on the shore and a resort next door that rents small engine boats.
The fishing is the reason most people drive up: tiger trout, rainbow trout, brook trout, kokanee salmon and splake, with the tiger and rainbow stocked annually. The other reason is what starts here. The Lake Fork Trail and the Brown Duck Mountain Loop both leave from the lake and run straight into the High Uintas Wilderness, which means a parking lot at 8,100 feet is also a doorway into the largest wilderness area in Utah.
The published route starts in Duchesne, and it is worth following
The Forest Service gives it as north from Duchesne on UT-87 for 19 miles, north toward Mountain Home for 13 miles to the forest boundary, then Forest Road 131 for five miles to the campground, about 36 paved miles from Duchesne. From Roosevelt there are two lines: the signed Forest Service route from Duchesne, or the shorter county-road line northwest through the Bluebell area to UT-87. Allow about an hour and twenty minutes, and stay on the signed Forest Service roads once the pavement ends, because several of the lines a mapping app likes are farm roads.
There is more than one way to sleep here
Moon Lake Campground carries 54 single family sites across two loops, including standard sites, tent only sites and doubles, with lake views or direct access from many of them. There is a separate group campground, and the Moon Lake Guard Station is a historic cabin available to rent through the federal recreation booking system. That last one books out a long way ahead, which is what happens to any rentable cabin at 8,100 feet with a lake in front of it.
The details
Getting there
From Roosevelt, either the signed route through Duchesne or the shorter county-road line northwest through Bluebell to UT-87, then north on the Mountain Home roads and Forest Road 131. The campground, the group site, the guard station and the resort are all clustered at the end of it.
Before you go
- Call the Duchesne and Roosevelt Ranger District on 435-738-2482 for road and campground status.
- Fill the tank in Roosevelt. There is no fuel past the small basin towns.
- Mobile coverage goes long before the forest boundary. Download maps first.
- Trailheads here enter the High Uintas Wilderness, where separate forest orders apply.
- At 8,100 feet, weather in any month can be nothing like the basin floor you left.
Uinta Canyon, through Neola
UT-121 and Forest Road 118 · Fees at campgrounds · Late spring to autumn · Directions
This is the drainage Roosevelt actually owns, because it is the one the town's own highway leads to. UT-121 runs 10 miles north from Roosevelt to Neola, then the North Uintah Canyon road continues north through Neola for another 12 miles, and Forest Road 118 carries on about 3 miles more to Uinta Canyon Campground. Roughly 25 miles, and the basin floor turns into an alpine canyon on the way.
It is the shortest run from Roosevelt into the mountains by a comfortable margin, and it is the one a household here uses on an ordinary evening rather than as an expedition. Uinta River Group Campground sits nearby for larger parties, and the historic Uinta Guard Station cabin is available to rent, which is the same arrangement as at Moon Lake and books out the same way.
Neola is the last thing that resembles a service
Neola is a small unincorporated community 10 miles up UT-121 and it is the last settlement on this line. Past it the road climbs into the canyon and there is nothing: no fuel, no shop, no reliable coverage and no help. That is not a warning about danger so much as a warning about planning, because the difference between a good evening up Uinta Canyon and a bad one is usually whether somebody filled a water bottle in Roosevelt.
The Uinta River is the water that fills Bottle Hollow
The river running down this canyon is the same Uinta River that is diverted through the tribally owned Bench Canal to fill Bottle Hollow Reservoir east of Roosevelt. Standing at a campground on the south slope and knowing where that water ends up is a useful way to hold the whole geography of the basin in your head at once, and it is the sort of connection a map does not draw for you.
The details
Getting there
North out of Roosevelt on UT-121 to Neola, then north through Neola on the North Uintah Canyon road, then Forest Road 118. The campgrounds are signed at the end of it.
Before you go
- Neola is the last community. There is no fuel, shop or help beyond it.
- The guard station cabin books through the federal recreation system, well ahead.
- Coverage drops out within a few miles of leaving the highway grid.
- Check road status with the ranger district on 435-738-2482 outside high summer.
- Storms build over the range fast through late summer afternoons.
Yellowstone Canyon and Swift Creek
The Altonah and Mountain Home side · Fees at campgrounds · Summer and early autumn · Directions
The Yellowstone drainage is the one that gets you closest to the serious wilderness from the south, and it carries the densest set of campgrounds on this slope. The Forest Service describes it as mountain scenery with first come, first served campgrounds, a small reservoir and trailheads into the High Uintas Wilderness. Yellowstone Group Campground is about 40 miles from Duchesne, which puts it a similar order of distance from Roosevelt by a different set of roads.
Swift Creek Campground is the one worth naming. It sits at 8,000 feet along the Yellowstone River on the southern edge of the wilderness, small, with riverside sites and direct access to alpine trails and fishing. Bridge, Riverview and Yellowpine fill out the drainage. First come and first served means exactly that on an August weekend, and it is why people arrive on a Thursday.
This is the south side approach to Utah's high ground
Kings Peak, at 13,528 feet the highest point in Utah, stands inside the High Uintas Wilderness, and the usual walking approach to it is from Henrys Fork on the north side of the range rather than from here. The way in from the south runs up the Yellowstone drainage and it is a longer trip with more climbing. Anybody planning that should talk to the ranger district first rather than treating the two approaches as interchangeable, because they are not.
First come and first served is a planning constraint, not a formality
Several of the campgrounds in this drainage do not take reservations for individual sites, which means a Friday evening arrival in July or August is a gamble. Come on a weekday, come early, or have a fallback in your pocket, which in practice means either a different drainage or the drive back down to the basin. The one thing not to do is arrive at dusk with nowhere to go and a range behind you.
The details
Getting there
West and north out of the basin on the Altonah and Mountain Home roads into the Yellowstone drainage. Swift Creek, Bridge, Riverview and Yellowpine are the campgrounds along it.
Before you go
- Individual sites in this drainage are largely first come, first served. Arrive early.
- The southern approach to Kings Peak starts here and is longer than the northern one.
- Trailheads enter the High Uintas Wilderness, where separate forest orders apply.
- There are no services in the drainage. Everything comes up from the basin.
- Call 435-738-2482 for current road, campground and closure status before you set off.
Rock Creek and the Stillwater end
The Duchesne side of the slope · Fees at campgrounds · Summer and early autumn · Directions
Rock Creek is the westernmost of the four and the one reached from the Duchesne end rather than from Roosevelt, which makes it the longest day of the set from this town. It carries a visitor center and the broadest spread of facilities on the slope: Aspen, Bridge, Hades, Iron Mine and Mill Flat camping, a group campground, several day use and fishing sites, and the Grandview Trailhead.
It has also carried more than its share of disruption. A landslide closed the Miners Gulch group campground here and has at times limited access to the Fisherman day use area, which is exactly the kind of thing that does not show up on a mapping app and does show up as a wasted two hour drive. That is the argument for one phone call before any trip up here.
Check this drainage specifically before you commit to it
Landslide closures do not resolve on a schedule and they change what is reachable rather than merely what is comfortable. The Duchesne and Roosevelt Ranger District office is at 85 West Main in Duchesne on 435-738-2482, open Monday to Friday from 8:00 to 4:30. It is the counter for this whole slope, and it is the single most useful phone number on this page. Call it and ask about Rock Creek by name.
The district is named for Roosevelt and its counter is in Duchesne
That is worth knowing before you go looking for a ranger station in Roosevelt, because there is not one listed. The Ashley National Forest's Duchesne and Roosevelt Ranger District keeps its office at 85 West Main in Duchesne, 28 miles west along US-40, with the Forest Supervisor's Office reachable on 435-789-1181. A town that gives a district half its name and none of its counter is a small irony worth planning around.
The details
Getting there
West on US-40 to the Duchesne end, then north into the Rock Creek drainage. The visitor center, the campgrounds and the day use sites are strung along the canyon.
Before you go
- A group campground here has been closed by a landslide. Call before you drive.
- Access to at least one day use area may be limited by landslide debris.
- The ranger district counter is at 85 West Main in Duchesne, not in Roosevelt.
- Office hours are Monday to Friday 8:00 to 4:30, so a weekend question needs asking on a weekday.
- This is the longest of the four drainages from Roosevelt. Budget the extra hour honestly.
Walk into the High Uintas Wilderness
Trailheads on all four drainages · Free to enter · Summer only, in practice
Every one of the four canyon roads ends somewhere near a wilderness boundary, and the High Uintas Wilderness is the largest wilderness area in Utah. It holds the state's highest ground, a great many lakes and a genuinely alpine summer that lasts a matter of weeks. From a Roosevelt address it is the closest thing to serious mountain country in the state, and the drive to a trailhead is measured in an hour or two rather than a day.
The wilderness is also where the rules sit heaviest, and they are live rather than theoretical. Two standing forest orders govern it: one on occupancy and use, setting group size, pack animal and camping limits, and one barring campfires within a quarter mile of certain lakes and reservoirs. The campfire rule runs across multiple seasons rather than a single summer, so it is a baseline to plan around rather than a condition to check.
The campfire rule comes with a map, and the map is the point
The order identifies the affected lakes and reservoirs on maps attached to it rather than in a list you can memorise, so check the map for the specific basin you are heading into. The ranger district on 435-738-2482 and the Forest Supervisor's Office on 435-789-1181 can both tell you what applies where.
Group size and stock rules are the other standing order
The wilderness occupancy order sets group size, pack animal and camping limits. Anybody planning a horse trip, a scout outing or any party larger than a household should check the current limits rather than assume. These are not new ideas in wilderness management, but the specific numbers are set by the specific order and they are the numbers a ranger will hold you to.
The details
Getting there
Trailheads leave from Moon Lake, the Uinta Canyon road, the Yellowstone drainage and Rock Creek. None of the four roads connects to another, so pick one and treat the day as an out and back.
Before you go
- Two standing forest orders apply: occupancy and use limits, and a campfire rule near certain lakes.
- The campfire closure identifies lakes on attached maps. Check the map for your basin.
- There is no mobile coverage. Leave a plan with somebody and stick to it.
- Snow holds late and returns early at this elevation. Ask about conditions rather than assuming.
- Call the ranger district on 435-738-2482 or the Supervisor's Office on 435-789-1181 first.
The honest road warning
What a passenger car can and cannot do up here
Getting this wrong on the south slope is expensive in a way that getting it wrong near a town is not, because there is no coverage, no traffic and no help for a long way in either direction.
Paved and fine for anything: UT-121 from Roosevelt to Neola, US-40 across the basin, and the Forest Service's published route to Moon Lake, which it describes as about 36 miles of paved road from Duchesne. The canyon roads on the approach to the main campgrounds are made roads, maintained through the season, and an ordinary car driven carefully in dry conditions handles the standard destinations on this page.
Beyond the campgrounds, the picture changes. Numbered forest roads running off the main canyon lines are dirt, they vary with the season and the last storm, and several become the sort of thing that needs clearance and tires rather than nerve. The rule that has always worked out here is to treat any road you have not been told about as unsuitable until the ranger district tells you otherwise, and to turn round rather than find out.
The mapping app is the other trap and it is a real one in this basin. Ask a phone for a route north out of Roosevelt and it may offer lines across farm ground, across drainages that have no crossing, or between two canyon roads that do not connect. There is no traverse along the south face of this range. If a route looks like a shortcut between drainages, it is either a farm track or a mistake.
Winter is a different page altogether. The high country closes with snow, the canyon roads are not maintained to the top, and what is left is snowmobile country rather than driving country. US-40 across the basin carries snow, ice and inversion fog through the cold months, and the ranger district is the place to ask what is open before any cold weather trip.
There is no road along the face of this range connecting one canyon to the next. Each drainage is its own dead end out of the basin, and getting from one to another means driving back down and across. Mapping apps do not always understand that, and neither do visitors who have looked at the range from the highway and assumed a scenic loop exists. Plan every south slope day as an out and back on one canyon, fuel in Roosevelt, and download the maps before you leave the grid, because coverage stops early.
When to come
A short summer, and the basin floor tells you nothing about it
Roosevelt sits at roughly 5,100 feet with July normals near a 93 degree high. Moon Lake sits at 8,100 feet and the wilderness above it goes past 13,000. Those are different climates rather than different weather, and a warm clear morning on the basin floor is no evidence at all about what a campground three thousand feet higher is doing. Take a layer in every month, including August.
The practical season on the south slope runs from late spring, when the roads clear, through to autumn, when they start to close again, with mid summer through early autumn as the reliable window. Snow holds late in the high basins and comes back early, which shortens the walking season inside the wilderness to a matter of weeks in a normal year and less in a heavy one.
Late summer brings the other constraint, which is afternoon storms building over the range. Open ground above the trees is the wrong place to be under lightning, and the pattern out here is to be walking early and off exposed ground by early afternoon. Winter turns the whole slope over to snowmobiles and the roads over to the plows, and the basin's own winter inversions are a separate story covered on the movers page.
A clear morning at 5,100 feet is no evidence about what an 8,100 foot campground is doing.