Remember this boondock?
It’s the one we passed when we first went up to the City Creek camping area west of Junction, Utah.
On the way into town one day, the crew and I stop to see what it looks like.
The site is large!
Actually it could be used by three or four rigs simultaneously as there are flat areas here and there among the trees. The dappled shade makes a pleasant atmosphere. Bridget, Reggie, and I check out the creek.
Two little waterfalls tumble into a pool!
This campsite is easy to find.
It’s located along the paved road #153 that runs straight out of Junction toward the mountains. It is on the right side 1.3 miles past the Fishlake National Forest sign and only about 3 miles from town. If you come to a cattle guard, you’ve gone about three vehicle lengths too far. It’s easy to drive right by it if you aren’t looking carefully.
Although the site is next to the main road, bushes and trees provide some concealment (not completely) and road noise is minimal because there’s not much traffic on this road, at least not at this time of year.
I’m not sure how much clearance there is for rooftops of big rigs. You can drive in and out without turning around. The site is so close to town, one could take a look at its suitability without much driving. If it were not satisfactory, just keep driving on the paved road and there’s a big turn-around loop where the dirt road goes off to the right toward our present camp.
Across the cattle guard and on the left is the turn onto forest road #133.
(You can see it on the Utah Benchmark map.) The crew and I drive a short way up the dirt road and find that it opens into a wide-open space of sagebrush bordered by low hills. The road forks, but we didn’t explore further than that. Find a fire ring and you’ve found a site! There’s evidence of ATVs in the area, but then they’re everywhere.
If you have a crew to take on walks, forest road #133 would be convenient from the campsite I featured at the beginning of this post.
I like a campsite that has different options for walking the crew.
At our “Camp Charming” we have several choices. We enjoy the forest road that clings to the side of the mountain and gives a lovely view of the treetops below.
The colors of autumn aren’t in full display yet. Just enough to hint at what’s to come.
To the right of Reggie in the next photo, the land drops away at the edge of the road and, believe me, it’s a long way down.
On the left side of the photo is a cliff that goes way up. These are the kind of roads I avoid. It seems they become narrower and scarier the further you go up the mountain. Of course, as we walk along, Bridget and Reggie find something extremely interesting over the edge.
“Get away from there, you two! Good heavens, give me a heart attack!”
We don’t cross cattle guards either.
Reggie’s so little he might drop between the bars! As we walk around the cattle guard I notice tracks indicating that cattle have discovered this detour as well.
Early the next morning a pick-up truck pulls up alongside us as we walk the road by our camp.
“Have you seen any cattle up this way,” one of the men in the truck asks. Both men are wearing cowboy hats. “Did they go up to the campground?”
“Oh, you’re looking for the cattle that got past the cattle guard. I noticed that yesterday. No, they didn’t come up this way. I haven’t seen any tracks or cow pies on the road or in the campground. Of course, I haven’t checked yet this morning . . . . ”
“We’ve rounded up most of them and have them down below. A few took off somewhere. Well, thanks a lot!”
“Good luck!” I call out as they pull away.
Few vehicles have come up this way since we’ve camped off this road. Three in a day is a lot. I intend to camp here for several more days. The peace and quiet is wonderful.
Well, intentions don’t always turn into reality!
In the next post I’ll explain why we leave “Camp Charming” earlier than planned.
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Circleville Valley, Utah, not far from Butch Cassidy’s boyhood home
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