I'm looking for a good Scout camping spot in Uintas.

[Wasatch Rebel]

We are thinking of going along the Mirror Lake Highway somewhere maybe near Trial Lake, but not necessarily. We don't want to camp in an improved campground that we will have to pay for (other than the Mirror Lake Highway mandatory fee).

Other criteria: 1) I have a Honda Accord--so if it's a long a dirt road, it needs to be passable with my car. 2) We want to be close to a lake 3) Easy access to close trails to hike to another lake, for an overnighter.

Any suggestions would be appreciated much!

[tapehoser]

Park at Washington Lake and hike anywhere from 30 minutes to 5 hours to a myriad of lakes. Duck Lake is one of our favorites.

[Wasatch Rebel]

Park at Washington Lake and hike anywhere from 30 minutes to 5 hours to a myriad of lakes. Duck Lake is one of our favorites.

Is there a good place to set up our base camp right next to Washington Lake, or is it right off the main highway?

[fishhawk]

I've hiked to Wall lake and camped over. It's only a 20 or 30 minute hike and a fairly easy one at that. Lots of open area to camp.

[Scott Card]

I liked Notch Lake. Pretty easy hike in and you pass a couple of lakes to get there. I have also never been skunked fishing there. Park at the Bald Mountain Trail head (I think). No need for a truck.

[DiscGo]

My family used to camp not too far from Bald Mountain. I will see if I can dig up the gps coordinates.

[Wasatch Rebel]

I really like all these suggestions, and I appreciate them. I think I may have been misunderstood though, so here is some clarification. We want our main camp to be a place we can drive to, even in my Honda, but preferably not an established campground. We will camp at this place most of the week, but during that week we will maybe leave camp for a night and hike to another lake, then come back the next day to our main camp.

[Scott Card]

You are right. I didn't understand what you were looking for. Notch Lake is still a fun hike. My understanding is that you cannot camp along the road except for in organized campsites. I may be wrong but you will want to call the forest service and check that out. As far as nice spots, I have enjoyed Moosehorn Lake camp sites and Washington Lake campsites. I would choose Moosehorn. It is one of the prettiest ones in the area.

[Wasatch Rebel]

You are right. I didn't understand what you were looking for. Notch Lake is still a fun hike. My understanding is that you cannot camp along the road except for in organized campsites. I may be wrong but you will want to call the forest service and check that out. As far as nice spots, I have enjoyed Moosehorn Lake camp sites and Washington Lake campsites. I would choose Moosehorn. It is one of the prettiest ones in the area.

Thanks, Scott. I'll give the forest service a call. I think one of the areas we were considering was Moosehorn. Personally, I'd actually like to camp in an organized site if we can't find a dirt side road that will take us in far enough that it's legal to camp (if you're right that it isn't). I know there are many dirt roads lower down that we'd be able to camp off of, but I don't think my Honda can make it on those.

[DiscGo]

We want our main camp to be a place we can drive to, even in my Honda, but preferably not an established campground.

The place I am referring to is a private location that very few people know about, your honda should be able to make it. I just need to find my coordinates and I will get back to you.

[jiffers]

if you take the turn off to trial lake, and keep driving past it for a little while, there are a lot of open spots. It was about 10 years ago when I stumbled upon it on accident, but we made it there with a beat-up station wagon, and I don't believe you had to pay for the camping, and it was not organized, and if that wasn't allowed, we weren't the only ones squatting, cuz there were quite a few others making their own campsites. Downside is you may need to drive to a trail head for another lake.

[Wasatch Rebel]

We want our main camp to be a place we can drive to, even in my Honda, but preferably not an established campground.

The place I am referring to is a private location that very few people know about, your honda should be able to make it. I just need to find my coordinates and I will get back to you.

Did you ever find it?

[Wasatch Rebel]

if you take the turn off to trial lake, and keep driving past it for a little while, there are a lot of open spots. It was about 10 years ago when I stumbled upon it on accident, but we made it there with a beat-up station wagon, and I don't believe you had to pay for the camping, and it was not organized, and if that wasn't allowed, we weren't the only ones squatting, cuz there were quite a few others making their own campsites. Downside is you may need to drive to a trail head for another lake.

Thanks. I'm going up, probably Monday to scout out a place. The dirt road that goes past Trial was one of the places I was planning on checking.

[Jaxx]

did you find any good spots?

[Wasatch Rebel]

We camped west of the Trial and Washington Lakes area, maybe a mile and a half to two miles down the Spring Canyon Road. The area we camped was kind of swampy---I actually had seepage from the ground into my tent and used some old dense foam mats for my floor to keep dry. There were many mosquitoes at certain times of day there, but not all day. It was away from people though, except we'd have a vehicle now and then that would drive down the dirt road that goes down Spring Canyon. Yeah, it wasn't the worst place to camp, but I think I'd try somewhere else, maybe over by Whitney Reservoir if I had to do it over again. The guy who is the scoutmaster wanted to be a little bit by people instead of secluded over by Whitney though, because he thought there'd be less chance of bears, and he couldn't trust the boys to not bring food into their tents.

[Jaxx]

thanks for the info.