Jordanelle State Park - #13

Jordanelle State Park is another park on the banks of a reservoir.  It is conveniently located just 35 miles east of Salt Lake City.  The reservoir is pretty big and there are two developed campgrounds.  We stayed in the Hailstone Campground which has 103 sites.  Despite the size, it was a pretty nice campground with great views of the backside of Park City and Deer Valley Ski Resort.  Some of the sites have nice views of the reservoir. 

Location:  Approximately 35 miles east of Salt Lake City off of US 40.

Total Sites:  103
Stayed in Site:  #59
Elevation:  6,166 ft
Date Created:  1995
Hook Ups:  Electrical and water hook ups

Two Stars** (nice location but freeway noise)

East Canyon State Park - #12

East Canyon State Park is located less than an hour from Salt Lake City just up and over Big Mountain.  There are two campgrounds.  We stayed at Big Rock Campground which doesn't have any hook ups, but we had the place to ourselves (with all the big rigs opting for the full hook ups at Dixie Creek Campground).  The area contains portions of the Mormon Pioneer Trail where the pioneers trekked through on their way to the Salt Lake Valley.  The Donner-Reed party also passed through East Canyon in 1846 on their fated trip to California.  We had fun hiking the foothills, kayaking on the reservoir, and speculating about pioneer travels.

Location:  Located 28 miles northeast of Salt Lake City and 12 miles south of the town of Morgan along SR 65 and SR 66.

Total Sites: 21
Stayed in Site:  #20
Elevation:  5,700 ft
Date Created:  1962
Hook Ups:  None at Big Rock Campground 

Two Stars** (convenient location and lots to do)

Anasazi State Park Museum - #11

The Anasazi State Park Museum is located in Boulder, Utah at the Coombs Site where excavations over the years have uncovered numerous above-ground structures and pit structures as well as thousands of artifacts from Ancestral Pueblo (or Anasazi) who inhabited the area between 1129 and 1169 A.D.  The artifacts in the museum and the exterior structure replicas are interesting if you happen to be in the area, but do not necessarily warrant a visit in and of themselves.

Location:  Located 250 miles from Salt Lake City in south central Utah along Highway 12 in Boulder.

Total Sites:  No campground or camping facilities
Elevation:  6,700 ft
Date Created:  1970

One Star*

Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument

Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument is an amazing place.  Acres and acres of petrified sand dunes as far as the eye can see.  We only touched the surface of this fantastic wonderland and I can't wait to go back.  This trip we explored Calf Creek.  One day we hiked the Lower Calf Creek Trail from the campground to the fantastic lower falls.  The next day we did the Upper Calf Creek Trail from Highway 12 to the upper falls.  Both hikes were spectacular and offered an amazing variety of terrain.  It takes some time to get to Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument, but the sites and scenery is well worth the effort.

Five Stars*****

Escalante Petrified Forest State Park - #10

Escalante Petrified Forest State Park is a small park located just outside of the town of Escalante along the banks of Wide Hollow Reservoir.  The park is nice for its convenient proximity to the Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument.  However, the sites are pretty small and compact and only certain sites have water and electrical hook-ups.  Next time we will probably stay in one of the campgrounds located in the National Monument.  The park had a few petrified logs on display that were cool and a short mile and a half trail (that we didn't have time to explore).  

Location:  Located west of Escalante, approximately 257 miles south of Salt Lake City, off of Highway 12.

Total Sites:  19
Stayed in Site:  #8
Elevation:  5,900 ft
Date Created:  1976
Hook Ups:  None in our site, but a few sites by the reservoir had hook ups

Three Stars:  ** (due to tight spots and fact that campground is not located in Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument)

Rockport State Park - #9

Rockport State Park is another reservoir park popular with boaters and fishermen.  The park is conveniently located within an hour of Salt Lake City just off of I-80 at Exit 155.  The dam creating the reservoir is an earthen dam and was constructed in 1957.  The park is named after the historic town of Rockport which was colonized in 1860 and submerged by the dam.  There were still 200 people living in the town of Rockport who had to be displaced to make way for the construction of the reservoir.  It was odd paddling along the water in my kayak and thinking of the town that used to be located underneath all the water.  There are five campgrounds and multiple day use areas in the park located mostly along the eastern shore of the reservoir.  We stayed in the Twin Coves Campground which had pit toilets, picnic table, shelter, grill and fire pit.  You can also stay in the Juniper Campground with standard hook-ups for water and electric.  We had fun enjoying the water (albeit choppy and windy in April) and hiking the Lakeview perimeter trail a couple of times.  Overall the sites were roomy with some vegetation and shade trees and nice access to a couple of sandy beaches.  We stayed in Site #18 and liked the water access right out the back of the site.  If we were to stay again #14 looked really nice.

Location:  Approximately 45 miles east of Salt Lake City.  Take Exit 155 off of I-80 and head 5 miles southeast along SR 32 to the park entrance.

Total Sites: 116 (in various campgrounds)

Stayed in Site:  #18 (Twin Cove Campground)

Elevation:  6,000 ft

Date Created:  1966

Hook Ups:  None in Twin Cove Campground (electric and water available in Juniper)

Three Stars *** (nice sites overlooking the water, accessible hiking trail, clean and clear water)

Yuba Lake State Park - #8

Yuba Lake is a man-made reservoir built between 1902 and 1917 by local farmers and ranchers to collect needed water supply.  The reservoir is the largest on the Sevier River and was open to the public as a State Park in 1970.   There are a number of developed campgrounds including Oasis Campground, North Beach Campground, West Beach Campground, Eagle View Campground (boat access only), and Painted Rock Campground.  We stayed at the Painted Rock Campground.  All the sites are paved and each site has a nice picnic table, covered area, and fire pit.  The campground is pretty open though with no trees and the wind whips through the sites.  We had fun exploring some designated trails around the campground as well as some deer trails up behind the painted rock outcropping.  There is easy water access from a nice boat ramp and dock just below the campground.  The pictographs of "painted rock" are pretty cool and can be seen by boat or kayak on the rocks just north of the boat ramp.  We liked Site #29.  If we were to visit again, we would try Site #9, #12 or #15.
Yuba State Park

Location:  Approximately 110 miles south of Salt Lake City.  Painted Rock Campground is located 25 miles south of Levan off of Highway 28.  Oasis Campground is located 25 miles south of Nephi from Exit 202 off of Interstate 15.
Total Sites:  227 (in various campgrounds)

Stayed in Site:  #29 (Painted Rock Campground)
Elevation:  5,100 ft
Date Created:  1970
Hook-Ups:  Water and Electric

Two Stars ** (the campground is more like a one star, but the water access, hiking trails and cool Indian pictographs makes it a two star)

Golden Spike National Historic Site

Golden Spike National Historic Site  marks the location of the historic joining of the Union Pacific Railroad with the Central Pacific Railroad on May 10, 1869, completing the country's first transcontinental railroad.  It was a race to the finish between the two railroad companies who competed for lucrative land grants and bonds from the federal government.  For every mile of track laid by the railroad companies, the government granted 20 square miles of land and issued subsidy bonds worth thousands of dollars.  The Historic Site is fun to visit, especially for train buffs, but there are actually no longer any real tracks or trains serviced in this area.  In 1903, the Lucin Cutoff trestle was completed across the Great Salt Lake, saving the railroad a great deal of time and money in avoiding the elevation gains and twisting routes through Promontory Summit.  The abandoned rails were eventually removed in 1942 to use the steel for the war effort during World War II.  It should also be noted that the actual golden spike isn't located at the Historic Monument, but is housed in Palo Alto, California as part of the Stanford University art museum.  It is best to visit the Historic Site from May to October when they have the locomotives out.  The tracks were empty when we visited in March.
Golden Spike National Historic Site

Location:  Approximately 87 miles northwest of Salt Lake City and 32 miles west of Brigham City via Utah Highway 83; take exit 365 off of I-15.

Total Sites:  No campground or camping allowed
Stayed in Site:  No campground
Elevation:  4,360 - 5,280 ft
Date Created:  1952 

Two Stars ** (the site is worth visiting, but the area is quite desolate and there is no established campground or camping)

Willard Bay State Park - #7

Willard Bay is a man-made reservoir created in 1949 to capture and store fresh water from the Ogden and Weber Rivers.  The Bay is operated by the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District and the park facilities are operated by the Utah State Parks.  Willard Bay State Park consists of two marinas, day use facilities, and three campgrounds: Willow Creek Campground, Cottonwood Campground, and the South Marian Group Campground.  We stayed in the Cottonwood Campground which is named after the many cottonwood trees that shade the area.  This is a nice little campground conveniently located about an hour north of Salt Lake City and is great for a quick overnight or an early season practice run.  Unfortunately the campground is located quite close to the I-15 freeway and the traffic noise is surprisingly loud throughout the night.  Mosquitoes and gnats are prevalent as well.
Willard Bay State Park

Location:  Approximately 50 miles north of Salt Lake City; take exit 357 for the North Marina campgrounds and facilities (or exit 351 for the South Marina Group Campground and facilities).

Total Sites:  58
Stayed in Site:  69
Elevation:  4,200 ft
Park Created:  1966

Two Stars ** (due to proximity to freeway and the bugs)

National Parks

In addition to the 43 State Parks in Utah, there are also a number of National parks, monuments, sites and trails.  While the original intent of this blog was to focus on the Utah State Parks, I have decided to add the national parks and sites to the list.  In total, they add another 19 parks and sites.
National Parks Service

National Parks - 5 
Arches, Bryce, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef and Zion

National Monuments - 7 
Cedar Breaks, Dinosaur, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Hovenweep, Natural Bridges, Timpanogos Cave and Rainbow Bridge

National Historic Trails - 4 
California, Mormon Pioneer, Pony Express and Old Spanish

National Historic Sites - 1 
Golden Spike

National Recreation Area - 2
Glen Canyon and Flaming Gorge