Simpson Springs Campground

About

Simpson Springs Campground is a Bureau of Land Management facility located near the historic Simpson Springs station on the Pony Express National Historic Trail. At 5,100 feet elevation on the eastern edge of Utah's West Desert, the campground provides a launching point for exploring this remote and historically significant landscape. The site was home to a Civilian Conservation Corps camp in the late 1930s and early 1940s. The campground offers 20 sites, many with pull-through parking on compacted gravel suitable for RVs up to 30 feet. Amenities include three accessible unisex vault restrooms, five water hydrants dispersed throughout the campground (operational March through November), fire rings at each site, and cement picnic tables. The campground is designed with accessibility in mind, featuring wheelchair-accessible water hydrants and restrooms. Popular activities include OHV riding, mountain biking, horseback riding, wildlife viewing, and hunting for geodes at nearby geode beds. Wild horses roam the surrounding desert. Sites 1-10 can be reserved through Recreation.gov, while sites 11-19 remain first-come, first-served at $15 per night.

Directions

From Interstate 80, take Exit 199 (Tooele) and travel south on Highway 36 for approximately 40 miles. Near Faust, turn west onto the Pony Express Road and drive 25 miles on maintained gravel road to the campground. Alternatively, from I-80 take Exit 77 (Dugway-Rowley), drive south on State Route 196 to Dugway, continue south 10 miles on maintained dirt road to Pony Express Road, then turn west for 10 miles to the campground.