WIDE HOLLOW CG,
PETRIFIED FOREST SP
RUN BY: Utah State Parks and
Recreation
LOCATION: Escalante, UT
UTILITIES: W&E (30-50A)
COST: 28.00
OUR RATING (1-5): I-4.5
NOTES: We decide where we're going to
stop by using maps, apps and listening to other nomads. Occasionally
it is a matter of seeing a sign (we're geared to spotting brown signs
at great distance) and deciding to turn in. That is how we discovered
Wide Hollow. When we spotted the sign Pamela looked it up and found
that it is a Reserve America campground but the park looked
interesting and we decided to see if they had any walk-ups (sites
where person did not show up for their reservation. You can get them
for one night only) sites. We were lucky. The campground turned out
to be lovely and the park as interesting as we had thought it might
be. It was a bit pricey. We don't normally pay $28 a night but our
site had electricity and water. We had to laugh at ourselves when we
turned out the lights that night and realized that we had never
hooked up the power or water. We are so independent and
self-contained that we didn't even think about it. Each campsite has
a covered picnic table. We don't really like reservation campgrounds
because a great many of us do not want to be bound by reservations
made months in advance. We are lucky if we know where we'll be in a
couple of hours. We did learn that they have a group camping area
that they use as overflow and will charge $20/night because there are
no hook-ups. They will even let people park in the boat ramp parking
lot instead of turn people away. Nevertheless, there are evidently
many times when there just isn't any more room.
Environment: You are camping in
high desert - >4000 ft. There are some trees in the campground but
don't expect shade. In March we had nice warm days (60-70s) and cold
nights (30!)
Amenities: There are very nice
bathrooms and excellent showers. The showers give you 8 minutes of
water at no charge.
Discounts: Check with Utah
State Parks and Recreation (801) 538-7220. www.stateparks.utah.gov
I'm sure they have annual passes.
Dump & Water: There is a
dump station. Each site has drinking water.
Phone Service: None. But the
campground provides free wifi.
Location: Just a couple of
miles west of Escalante,UT on the north side of UT-12
Proximity to shopping: Escalante
has basics otherwise you are a very, very long way from anything.
Camping Population: Quite
varied. We ran into a man from Oregon who had stayed with us at
Sprague Creek, Glacier NP Montana last year. The couple next to us
were from Salmon, ID.
Sites: The campground was a bit
tight. Some of the sites are just pulling off the road. If your site
is on the left, that puts your door opening into the road. The host
allowed us to go in backwards so our door would not open into the
road. That might have been just because we were the first site.
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RATING KEY: category - score
Categories: I - established
campgrounds where one might spend a vacation or several days
II - boondocking,
dry camping where there are no designated sites and no amenities but
one
might choose to stay for more than a night.
III - over-night
areas
You must remember that we are scoring 1
thru 5 according to things which are important to us: the
environment, cost, amenities, location, safety, camping population,
site, phone service
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