McCoy Flat Road

McCoy Flat Road was a great location for free camping, just 5 miles from Vernal. The spot we settled in was at GPS coordinates 40.37221, -109.59947. There are so many great campsites that I would recommend parking just off US-191, then scouting for your perfect spot, but be forewarned that while the main road is asphalt, it goes back over 8 miles with additional dirt roads branching off. We saw three areas that had vault toilets, but each of those was marked No Camping - Day Use Only. Shortly upon arrival, I saw a strange looking lizard run across our rug. He was nearly as wide as he was long, and Google Lens called him a Greater Short Horned Lizard. Overall, the whole area seems rather desolate at first, but occasionally there were people hiking the trails. We heard very little traffic noise from the highway, but we chose to be closer to it for the ease of access. Farther back, I doubt you’d hear anything at all.

The site we chose had two fire rings and could accommodate a few large RVs for a group, but I’m not sure I’d recommend taking a low-clearance vehicle up the incline from the paved road. We had a nice overlook of the wash and some pretty neat erosion features. There are several branching trails for mountain biking or hiking, mostly limited to single track, so no ATVs. Al took a stroll down to explore the rock formations across the wash while I stayed and kept the dogs company. We were wishing we had bikes to explore the area some more.

Vernal has a population of just over 10,000 and plenty of conveniences. Maverik has a dump station and the clerk unlocked their water connection for us to fill our fresh tank. We ordered take out from Khao Hom Thai Kitchen, a food truck in what appeared to be someone’s front yard, but were very pleased with our food.

While staying there, we went to a few petroglyph sites, Moonshine Arch, Fantasy Canyon, and the Utah side of Dinosaur National Park. There is quite a lot to see nearby. We would have liked to stay longer, but the truck’s tires were near their expiration limit, so we moved on to Spanish Fork to get them replaced.

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