Salt Lake Field Office · Utah
Overview The campground is situated on the eastern edge of Utah's West Desert near the historic Simpson Springs station on the Pony Express National Historic Trail. Simpson Springs was the site of a significant Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp in the late 1930s and early 1940s, just prior to the establishment of the US Army Dugway Proving Grounds during World War II. Recreation Hiking, picnicking, OHV riding, mountian biking, horseback riding, wildlife viewing, scenic backcountry byway, Pony Express National Historic Trail.
Sites at Simpson Springs Campground are reserved through Recreation.gov. Sites here can be reserved in advance through the official system, and they are claimed fast — cancellations then trickle back all season, unannounced, at any hour of the day or night.
| Total sites | 23 |
|---|---|
| Site types | Standard, Group |
| Location | Salt Lake City, UT |
| Book through | Recreation.gov |
| Official listing | Recreation.gov |
Because sites are booked months ahead, a steady share of reservations get cancelled as trips fall through. Each cancellation instantly returns that site and those nights to the official calendar — first-come, first-served, no waitlist, no announcement. Refreshing the booking page yourself, every few minutes for weeks, works in theory. In practice, the people who get these sites are the ones who hear about the opening first.
itOpened scans the Recreation.gov calendar for Simpson Springs Campground around the clock. When a site matching your dates and your vehicle opens, you get a text with a direct link to it. You book it yourself, in your own account, at the normal price. We never book, hold, or resell — your fee pays for monitoring, and openings are first-come, so speed is the whole game.
| Clover Springs Campground | Cancellation alerts available |
|---|---|
| Little Creek Campground | Cancellation alerts available |
Page data refreshed 2026-10-29. Site facts come from the official directory listing for Simpson Springs Campground; cancellation statistics come from our own scanning logs.