About this place
The first wagon party to head for California crossed Utah on this route in 1841. It was thirty-two men and one woman. She was Nancy Kelsey, and she carried her baby daughter the whole way.
They had set out with a bigger group. At Fort Hall, near present-day Pocatello, Idaho, about half of them changed their minds and took the easier trail to Oregon. The rest kept on for California and went west along the north shore of the Great Salt Lake.
Nobody knew the way, and there was very little water.
The wagons began to go in Utah. On 11 September 1841, at Owl Spring north of Lucin, Benjamin Kelsey left his wagons behind and put his wife and baby on horseback. After the desert crossing near Wendover, the whole party had abandoned theirs.
With the animals that survived, they found their way through the Ruby Mountains to the Humboldt River. Then they crossed the Sierra Nevada near the Walker River into California. By then most of them were close to dead from hunger and exhaustion.
The facts
- Cost
- Camping fee not confirmed
- Type
- Open area. Camp anywhere within it
- Managed by
- Bureau of Land Management
Getting there
Interstate 84, Exit 5 at Curlew Junction. Head west on SR 30, then turn southeast onto Dove Creek Rd.
Coordinates 41.72552778, -113.3856111
Open in Google Maps Agency page
What is near here
A few more of our own spots are within reach of this one, along with some better-known places.
- George Peak Directions
- Hogup Cave Directions
- California National Historic Trail (NHT), Hastings Cutoff Directions
- California National Historic Trail (NHT), Salt Lake Cut-Off Directions
- Smoky Mountain Directions
Every distance on this page is the driving distance. A short distance can still take a long time. The road may be closed for the season, covered in snow, or washed out. Many of these roads are dirt. Plan your route before you leave home. Out here there is often no phone signal to look it up on the way.
Nearest town and supplies
- Snowville, UT Directions
- Burley, ID Directions
Burley is big enough that you’d normally expect fuel and somewhere to buy food. Nobody from here has been to check, so don’t count on it if you’re running low.
Why the drive to town is usually twice what the map says — what we found measuring every campsite in this guide.
When it’s time to move on
On most public land you can camp for 14 days before you have to move on. Check this site’s own limit before you plan a long stay. When you move on, the Bureau of Land Management usually wants you at least 25 to 30 miles away. So the free campsites closest to you are the ones you cannot use.
Seven in this guide sit inside that 25 miles. The nearest one you could move to is Pilot Mountains Designated Routes, Utah — 49 miles in a straight line, but a 70 mile drive.
This guide covers five states and does not list every free campsite, so there may be something closer that we do not hold. Check this site’s own rule before you rely on it.
Have you been here?
Fees and access change, and the records do not always keep up. If you have been, tell us what you found.
Thank you, that is recorded. It helps the next person.
Add road notes for this site
The thing we cannot get from any government record is what the drive in is actually like. If you have done it, this is the most useful thing you can leave behind. We read everything before it appears, and we print a first name with it if you give one.
Thank you. A person will read it before it goes on the page.
Where this information comes from
The description on this page is ours. The facts in it, and the fee and facility details below it, come from the Bureau of Land Management’s own records, read in August 2026.