About this place
Horseshoe Knolls is a camping and off-highway riding area, east of the highway across from Horseshoe Springs. Nothing is marked out.
The springs are worth the walk across. Two big springs meet in a horseshoe. The water stays around 70 degrees all year, and it is so clear you can watch the fish. You may fish there with a Utah license, or swim. You may not camp there, and there is no restroom.
Families camp at the knolls, ride the trails, or sit still. Spring and fall are the seasons for it.
The ground is very sandy, and juniper trees give good shade. Off-highway trails wind through the trees and the sandy washes, and they suit riders of any age.
There is nothing built here and no water. Target shooting is not allowed.
About 5 miles south is Iosepa. Settlers from Hawaii founded it on 28 August 1889 and stayed in this desert until 1917, when most of them went home to Hawaii. The cemetery is still there, and Pacific Islanders gather at it every Memorial Day.
The facts
- Cost
- Camping fee not confirmed
- Drinking water
- No, bring your own
- Toilet
- No. Nothing is developed here
- Type
- Open area. Nothing is marked out
- Managed by
- Bureau of Land Management
Getting there
Leave Interstate 80 at Exit 77, Dugway-Rowley. Drive south on SR 196 for 10 miles. The area is east of the road.
Coordinates 40.61244444, -112.6987778
Open in Google Maps Agency page
What is near here
Nothing nationally famous is close. These are the landmarks nearby.
- Stansbury Island Directions
- Deseret Peak Directions
- Rush Lake 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
- Grantsville, UT Directions
Grantsville 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.
Three in this guide sit inside that 25 miles. The nearest one you could move to is North Oquirrh Management Area (NOMA), Utah — 26 miles in a straight line, but a 39 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.