Agency-listedBLM · dispersedUnpriced · confirm
Pony Express National Historic Trail (Nht) Back Country Byway (Bcb)
Drive-up · Bureau of Land Management · UT · 40.23061, -112.18442
Ask an AI about this campsiteOpens Grok already loaded with this site. It reads the same records this page is built from, and links whatever it tells you.
Ask about this camp →Bureau of Land Management lists this site. On most of their ground you can camp away from developed sites pretty much anywhere — so treat this as a known-good spot, not the only one allowed. The unit sets stay limits and how far off road and water you must be. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Pony Express National Historic Trail (Nht) Back Country Byway (Bcb)
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 5,287 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Pony Express National Historic Trail (Nht) Back Country Byway (Bcb)NIFC · AirNow
Checking active fires & air quality…
Active wildfires from NIFC (within ~50 mi); air quality from AirNow. Always confirm current fire restrictions with the managing office before you go.
Everything you need — measured from Pony Express National Historic Trail (Nht) Back Country Byway (Bcb) · Bureau of Land Management · UT
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- FFuel8 mi
- @Mail8 mi
- GGrocery10 mi
- HHardware10 mi
- MMechanic14 mi
- +Urgent care15 mi
- OOutfitter17 mi
- RxPharmacy18 mi
- EVEV fast charger18 mi
- AAir-up20 mi
- WWater20 mi
- ShShower20 mi
- LLaundry20 mi
- DDump23 mi
- PPropane24 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 8 mi out.
One dot per need — the nearest of each kind, straight-line from camp. Places from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors); the EV fast charger from the US DOE station locator. Open in Google Maps ↗
The site — Pony Express National Historic Trail (Nht) Back Country Byway (Bcb)
Access
Drive-up
Land
Bureau of Land Management · dispersed
Elevation
5,287 ft
Ground slope
3.4% · gentle
Nearest rail line
~7.2 mi · other track
State
UT
Coordinates
40.23061, -112.18442
Cost
Unpriced — no source gives a price; assume it may cost something and confirm before you go
Nearby & resupply — around Pony Express National Historic Trail (Nht) Back Country Byway (Bcb) · Bureau of Land Management · UT (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featurenone named within 1 mi (USGS NHD)
- Nearest townFairfield · ~5.3 mi
- Nearest rail line~7.2 mi · other track
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelCedar Valley Country Store · ~7.8 mi
- Propane / LPGJenson Lumber Propane · ~25.4 mi
- Dump station~23.0 mi
- GroceriesMacey's · ~10.4 mi
- PharmacyWalmart Pharmacy · ~17.7 mi
- Hospital / clinicPremier Family Medical · ~14.6 mi
- HardwareAce Hardware · ~14.7 mi
EV charging — from Pony Express National Historic Trail (Nht) Back Country Byway (Bcb) · Bureau of Land Management · UT — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger17.8 mi straight-line NE — Walmart EV Charging, Saratoga Springs, UT (at a shopping center) · WALMART · CCS, NACS (Tesla) · 8 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-14 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach12 within 25 mi · 100 within 50 · 138 within 100 · 171 within 150
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO20.5 mi — LEHI POWER LEHI POWER DC, Lehi
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)9.2 mi — NORAM STATION #1, Cedar Valley, UT · ChargePoint Network · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Pricing at the fast charger$0.48 Peak / $0.29 Off-Peak per kWh (as listed by AFDC)
- Power (kW)not listed by AFDC — “DC fast” spans roughly 24 to 350 kW, so ask the network.
- Read this honestlyStraight-line miles, like every distance on this site. Roads run longer than this, and you have to get back. We know where a charger is listed. We don’t know if it works today, how fast it is, or the road miles. Check the network before you commit.
Snapshot 2026-09-16 · AFDC record 461473 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Pony Express National Historic Trail (Nht) Back Country Byway (Bcb) · Bureau of Land Management · UT — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletFive Mile Pass County Line Campground Double Vault · ~0.3 mi E · BLM
- Vault / pit toiletFive Mile Pass Thrope Hills Campground Double Vault · ~0.5 mi S · BLM
- Vault / pit toiletFive Mile Pass South Ohv Staging Area Double Vault · ~1.1 mi E · BLM
- Vault / pit toiletFive Mile Pass North Ohv Staging Area Double Vault -North · ~1.1 mi NE · BLM
Coming out here — Pony Express National Historic Trail (Nht) Back Country Byway (Bcb) · Bureau of Land Management · UT
- No named surface water mapped within 1 mi of the pin in USGS's National Hydrography Dataset (data refreshed October 2022), and none within about a mile and a half in our OpenStreetMap pull — which is not proof there is none, only that neither map has one. Plan to carry washing water as well as drinking water.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 3.4% — gentle. Measured on USGS's 3DEP elevation model (1 m data here), sampled every 10 metres around the point. That is the hillside, not the ground under your wheels — a graded pullout or a bench a few metres across is too small to show up at that spacing, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- Rail line mapped ~7.2 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as other track. No track the atlas classes as a main line is mapped within 10 mi. That is the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026), which records that a line is there and what class of track it is. Whether anything runs on it, how often, and at what hour, it does not say, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- No interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin in the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). That file holds the divided, limited-access highways only — a state expressway or a two-lane US route near this camp would not be in it.
- Assume no services at all. Most dispersed camping in a national forest has none: no tap, no power, no dump, often no toilet. Everything you need, you bring.
- Power: Dave carries his own — batteries or solar. A generator will run your rig and it is also the thing everybody camped near you can hear.
- Getting online: Dave recommends Starlink. He has had it since SpaceX introduced it, used it for four years living on the road, and it delivers as promised — several hundred nights out, and he can count on one hand the places he could not connect. The cable on his unit runs 150 feet, which is usually all it takes to find enough sky. Starlink → Referral link — Starlink pays Dave $100 in cash if you sign up through it, and that money funds this site and the next trip. It costs you nothing and does not change the recommendation.
Open Pony Express National Historic Trail (Nht) Back Country Byway (Bcb) elsewhere
Other camps near Pony Express National Historic Trail (Nht) Back Country Byway (Bcb)
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Utah Trust Land Dispersed Camping — Tooele County, UT (40.2149, -112.1807)~1.1 mi
- Tooele County~11.9 mi
- BLM public land~15.7 mi
- Vernon Reservoir Campground~19.6 mi
The unit that manages Pony Express National Historic Trail (Nht) Back Country Byway (Bcb)
Pony Express National Historic Trail (Nht) Back Country Byway (Bcb) is in the Salt Lake Field Office, West Desert District, Bureau of Land Management. Stay limits, permits, road closures and fire restrictions are set there, not at the campsite — check before you go. Its page maps every camp in it.
Snow, and when this opens
The nearest automatic snow station is Rocky Basin-Settleme at 8,700 ft, about 15 miles away. It sits about 3,413 ft higher than this camp, so treat it as a guide rather than a reading for this spot. We do not repeat a depth here, because any number we stored would be stale by the time you read it — the station publishes today's.
How we know this — Pony Express National Historic Trail (Nht) Back Country Byway (Bcb)
Fee note
The BLM page names both free use and fee camping, read 19 Sep 2026: "No fee // There is also a BLM campground located at the Simpson Springs with twenty sites open year-round for $15 per night." https://www.blm.gov/visit/pony-express-back-country-byway-bcb
Source
Bureau of Land Management recreation data
Confidence
Likely — The record is good enough to put a pin on, but thin in places. Treat the details as a starting point, not gospel.
How it was placed
BLM RIDB record, agency-listed. Its fee field is empty -- no fee statement -- so the cost is unpriced (field read 2026-09-19). Access not field-checked (assumed drive-up). | Mixed 2026-09-19: "No fee // There is also a BLM campground located at the Simpson Springs with twenty sites open year-round for $15 per night." Source: https://www.blm.gov/visit/pony-express-back-country-byway-bcb (worker_W, statement verified on that page).
EV chargers
US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center station locator, snapshot 2026-09-16. Straight-line miles to the nearest public, open, unrestricted station; restricted and planned units are shown but never counted.
Field check
On the agency's books. The land manager inventoried this site, so its existence is not in question — current conditions are. Nobody from here has camped it recently.
What we don’t know about Pony Express National Historic Trail (Nht) Back Country Byway (Bcb)
A land record can put you within a few meters of a spot. It cannot tell you any of this — so check it yourself, and treat anything below as the open question it is.
- Road surface & last-mile access
- How many rigs actually fit
- Cell coverage by carrier
- Seasonal & winter access
- Current fire restrictions
- Whether any water here is drinkable
- Shade & wind exposure
- Noise and who else shows up
- Whether a listed EV charger works today, or the road miles to it
Before you go — Pony Express National Historic Trail (Nht) Back Country Byway (Bcb)
Water on public land →What “dispersed” means here →Stay limits →Reading your camp page →All field notes →