Amazing Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Lands to Explore

Not typically as “high profile” as U.S. national parks or national forests, America’s Bureau of Land Management acreage nonetheless holds just as many scenic, ecological, historical, and recreational wonders.

Also, Bureau of Land Management camping offers some of the most variety and flexibility among our public-lands system, with virtually limitless opportunities for dispersed camping and backpacking alongside (in some units) developed campgrounds. Much of this camping is yours to enjoy at no cost, or simply a nominal fee.

Let’s take a tour of 10 representatively awesome Bureau of Land Management locations, from the orca-filled waters of the Salish Sea to the wild heart of the Great Plains.

What is the BLM?

The Bureau of Land Management formed from the combination of the U.S. Grazing Service and General Land Office in 1946 and is one of the four agencies—along with the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service—in charge of the vast bulk of the country’s federal lands. In fact, the BLM manages more of this precious domain than any other agency: nearly 250 million acres.

By far the majority of BLM land resides in the American West and in Alaska. However, there are a few scattered BLM sites east of the Mississippi, including Florida’s Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse Outstanding Natural Area and Virginia’s Meadowood Special Recreation Management Area. 

From prehistoric dinosaur trackways and archaeological ruins to wildlife migration corridors and rare plant communities, BLM acreage protects some truly precious natural and cultural resources. The multi-use agency also manages land for outdoor recreation and sightseeing, not to mention plenty of mining, drilling, and other extractive industries.

Overnighting on BLM lands is often quite loosely restricted compared to other public lands, with lots of options for boondocking and dispersed and backcountry camping. Developed campgrounds are often (though not always) on the primitive side of things, though they commonly include basic amenities such as fire rings, picnic tables, and vault toilets. Indeed, BLM acreage is often quite remote, and services may be limited or nonexistent, so visiting these places means planning ahead, packing sensibly, and, very often, being self-sufficient.

Remember to abide by all rules and regulations, including consecutive-day camping limits, permit requirements, any temporary restrictions on campfires, and area closures, and pack out trash and otherwise practice environmentally responsible travel and recreation at all times.

Plan your BLM adventure with resources such as the agency’s interactive maps and Recreation.gov, and contact regional BLM field offices for more information and suggestions.

Top BLM Sites to Camp and Explore

The following 10 areas spread across the West collectively suggest the variety, splendor, and wildness of BLM acreage. Let’s get going!

1. Alabama Hills (CA)

The spectacular rounded outcrops and arches of the Alabama Hills near Lone Pine, California, showcase granites and metamorphosed volcanic and sedimentary rocks geologically linked to the adjoining Sierra Nevada, the eastern front of which forms the Hills’ glorious backdrop. Designated a National Scenic Area in 2019 (and long a sought-after Hollywood filming location), the Alabama Hills draw visitors with abundant hiking, rock climbing, and scenery-guzzling opportunities and serve as a popular jumping-off point for the Lower 48’s loftiest peak, 14,505-foot Mount Whitney.

Several developed campgrounds—the BLM’s Tuttle Creek as well as the Inyo National Forest’s Lone Pine Campground and the county-run Portuguese Jim Campground—and designated semi-primitive sites (requiring a free permit) facilitate overnight explorations of this striking rockland.

2. Valley of the Gods (UT)

Often compared to nearby Monument Valley and certainly one of the crown jewels amid Utah’s vast Bureau of Land Management lands, the Valley of the Gods encompasses a dazzling tract of mesas, buttes, spires, and pinnacles eroded from vibrant Cedar Mesa Sandstone. Best accessed from Mexican Hat or Bluff, this isolated country—where vast, beautifully lonesome flats break up the ramparts and cliffy tables—comes laced by the 17-mile Valley of the Gods Road (San Juan County Road #247), a scenic loop that skirts a number of washes and is only doable by passenger car in dry conditions.

Photo by Bob Wick, BLM

Dispersed campsites are scattered along the loop road, but remember to camp lightly on the land and keep in mind that fires aren’t allowed. This is a remote and uncrowded scenic area completely devoid of services, so come prepared.

3. Silver Island Mountains (UT)

The Silver Island Mountains jut out into the crusted outback of the Great Salt Lake Desert like a peninsula, and the BLM—which oversees extensive acreage in this neck of the “woods,” including the iconic Bonneville Salt Flats right next door—manages a 54-mile-long loop drive showing off their high-standing beauty. The Silver Mountains Backcountry Byway rings the range and also offers access to the California National Historic Trail’s Hastings Cutoff, made notorious by its association with the Donner-Reed Party: You’ll drive by Donner-Reed Pass, where that ill-fated group of pioneers crossed between the northern toeslope of the Silver Islands Mountains and the spur of the range called Crater Island.

There are many options for dispersed camping along and nearby to the Silver Island Mountains Backcountry Byway.

4. Coyote Buttes North (Arizona)

Set in the northwestern section of the spectacular Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, the Coyote Buttes have become genuinely world-renowned for their dreamlike scenery of swirling, knobbed, runneled Navajo Sandstone—the lithified remnants of the enormous Early Jurassic dune sea known as the Navajo Erg. No feature is better known than The Wave, a mesmerizing gully that lands high on the bucket lists of photographers all over the globe.

To protect that outback feature—reached by a challenging route-finding hike of some 6.4 miles—the BLM regulates visitation via a Daily and Advanced Lottery. Coyote Buttes North, which encompasses The Wave and a whole lot of other incredible sandstone sights, is day-use only, but there are numerous camping opportunities in the greater region, including at the BLM-run Stateline Campground. There's also Coyote Buttes South, a less-visited but still permit-controlled unit worth exploring.

5. Yakima River Canyon (WA)

The BLM manages better than 9,000 acres in the Yakima River Canyon of “dry-side” Washington, where the Yakima River slices an impressive, meandering defile through Columbia River Basalts and the anticlinal folds of the Manastash, Umtanum, and Yakima ridges. Set between Ellensburg and Yakima, the canyon reaches close to 2,000 feet deep and supports the densest concentration of nesting raptors in the Evergreen State—plus an often-visible population of bighorn sheep.

Photo by Toshio Suzuki, BLM

Admire the palisaded basalt cliffs and scattered ponderosa pines while floating the Yakima (an easy Class I affair), do some catch-and-release casting on this Blue Ribbon Trout Stream, and stargaze from one of several BLM campgrounds in the Yakima River Canyon: Umnatum, Lmuma Creek, Big Pines, or Roza.

6. San Juan Islands (WA)

Fall under the spell of the Salish Sea in the thousand-acre San Juan Islands National Monument, established in 2013 and representing one of the more unique Bureau of Land Management locations given its tidewater context. Many dozens of recreation sites here are scattered widely within the archipelago of the San Juans, from main islands such as Orcas and San Juan to far-flung spots such as Patos Island, the northwesternmost point in the Lower 48.

Some of the best sea kayaking in the country can be enjoyed here, along with hiking along grassy bluffs and amid wind-sculpted groves of Douglas firs and Pacific madrones. Views extend from the brine to the snowy fastnesses of the Cascade Range and Olympic Mountains. Camping opportunities include the sites on Block Island accessible only by non-motorized boat, while wildlife viewing is rich: from harbor seals and multifarious seabirds to the orcas that reign as the Salish Sea’s superstar emblems.

7. Loon Lake Recreation Area (OR)

A gem nestled deep in the rumpled and resplendently forested knobs and ridges of the Oregon Coast Range, Loon Lake Recreation Area lies about 20 miles southeast of Reedsport on the Pacific shore. Formed by a long-ago landslide, this 260-acre lake reaches nearly 200 feet deep and has long been a cherished getaway for boating, fishing, swimming, and picnicking. You’ll find a 53-site campground accommodating both RV- and tent-camping as well as a day-use area from which you can hop on a quarter-mile trail to a handsome waterfall in the Elliott State Forest.

Be sure to tack on a visit to another nearby BLM site while enjoying Loon Lake: the Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area, which offers good chances of spotting Roosevelt elk, the largest elk subspecies in the world.

8. Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area (NV)

Almost unbelievably close to Sin City—we’re talking a mere 17 miles from the Las Vegas Strip—Red Rock Canyon feels worlds away: a Mojave Desert wonderland of sandstone crags and escarpments edged against the heights of the Spring Mountains. A hotspot for rock climbing, the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area covers just shy of 200,000 acres and also extensive trails for hiking and mountain biking as well as a 13-mile scenic drive. The Red Rock Campground—closed during the scorched summer months—includes vault toilets and drinking water.

Ecological highlights in the National Conservation Area include such Mojave plants as yucca, Joshua trees, agave, and numerous cacti species, as well as critters that range from red-spotted toads and desert tortoises to bighorn sheep and feral burros.

9. The Red Desert (WY)

The sprawling and otherworldly Red Desert of Wyoming’s Great Divide, Green River, and Washakie basins encompasses several million acres of Bureau of Land Management lands. They include such astonishing features as the lonely volcanic neck of Boar’s Tusk, the grand swell of Steamboat Mountain (used by indigenous cultures as a buffalo jump), such badlands as the Honeycomb Buttes and Adobe Town, and the extraordinary Killpecker Sand Dunes. Host to “desert elk,” pronghorn, mustangs, mule deer, pumas, coyotes, and droves of birds of prey, and holding great cultural significance for such Native peoples as the Arapaho, the Shoshone, the Ute, and the Paiute, the Red Desert is a special place indeed.

Image by Jim Black from Pixabay

Both developed and dispersed camping opportunities are abundant here, while recreation ranges from hiking and horseback riding to sandboarding and off-roading.

10. Upper Missouri Breaks National Monument (MT)

The modern-day Great Plains don’t get much wilder than in the Upper Missouri Breaks National Monument, protecting about 150 miles of the Upper Missouri River and its rugged corridor between Fort Benton, Montana, and the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge. This is one of the premier sites for wilderness boating in the Lower 48, with gorgeous badlands and other rock formations—including the famous White Cliffs celebrated in the journals of Lewis and Clark—providing “scenes of visionary enchantment” (as Meriwether Lewis put it) at every bend.

There are several designated Bureau of Land Management campgrounds as well as nearly limitless opportunities for (ecologically sensitive) dispersed camping in the Upper Missouri Breaks.

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