South Temple Wash

Overview South Temple Wash is a fee campground in the San Rafael Swell Recreation Area. Recreation South Temple Wash campground is located along the Temple Mountain Road on the east side of the Reef. A short distance back to the east of the campground is the turn to go to Goblin Valley State Park.

Turning west before the entrance of the state park will lead to Little Wild Horse Canyon, a popular hike for many in a slot canyon. From the campground and driving west on the Temple Mountain Road will lead to the Temple Mountain Pictograph Panel, a short drive further is Temple Mountain Townsite. Here visitors can hike to reclaimed uranium mines.

Opposite Temple Mountain Townsite is The Behind-the-Reef Road and it is accessible to most vehicles for six miles, accessing several trailheads for hikes into the San Rafael Reef Wilderness. Two of these (Chute Canyon and Wild Horse Canyon) are accessible for horseback riders. The road continues for another 14 miles requiring high clearance and four-wheel-drive as it follows the rugged base of the reef against a backdrop of 500-foot cliffs and jagged canyons.

After about seven miles, the road narrows to a maximum vehicle width of 50 feet. More wilderness slot canyons hikes can be accessed from this road. Motorized vehicle use is not permitted in wilderness.

Facilities South Temple Wash has two vault toilets and an information kiosk. All campsites have fire rings, flat gravel surfaces, and picnic tables. Natural Features The campground is at the Eastern mouth of a short, steep canyon (Temple Wash) which cuts through the San Rafael Reef.

One of the most distinctive geologic features of central Utah, the Reef is a 75-mile-long rocky spine that reaches up to 1,000 feet high and forms the eastern edge of the San Rafael Swell. The Temple Mountain area provides acces to many scenic slot canyons, hills, and spires cut from red and white rock.