I am always on the lookout for a great place to camp, but I never expected to find such a nice campground in the popular Big Cottonwood Canyon. Big Cottonwood Canyon is just minutes from downtown Salt Lake City and can be an extremely busy place to find a nice wilderness experience, but we found one!
Redman Campground is a beautiful campground with large shade trees, a sparkling river, and huge campsites. I think the most important thing for me when I’m camping is that I don’t feel crowded in by my neighbors. Plus, this particular time just so happened to be Jackson’s first time camping (he was 5 weeks old) so we wanted to be as far away from people as we could in case he cried all night. He actually slept in until 9 a.m.! This child is a born camper hallelujah.
What You Need to Know
So, Redman Campground is at a higher elevation than most of the other activities you will do in the canyon (it’s right in between the Brighton and Solitude ski areas). This means that you could encounter snow on the ground pretty late into the summer season depending on the year. Be prepared for any weather though, because we had a crazy camping experience. It was 95 degrees down in Salt Lake City, but 50 degrees at our campsite. It snowed on us…..in August. The nights were frigid.
A few sites are reservable, but most are on a first-come, first-serve basis so I showed up in the morning around 10 a.m. to snatch up our site for the weekend. It does fill up so plan to get there are early as you can. Check-in is in the afternoon so I just headed back home to wait for John to get off work, but you can find some great hiking trails in the area if you prefer to stay up in the canyon.
Redman Campground is $23 per night and has flush toilets and running water.
Getting Here
From Salt Lake City, take I-215 to the 6200 South exit and travel east to Wasatch Boulevard. Take Wasatch Boulevard for one mile south to the junction with Big Cottonwood Canyon/Highway 190. Make a left at the junction and travel up Big Cottonwood Canyon for 14 miles. The dirt road to Redman Campground will be on your right.
My husband wants to take the Scouts to Spruces or Redman next weekend–any suggestions for snatching up a first come-first served double site? How does the whole FCFS thing work–we’ve only dome reservable sites before. Love your website–thanks for the great suggestions and info!
Hey Melissa! My rule for snatching up FCFS sites is always the early bird gets the worm…especially on a weekend. I honestly would try to get there by 9 a.m. or so to make sure you can get something. People will probably still be in their campsites, but if they are checking out that morning then you can pay for and reserve the site with the campground host even before the people have vacated the site.
Redman will fill up first and only has one double site, so you would be more likely to get 2 separate sites than one double. Spruces is much larger, won’t fill as quickly, and has more double sites so it will be easier to get into. There are some great hikes in the area if they need to pass the time while waiting for the people to checkout of their site…I like Donut Falls, Willow Heights, Brighton Lakes, or the Silver Lake area.
Hope that helps! -Ash
Thank you for the tips!
No problem! I hope that you were able to find a great campsite!
I love Redman! We also camp in Spruces often which is just lower than Redman. I love the family hiking options in BCC. Another of my favorite places to camp in the summer is the Uintas – specifically Butterfly Lake.
I totally agree Angee! I have never been to Butterfly Lake…thanks for the recommendation! I am planning a few visits to the Uinta’s this summer. Anywhere else you like?