Navajo Lake
Navajo Lake, Spruces, and Te-Ah campgrounds on the south shore, the 1927 lodge cabins, and how to get a site above 9,000 feet
Navajo Lake sits at about 9,000 feet on the Markagunt Plateau, roughly 3 miles long and half a mile wide, with a lava flow damming its east end. A paved Forest Service road runs along the south shore, and three Dixie National Forest campgrounds sit on it. Counting the cabins at Navajo Lake Lodge, the Forest Service says there are approximately 120 improved campsites near the lake. Navajo Lake Campground is the one on the water, with 11 walk-in tent sites a short carry from the shore and a dirt landing for small boats. Spruces is the reservable one, 28 sites under the trees. Te-Ah is the biggest and the quietest, 40 sites plus a group site near the west end, with paved loops, a dump station, and no off-highway vehicles allowed inside.
All three are simple campgrounds. There are no hookups and no showers at any of them; you get a fire ring, a water spigot somewhere in the loop, and a toilet building. They open in late May and close in early September, earlier than Duck Creek Campground, because Navajo Lake Road is never plowed and nights at this elevation turn cold fast. This page covers the three lake campgrounds and the lodge cabins. For Duck Creek Campground at the village, the free designated dispersed sites at Uinta Flat, and the current fire rules, use the area camping guide.
In order from Highway 14: Spruces back under the trees at about 2.5 miles, Navajo Lake Campground on the water at about 3.5, the lodge at 4, and Te-Ah near the west end at about 5.5. Road miles are measured on the OpenStreetMap road from the turnoff; the Forest Service pages round them. Fees are the 2026 figures; verify at booking.
| Campground | Where on the lake | Sites | Fee (2026) | Reservations | Water and toilets | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Navajo Lake | On the south shore, about 3.5 miles in from Highway 14 | 27: 12 single, 4 double, 11 walk-in tent | $30 single, $60 double, $23 tent | Mostly first-come, first-served | Spigots, flush toilets, accessible vault toilet; dirt boat landing | Tents and small boats right at the water |
| Spruces | South shore under the spruce, about 2.5 miles in, the first campground from the highway | 28: 24 single, 1 double, 3 walk-in tent | $28 single, $56 double, $23 tent | recreation.gov or 877-444-6777 | Drinking water, flush toilets | Booking a site ahead of a summer weekend |
| Te-Ah | Near the west end, about 5.5 miles in, about 9,200 ft | 40 single plus 1 group site (up to 20 people) | $28 single, $68 group | recreation.gov or 877-444-6777 | Drinking water, flush and vault toilets, dump station, paved roads | Trailers, groups, and quiet; OHVs prohibited inside |
Spruces, Navajo Lake Campground, the lodge, and Te-Ah along Navajo Lake Road, with the boat landings. Road miles are measured from the Highway 14 turnoff on the OpenStreetMap road.
Navajo Lake Campground is about 3.5 miles in from Highway 14, a mile past Spruces, and the only one of the three that sits right on the water. It has 27 sites: 12 single, 4 double, and 11 walk-in tent sites. The walk-in sites are the reason to come. They are the closest to the shore, they cost $23 instead of $30, and because you carry your gear in from a parking spur, nobody is idling a truck beside your tent. Recreation.gov counts the same campground as 16 standard sites, 1 double, and 11 tent sites, so do not be thrown when the numbers on the two pages disagree.
A primitive dirt boat landing inside the campground lets you slide a canoe, kayak, or small boat into the lake without driving on to the lodge ramp half a mile west. Water comes from spigots, there are flush toilets and an accessible vault toilet, and there are no hookups. Most sites are first-come, first-served. The 2026 rate on recreation.gov listing is $30 for a single site and $60 for a double; the Forest Service page still lists $28 and $56, so treat the figure you see at booking as the one you will pay.
Spruces sits on the south shore at about the same distance in as Navajo Lake Campground, but back from the water under the spruce that give it its name. It is the middle campground in size, 28 sites: 24 single, 1 double, and 3 walk-in tent sites, with drinking water and flush toilets. Single sites are $28, the double is $56, and the tent sites are $23.
What makes Spruces different is that you can reserve it. Sites book on recreation.gov or by phone at 877-444-6777, which means a family driving up from Las Vegas or Salt Lake on a Friday afternoon can have a site waiting instead of gambling on the first-come loops next door. On a holiday weekend that matters; the lake campgrounds fill. The shade is the other thing. With the sites tucked under the trees, Spruces is darker and more sheltered at night than the shoreline sites, which is a plus in August wind and a minus if you came for the view from the tent door.
Te-Ah is the farthest in, about 5.5 miles from the highway near the west end of the lake, and the highest, at about 9,200 feet. It is also the largest: 40 single sites and one group site for up to 20 people, on paved campground roads, with drinking water, flush and vault toilets, and the only dump station of the three. Single sites are $28 and the group site is $68, both reservable on recreation.gov or at 877-444-6777.
Two things set it apart. Off-highway vehicles are prohibited inside the campground, so nobody is warming up a side-by-side at 7 a.m. next to your site; riders trailer the machines and drive to a trailhead. And because it sits at the end of the road past most of the lake traffic, it is the quietest of the three. Pick Te-Ah for a trailer, a group, or a week when sleep matters more than the view. It is set near the west end rather than on the shoreline, so the water is a short drive, not a short walk.
Navajo Lake Lodge has been on the south shore, about 4 miles in from the highway between Navajo Lake Campground and Te-Ah, since 1927. It rents 11 rustic cabins with kitchenettes, bedding, towels, and basic kitchenware. There are no refrigerators in the cabins, so bring a cooler and plan on ice from the general store. The lodge has a fish cleaning station, rents boats, and runs the boat ramp; the $10 ramp fee is waived for cabin guests. As of September 2026, rentals run from $40 for two hours on a kayak or paddleboard to $335 for a full day on a 24-foot pontoon, life jackets included. Prices and season dates change, so call (702) 646-4197 before you count on anything.
The cabins are the middle ground between a tent and a hotel: a roof and a bed at the lake, but rustic, and only in season. If you want the lake by day and a real bed, heat, a full kitchen, and a hot shower at night, our cabins and rooms at Duck Creek Village Inn are 15 minutes east, close enough to be on the water at first light. We run the inn, so weigh that accordingly.
Spruces and Te-Ah take reservations on recreation.gov or by phone at 877-444-6777. Navajo Lake Campground is mostly first-come, first-served; its recreation.gov listing shows the current rates and whatever can be booked. For a first-come site on a summer weekend, arrive Friday morning rather than Friday evening, and have a fallback in mind. All three fill on holiday weekends.
The rules are the same across the three campgrounds: a 14-day stay limit, check-in at 2 p.m., check-out at 11 a.m., quiet hours from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., dogs on leash, fires in the rings only, and no fireworks.
If everything at the lake is full, Duck Creek Campground at the village has 86 single sites at $30 and stays open later into September, and Uinta Flat off Strawberry Point Road has free designated dispersed sites with no water and no fees. Both are covered on the area camping guide.
The lake is at 9,035 feet and Te-Ah is closer to 9,200, so this is the highest camping around Duck Creek Village. July highs at the lake run about 75 degrees and lows about 45, an estimate interpolated from NOAA normals at Alton and Brian Head, and the area guide's warning about August nights in the 40s applies here more than anywhere. Bring a bag rated well below the daytime forecast, plus a hat you can sleep in. Check the Duck Creek weather page the day you leave.
Afternoon thunderstorms are routine from July into early September, and the lake is the highest, most exposed water near the village. Fish and paddle in the morning; when thunder starts, get off the water and into the vehicle. Afternoon wind is normal on the plateau too, so mornings are the calm window for a kayak or paddleboard.
Campfires go in the fire rings and nowhere else, and only when restrictions allow. Stages tighten through the summer, sometimes more than once. Check utahfireinfo.gov and the Dixie National Forest alerts page on the drive up, and again if you stay more than a few days. Dogs are welcome on a leash.
From Duck Creek Village Inn, drive west on Highway 14 about 4 miles to Navajo Lake Road, Forest Road 053. The road is paved, wraps around the east end of the lake, and follows the south shore: Spruces at about 2.5 miles, Navajo Lake Campground at 3.5, the lodge at 4, and Te-Ah at about 5.5, near the west end. Figure 8 miles and 15 minutes to Navajo Lake Campground.
From Cedar City, it is 25 miles east on Highway 14 to the same turnoff, about 40 minutes of climbing. Highway 14 is a mountain road; check road conditions before towing early or late in the season. Navajo Lake Road is not plowed. Once the campgrounds close in early September, the next time you can drive to a lake campsite is late May. In between, the lake is a 9.2-mile snowmobile trip from the Duck Creek trailhead, covered on our winter guide.
Everything below starts within a few miles of the campgrounds.
September 2026
We are innkeepers in Duck Creek Village, not rangers. Site counts, fees, and seasons come from the Forest Service campground pages and recreation.gov as of September 2026, and lodge details from navajolakelodge.com the same month. All of it changes; the sources below are where to verify before you drive up. The Cedar City Ranger District at 435-865-3200 can answer anything this page cannot.
Quick answers for planning a night or a week at the lake.
Navajo Lake Campground is mostly first-come, first-served; its recreation.gov listing shows what can be booked and the current rates. The two neighboring campgrounds, Spruces and Te-Ah, take reservations on recreation.gov or by phone at 877-444-6777. For a first-come site on a summer weekend, arrive Friday morning.
For 2026: Navajo Lake Campground is $30 for a single site, $60 for a double, and $23 for a walk-in tent site on recreation.gov (the Forest Service page still lists $28 and $56). Spruces is $28 single, $56 double, and $23 tent. Te-Ah is $28 single and $68 for the group site. There is no entrance fee for the lake itself.
All three open in late May and close in early September. Navajo Lake Road is not plowed, so outside that window the campgrounds are closed and the lake is reached by snowmobile.
No. None of the three campgrounds has electric, water, or sewer hookups, and none has showers. Te-Ah has a dump station and paved campground roads, which makes it the easiest of the three for a self-contained trailer or RV.
There is a primitive dirt boat landing inside Navajo Lake Campground for small boats. The developed ramp is at Navajo Lake Lodge, half a mile farther along the road, $10 to launch and free for cabin guests. Utah requires everyone launching any watercraft, including kayaks and paddleboards, to complete the free Mussel-Aware Boater course and carry proof.
Navajo Lake Campground. Its 11 walk-in tent sites are the closest to the shore of any site on the lake and cost $23. Spruces has 3 walk-in tent sites at the same price and can be reserved.
Not in the campgrounds. They close in early September and Navajo Lake Road is not plowed. The lake is a 9.2-mile snowmobile trip from the Duck Creek trailhead in winter, and the nearest heated beds are in Duck Creek Village.
Yes, on a leash, at all three campgrounds.
About 8 miles and 15 minutes: 4 miles west on Highway 14 to Navajo Lake Road (Forest Road 053), then about 3.5 miles of paved road around the east end to the campground; Spruces comes first at 2.5 miles. From Cedar City it is 25 miles east on Highway 14, about 40 minutes.
Navajo Lake Lodge, on the south shore since 1927, rents 11 rustic cabins with kitchenettes, bedding, and towels but no refrigerators. Call (702) 646-4197 for rates and season dates. Duck Creek Village Inn, 15 minutes east, has cabins and rooms with heat, full kitchens, and hot showers.
Rooms and cabins at Duck Creek Village Inn are 15 minutes from the Navajo Lake campgrounds, with heat, hot showers, and a kitchen for the nights the mountain does not cooperate.
