Sheep Creek Canyon — Carmel Campground (Ashley NF)

Highlights

• ▶ Drive through the Sheep Creek Geological Loop — 13 miles of vertically tilted rock strata exposed in roadside walls that reads like a 300-million-year geology textbook cracked open
• ▶ Free or near-free forest camping 2 miles from Manila with Sheep Creek stream access — pairs naturally with Flaming Gorge (15 mi south) as a 2-day gorge circuit
• ▶ Carmel Campground is genuinely uncrowded even in summer — most Flaming Gorge visitors stay at the reservoir marina campgrounds and skip the canyon entirely

Planning Notes

14 sites; free or nominal fee. Paved UT-44 to 1-mile gravel spur. Vault toilets; no potable water on-site (stream adjacent, treat before use). Manila (2 mi) has fuel and small grocery. From Austin: ~17.2 hrs via I-20 W to I-25 N to US-40 W to UT-44 N.