Overview

The Gold Butte Road campsites are aligned down the road between Whitney Pocket and Gold Butte Townsite. These primitive campsites provide more privacy than do the more popular campsites in Whitney Pocket, but they are farther out the main road.

There is no water, and there are no toilets, no trash cans, and no picnic tables. Bring what you need and take it home when you leave. There is truck parking a couple of miles west on Interstate-15 where campers can dump trash without taking it back to Las Vegas.

Gold Butte Road normally is suitable for 2WD vehicles, and the campsites are large enough to accommodate large trailers and RVs.

Link to map.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ... this is a wild and remote area without services of any kind (no restrooms, no water, no gas, no food). Bring what you need to survive. Be prepared and be self-reliant. Someone will find you eventually if you stay on a main road, but be prepared to survive alone for a day or two. Cell phones don't work in this area.

While visiting Gold Butte National Monument, please respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. Also, this is a remote area, so be sure to bring the 10 Essentials, even if you leave them in the car.

Be sure to bring trash bags to clean up after people who care less about wild places than you do.

Getting to the Gold Butte Road Campsites

The Gold Butte Road campsites are located out in Gold Butte National Monument at the northeast end of Lake Mead, 2 hours northeast of Las Vegas in a wild, remote, and scenic area.

From Las Vegas, drive out to Gold Butte National Monument. Drive south on the paved Gold Butte Road for 21 miles to Whitney Pocket. From there, continue south on the unpaved Gold Butte Road.

Gold Butte Road starts out pretty bumpy as if paved in cobblestones, but carefully driven 2WD vehicles should have no problem assuming no washouts.

The first campsite is located on the right, 3.5 miles south of Whitney Pocket (just past a fenceline and old cattle guard gate). The next site is located 8.3 miles out on the left at the end of a short spur road. The third is 9.0 miles out at the intersection of Gold Butte Road and St. Thomas Gap Road. The fourth campsite is located 12.9 miles out, on the left.

Gold Butte Road Campsites

These sites provide a nice alternative to the sometimes-crowded conditions in the Whitney Pocket camp area. Each site is suitable for a single party (group of camper rigs), so except for traffic on the main road, these sites are isolated and campers have the opportunity to experience the grand expanse of a wild desert.

The Mud Hills Corral Campsite is located at an historic corral. People have vandalized the corral to acquire wood for fires, but please don't damage the corral. This is an item of historic interest, and when it is gone, it will be gone forever.