AMERICAN FORK — Only one campground in the Uinta National Forest is closed this Labor Day weekend.
However, fire restrictions are in effect outside other campgrounds and picnic sites, said spokeswoman Loyal Clark.
Little Mill campground in American Fork Canyon is closed all year for reconstruction.
For updates, check the Uinta National Forest Web site at www.fs.fed.us/r4/uinta/.
Fees for family camp sites and for group sites are up, the first increase in five years for Uinta National Forest campgrounds, Clark said. Fifteen percent of the fees go back to the campgrounds for repairs or replacement of aging facilities.
In the Spanish Fork Ranger District some campgrounds on the Nebo Loop were closed because of the Salt Creek Fire. But Ponderosa Campground, Bear Canyon Campground and Cottonwood Canyon Campground — between Ponderosa Campground and Bear Canyon Campground — should be open by Labor Day, Clark said.
Other Nebo Loop campgrounds that were closed because of the fire are now open, including Blackhawk and Payson Lakes Campground and Maple Dell Boy Scout Camp. Santaquin Canyon is open and includes Tinney Flat Campground and Camp Koholowo.
Campers should bring in their own water if camping at the Whiting Campground. The only water available is for flushing toilet operation.
Vehicles with trailers are not permitted to park at the Whiting Campground trailhead from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Those vehicles must park at the lower equestrian parking lot to allow parking for hikers at the trailhead.
In Diamond Fork Canyon, Three Forks Trailhead was temporarily closed last year after spring runoff washed out a culvert. The trailhead and parking lot were both destroyed.
The culvert may be repaired before Labor Day, however, Clark said.
The area is still accessible via Sheep Creek road at the Fifth Water trailhead. (Sheep Creek road is off U.S. 6 about 11 miles east of Diamond Fork canyon.) The Fifth Water trailhead is located about 15 miles up Sheep Creek Road.
The Uinta National Forest has banned camping in undeveloped Diamond Fork Canyon sites from its intersection with Spanish Fork Canyon at U.S. 6 continuing 12 miles east to an area known as Tanner Ridge. This restriction is to allow for rehabilitation of the areas disturbed by the recent construction of the Diamond Fork water system.
Check with the Heber Ranger District (435-654-0470) before heading to the Mill Hollow Campground, Clark suggested. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources drained Mill Hollow Reservoir because it failed to meet state dam safety criteria.
Because of increased bear activity in Utah, the Uinta National Forest rangers are warning campers about how to cope with them. They advise campers to keep food and garbage away from sleeping areas. Bears can smell food a mile away.
Included in that advice:
Don't leave food in fire pits, set it ablaze and walk away. Rangers advise campers to "pack it in — pack it out."
Be clean. That includes you, your campsite or your cabin. Even perfumes, lotions and colognes can attract bears.
Don't feed bears. They may look tame but they are wild and predatory and can attack at any time. Bears can run faster than 25 mph and climb trees as fast as squirrels.
Lock food and garbage in the trunk of a car. Don't leave coolers out. Campers may also suspend food and garbage 8-10 feet high and 4 feet from a tree at least the length of a football field away from their sleeping area.
Don't leave food or cook food in the tent or near your sleeping area.
Sleep in clean clothes. Leave other clothes, especially if you cooked in them or spilled food on them, with the food.
If you come across a bear, leave it alone. The bear will usually move on.
If a bear is close, back slowly away, or scream, yell, make noise and try to scare it away. If it attacks, be aggressive and fight back. Black bears will usually run.
Bears killing humans is rare. In the last 100 years, black bears have killed just 28 people in North America. A young man was killed in American Fork Canyon recently after he was dragged from his tent by a bear.
However, black bears usually leave before people are aware of them.
To reserve a campsite:
Cost: $14 on the Heber and Spanish Fork Ranger Districts, $13 on the Pleasant Grove Ranger District
Web: www.recreation.gov.
E-mail: rodger@desnews.com