Overview

Mud Hills Campsite #2 (Arch Campsite) is a quiet, undeveloped campsite way out in the desert on flats below the unusual geologic formation called the Mud Hills. The hills actually are sandstone crags overlain by layers of limestone rock.

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.

This campsite, suitable for two or three RVs, is located off a main side road from Gold Butte Road and offers plenty of privacy. The camp area is small and suitable only for one party. This is a scenic place to visit and commune with the history and scenery of this wild and rugged region, and it makes a good basecamp for driving east into Grand Canyon - Parashant National Monument.

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 only work along parts of the paved road.

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 Mud Hills-2 Campsite

Mud Hills Campsite #2 is located out in Gold Butte National Monument at the northeast end of Lake Mead, about of 2-1/2 hours northeast of Las Vegas in a wild, remote, and scenic area.

From Las Vegas, drive out the paved Gold Butte Road to Whitney Pocket. Continue south on the unpaved Gold Butte Road for 9.0 miles to St. Thomas Gap Road (Table 1, Site 0796), a major fork to the left.

Turn left onto St. Thomas Gap Road and drive east about 0.5 miles to a side road left. Turn left and drive east about 100 yards to a turn-around loop and a wide area along the road adjacent to a small sandstone outcrop with an arch. This is the campsite.

Mud Hills Campsite #2

Mud Hills-2 Campsite is a wide spot in a rarely used dirt road, so campers should be sure to leave room for others to get through. There is an alternative road for people who want to get farther out, but there isn't really a point of interest to draw people out other than Mud Hills Campsites #3 and #4.

Next to the campsite, a small sandstone outcrop with two arches sticks out of the desert flats. The outcrop provides a scenic backdrop for the campsite as well as an elevated position from which to sit, eat dinner, and watch the sun go down.

This area is a good kick-off point for ATVs following some of the 500 miles of open road in Gold Butte National Monument and for those driving east into Grand Canyon - Parashant National Monument.