JUAB COUNTY, Utah (ABC4) – The Utah Bureau of Land Management unveiled the new Little Sahara Recreation Area Visitor Center on Sept. 28. The old center had been in place for 44 years.
The new center is a 3,100-square-foot building that was founded through the BLM Deferred Maintenance Program. The building was built with efficiency and customer service in mind. There are self-pay drop boxes as well as kiosks that accept credit card payments for camping and daily use fees. The center is self-sufficient and all used electricity is supplied by a solar array on the roof of the building.
When asked if perhaps the old building could have been repurposed Mike Gates, the BLM West Desert District Manager pointed out that they had been doing that for nearly 50 years and it was the right move for the time. The new building supports the growing recreation needs of the Little Sahara area.
“This is a place that’s open for business it’s a place where people can come and have fun,” Gates said during the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “It’s a place in BLM that we have set aside where you can just take off and run with your UTV or ATV and just have fun and be safe and do some challenging things.”
Little Sahara Recreation Area offers 60,000 acres of dirt trail networks and sand dunes for OHV use and camping. The recreation area offers 225 improved campsites across four campgrounds. In addition to a Visitor Center and campgrounds, LSRA has a fire station, engine bay and shop, and a bunkhouse for wildfire personnel.
“This place belongs to all of us. It’s our collective responsibility to protect it and manage it for future generations,” said BLM State Director Greg Sheehan. “We are just going to see more and more use out here and again all these facilities will make that more accommodating.”
For more info on The Little Sahara Recreation Area please visit the BLM website.
