Spruces Campground offers one of the most authentic mountain wedding experiences in Utah. It’s a true campground wedding, run by the U.S. Forest Service rather than by a venue: open meadows, old-growth aspens and forest nobody has built up for events.
Couples who choose it tend to be outdoorsy, local and DIY-minded, and what they’re after is a mountain wedding without throwing a ton of money at a venue. You reserve a group site in Big Cottonwood Canyon, and everything past that is yours to plan and carry in.
Spruces Campground Wedding Quick Facts
Location — Spruces Campground, listed by the Forest Service and Recreation.gov as “Spruces – Big Cottonwood,” is 9.7 miles up Big Cottonwood Canyon on SR-190 at roughly 7,500 feet, about 30 to 40 minutes from downtown Salt Lake City.
Capacity — Group sites at Spruces Campground hold 50 to 100 people depending on which one you book, and any gathering of 75 or more on the surrounding National Forest land generally needs its own special-use permit on top of the site reservation.
Cost — Spruces Campground has no wedding rate, and group sites run about $158 to $327 a day depending on the site, plus $10 for each extra vehicle and a $10 Recreation.gov booking fee.
Season — Spruces Campground is open roughly early June through late September, and the opening and closing dates move year to year with the snowpack.
Catering — There’s no caterer and no food service at Spruces Campground, and no power for catering equipment either, so everything arrives with you.
Lodging — There’s no lodge and no guest rooms at Spruces Campground, so guests camp in one of the overnight group sites or book one of 4 glamping yurts nearby.
Coordinator — There’s no in-house coordinator at Spruces Campground, because it’s a Forest Service campground run by a concessionaire rather than an event business.
Accessibility — Spruces Campground has paved driveways and walkways at its developed sites, and publishes no ADA statement beyond that.
Pets — Dogs aren’t allowed at Spruces Campground or anywhere else in Big Cottonwood Canyon, because the canyon is a protected drinking watershed, and service animals are the exception.
Curfew — Amplified music and sound aren’t allowed at any Spruces Campground group site, generators go off at 10 p.m., and quiet hours run 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Spruces Campground Wedding Info
A wedding at Spruces Campground is a campsite reservation rather than a booking with a venue. There’s no rate card, no coordinator and no inventory, and the question that shapes the whole day is what the Forest Service will and won’t let you do on the ground you’ve reserved.
Ceremony Sites at Spruces Campground
The ceremony site is the open field by the ball field, ringed with aspens, and it belongs to Group Site GRP1 rather than to the cabin.
GRP1 is listed for up to 50 people, though the field takes a large standing ceremony, and a standing crowd fits more people onto the same ground than a seated one does. So a bigger group isn’t automatically out, but don’t assume the field holds as many as the 100-person cabin.
The campsite itself is full shade, holds tents, trailers and RVs up to 35 feet, and parks 10 vehicles on a paved driveway. No amplified music or sound is allowed at the site, which means no microphone for the vows.
Reception Spaces at Spruces Campground
The reception space is the cabin, Group Site GRP9, a historic Forest Service building with a fireplace, full shade and room for up to 100 people. It’s a little cabin, sized for a casual reception you’ve put together yourself. Couples have used it for receptions and rehearsal dinners.
There’s no electricity in the cabin, lit candles aren’t allowed inside it, and the driveway holds up to 20 vehicles. GRP1 and GRP9 sit close enough that couples have run the ceremony in the field and the reception at the cabin on the same day, though whether both can be reserved together as one event through Recreation.gov is worth asking before you commit to that plan.
Getting Ready, Lodging & Guest Logistics
There’s no getting-ready room and no lodge at Spruces Campground. Couples and guests camp in one of the overnight group sites, GRP1, GRP5 or GRP6, or book one of 4 glamping yurts nearby for up to 8 people. Restrooms are flush toilets.
Water hasn’t been reliable the past couple of seasons, since the natural spring that supplies the campground has run dry, so plan on bringing your own and having your vendors do the same, and check the current status before you count on it.
Group sites take at least 5 days’ notice to book, with a 2-night minimum on weekends and 3 nights on holiday weekends, and cancelling within 14 days of the date forfeits the full site fee.
The canyon road stays open all year for Solitude and Brighton ski traffic, but the campground’s own season is much shorter, so a date at either edge of it should account for UDOT’s traction law on SR-190. Dogs aren’t allowed anywhere in the canyon apart from service animals, the same watershed restriction that covers Alta Lodge, Alta’s Rustler, Alta Peruvian, Snowpine and Snowbird.
Catering & Vendors at Spruces Campground
There’s no exclusive caterer and no food service of any kind at Spruces Campground, so every plate comes in from somewhere else. There’s no power for catering equipment and no amplified sound anywhere on site, which rules out a plugged-in DJ rig or a PA, and every vendor needs to know that before they quote you.
Alcohol is fine for a private group serving invited guests. Selling it, whether that’s a cash bar or a bar folded into an admission charge, pulls in a Single Event Permit from Utah’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services.
Any gathering of 75 or more people on the surrounding National Forest land generally needs a special-use permit on top of the Recreation.gov reservation, and outside vendors may need their own authorization, so start that conversation with the Salt Lake Ranger District early.
Spruces Campground Wedding Cost
Spruces Campground has no wedding rate card and no wedding package, because it isn’t one venue. It’s a set of separately reserved group sites, each with its own fee.
Overnight sites like GRP1, GRP5 and GRP6 run about $251 a night for up to 50 people and one vehicle. The smaller day-use picnic sites run $158.56 to $180 a day. The larger day-use tiers run $307.43 for 100 people and $326.81 for the pavilion site.
Recreation.gov shows the current fee for each site before you pay, so check GRP9’s own figure there when you go to book the cabin.
Extra vehicles are $10 a day, firewood is $9, and every Recreation.gov booking carries a $10 service fee.
The 4 glamping yurts nearby are $119 a night for up to 8 people.
Dogs aren’t allowed anywhere in the canyon, and the fine has run as high as $650.
Cancelling a group site within 14 days of the date forfeits the whole use fee. Cancelling the day before or the day of costs $10 plus the first night’s fee, and a no-show past the next day’s checkout costs $20 plus all use fees.
A special-use permit for a gathering of 75 or more is a separate cost from the Salt Lake Ranger District, and it isn’t published.
The rest of the budget is whatever you hire and carry in. Sites book through Recreation.gov or by phone at 1-877-444-6777.
A Photographer’s Take on Spruces Campground
I’ve photographed a wedding here, and my take is that Spruces is a wonderful spot for couples who want to get married in the mountains and don’t want to throw a ton of money at a venue. It’s rustic and low-key.
The open field surrounded by aspens is a great place for a ceremony, particularly a large standing one, and the little cabin and the ground around it are fit for DIYers putting together a casual reception.
On the photos, know what you’re getting. There are some wooded spots that work well. There are no big mountain views. Open shade and trees are what this site gives you, and if you want the more epic pictures, you have to venture out by car, which is a 20-some-odd-minute drive.
Real Weddings at Spruces Campground
See Jenea and Andy’s Spruces Campground wedding.
Spruces Campground Wedding FAQ
How much does a wedding at Spruces Campground cost?
There’s no published wedding rate. Group sites run roughly $158 to $327 a day depending on which one you take, plus $10 for each extra vehicle and a $10 booking fee. Everything else, food included, is what you hire and bring.
How many guests can Spruces Campground hold?
50 to 100 people depending on the site. The cabin is the 100-person one. Past 75 guests, a gathering on the surrounding National Forest land generally needs its own special-use permit on top of the site reservation.
Can you bring a dog to a Spruces Campground wedding?
No. Big Cottonwood Canyon is a protected drinking watershed and dogs aren’t allowed anywhere in it, service animals excepted. There’s a fine for bringing one up the canyon, so leave the dog down in the valley.
Is Spruces Campground ADA accessible?
The developed sites have paved driveways and walkways, and nothing further is published. Call the Salt Lake Ranger District with the specific needs in your party before you reserve a site.
Does Spruces Campground have an in-house wedding coordinator, or do you need your own planner?
There’s no coordinator. It’s a Forest Service campground, not a managed venue, so nobody there is running your timeline. You’re doing it yourself or hiring someone, and with no power and no water, that hire earns their fee.
What time of year can you get married at Spruces Campground?
Roughly early June through late September. The exact dates move each year with the snowpack, so check the current season before you set one.
Spruces Campground Contact Info
Salt Lake Ranger District, Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest
6914 South 3000 East, Cottonwood Heights, UT 84121
801-733-2660
sm.fs.uwc_info@usda.gov
Details verified against Spruces Campground’s published Forest Service and Recreation.gov materials on August 7, 2026. We’re actively inquiring with Spruces Campground for up-to-date information. Venues change terms between seasons, so confirm current pricing and permit requirements with the Salt Lake Ranger District before you budget.
Similar Wedding Venues
Storm Mountain Amphitheater is further down Big Cottonwood Canyon, a stone amphitheater built by the Civilian Conservation Corps and booked through the same Forest Service reservation system.
Millcreek Inn is a wooded canyon venue in Millcreek Canyon, with a covered pavilion built over the creek.
Log Haven is also in Millcreek Canyon, an old-growth property on 40 private acres with a waterfall.
The rest of them are in The Best Utah Wedding Venues: A Photographer’s Guide.
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