Campers and recreationalists have taken full advantage of Tooele Valley’s canyons and campgrounds this summer as both Settlement Canyon and South Willow Canyon — the two canyons that charge fees — have seen an increase in recent use.

According to Tooele County Parks and Recreation Director Mark McKendrick, reservations for Settlement Canyon’s 12 RV campground spots are booked solid on Friday and Saturday nights through September. The other 20 to 25 tent spots scattered throughout the canyon are first come, first serve.

“It’s been increasing quite a bit over the last few years,” McKendrick said. “When the economy went bad, things picked up. I think people are staying local.”

In addition to the RV spots, which cost $15 for full electricity, water and sewer hook-ups, McKendrick said there’s a group site near the top of the canyon containing 10 tent spots. Open camping — at any of the tent sites — costs $5 per vehicle while a day pass is $2. Maximum stay at these sites is seven days.

“We’ve had several weekends this year where the whole canyon has been booked up and there’s not a spot to camp in,” McKendrick said, adding that some prefer to camp without any facilities, meaning in a location without an established camp site. “Financially we are up over last year.”

In 2009, McKendrick said the county brought in just over $47,000 in camping and use fees.

Camping in undeveloped sites is where Kathy Jo Pollock, spokesperson for the U.S. Forest Service, which oversees the six campgrounds in South Willow Canyon, has seen more canyon use.

“I think there has been a little bit of an increase up on the north end of North Willow Canyon,” Pollock said. “It’s open to off-road vehicles and it’s in an area where ATVs can be used. North Willow Canyon is more dispersed and it doesn’t have any developed sites so there are no fees.”

Pollock added that the campgrounds in South Willow are generally full on weekends. There are no reservations as those sites are on a first come, first serve basis.

All of South Willow’s campgrounds can hold eight people at each campsite and cost $12 per night for single campsites. The Cottonwood Campground has two campsites, Intake Campground has four campsites, the Boy Scout Campground has six single sites — one double site and one group site that can accommodate 35 people, Lower Narrows has three single sites, Upper Narrows has five single campsites and two group sites — one holds up to 30 people while the other holds up to 50 — and Loop Campground has eight slots with one being a double campsite holding 16 people.

Like Settlement Canyon, the use of South Willow decreases during the week and picks up again on weekends.

“Most people may go up Thursday night and stay till Sunday,” she said. “Others will go up Friday and stay till Sunday, so it’s mostly more than one night.”

Although summertime usage is up, Pollock said the use of South Willow Canyon over the course of the year has stayed relatively consistent from year to year.

“Because we had part of the canyon closed last year and again this year due to wash outs in the road, at that point it wasn’t used as much,” Pollock said. “But the use has been about the same for the last three or four years.”

Settlement Canyon is also home to Camp Wapiti, which is used for various camps and Boy Scout activities throughout the summer. McKendrick said the cars that pass the toll booth bound for Wapiti aren’t logged — because they aren’t using Settlement Canyon campsites — but sometimes 200 people could be traveling to Wapiti for a single event.

While the toll booth does reservations from April through the end of October, the county Parks and Rec department takes care of reservations the rest of the time.

“We start reservations for next year on Jan. 1 through April,” McKendrick said. “We have some people waiting on the first day we’re open. They’re the ones who know how to do it.”

Missy Thompson: missy@tooeletranscript.com