Utah’s Keg Knoll Airstrip Reopens to Backcountry Pilots

The Recreational Aviation Foundation (RAF) continues to celebrate successes across the country as the organization recently added another reopened airstrip to its “Expanding the Map” initiative. 

After an effort led by RAF Utah liaison Wendy Lessig, Keg Knoll Airstrip in the central part of the  Beehive State is the latest addition to the initiative, which aims to open or reopen more than 15 backcountry airstrips before the end of the year.

Lessig spent more than three years advocating for the Keg Knoll Airstrip’s reopening, including organizing various meetings with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in an attempt to determine a pathway forward to reopening after its 2019 closure. 

Established in 1963, Keg Knoll Airstrip spent decades as a thriving backcountry landing spot for adventurous pilots looking to experience the red rocks above the San Rafael Desert. However, in 2019, as the Donald Trump administration passed the Dingell Act, an omnibus piece of legislation concerning the funding, management, and conservation of public lands, Keg Knoll was effectively closed after the airstrip was placed within the newly established Labyrinth Canyon Wilderness area.

Much of Lessig’s coordination with the BLM was centered around exploring if the airstrip could be reopened under the Wilderness Act of 1964, which gives authority to local management bodies like the BLM to permit the continued use of aircraft or motorboat activity on lands where such actively was established before being designated a protected area.

In early 2026, the BLM prepared an environmental assessment of the airstrip following formal petitions to reopen Keg Knoll from both the RAF and the Utah Back Country Pilots Association (UBCP). In August, the BLM approved the reopening of Keg Knoll for backcountry use, while subjecting the airstrip to certain conditions to protect the wilderness area. 

“One thing that makes Keg Knoll airstrip unique is the accessibility of the relatively easy 2-mile hike to Colonnade Arch, also known as Five Hole Arch,” Lessig said in an RAF news release. “We will need help from all the pilots who visit Keg Knoll airstrip to be good stewards to help protect and preserve the wilderness environment for this special airstrip.”

A future work party is being organized for the fall to install a windsock and make additional improvements at the airstrip. 

According to the RAF, the airstrip remains in good condition but as part of the reopening pilots should note that 700 feet of the original runway at the south end are now closed and will be marked with rocked X’s. The remaining 2,000-feet of runway are in operation.

Keg Knoll stands as the fifth project to open under the RAF’s Expanding the Map initiative and second in Utah, following Taylor Flats Airstrip in Daggett County—an effort also led by Lessig.  

The organization also recently announced the opening of Fly Rocky Top, a network of five backcountry airstrips across east Tennessee aimed at providing pilots unique access to the Smoky Mountains.