Campground Suggestions in Southern Utah

[Jude]

Hello FGT Friends:
My husband and I will pick up our 17’ Casita in Rice -May 1st. We will head west to Southern Utah, St George area. We are looking for suggestions for campgrounds ( Zion is full).
Thanks!
Judy & Ed

[rbryan]

Don't expect most of the popular parks to be available unless you've made a reservation up to a year in advance. I'm serious. Sometimes it's even longer. Having said that, see if you can find a spot at Kodachrome Basin SP. Close to Bryce, very nice place, and well run. I highly recommend it.

[Raz]

I agree, Kodachrome is a gem.

If Arches NP is on your list, between Moab and Arches you will find route 128. Along that route there are numerous (over 20) BLM campgrounds right on the Colorado River. Very nice. They were all first come first serve a few years back but these days you never know. Safe travels.

[Carol and Mike]

Just off the road between Arches NP and Canyonlands NP (313) are several BLM campsites. We stayed at Horsethief Campground BLM in September. First come first served. Plenty of available sites early afternoon, full by dark. No hookups but level concrete pads, picnic table and great views. Mike

[thrifty bill]

Snow Canyon State Park in St George. While the National Parks fill up immediately (six months in advance) the state parks don't. Lots of hiking in Snow Canyon SP. Its a gem. We camped there last May, made reservations a month in advance.

National Park hookup sites tend to be half foreign visitors in rental RVs. For whatever reason, they overlook state parks. So National Parks tend to be booked immediately (six months in advance), state parks tend to have sites.

Utah state parks can be booked on line.

If you are traveling further, Wonderland campground in Torrey, Utah is one of our favorites. Just outside Capitol Reef NP, right on highway 12 (the most beautiful road in America), 100 miles from Bryce Canyon.

By mid May, St George can be pretty warm to hot. Torrey weather will be better.

St George got as hot as 105F last May, Memorial Day weekend...

[Jack L]

Utah is my favorite camping destination. I'm sure you will have a great time. In addition to campgrounds, Utah has lots of dispersed or "boondocking" opportunities. If you are into primitive campsites, National Forest and BLM land is everywhere. A good thing to have for your adventure would be a Benchmark or Delorme Atlas (about $25 on Amazon)which will show many other options.

Expect large crowds in the National Parks in May. We were in Zion in late May and it was very crowded. Hopefully, you have allowed plenty of time to see Southern Utah. 4 weeks would be nice, 2 weeks is cutting it short.

[fortunare]

Usually you have to be an Elk but not always. We joined the Elks after buying our camper from an Elk who told us about the 1100 Elk Lodges that have RV sites at their lodge. Aside from being free or half the price of local campgrounds, you can use the eating, drinking, etc. facilities of the lodge. Best $ we ever spent. We've camped at Elks Lodges in 16 states so far and rarely been even a bit disappointed.

[tschager]

One of my all time favorite campgrounds anywhere is Sand Hollow Lake, just outside St. George and Hurricane. Crystal clear water and really nice red rock formations. The campsites, if I recall, are all pull-throughs and are huge. As mentioned previously, there are a lot of campgrounds in the area and Kodachrome Basin (if you can get a campsite) is amazing as well as being close to Bryce.

If you are interested in camping in the high country, the area around Cedar Breaks, off Hwy 14, is one of the most beautiful places I've seen. Look at Duck Creek if you are interested in this area. Make sure to check on the weather though. It's at about 11,000 to 12,000 feet and not impossible to get a surprise.

You are going to be traveling to one of the greatest places for scenic, outdoor activities. Make sure to leave plenty of time because you will otherwise wish you had set aside more time. I live in SC and can't wait to get back out that way. Make sure to visit Moab and if you like to hike or mountain bike, it's a must see. Give yourself more than 3 days though.

Have fun!

[rgrugg]

Canyonlands NP campgrounds.

[Doninut]

Camping in S. Utah

Before I give you information you cannot or don't wish to use I need to know if you know how to boondock or are willing to learn. If you simply MUST have full hookups I won't have much to tell you.

I will mention this, however. Very near the west entrance to Zion N.P. there is a first come first served campground. If you arrive early and are near the first in line you will probably get a site. One thing that often works is one stay with the rig while the other wanders through the campground watching for someone getting ready to leave. Ask them if they would mind if you went ahead and filled out a tag for their site. If it's OK, fill out the tag, post it and just wait for them to leave and move in.

Let us know what kind of camping you do.

DoninUT

[Jann Todd]

Originally Posted by fortunare

Usually you have to be an Elk but not always. We joined the Elks after buying our camper from an Elk who told us about the 1100 Elk Lodges that have RV sites at their lodge. Aside from being free or half the price of local campgrounds, you can use the eating, drinking, etc. facilities of the lodge. Best $ we ever spent. We've camped at Elks Lodges in 16 states so far and rarely been even a bit disappointed.

How do you find the Elk's campgrounds? Is there a website or book? We are always looking for something like that. We stayed in one once.

[Jude]

Originally Posted by rbryan

Don't expect most of the popular parks to be available unless you've made a reservation up to a year in advance. I'm serious. Sometimes it's even longer. Having said that, see if you can find a spot at Kodachrome Basin SP. Close to Bryce, very nice place, and well run. I highly recommend it.

Thank you for the info. And you are correct- we tried making reservations in December and the NPs were booked. We will definitely check out Kodachrome.
J.

[Jude]

Originally Posted by Doninut

Camping in S. Utah



Before I give you information you cannot or don't wish to use I need to know if you know how to boondock or are willing to learn. If you simply MUST have full hookups I won't have much to tell you.



I will mention this, however. Very near the west entrance to Zion N.P. there is a first come first served campground. If you arrive early and are near the first in line you will probably get a site. One thing that often works is one stay with the rig while the other wanders through the campground watching for someone getting ready to leave. Ask them if they would mind if you went ahead and filled out a tag for their site. If it's OK, fill out the tag, post it and just wait for them to leave and move in.



Let us know what kind of camping you do.



DoninUT

Thank you for the tip!
Since we are new to this, we will probably start out with hook ups and hopefully graduate to boondocking.

[stude]

Originally Posted by Jude

Hello FGT Friends:
My husband and I will pick up our 17’ Casita in Rice -May 1st. We will head west to Southern Utah, St George area. We are looking for suggestions for campgrounds ( Zion is full).
Thanks!
Judy & Ed

:Zion is always full one now has to book way in advance to get a spot in there so best to find spot on outside then drive up real early in AM and use their bus system which really works well as one only has to wait a few moments in between each bus to get a ride.
Peter

[Jude]

Originally Posted by stude

:Zion is always full one now has to book way in advance to get a spot in there so best to find spot on outside then drive up real early in AM and use their bus system which really works well as one only has to wait a few moments in between each bus to get a ride.

Peter

Thanks!

[Jude]

Originally Posted by tschager

One of my all time favorite campgrounds anywhere is Sand Hollow Lake, just outside St. George and Hurricane. Crystal clear water and really nice red rock formations. The campsites, if I recall, are all pull-throughs and are huge. As mentioned previously, there are a lot of campgrounds in the area and Kodachrome Basin (if you can get a campsite) is amazing as well as being close to Bryce.

If you are interested in camping in the high country, the area around Cedar Breaks, off Hwy 14, is one of the most beautiful places I've seen. Look at Duck Creek if you are interested in this area. Make sure to check on the weather though. It's at about 11,000 to 12,000 feet and not impossible to get a surprise.

You are going to be traveling to one of the greatest places for scenic, outdoor activities. Make sure to leave plenty of time because you will otherwise wish you had set aside more time. I live in SC and can't wait to get back out that way. Make sure to visit Moab and if you like to hike or mountain bike, it's a must see. Give yourself more than 3 days though.

Have fun!

Got it! Thanks for the info!

[Jude]

Originally Posted by Jack L

Utah is my favorite camping destination. I'm sure you will have a great time. In addition to campgrounds, Utah has lots of dispersed or "boondocking" opportunities. If you are into primitive campsites, National Forest and BLM land is everywhere. A good thing to have for your adventure would be a Benchmark or Delorme Atlas (about $25 on Amazon)which will show many other options.

Expect large crowds in the National Parks in May. We were in Zion in late May and it was very crowded. Hopefully, you have allowed plenty of time to see Southern Utah. 4 weeks would be nice, 2 weeks is cutting it short.

We can't wait. Thank you!

[thrifty bill]

I've camped at Zion dozens of times over the years. I've always been able to drive up and get a non-hookup site.

A couple of tricks: show up during the week, Monday through Thursday. By Friday and through the weekend, forget it.

Arrive at 10AM or earlier.

As someone else pointed out, have a second person scout out sites for you while you are driving the RV. Don't be choosy! Pick the first site that works. All the sites are good, waiting for the perfect site means someone else is grabbing the other sites and you could miss out.

As far as sites with a hookup (electric only by the way), six months in advance. Once you have a non-hookup site, check with the ranger station at the hookup campground. Although they are all booked six months in advance, they do get last minute cancellations, and people do leave early. You can score a hookup site at the last minute that way.

There are no showers at any of the park's campgrounds, in fact, there is no hot water either. Showers can be had directly over the pedestrian bridge in Springdale, easy walk, for $4. Since campsites are so cheap in the National Park, they are still worth it.

It is not unusual to see a long backup of cars into town at the gate of a mile or more. Staying inside the park at a campground, you not only avoid the daily backup, but you have a parking spot inside the park which is hard to find.

We were last there November 2017. The park closed to cars by 1PM as all of the parking was full. No shuttle buses in November, so you were really SOL. In May 2017, we saw the longest bus lines ever! At the visitors center, the bus line looked like straight out of Disney World, serpentine line, going back and forth. We waited through several buses before we were able to get on one.

We've been going to Zion every year since 1979. The crowds have continually grown, and are now huge. They are so popular, and crowded anymore year round, not just during the summer months. We still enjoy Zion, the hiking is excellent and the views are great.

[Jack L]

I think Zion is the Crown Jewel of Utah National Parks, with Arches and Brice very close and tied for second place.

[k0wtz]

bill this sounds like branson mo I hate going there but my son lives there. in the 70s lake Ozark was like this one tiny bridge matter the fact the dam was the bridge. come sunday people would wait hours to get out of there this was before the branson experience. someone told me the state and others spent a billion dollars at lake of the Ozarks. now you can fly right through there but with this it has hurt their business! cant win either way!!