Car camping options near Zion

[bsideindy]

My wife and I plan to spend the upcoming Columbus Day weekend in Zion car tent camping. We plan to arrive on Thursday 10/10. We are thinking a few days in Zion and then a day in Bryce.

Watchman Campground is full. Typical as I usually wait till the last minute to get things going.

What are our options? We could try first come first serve at South Campground. Is it worth taking a chance? Or is this likely going to be full?

Are there any other options around like private campgrounds?

[abraham]

We camped right across from the old red bull rampage site, next the the creek last year. There were plenty of sites, don't know if it's public, private or what. I just went with and met up with some friends

[itsnowjoke]

Zion Camprground and Resort.

It's right in Springdale, the tent sites are right on the river. Great location. When Watchman is booked, this place always has openings. It's a little more expensive and arguably not as nice as Watchman, but it has showers, a pool, and is in a great location for pub crawling or simply sitting with your feet in the river after the days adventure. zioncamp.com

Another option is Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. It's more remote, but in relatively close proximity (+\- 40 minutes) for day trips into the park. And the stars shine brightly there.

[Alaskan Rover]

Are you talking about car-camping WITHIN the park or just outside the park? Answer is it deends on the vehicle....if you have a decent 4wd...you can get yourself a nice remote campsite away from the prying eyes of the Park Rangers. Just remember to bring the camouflage netting to throw over the vehicle and you should be fine for a few days. Me and my GF had some obscenely beautiful remote sites in some of the most famous parks in US and Canada using this technique and my land rover. The key and an absolute rule for us is to TREAD LIGHTLY...no spinning of tires while offroad and no littering.

If you're talking about standard campgrounds with barbques and showers and yelling kids...who in hell wants that?

[EEC]

I'm with ak rover on this one, i did a x country trip with my girlfriend a couple years ago and we rarely paid for camping sites. We spent two nights about 20 min from Zion, don't remember exactly where it was but we just found a spot on a remote dirt rd.

[RedWolf]

Just look up a BLM map for the area and pick a quiet spot. There's a couple right outside the park, and like someone said earlier, over by Pink Coral Sand Dunes SP, there's a ton more. Free and quiet - much better than Zion's campground any day...

[old goat]

we stayed at a private campground (there was also a motel on the same property) just outside the gates. small sites, trash, lots of loud people, dust. Best we could get. Tons of sites. I'm sure you can find it on the internet. It would be my last choice though.

[itsnowjoke]

we stayed at a private campground (there was also a motel on the same property) just outside the gates. small sites, trash, lots of loud people, dust. Best we could get. Tons of sites. I'm sure you can find it on the internet. It would be my last choice though.

That's the one I mentioned. RV Land. But close. The fall crowd is way more mellow than the summer crowd.

[rideit]

Gooseberry Mesa FTW

[Touring_Sedan]

Gooseberry Mesa FTW

Nah, the road up and down from Rockville is heinous. I'd much rather camp around Guacamole.

[rideit]

Well, what you are trading for the drive is STUPENDOUS morning/evening views of Zion, georgeos sun on red Navajo sandstone.
I think it's worth every bit of the drive...but I enjoy rallying up that thing myself.
Guacamole area is good for pulling over and sleeping, though.

[Cayuse]

When Cayusette and I got to Zion last May everything was full so we turned around at the east gate and grabbed a site at Zion Mountain Ranch just outside the boundary. It was crowded and noisy but we survived and then moved on to Bryce where we got a site in the park that was MUCH better.

[brutah]

Zion Camprground and Resort.

It's right in Springdale, the tent sites are right on the river. Great location. When Watchman is booked, this place always has openings. It's a little more expensive and arguably not as nice as Watchman, but it has showers, a pool, and is in a great location for pub crawling or simply sitting with your feet in the river after the days adventure. zioncamp.com

Another option is Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. It's more remote, but in relatively close proximity (+\- 40 minutes) for day trips into the park. And the stars shine brightly there.

don't listen to this boner. plenty of free camping outside of zion...... just find the right road. otherwise, have fun camping with a bunch of douchebags like itsnojoke at a resort campground

and if you camp within zion boundaries watch the weed consumption, the park ranger that lurks watchman will certainly bust you

[brice618]

Gooseberry Mesa FTW

I found this place last spring on a whim after not getting reservations and was thoroughly pleased.

[ate'em]

don't listen to this boner. plenty of free camping outside of zion...... just find the right road. otherwise, have fun camping with a bunch of douchebags like itsnojoke at a resort campground

and if you camp within zion boundaries watch the weed consumption, the park ranger that lurks watchman will certainly bust you

Brutah bringin it strong. Agree on all points.

[Alaskan Rover]

Well, what you are trading for the drive is STUPENDOUS morning/evening views of Zion, georgeos sun on red Navajo sandstone.
I think it's worth every bit of the drive...but I enjoy rallying up that thing myself.
Guacamole area is good for pulling over and sleeping, though.

Exactly, Rideit!!! To me any journey, including life I guess, is defined by the road or trail or seas that GET you there. The motto aboard my ketch has always been: "The journey IS the reward!!"...and I use that same viewpoint for pretty much anything I do. When we get to a new area, whether for hiking or single-tracking or boarding, we try to spend whatever daylight is left scoping out forest trails or atv routes that my land rover will fit on and just go until we find a particularly beautiful spot...we always know when we find it and I've always had a sorta "radar" for finding out of this world offroad camping spots.

Oddly...such offroad camping only seems possible in the west, northwest and alaska. In the east you can drive around for hours and not find ANY spots that is not someone's driveway or too close to a backyard except places in maine, vermont adirondacks or west virginia...too damned crowded other than those places.

But out west or in ak...the river beds are great for camping near...just watch out for flash floods in southwest!!!!!

[that dude who did that thing]

Good god, you're an idiot.

You obviously know nothing about the east. You break laws that are actually there for a reason and think it's just part of your "journey," and are entirely unfamiliar with the "tragedy of the commons." And you blissfully pretend that driving a 3,000 pound vehicle down a forest trail leaves no impact despite the fact that you've probably left scars all over the American West.

[bsideindy]

thanks for the suggestions everyone. looks like the Zion campground in Springdale is our best option as we need to reserve something.

stealth camping and just winging it finding a good road is not going to work on this trip.

[ate'em]

fkna might as well reserve your spot at the old folks home now too
talk about your nice lawn some

[Conundrum]

I bet his car is more in the 5-6,000 lb range but I'm still with him on this deal. I don't make new roads but if there is an existing path, I'd rather be where it will take me than an "official" campsite.

[that dude who did that thing]

Conundrum, we have more than sufficient space to do that in Idaho. There is no such thing as sufficient space for the crowds that clog our National Parks, which is what he was talking about.

Honestly, would you drive into Yellowstone just because you found a trail wide enough for your rig?

[Conundrum]

No, never. That could land you in some deep shit regardless of your philosophies. But I would find a road that offered me "close to" camping with a view. There are pretty good BLM maps that show roads and park boundaries for Zion and the other desert parks in Utah. If you look at those, you can find plenty of places to stay just outside the boundaries. I thought that is what they were talking about. Ninja camping in NPs is looking for trouble.

Are you talking about car-camping WITHIN the park or just outside the park?

[that dude who did that thing]

It was AKRover's willingness to drive into places like Zion NP (one incredibly crwoded joint to begin with) that prompted my response. That, and his complete ignorance about public land conditions in the eastern US (I spent much of my formative years goofing off in 1.6 million acres of public land in the George Washington and Thomas Jefferson National Forests, among others).

I completely agree that the west has more than enough land to recreate without using commercial campgrounds. But NOT if you want to be in a National Park.

[brutah]

Conundrum, we have more than sufficient space to do that in Idaho. There is no such thing as sufficient space for the crowds that clog our National Parks, which is what he was talking about.

Honestly, would you drive into Yellowstone just because you found a trail wide enough for your rig?

plenty of "established" campsites (ie, has a fire ring) down dirt roads right outside of zion and most national parks in the west. if i'm short on time or don't feel like driving around a bunch, i usually go to the local gear shop/book shop/coffee shop, buy a map and ask the person who sells me the map where the free camping is and any other beta i'm curious about. people are typically very helpful. or i find it by driving down roads, pay attention when your headed to trailheads. the best part of the western US to me is the amount of public lands. So many places to camp for free throughout the west, just be respectful, plenty of areas get closed due to douchebags and their trash such as mosquito cove right down the road from springdale.

typically if a car isn't allowed on a trail, it is made clear with a sign and then a barricade of some sort. I don't condone breaking laws or rules to camp in a particular area and if you need camo for your rig then you are most likely breaking laws, plenty of free places to camp in the west and finding those sweet spots is half the fun.

[Conundrum]

And really, we're pretty low impact. We usually don't build a fire, we pick up our trash, no traveling off roads, and we even take a PETT toilet and carry our own shit out. Yes, the bad apples ruin some things but typically, those type of people don't find the best spots because they don't know how to camp without a fire ring.