Utah in July..... A/C question.

[cardtarget]

Hey all, we'll be touring Grand Canyon and the Utah NPs in July. My main question is, which ones AREN't at altitude and would require hookups for A/C?

We're staying at Trailer Village at the Grand Canyon and Watchman at Zion. Other than that, nothing booked yet and we're planning on going to Bryce, Arches, Canyonlands, and Capital Reef.

[Lauren]

Just remember while you are out hiking your RV is cooking with no A/C and takes a long time to cool off; if at all.

[retispcsi]

Hiked Zion in the summer of 2015. It was 103 but doable.

[Searching_Ut]

There is a lot of variability in temperatures in Southern Utah due to elevations ranging to over 10000 feet in some camping areas. Zion, the Vermillion cliffs etc. July temps are often between 100 and 110 during July, but it does tend to cool off at night, albeit sometimes till fairly late. A lot of that area has really dark skies, so staying up till midnight and taking in the stars isn't necessarily a bad thing. Trick is to have a site where you'll be shaded when the sun is on the eastern horizon so your rig doesn't heat up as soon as the sun comes up in the AM.

Unfortunately, almost every year we have deaths in the southern part of the state from hikers that underestimate the heat. Take lots of water, considerably more than you think you'll need, know your limits, and try to avoid hiking in the hot part of the day. I love exploring the area all times of year and you just have to adapt for each season.

[4runnerguy]

One can get by w/o AC at Bryce. Good elevation (8000') and lots of trees around many of the sites.

For Arches and Canyonlands, it will be pretty hot and with few trees, shade is tough to come by. There are some BLM sites along the Colorado River along UT 128 that get good shade in the morning and/or evening which might work since you'll probably be touring all day. No reservations for those, though and it will still be pretty hot.

At Capitol Reef, the CG is in an old orchard and some sites have shade from those trees. But it's still hot there. You might consider also camping at Singletree NFS CG off UT 12. About 25 miles and 35 minutes to Capitol Reef, but at 8250', much cooler.

The good news is that most nights, the desert cools off nicely. The bad news is it's still blazingly hot in the daytime.

[Camreal]

Have stayed in southern Utah several times in July and the shade is very important.

[cardtarget]

That's what I'm thinking. Most of the time we'll be hiking and sightseeing during the day via buses in the national parks anyway.

[ppine]

The good places to stay don't have hookups a lot of the time. A/C is not a requirement, but a luxury. Find shade and take it easy during mid day. Nights are no problem in the desert. We used to drive through that country in cars with no A/C.

[Sandia_Man]

Most any part of the country you are RVing in during the month of July will require some AC usage, at least during the mid to late afternoon hours. Even at high elevation, this may be the case in the locations you mentioned.

The good thing about these destinations is they tend to cool down nicely as the sun goes down, and since it's July and monsoon season is upon the four corners states, afternoon showers greatly cool the area if they should pass your way.

We do lots of RVing off the power grid during July in the very same region (from 6K' to 9.5K' elevation) and expect to run our AC via genny at least a few hours daily to stave off the heat, we usually power down in the early evening.

[Thunder_Mountai]

In my opinion, you will need air conditioning at all locations except perhaps for Bryce.

[agesilaus]

Zion (valley floor) and Arches will be very hot if the weather is normal. Bryce is at 8000-9000 ft and is usually cooler. Canyonlands and Capital Reef are variable depending on your location. Hiking in some of CRNP canyons can be blistering since the walls concentrate the heat. The solution for the hotter areas is to get up early and hike in the morning or wait until late afternoon/early evening when the temps -may- be a bit lower. In the summer the sun may not go down until almost 9 PM. Also you can find areas where you can hike in the shade in some of the parks. Not in Arches tho, at least on any of the trails I've been on.

No matter where you are carry a lot more water than you would back east. 2 Liters per hiker would not be too much. The combination of high temps and low humidity dry you out rapidly.

[CarnationSailor]

There are numerous websites where you can look up the elevation of any location on the earth. Or just Google the name of the location followed by the word "elevation".