Zion and Bryce NP camping quesstion

[Gsturner]

Mr. Spontaneity here. This Friday, I will be swapping out my behemoth 34' Rockwood on a brand-new Winnebago View 24M in Phoenix. I still have a week before I have to head home.

Plan (in my head at least) is to head to Zion and Bryce Canyon for about 2 days each. An early morning search shows Watchman Campground RV sites full for this weekend :(, but a few slots open on Monday. Since I have no idea of capabilities/capacities for the new View, I am leaning toward having electricity available. Any input regarding A) what to expect in the View and B) recommendations for camping in/near these two parks. Note--I will have my Suzuki GZ250 on a trailer for this leg of the trip. I'll have to determine riding conditions an a day-to-day basis, but would love to explore both parks (on-road only) on two wheels:C.

[Gsturner]

Veebyes wrote:
Almost invariably the dry CGs inside the parks have the best sites.

Rubys outside of Bryce by a few miles is a typical FHU CG. Sites close together, not very roomy & not cheap.

A whole new camping world is open to you with something the size of the View. You can easily fit in any site. Just leave the big ones to those of us who can't fit in the little ones please. Much appreciated.

Appreciate the input--I believe small will serve me well. I will certainly respect the need of others in respect to the pull-through and longer back-in sites.

I ALMOST have everything packed for the swap out tomorrow (after another sleepless nite :Z Gonna knock off for an hour and go enjoy the weekly jam session at Escapees North Ranch clubhouse.

[Veebyes]

Almost invariably the dry CGs inside the parks have the best sites.

Rubys outside of Bryce by a few miles is a typical FHU CG. Sites close together, not very roomy & not cheap.

A whole new camping world is open to you with something the size of the View. You can easily fit in any site. Just leave the big ones to those of us who can't fit in the little ones please. Much appreciated.

[4runnerguy]

Watchman is a nice natural setting. Often full on weekends as people from Las Vegas and SLC travel there. No hookups in Bryce, so you'll have to stay at Ruby's outside the park.

You will probably encounter snow in the campgrounds in and near Bryce. Looks like decent temps (40's and 50's) in the days but cold (15-25) at night.

[tragusa3]

We LOVED the Watchman! We had a large site and privacy. The ranger programs at night were great. Walking to the shuttle wasn't exactly close...but doable.

[gazingm42]

We go to Zion at least 2 times a years since we live close enough. I am
not a fan of Watchman Campground. I just think it too crazy and over traffic
near the park.

We always stay in Virgin UT and the River Resort.

The other option in Bryce is Ruby Inn as someone else posted.

[GordonThree]

FYI NO shuttle this time of year. I visited both parks in December, Bryce was very cold but not very busy. Zion was very warm (in my Michigan opinion) and very busy.

Watchman had lots of mostly children from California (young adults?) They'd roll in early after noon, setup tiny tents, have a fire, and then around 2-3 am, leave their tent for their subcompact, and let it run till about 6am (luckily very quiet). Then they'd pack-up and leave.

Each site has power, and there's lots heated bathrooms (no showers just toilets). Each restroom building had a large sink for washing dishes and filling water jugs. The dump had two hose for filling fresh holding tanks, only one was functional.

The vast majority of Watchmen was gated off, I guess to create a false impression that they're busy. It's a huge campground but only a handful of sites were open when I visited.

If you don't mind a ~20 min drive, stay at Kodachrome State Park east of Bryce. It's cheaper than just about anything else, and the sites were providing EWS during my visit in December.

[kohldad]

Since you want power, Ruby Inn just outside of Bryce will be the choice. I didn't care for being crammed together, but did work out well for location.

For Zion, I've never stayed there, but suppose to be a couple of private campgrounds a few miles west of the park. This time of the year, can't imagine traffic into the park would be bad in the least. My wife will be jealous, Zion is the park she wants to go back to the most.

Enjoy your new View.

[tpi]

Watchman sites have electric but no water or sewer. There is a dump station with fresh fill on the premises which is reasonably convenient. In general the sites are large and reasonably level and no big deal to visit the dump station during your stay (in class C).

[scrubjaysnest]

There are a couple of private CG's at the entrance to Bryce.
Red Canyon(USFS) is what we prefer near Bryce; no hook ups.

[ReneeG]

We stayed at Watchman when we went and loved it. They had E but no water, so we filled up prior to leaving Ruby's Inn near Bryce. At Watchman, we just walked to the shuttles. At Bryce, we stayed at Ruby's Inn and again walked to the shuttle.