Zion/Bryce Places to Camp

[BillandCarole]

Hi Everyone
Old information and procrastination have struck again. We never suspected that all the reservable RV spaces at Zion and Bryce would be full for the entire month of Sept/Oct. Ouch. We have a 10 day block between my high school 50th reunion in Vegas and the Albuquerque Balloon Festival to fill. We had planned to do it with some camping at Zion and Bryce. Both are booked, leaving only the 1st come, 1st served spaces with no hookups. We can live with the no hookups, but don't want to arrive to find that there is nothing available at all. Any good suggestions out there? Capitol Reefs is the same situation I believe.
Were flexible on the distances, and are pulling a 25ft 5th wheel.
Regards
Bill and Carole

[jwoodie]

Just got back from two week trip to the Big 5 in Utah. Traveled across Nevada both ways- 50 East (hilly) and Extraterrestrial West (boring). Stops & Comments:

Ely NV (KOA good) Great Basin NP (great cave tour & drive up mountain)

Moab UT (Portal RV very nice) Canyonlands NP & Dead Horse SP = jr Grand Canyon
Arches NP is spectacular
Dinosaur bones/footprints & petroglyphs great
Drive up river to Red Cliffs Lodge

Torrey UT (1000 Lakes RV good) Capitol Reef NP (Fruita & Tanks hike great)

Bryce Canyon UT (Ruby's RV fair) Ebenezer's Cowboy Show was great, NP bus tour good

Hurricane UT (WillowWind RV great) Zion NP hike at top great
Switchback Grill is a must

[timandsusan]

Bryce is one of our favorite NPs. Hope you can see a star party at Bryce--they are great because Bryce is one of the darkest places in the continental US! We stayed at the KOA--nice staff and easy to get to.

[BillandCarole]

We will keep it in mind if things don't work out at Bryce.
Thanks
Bill and Carole

[Colo_Native]

Bill and Carol it is between the to on US89.

Bauers Canyon Ranch RV Park
90 W Center St
Kanab, UT, 84741 USA
888-648-2564

[BillandCarole]

Colo Native wrote:
You scared me so I made my reservations. I just booked 3 nights at Bauer Canyon in mid Sept. no problem

Where is Bauer Canyon? Were interested.
Thanks
Bill and Carole

[Colo_Native]

You scared me so I made my reservations. I just booked 3 nights at Bauer Canyon in mid Sept. no problem

[BillandCarole]

All these are great ideas and ones that we try out. Any other ideas are also welcome.
Thanks
Bill and Carole

[jesseannie]

We stayed at the Hitchin Post in Panguitch. Great owners super clean facility. From there we toured: Bryce, Zion, Kodachrome, Red Canyon, Cedar Breaks. It also was convenient to restocking, and laundry while there.
jesseannie

[harley-dave]

If you don't feel like fooling around with this you have Red Canyon just down the road, or even Panguitch which has a nice KOA and the hitch-n-post RV parks.

Dave

[GREGORYJ]

I agree with the above comment about Zion. Make a plan to camp close to the park the day before then go to the 1st come 1st serve campground 1st. thing in the morning (say 8:00am). Walk thru , see who is leaving that morning ( on the site tag). Talk to them to see when they are leaving then tag the spot as soon as they pull out. This has worked for us a couple of times now. We then stayed for a week each time.

[lfloom]

We managed to get a cancellation for our first night at Zion, and then went early the next morning to the other (non reservable) CG. It was easy. Actually, while walking around the night before, we found someone who told us we could have his, so we paid and put our info on the post under his. We also pulled in right after he moved out. So, keep checking the site for cancellations, and if that does not work, then you might need to stay in an RV park outside the gates. BTW, after 5pm, they give away the handicapped sites, if no one has a need for one. Sometimes they allow overflow to use the parking lot. They try very hard to accomodate people.


We did not camp in Bryce because they had one of the CGs closed, so we went to Kodachrome (A lovely Utah SP instead), again, we were lucky to find a 3 night cancellation.

Capitol Reef - if you cannot get there early, there are several RV parks in town, or places to boondock, and then show up the next morning for a site. BTW, Fruita was my favorite CG of our trip - possible one of my favorite ever. We had planned on 3 nights, but ended up staying 6. I would love to go back sometime for the full two weeks.