I'm taking a trip to Utah in the fall (end of Sept) and probably going to travel down to the North Rim of the G Canyon on by way back to Las Vegas. What are the best campgrounds to stay in while visiting? How much do these grounds cost to tent camp at? Are they very busy at this time of year?
Thanks!

There's only one NP campground that I know of on the North Rim. It probably costs about $12-14 per night, but it's been 3 years since I last stayed there. We made reservations in advance last time, but in September, you may be able to get a site withot a reservation. We probably went to the www.nps.gov website to find the number to call.

There are some other campgrounds north of the park, but it takes an hour to drive in from them. I've camped for free in the national forest just north of the park boundary. In that case, a ranger told us to drive at least 1/2 mile from the main road and pitch our tent where it wasn't visible from the road. We asked if there were any other rules, and he said "just don't make a mess". Since then we have camped a lot in national forests. We tend to like them better than national parks.

As Travellyn has mentioned there is only one campground in the park at the North Rim. You can find out more information here:

http://www.nps.gov/grca/pphtml/camping.html

I would stay in the park if you can. You will be a lot closer to the canyon.

Utahtea

I stayed at the North Rim campgrounds a few years back in mid-September and they were not even half full. The sites are pretty close together on flat land with tall trees. In the middle of the night through early morning, the deer all come out - TONS of them! There are toilets at the campground, and shower rooms just a short walk away (from what I remember). The cost for camping was cheap, but I don't remember the exact price. It would be worth it to stay at the N.R. campgrounds rather than out of the park because you can walk many of the trails starting from there. It's just a short walk to the lodge (gorgeous!) and an even shorter walk to the convenience store which I think also served food (like pizza and burgers).

For more info on camping outside the park boundary at the North Rim, go to

http://www.azcentral.com/travel/gran...ing.html#north