Delegator

Hi. I've read many of the posts with great interest as we're going to GC- South Rim, Bryce and Zion (starting and ending in Vegas) in a few weeks.

We're planning on camping at GC, Bryce and maybe at Zion (we also have a reservation right now at Desert Pearl which we may keep or we may cancel -- it depends a bit on the weather as Zion could be really hot, so I'm told, in early Sept.).

Though I've searched, I haven't been able to find any recent posts about the campgrounds (car camping, not RV) at GC-South Rim, Bryce and Zion. Does anyone have any comments, recommendations, information about these campgrounds? Parcitularly, which site at GC South Rim would you recommend. Also, we plan on 2 nights at each park -- but are contemplating staying at Kodachrome rather than Bryce and would like any info./opinions on that decision as well.

Also, I'm having trouble locating info. on the availability of showers at these campsites.

Any info. would be great. Thanks so much.

Michael

The village in Bryce has showers and laundry facilities available. The same is probably true in the other National Parks. Grand Canyon may be popular any time of the year, so make sure you arrive before noon to have a campsite. We stayed at the east end (the closest camp site if coming from the north). Cedar Breaks is another nice area, a little higher than Bryce. If it gets too cold in Bryce (we had snow flurries in the middle of June), you can drop down to Kodachrome State Park for warmer nights. If you have a 4 wheel frive, there is a dirt road that runs from Escalante, down the middle of the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, to Big Water. But there is nothing but high desert between the two towns. Check on conditions before doing it.

utahtea

Just got back from a vacation in this area.

At the S. Rim of the Grand Canyon we like Mather Campground. If you stay in the park you can walk to the nearby shuttle bus stop and ride them and not have to worry about find parking spaces. We had made reservations for Mather but the campground did not fill up and this was early August. There are pay showers just before the entrance to the campground and anyone can use them.

If you want to stay outside of the park then I recommend the National Forest Campground just a few miles south of the S. Rim Vistor Center called Ten-X.

The campgrounds in Bryce are nice and it was already mentioned that there are pay showers there. Kodacrome Basin is a state park and they have showers too. If you decide to stay in Bryce you can walk to the rim in a few minutes from one of the campgrounds. Also they know have free shuttle buses in Bryce.

I love the campgrounds in Zion. Both are on the Virgin River. There are no showers in the park but you can go just outside the park entrance, ride the shuttles to the Zion RV park and pay to use their showers. We were just there and it was over 100 degrees but putting on our bathing suits and cooling off in the Virgin River really helped. It cooled off at night.

Utahtea

Delegator

Thanks to both of you. Utahtea, I feel honored to have received a response from you!

Do you have an opinion as to whether we should stay at the campgrounds at Bryce or at Kodachrome? I know it'd be easier to answer if we could tell you where we'll be during that time, but we haven't figured that out yet. Right now, all we know is 2 days GC-South Rim, 2 days Bryce (with a visit to Kodachrome during those 2 days), 2 days Zion.

Thanks again!

utahtea

I've only been to Kodachrome Basin State Park once and it was a overcast day and it just didn't do that much for us. A sunny day might have made a difference. The campgrounds are in an open area vs a forested area in Bryce.

I think you will find more to do in Bryce and so that might be a factor. It's only 26 miles from Kodachrome to Bryce Visitor Center but the road is slow and will take almost an hour to travel one way. I think I would stay in Bryce just because of that and take a day trip to Kodachrome.

I don't think you will have to much problem getting campsites anywhere as long as you get to places early in the day. The Mather campground takes reservations but it didn't fill up when we were there in early August. Bryce campgrounds might fill up earlier in the day.

Have a good trip. September is a great time to go.

Utahtea

travellyn

I camped at Zion and Bryce, then visited Kodachrome in June this year. Like Utahtea, I was underwhelmed by Kodachrome. I'd also choose Bryce over Kodachrome, just because it's prettier and more convenient. Although the tent sites at Bryce were close together, there was a calmness about the place that I really enjoyed. There wasn't water available at each site; you had to walk to a central area near the restrooms to get it. I think the showers were $2, and they were fine. The campground to the north at Bryce was officially closed, but they seemed to open it up to overflow campers on some days. The Bryce shuttle system was pathetic, especially after the efficiency of the Zion system.

The Watchman campground at Zion was nothing special. We stayed there because we could get reservations, but I don't think we'll be back. The sites weren't attractive, and there was inadequate shade. At Zion, it seemed like the RVers got the more convenient loops.

utahtea

travelyn,

I've never seen the tent sites at Watchman, so I'll take your word on it. The RV sites with electrical are really nice. We just had a really shady spot right on the Virgin River at Watchman campground.

South Campground which is a first come first serve campground has a lot of big trees with shade. It's more of a tenters campground and also close to the river. Getting a spot at South shouldn't be a problem if you can make it there by mid day.

Utahtea

Delegator

Thanks all. We're back. At GC, we stayed at Mather, having made a reservation. We arrived late (just before sunset) and got a spot at the beginning of a loop (# 106, 108, something like that -- how quickly we forget!). Most of the spots are on loops off the main road. Being the first spot means that all of the cars turning into the loop pass your site. It was a bit noisy, but it was fine. The site was large and flat. It was pretty near the bathroom which was good and bad. Good -- obvious. Bad -- the lights from the bathroom are very strong and stay on all night -- we could see them through our tent. It wouldn't have been dark anywere else, though, as there was almost a full moon! Overall, a good experience.

The market by the Yavapai cafeteria had pretty much everything you could want in terms of food. Not sure about comparison prices, but they seemed fine to us.

The showers were fine -- 1.25 for 5 minutes. No wait. As clean as can be expected. The joke was that I only needed one shot but my DH had to up his input as he was still soaped up when his water stopped!

The location of the campground was fine -- we just walked out to the nearest shuttle stop. In addition to the car noise on the loop, there is some main road noise at the campground. Given that it was my first time really camping, I expected more quiet and more darkness, but I still enjoyed my stay at GC camping and if I were to do it again, I'd just get there earlier and be more picky about my site location.

At Bryce, we arrived mid-day to find most of the spots in the tent only loops taken (they reserve 2 loops for tents only). They don't take reservations and they have a strange way of signing up for sites. You arrive at a big board and look for the open sites. You then go, put your stuff down, and drive back out to pay/fill out your paperwork. It was a bit of a free for all as only a few of the sites in the tent only loops were still available. Walkie Talkies would have been helpful!

We ended up with a site in loop B which was just a little slanted. It was fine though, and just a few minute walk from the rim. I had no idea how wonderful it would be to climb out of my tent and walk less than 2 tenths of a mile to the rim for the sunrise. I highly recommend camping at Bryce.

The showers were near the camper store (which wasn't that great -- if you're going to cook at your site, I'd pick up food outside the park). They were 2$ and fine, though a little less clean than those at the GC. My drain didn't work, which was a bit gross. I don't know how long they were as I finished before the water ran out and shut it off. My husband said he thought it was about 10 minutes. They were quite hot.

We ended up not camping at Zion. We stayed at the Desert Pearl, which was better than could be expected. It was great. I've posted elsewhere about it.

If anyone has any questions about the camping part, I'd be happy to help.

utahtea

Delegator,

We've had some good and bad spots at Mather. Our last site was perfect!

As for being the first site, it really doesn't matter cause the cars go around the whole loop so the go by every site. Being on the end you might get more noise from the main campground road.

Delegator

After discussing this with my husband, he concurred with you, Utahtea, that the most noise we had was from the main campground road and the people in the site next to us who were running their generator after quiet hours! Still, we had a great time and are dreaming about our next trip ...

Photodog

If you want to make reservations ahead of time for Grand Canyon or Zion (Bryce not yet on the system) call up http://reservations.nps.gov/. There is no reservation fee unless you cancel. You can not choose your site but at least will be assured of having one without getting into camp early in the day.