Community Forums

Giffordst · 03-08-2016, 03:36 PM

We are planning a trip to southern Utah to visit the National Parks in May. We are not towing so we are going to rent a car. We would like to find a campground to take day trips out of. We would love to not have to move around. Any ideas on good CG location and where to rent cars? Thanks, bigbossy

UTTransplant · 03-08-2016, 04:54 PM

If you mean to visit all 5 of the Utah National Parks, you will need to stay in more than one place. Start at Zion in the southwestern corner. My favorite spot is Watchman Campground. If you stay there, the Zion shuttle will get you to wherever you want to go. Then head east. At Bryce you can stay in the park or at Ruby's Inn. The park shuttle picks you up at either place. Canyonlands, Arches, and Capital Reef don't have shuttles. Moab will have rental cars, and it is a good place to camp. Lots of private campgrounds available; we usually stay at Spanish Trail. I don't know about rental cars near Capitol Reef or Canyonlands; you might have to keep the rental from Moab those days. For camping, either stay in Moab and take long drives or move. We stay in the park campgrounds when we go to either spot.

The only real problem park is Arches. Get there early in the morning as it gets incredibly crowded by 9 or 10 am. The line to the entry gate can stretch for well over a mile, and when that happens there will be no parking at the trail areas inside.

Note there are some great Utah state parks in the area too. Goblin Valley, Kodachrome Basin, and Deadhorae Point are all great. Enjoy your trip!

twogypsies · 03-08-2016, 09:21 PM

I agree. You can't do all the southern Utah national parks from a base camp. You need to move to the parks. I see from your profile that you have a 22' Class B so moving would be very feasible. You wouldn't even have to bother renting cars. Have a good trip!

TMan59 · 03-09-2016, 08:25 AM

We are in Watchman campground in Zion as I type this. Shuttles start next Sat. Watchman is inside the park.
We did a day trip to Bryce yesterday and Rubys is just outside the park, with the shuttle stopping there.
Both these parks are seriously more amazing than anything I could imagine.
In Zion, you are on the bottom looking up.
In Bryce, you are on the top looking down.
We hiked the Queens Garden trail down the canyon at Bryce and back up the Navajo to the top.

Giffordst · 03-11-2016, 06:16 AM

Thanks for info just what we needed. We are trading in our roadtrek for 30 ft ACE. How long would you recommend, 3 or 4 days at each park?

UTTransplant · 03-11-2016, 06:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Giffordst

Thanks for info just what we needed. We are trading in our roadtrek for 30 ft ACE. How long would you recommend, 3 or 4 days at each park?

It really depends on how much time you have. You can spend months in southern Utah and still have things to see. Three to four days per park is a good start.

TMan59 · 03-11-2016, 08:34 AM

If you like hiking, which I highly recommend, 3 or 4 days is needed to do the great hikes available.
That's doing 3-5 miles a day.

Giffordst · 03-11-2016, 09:01 AM

Any recommends for places to visit around Salt Lake City? Campgrounds ? Going here after NP?

twogypsies · 03-11-2016, 08:09 PM

We stay at Jordanelle State Park. It was a reasonably day trip into the city. It's also easy to tour Olympic Village at Park City. It's a beautiful area for drives in the boonies.

UTTransplant · 03-11-2016, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Giffordst

Any recommends for places to visit around Salt Lake City? Campgrounds ? Going here after NP?

The KOA on North Temple St in SLC is actually a nice park. It is on the Trax line (light rail) that provides access to anywhere you want to go. The other nice in-town campground is Pony Express on the north end of SLC. You will need a rental there though because it doesn't have access to public transportation. There is also a no-hookup campground in Antelope Island State Park. Wonderful place if the biting gnats aren't out (stay away April through August) with hundreds of bison, lots of pronghorn, coyotes, and even some mountain sheep plus the most gorgeous sunsets in the entire valley, looking over the Great Salt Lake.

SLC has a bunch of great places downtown and on the east (Natural History Museum and Red Rock Gardens especially). Hogel Zoo is not bad, and if you drive east into the surrounding mountains the scenery can be incredible.