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comp-time · 02-06-2008, 03:00 PM

Advice needed on a campground or campgrounds to stay at to visit Bryce Canyon National Park, Canyon lands National Park, Zion National Park and Arches National Park in Utah. We plan to be there around the last week in June or first week of July 2008. How many days should we allow to visit the parks? We were thinking maybe 7 days. What else should we visit while there. We will be coming down from Yellowstone National Park via Salt Lake City. Thanks for your help.

comp-time · 02-06-2008, 03:00 PM

Advice needed on a campground or campgrounds to stay at to visit Bryce Canyon National Park, Canyon lands National Park, Zion National Park and Arches National Park in Utah. We plan to be there around the last week in June or first week of July 2008. How many days should we allow to visit the parks? We were thinking maybe 7 days. What else should we visit while there. We will be coming down from Yellowstone National Park via Salt Lake City. Thanks for your help.

Ding-a-ling · 02-07-2008, 05:01 AM

Comp-time,

I reccomend taking US 6 from SLC to I-70 at Green River. See the John Wesley Powell Museum there in Green River. Then on to Moab.

Riverside Oasis is a very nice place to stay just north of Moab when you visit Arches and Canyonlands NP From the CG you can do Colorado River boat rides - the night time one is really neat!

Thousand Lakes RV Park in Torrey is just down the road from Capitol Reef NP. On your way to Torrey from Moab take Utah SR 24 and stop at Goblin Valley State Park for an interesting side trip. Only need and hour or so for that. You can park your MH in the lot just off the highway and drive your toad into Goblin Valley SP.

From Torrey take scenic Utah SR 12 down to Bryce Canyon. Beautiful experience!

At Bryce Canyon Ruby's Inn CG is very convenient.

We stayed at Temple View RV Park when we visited Zion NP. There are CG's closer, you may choose otherwise. While in that area, tho, I would reccomend a visit to the Kolob Canyon end of Zion NP off of I-15 about exit 40. It's visited less but has beautiful close-up scenery.

Me thinks you will need somewhat more than a week to see all of this. If I were to skip anything to save time it would probably be Capitol Reef NP.

Do you know there is a tunnel on the east end of Zion NP that may present a problem. Buses go through but is's one way traffic regulated by rangers. Check that out.

Hey, sounds like a great trip! Enjoy.

comp-time · 02-07-2008, 07:26 AM

Thank you Frank for your information. Very helpful and I appreciate the links you provided. Based on my searches of the Forum, we have decided on Ruby's Campground for Bryce Canyon. Riverside Oasis was not on the list thanks for the suggestion. We had read about Moab KOA, Canyon lands Campground and OK RV Park. Do you have any thoughts on those? We want to do Arches and Canyon Lands Parks from a campground some what central to both. For Zion, I think we would like something a little closer to the park so we can leave the motorhome at the campground and drive the toad. Not too interested in going through the tunnel with the motorhome. We like full hookups in a campground that is not in town. We are retired and can stay more than a week, just didn't know how much time to allow. Thanks again for your info.

Ding-a-ling · 02-07-2008, 10:39 AM

Riverside Oasis is on the north side of Moab. If I recall correctly the entrances to both Arches and Canyon Lands NP are 2 - 3 miles north of the CG. RO is right on the Colorado River. The above link will show all that you can do in the area.

comp-time · 02-07-2008, 08:02 PM

Thanks Frank, Riverside Oasis looks like a great place to base for Arches and Canyon Lands NP. We will settle on it. Now just need something a little closer to Zion to base and we will be set. Thanks for all your help.

paz · 02-08-2008, 03:23 AM

We visited Utah last summer and it is the best! In southern Utah, we stayed at Bauer's Canyon RV Ranch in the little town of Glendale between Zion and Bryce. Bauer's Canyon is a decent campground, but its nothing fancy and the sites are a little close together. We didn't spend that much time at our RV, so it didn't matter that much. The staff was friendly and helpful.

The reason we chose this location is that it is about 20 miles from the east entrance to Zion, about 50 miles from Bryce, about 40 miles from Cedar Breaks, and about 60 or 70 miles from Escalante. We stayed about a week and made day trips to all the surrounding areas.

We allowed a day for each park, but you could easily spend more time. We can't hike much because of my wife's bad knees, but you may need more time if you want to do any hiking.

We also spent the better part of a week in Moab. If you are interested, there is also much to do around Moab besides visiting Arches and Canyonlands. There are rafting trips, mountain biking, and off-roading (you can rent Jeeps and quads at a number of locations).

Have a great trip. We liked it so much, we might go back again this year.

comp-time · 02-08-2008, 08:38 AM

Thank you Paz, appreciate the information. Maybe we will need to allow more time in Moab.

Tom and Patty · 02-09-2008, 08:20 AM

Comp-time,

Check out the Utah campground reviews on this site. There are quite a few reviews of campgrounds in Utah's Southwest.
http://www.irv2.com/reviewpost/showcat.php?cat=45

We stayed at Temple View in St George, Zion River Resort in Virgin, Kodachrome Basin State Park, North Campground in Bryce Canyon N.P., and Thousand Lakes in Torrey.

If you have time, Utah's highway 12 is a great drive between Arches and Zion. You could also take in Capitol Reef.
http://www.utah.com/byways/highway_12.htm

We spent one day each in Zion, Bryce and Arches.

You have a great trip ahead. Have fun. Here is a shot of Hyw 12!

Ding-a-ling · 02-09-2008, 01:33 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Tom and Patty:
Here is a shot of Hyw 12!

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

And that'snot even the best part of SR 12! We kinda really enjoyed The Hog Back.

Tom and Patty · 02-09-2008, 01:44 PM

YUP, that is where I said "WHOA". We taped some of the more interesting spots and we got me laughing nervously over "HOG BACK".

Both hands were on the steering wheel!!

It is a trip not to miss

comp-time · 02-09-2008, 02:58 PM

Thanks Tom & Patty. Hwy 12 looks beautiful and we were thinking about coming down 12 from Canyon Lands on the way to Bryce Canyon. I take it that Hog Back with the Whoa comment means a little white knuckle driving. How bad is it? DW does not like steep drop-offs on her side.

And thanks for the links on the campgrounds Tom & Patty. We will check them out.

Tom and Patty · 02-09-2008, 04:00 PM

Hogs Back is about, IIRC, 1/4 mile straight level road with drop offs on both sides. The whoa factor is that to the right of the white line is maybe a foot of gravel before the drop off.

Just have your wife close her eyes

comp-time · 02-09-2008, 06:41 PM

Thanks Tom & Patty, something to look forward to. Sorry to show my ignorance but what does IIRC mean? DW will diffidently have her eyes closed on that one.