South Campground

Zion National Park is getting busier each year it seems, with reservations in the fall (the time we like to visit) getting more difficult to come across without a lot of planning. After our ten day reservation expired at the much nicer Watchman Campground and we were not able to get another site over there, we moved over to the South Campground for a few days. With all first come, first serve sites, we were in the campground before 7am on a Friday in November and got one of the few sites large enough to fit our trailer. This is a busy place during busy times for the park!

The campground's benefit is its proximity to the park, which is the most important thing for us. The campground is showing its age in terms of the sites, roads, and facilities but it is clean with a sort of rock climber laid-back vibe. The sites are generally small but not too packed in (with only large trees growing in the campground, there is little privacy). There is a dump station with fresh water nearby and basic bathrooms in the campground. If you are looking for a place to camp close to the park and cannot get into the Watchman Campground, the South Campground is a good option but do not expect much more than a place to park for the night.

If you have a large rig be careful. They gave us a site with a hard right into the pad. In the rain. Not good got stuck and had to dig myself out. Narrow roads in park. Most sites unlevel but we made it work with wood blocks. Neighbor with only a 35' M.H. also got stuck. Probably best not to come in if you have a larger rig and it has been raining...

We stayed at Watchman last year and were very pleased too. This campground having no electric keeps it a darker and quieter campground. So far, we have not had many people running generators, pretty restrictive hours for them. Roads are narrow and beat to hell, it was a little tough to get back to our site but definitely worth it. We did arrive at 7:00am and waited in line to get assigned a site. I was a little nervous about getting a decent site by the campground host made sure we were on an adequate site for our trailer. A great location as is Watchman.

Great location for access into Zion. Campground roads are slightly narrow for larger RV’s and trailers but manageable. Nice shaded campground from trees throughout.

South Campground is inside the park, and just a 5 minute walk or so from the main Zion shuttle stop. The sites themselves are quite tightly packed. The facilities are fine. There is some shade, but probably not enough if you visit during the summer. The Virgin River runs right by the campground and is easily accessible.

we arrived at the south campground on a Thursday afternoon, We got the last spot ! (Campground fills up quick). we set up camp and walked to the virgin river which runs straight through the campground.... How awesome. the next days we walked to the shuttle station (about 8 min walk from campground) and spent the day hiking the narrows.

Caught out in May 2018 as when we planned our trip there was no reservations and you just turn up, which is what we like. You now can book 14 days only in advance which is very tricky when travelling off grid and no phone signal most of the time.
When we arrived there was no space in the RV small park in Zion (no free parking in Springdale which is from $20 - even if you need to go to the lauderette) In fact driving through Springdale there were notices to only park in RV places, but we never saw them, so we drove on into the park. We later saw that in the mornings people from the campsites were parking up for the day in the samll RV parking space before moving on later. There was a space we found in a overflow park next to the South campground using 2 car spaces (justice as they are always parking in RV places)
Site was well kept and lovely especialy the tent sites near the river.
Lovely camphosts who took pity on us and allowed us to use part of a Group Site.
Zion is a very difficult place to camp and stop in it or Springdale. We were disappointed but enjoyed the river walk tremendously.
Some people may be lucky to get a walk up but you need to be there very early and talk to the campshost to see if anyone is going that day.

This Zion campground might not be the best or most private I have ever experienced but the honor of being in one of the most magical locations on earth makes up for the crowded conditions.

Zion is a super popular park and the campgrounds seem to be perpetually full. I visited in early November and was lucky to score a walk-up site. I moved sites several times within my stay to try to find a bit more privacy. There are some sites along the river that are more private and separated. Even in November the campgrounds were 100% full. Yes I could clearly hear conversations of those around me when I was in my tent at night, but I really enjoyed the park so it wasn't that bad. Plus luckily my neighbors mostly kept it down, no barking dogs or yelling.

I loved waking up early and walking over to the museum center to take photos of the sunrise, or strolling up the river path to take photos on the bridge at sunset. The views are AMAZING. I didn't spend a lot of time in the camp except to eat and sleep. Mostly I wandered around marveling at the rock walls in the changing light or walked to the shuttle stop to go hiking on the trails. Next time I'd like to bring my bike to take rides up the river path or get to the shuttle more quickly.

Don't miss the Narrows hike. I loved it so much!!! I laughed and smiled the whole time.

We stayed there on Sept 8. We made a reservation only a week before with no problem. It was pretty full but quiet at night. Just a short walk through the campground along the river to the visitors center to catch the shuttle bus. The campground seemed well maintained, deer came out in the early evening and morning and a little lizard liked to scurry out of the way on the path to the restroom. The dump station was located on the way out.

We stayed at Watchman for 3 nights and were unable to stay longer due to the full weekend, but it was South Campground’s opening weekend and a few sights were open that could accommodate us.

This campground is pretty primitive and tired overall. The main road is paved, sites are dirt and most are not very level.

It’s a bit tight if you are big. We had walked the campground so we knew what we were getting ourselves into. Site 44 is a pull through but we ended up backing in since the turn in was too tight.

RV’s will run their obnoxious generators. It was obnoxious to us and we are a big RV with a generator!