Best Equestrian Camping near Leeds, UT

It feels almost like a hidden secret that I shouldn't divulge, but the lovely owners of this special little spot deserve to have a light shown on their little slice of heaven in Southern Utah. 

In an area rich with outdoor tourist attractions (Zion, Bryce, Grand Canyon all within 90 minutes), it's hard to find a campsite that doesn't feel like a shoulder-to-shoulder Disney experience. Ethel's Hideout is laid out such that you never feel like you're crowded in by neighbors. This is a true cowboy camping experience in cowboy country. 

The campground is surrounded by public lands in every direction with views of incredible rock formations and the breath-taking Southern Utah landscape. If you're lucky, you can watch the cowboys moving cattle across the range. We got lucky enough to see this during our stay. 

There's no shortage of things to do nearby. Just ask the owners for some tips on where to go to find an adventure! As an insider tip, I found the nearby reservoir in Kanab to be the perfect spot for a morning jaunt.  

While they do offer horse stalls for travelers with horses, the campground is set-up for RVs and tents to maximize views and strikes the perfect balance of amenities with a boondocking-style experience. If you're looking for concrete pads and lines of RVs, this isn't the spot for you. But if you're hoping to find a truly special camping experience coupled with some light amenities, give Ethel's a visit. We love it here.

To enter the South-Zion National Park camp grounds you have to go through the park entrance and the camp grounds are just behind the parks entrance. There is drinking water, flush-able toilets, picnic tables, fire rings, flat places for a tent, dump stations. There is not however, showers, shade which can get hot on 100 degree days, there is no power, the ground is too hard to stake down tents, no trees for hammocks, the bathroom have huge spiders and filthy, there are plenty of rocks to sleep on!

This is not the best camp site on the planet it is ok. It currently costs $35 to get into the Zion National Park and then it costs to camp at this site. With the amount of traffic this area gets and the amount of money flowing in they could put in a decent bathroom, one without bugs.

I have good news there are lots of trails for backpacking and biking. If you'd like to go for a stroll to shower there are showers a little less than a mile away that cost $15 for 12 minutes. They aren't wonderful but they get the job done. They are however also filthy! Thank goodness I had my Oofos Oolala flip flops on hand to save my feet from whatever nasty germs were living in the shower floor that was covered in hair. There are some great places to eat close by to this camp grounds and great coffee! If you need any souvenirs there are plenty of places to shop!

The South-Zion National Park campgrounds have a shuttle close by that drives guests to the trail for the well known, "Narrows". The shuttle comes with your park pass and is a hop on hop off transit. It is the easiest way to see some of Zions most precious wonders!

Pros:

Close to popular trails

River runs next to camp

Close shopping and food

Potable water

Places to throw away trash

Cons:

Bad bathrooms (rather go outside) + small stalls

No showers

Rough grounds

When I called in advance to get a l little info about Zion this was the first campsite they mentioned. Located right inside of the National Park area just a few hundred yards from the visitor center this place is the hardest reservation to get at Zion because it is always filling up. It was suggested at the time I called to make a reservation well in advance of my travel otherwise I better be ready to find another campsite.

My first trip out was a day trip only, but I immediately saw why they had mentioned this because there wasn't a single site open when I did a walk around. It was very crowded, maybe that is why mote people haven't reviewed it because a lot of campers don't like to find the most commercially trafficked areas. But this one has access to everything in the town as well as the park within just a few short steps.

Campsites are $20, well worth it if you can get in! There are 3 trails which are right next to the campground. The shuttle to other trails is literally a football field away so you can stay here and easily have access to everything. So what is the downside though? No hook ups!

For someone like myself, this is not a biggie at all but for people who need to be able to charge devices or have a RV and don't like being off grid this can be a little taxing. With that being said though they do have potable water and a dump station, so it ain't that bad right?

So from where I see it all upside!!

TIPS:

• Check out Angel's Landing, my absolute favorite hike out here because of its unique climb to the top using chains. If you have't seen it, google it! (I am also including a few photos of that trail which is a major draw of people to the park along with the Narrows, which are to cold during spring when I was there)

• Reserve, I CANNOT say that enough!!

• Check out the cute little artsy community around you. It is all within walking distance and super cute so check it out!

Zion National Park lives up to its rating. This has to be one of the beautiful places in Western United States. The drive in from the Eastern entrance is simply incredible and full of epic photo ops. Zion reminds me of Yosemite Valley in some ways. The park is located near some large population areas in Southwest Utah and Nevada. So it can get very crowded at times, especially give the limited capacity of the roadways and parking. So you will need to plan your visit carefully.

The campground is easily accessible and located along the shuttle routes. The campground views are some of the best we have seen during our travels. The facilities are very good and hiking trails runs through the camp. Like many National Parks, you will not have much privacy at your site but the views and the hikes more than make up for it. The focus here is tent camping but you can park a small van or camper in many of the sites. The visitor center and park staff were outstanding. We also enjoyed the diversity of visitors from around the world. It’s clear Zion and Southern Utah is on a lot of bucket lists. This camp is very popular and full most of the year. So you will need reservations and a plan to beat the traffic coming into the park. We are planning to come back and spend more time in this beautiful place.

If you are pulling a trailer and looking for a quick stop off the interstate you’re in luck. Furthermore if you want to take a van, truck, or car in further you can. In my typical fashion we don’t like to camp too close to others and we were able to do this in spectacular fashion. By driving past the mining operation you will find yourself on a less maintained road (having multi-ply tires is nice), from there you can take the road hours in or even for 5 minutes and find a quiet unique camping spot.

We ended up camping about 10-15 minutes away from the freeway with an awesome view of mesquite in the distance.

When it rains watch your step the ground will get muddy and there is a chance of having strong wind gusts.