Best Glamping near Springdale, UT

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at this resort. All sorts of different styles of camping, glamping, or staying in a lodge available. Great amenities, although we spent so much time in Zion hiking that we didn't make use of even half of what there is to offer at the resort. We will be back.

We were just looking for a place to sleep, checked out the first camping outside of Zion east entrance and decided to check out the next closest one according to info from the Zion ranger. Info said 2 miles, but more like 7-8. Upon arrival my kids eyes lit up and we booked 3 mid week nights. Free, private hot showers. Dish was station. Free pool and hot tub, ball sports, playground and fitness trail. Pay for stuff like bungie trampoline and rock wall and put put. 2 camp stores recently equipped, even individual beers(4%). Our site was a little small, tent was to close to the fire ring to feel comfortable with a fire. We peaked at the glamping tents and were jealous, maybe next time. Great spot at $30 a night plus taxes etc.

I have stayed here twice in 2020. Once in January and again in July. I haven’t stayed in an rv but they do have glamping tents and tiny houses to rent on Airbnb for reasonable prices.

This place is about 45 minutes from Zion National park and 2 hours from Bryce Canyon.

There’s a laundry room for you to do laundry (bring your own quarters) and the bathrooms are nice and clean. You don’t get as much privacy for the showers as I’d prefer but it’s not that terrible since I think only Airbnb guests uses the restrooms and not the rv guests. WiFi was available for us which helped plan our hikes.

There are tables around the laundry room building to sit at and relax. It’s a very quiet campground too which made sitting out in the evening very peaceful. The owners are so nice and accommodating. Cell service was okay but goes in and out (1-2 bars for Verizon)

Right inside the park. A quick walk to trailheads, the shuttle stop, the visitor center, or charming Springdale.

Perfect location just a short walk away from the visitors center where you catch the shuttle into the park, or exit to catch the shuttle to Springdale. Clean bathrooms. No shade at site 125.

This is a private campground located a few miles from the Zion National Park entrance in Springdale. This campground is run by the Quality Inn Springdale and located just behind the hotel. I spent two nights here in March 2017 on a Friday and Saturday night. After not successfully reserving a campsite in the park and hoping to avoid the stress of first come first serve, I found this private campground still available. It is $39 per night for tents and each site comes with a picnic table and fire ring. The campground has flush toilets, free showers (one token per night per person and 6 min of shower per token) and drinking water and some sites back up to the Virgin River.

While this campground is conveniently located to the shops and restaurants of Springdale and close to the shuttle stop, it lacked greatly in ambience. Our site backed up to a fence with homes on the other side a mere 5 feet away. The sites themselves were very small and we had to rearrange the camp to fit our small two person Marmot tent on a flat piece of ground. The campground was loud with many uncourteous neighbors who were loud well past midnight. It’s hard to get up early to hike when your camp neighbors (who are only 5 feet away) arrive at 10PM, set up multiple tents and then decide to start partying around midnight. 

I did appreciate the clean hot free showers and the closeness to the park and restaurants. I walked to the park entrance every day instead of using the shuttles. I also highly recommend two close and local restaurants. The Whiptail Grill had an amazing dinner with delicious enchiladas and the Café Soleil had great breakfasts and lunch. I went to the café 3 times on our 3 day trip and purchased some of the local art available in the front of the café.

Zion Park itself is beautiful but overcrowded. Having been to 30+ national parks I don’t quite understand the level of popularity of this park over others besides its close proximity to Southern California and Las Vegas. 

For more information or to make reservations click here.

The Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort is a large area with cabins, yurts, a lodge and a campground. The campground is located away from the resort features which we appreciated, so that is was a little more of an authentic camping experience. We still had access to the resort features including a pool, restaurant, and activities to sign up for, which could be a nice feature for some people. The campground area had a small store and great bathrooms and showers. Our site was fairly small but large enough for our small tent and car as well as a fire pit and picnic table.

We were thrilled that we managed to get a spot here. You’re surrounded by the park and are in walking distance of the visitors center, watchman campground, a bunch of hikes, the shuttle and Springdale. Highly recommend it if you can get a spot.

You come to take water for granted until you dont have any. This campground was simple but perfect! There were real toilets and actual faucets. Showers are a short walk outside the park in Springdale. There is also great cell service if youre not ready to fully disconnect from the outside world! And plenty of wild life roaming through.

The park itself is nice. Full hook ups, heated pool and hot tub. Restrooms and laundry on site. Propane also on site. There are also a series of fenced in dog parks (3). So if you have dogs that don’t get along with other dogs that’s a plus because you can just go in a different one. The wifi is kind of hit or miss sometimes though. When the park is full at peak times good luck streaming anything. Staff is very friendly and helpful. I wouldn’t spring for the back in river spots unless you just want privacy behind you. The view for us isn’t that great as there is a rock wall behind you so your view is actually of that unless you have a very big rig. It is very close to Springdale and Zion National Park which is very convenient and why we chose it so four stars.

Pool was very busy, with the usual hot tub hoggers, but it was weekend and not the campsites fault.

However, there are only 3 shower/ toilet rooms next to the pool, this is not acceptable for such a large site. I waited 10 mins for a shower to come free (there was a queue) and then gave up, and had a shower in my small van. I paid for this site because i wanted to have a proper shower (our van is small), so this was frustrating.

There is road noise if on that side of the site, but its not terrible.

The shuttle they provide into Springdale is $15 each for a return journey, 4 times a day. dont miss the last one, or you walk the 10 miles back!. 

No restaurants/ bars within easy walking distance, some within a mile or 2 further down the road.

Easy to find, helpful staff, propane for sale (we filled up here, no problems), decent sized pitch, very clean.

Book in advance. These sites can fill up fast especially in prime season. They can also flood in monsoon season. The virgin river runs through camp. No showers, but there are bathrooms and water. Sites are a tad on the smaller side but doable. There are trailers right from camp or you can walk across the street and take the tram up further into the canyon for more trails. You can also take the Springdale tram through Town to eat or check out the location shops. There are some really neat places to see in town. Hikes are hands down unbelievably amazing. The narrows are a must and angels landing. The day we left Zion they had a horrible flash flood that took out a lot and I heard angles landing was closed. I was there the second week of July. Just pay attention the the weather. Days are hot, bring cooling towels, nights are nice but still warm . Most of all, sit back and take in all your surroundings.

Sites available online 2 weeks before the date of your trip. Can reserve 3 nights at a time, max. $20/night for basic tent set up. Plumbed/flush toilets, accessible water spigots, clean facilities. No showersI had decent cell signal with Verizon, my friend struggled a little with T-Mobile but still had some. So close to the first shuttle stop, visitor center, and virgin river. Gorgeous view of the Watchman as you wake up. Walk-up sites have reserved parking spots. High was 105 during the day, didn't seem to cool off til about 2am each night, but was nice and windy at night. Also pretty close to the nearest town (Springdale)--maybe a five minute drive from the campground?

We hiked the subway, the narrows (top down, one day), lower emerald pools, canyon overlook, observation point, and hidden canyon. Everything was beautiful! The rangers were so lovely and helpful as we made our hiking plans. Angels Landing is closed indefinitely due to a storm earlier this summer but that's just an excuse for us to come back next year!

P.S. Campsites sell out FAST online. Set an alarm for 14 days before your trip and book first thing in the morning!

This campground is notoriously hard to book. Booking here opens two weeks in advance and I just happened to grab the last site available in our timeframe as well as the best campsite in the entire campground (in my opinion, 102). We had the most unobstructed spectacular view of the towering red-rock cliffs across the river. Campground was very clean. No showers, clean flush toilets. Nice dump station and fresh water available. Before Covid, shuttle bus into and around the park was free and available about every 15 minutes. Since Covid, booking the shuttle bus is extremely hard; you can either book your tickets two weeks or one day in advance for $1 at a set 1 hour block of time and then freely use the shuttles once within the park. Hard part is booking the tickets, they sell out within minutes of opening so make sure you have your ducks in a row!! Zion was amazing. I would recommend at least 4 days in the park to experience all the best hikes and if traveling with kids I would wait until the youngest is 10 years old to be able to handle the scarier hikes like Angels Landing. Make sure to explore the town of Springdale for great food and shopping.

Seems like a crazy title BUT have you ever sat around the campfire and had it raining caterpillars? Literally? There is apparently an invasion of caterpillars in Zion right now(end of April), millions of caterpillars everywhere.. Beyond the take-over this is a beautiful campground with the Virgin River at its side. Our Family enjoyed this campground tremendously, our 5 year old loved the caterpillars even more! Speaking of tiny humans be sure to pick up their Junior Ranger Program either at the Visitor Center(off season) or the Nature center(peak season) and they too can Earn a nifty Junior Ranger Badge! With plenty to do for all ages in the nearby museum there are also 2 trails that are accessible from the campground, the watchman trail (moderate 3.3) and the Pa’rus trail that is paved for handicap and cyclists with gorgeous views of the swift Virgin River. I would advise everyone to make your reservations 2 weeks in advance! We got lucky but spent half the day just waiting to know IF we could get a site. The town of Springdale just on the outside of the park is accessible from the campgrounds with a Market and several gear outfitters. Not to mention the Zion Brewery which was fantastic too! Overall great experience even with all the creepy caterpillars!

First of all, you CAN find RV Parks in Springdale that are closer to the main south entrance to Zion(which is THE Main Entrance). But we had a toad(our little Honda Fit) and we preferred just driving the 16 miles or so from Virgin to the park and being able to camp in one of the nicest parks you'll find. We had read that Zion River Resort was a great place to stay. And it truly is. I have only one significant complaint. But first, the good:

1. The lots are huge. Very wide and with lovely grass and gravel. Everyone gets a grassy area. The concrete pad is very level.

2. The hookups are great. I get so frustrated when parks put the water hookup really low to the ground and you can barely get your hose hooked up. No such issue here. Electric is great, as was sewer. Just want you want.

3. The clubhouse/ gift shop is nice. Basic stuff, but also some nice gift items. And beer!(In Utah!!) Everyone was friendly.

4. When you first pull in there are several clearly marked, LARGE lots for"check in". Although with COVID, there was no check in process, we used this spot to unhitch our toad so that we could get to our spot more easily.

5. Being near the Virgin River is great. What a peaceful place to visit.

And the one downside. There is virtually no cell signal in Virgin. Certainly not enough to even begin to create a hot spot. There is wifi(and we even had a booster on our site)...but there was still terribly connectivity. We could, in the early morning, check our email and such. In the evening, forget it. No streaming, no surfing. Being out of touch with the world is fine, but it's still nice to be able to do some last minute park research, touch base with the kids and post some photos on Facebook. Most of that was impossible during the 3 nights we spent here. We've stayed at many humbler parks and had no issue with connecting and streaming. Not sure what Zion River Resort could do to improve things, but they should do it. Probably need more than one source of wifi. HOWEVER, this was a friendly, peaceful, lovely place. We'd stay again without hesitation.

Internet. The signal here is super great because Springdale is right on the other side of the park entrance. I didn’t do a speed test but I did work and use internet like normal with Verizon.

The campground is clean, the bathrooms are clean. The campground has a water fill and dump station. The Riverwalk Trail runs beside the campground. The South Campground is all dry camping.

It meets all the basic necessities. It is also the best way to experience Zion. We went on a Sunday where they were were running the shuttles on the scenic road weekends only. The next day, Monday, cars would be allowed to drive on the scenic road but only until they reached car capacity. The park ranger told us they reach car capacity at about 7:30am. If you stay at the campground then you can get over to the scenic road before they turn away new cars. Also, during peak season when the shuttles run all the time, you can get in line early so you don’t have to wait 45 minutes to get on the first shuttle like we did at 9am.

Aside from being in close proximity to the scenic road, you can have a quieter experience at the riverside away from the throngs of people that made the park feel like a theme park. The experience of the park was redeemed by staying at the campground.