Best Tent Camping near Summit, UT

As an avid nature enthusiast, I recently had the pleasure of visiting Watchman Campground in Zion National Park, and I must say it was an unforgettable experience. Nestled amidst the breathtaking red rock landscapes and verdant canyons, this campground offers a peaceful retreat for outdoor lovers seeking to immerse themselves in the beauty of Zion.

Location: Situated in the heart of Zion National Park, Watchman Campground boasts a prime location that provides easy access to the park's renowned hiking trails, scenic viewpoints, and natural wonders. Its proximity to the Zion Canyon Visitor Center, just a short walk away, is incredibly convenient for obtaining information, permits, and maps.

Campsites: The campground features a variety of campsites, including tent sites, RV sites, and electric hookup sites. The sites are well-maintained, spacious, and thoughtfully arranged to provide a semblance of privacy and tranquility. The campsites are equipped with picnic tables, fire rings, and ample space for parking. Although the sites do not have hookups for water or sewer, the centrally located restrooms with running water and flushing toilets are clean and easily accessible.

Scenic Beauty: The awe-inspiring beauty surrounding Watchman Campground is nothing short of mesmerizing. Towering sandstone cliffs, vibrant foliage, and the tranquil Virgin River create a picturesque backdrop that embodies the essence of Zion National Park. The campground itself is enveloped by lush vegetation, providing a serene atmosphere and enhancing the feeling of immersion in nature.

Amenities and Facilities: Watchman Campground offers a range of amenities to ensure a comfortable stay for campers. The Visitor Center nearby offers a well-stocked store where you can find camping supplies, snacks, and souvenirs. Additionally, the campground provides drinking water stations and a dump station for RVs. The presence of a shuttle stop within the campground allows for convenient transportation to explore various trails and viewpoints throughout the park.

Accessibility: Watchman Campground strives to accommodate campers of all abilities. Several campsites are designed specifically to meet the needs of individuals with disabilities, featuring accessible picnic tables, fire rings, and restroom facilities. This commitment to inclusivity is commendable and enhances the overall camping experience for everyone.

Reservation System and Availability: To secure a spot at Watchman Campground, it is strongly recommended to make a reservation well in advance. The campground is in high demand, especially during peak seasons, and availability can be limited. The reservation system is user-friendly, ensuring a seamless booking process.

Visitor Experience: The staff at Watchman Campground is knowledgeable, friendly, and always willing to provide guidance and assistance. Whether you're seeking recommendations for hiking trails or seeking general information about the park, they are there to make your stay enjoyable. Additionally, the campground observes quiet hours, creating a peaceful ambiance that allows visitors to truly connect with nature and relish the serenity of the surroundings.

In conclusion, Watchman Campground is a hidden gem within Zion National Park. Its idyllic setting, well-maintained facilities, and convenient location make it an ideal base for exploring the park's wonders. Whether you're an outdoor enthusiast, a nature photographer, or simply seeking solace in the embrace of Mother Nature, this campground is a must-visit destination that will leave you with memories to cherish for a lifetime.

Note: As with any outdoor adventure, it is essential to adhere to park regulations, practice Leave No Trace principles, and respect the fragile ecosystem to ensure the preservation of this remarkable natural treasure.

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

This location has a handful of spots on both side of the main road. We saw some larger RV/motorhomes as well as basic tent camping. Fire rings are already set up for you and there is a dumpster for trash down the road next to the horse trail ride company going back towards duck creek village. Close enough to the village for buying basics, grabbing food or renting an atv. Drive to Navajo lake to swim or boat, 35 min to Cedar breaks, 35 min to red canyon, 45 min to Brian head, less than an hour to Bryce Canyon and 1.5 hrs to Zion. Only bad was the atv noise that starts super early. VERIZON COVERAGE!!! we were able to make calls, access the internet and watch steamed videos.

Tldr: A 4wd dirt road out to the canyon with primitive (open dirt) campsites and a few fire rings.

The sheeps bridge road that gets out through the campsites has camping options from right off the highways to deep into the fields by the virgin river canyon. All are primitive, and many have fire rings. I did see some RVs near the highway, but no hookups or dump sites. A number of hiking and off roading shortcuts can get you in and around the area. While there are no large rocks to worry about, after the first couple miles its best to have a four wheel drive high clearance vehicle, as the roads get rutted and in rain very muddy. I made it around easily in a Mitsubishi outlander sport with 4wd. Many campsites are clearly visible by the signage as well as visible fire rings. The fire rings have spikes and mounts for convenience. Due to the elevation and canyon, this area is slightly warmer in the winter, and was not snowed over when the rest of zion was, so it made for good camping (the ground was still frozen). My friend and I had no trouble staking down, and the local gas stations (less than 30 min drive in any direction) all had firewood in the winter. We drove and hiked into the canyon easily from the campsite. Overall a fantastic primitive campsite for good canyon access, nearby hikes, and a few non sandstone climbs/boulders during rainy seasons.

I was very excited to secure a campsite at Watchman on a crowded holiday weekend in July (yes, that one). You just can't beat a central location where you can park your car and not have to use it at all for a few days.

Location: The campground is very conveniently located in walking distance to the shuttles and the town (and market most importantly for late night ice cream cravings). You do have to walk across an unsightly (and hot) parking lot to reach the shuttles, but after seeing the holiday crowds at Zion ANYTHING is better than having to drive/find a parking space.

Exposure: The campground also has nice tree cover so you're not constantly exposed to the harsh summer sun. However the foliage is not dense enough to give campsites privacy from their neighbors. The sites are located close together and everyone can see/hear/smell everything happening next to them. Not the best site for privacy.

Comfort: One of the more uncomfortable campsites I've ever stayed at. The ground is hard and gravelly, sleeping pad STRONGLY encouraged. The site was also INFESTED (EMPHASIZE INFESTED) with ants; not the kind that bite but it was a nag to try and do things around camp and constantly feel ants crawling up your legs...or to try and enter your tent to discover it's covered in ants. Bees were also very curious, but otherwise no other insect issues.

The site stayed hot well into the night for those who have issues sleeping in the heat. It started to cool down around midnight when the strong winds arrived. Tent placement can probably alleviate the winds, but they were VERY strong and VERY noisy. The cool temperatures lasted until around 9 AM.

Amenities: The site included a grill and picnic table, which was great! Didn't get to use the grill however due to fire restrictions.

Bathrooms: The bathrooms are kept very clean! I was impressed. The water pressure was great. There are no showers or trash cans (save sanitary disposal trash cans) but there's a fantastic river running through Zion to make up for the lack of showers. The bathrooms were small for the amount of people they were meant to service; there were times I had to wait to use the sinks. And rarely was I ever alone in the bathroom.

Views: Obviously fantastic! Great views of the peaks right out your "front door"

Overall: It's okay for a place to sleep at night if you're desperate and won't be spending a lot of time in the campsite. The ants were a huge issue for me personally and really dampened my enjoyment of time at the campground. But really I spent most of my time in the park so it wasn't a huge deal. The price is good, the location was convenient and I had a place to put my head down every night even if it wasn't comfortable.

Myself and one friend were lucky to grab the last site available, a walk up tent site, F 17, and were not disappointed. Upon walking up to the site, at our very first introduction to our site 3 deer standing IN the groomed tent area.

When I say "walk up tent site" it was a short walk from a parking strip, what you would expect from your car to the grocery store doors, and our site was the farthest back. You might get a site closer. We had no problems bringing our cooler, tent and other gear over from the truck. It had just been raining heavily bout an hour before our arrival about and there was a small puddle (that the deer were helping drain by drinking). The site is backed up to a mountain/hill formation, and in heavy rain water will run down, however, the site has railroad ties diverting water away. There was never any threat of getting swept away, but it was gonna flood a bit, it's not the campsites fault, this is heavy rain, this happens. Too much rain too fast, the earth couldn't soak it up.

There was a monster storm that night, the radar was RED right on top of us. It sounded like a train coming in. Wind, rain, cold, the site stayed mostly good. I am grateful for a tarped bottom tent as the water did pool a bit and you could feel it below, like water in a bag, but solid tent! The site was just so soaked, the site was just saturated, all but one of the tent stakes stayed planted.

There's a bear box in the site to stow your food. Our site has a very nice picnic table and small tree, don't count on it for any shade though. If you are there in summer I'd suggest easy-up for sun protection, you could try to tarp it, but there's not much to tie down to and that tree is young and flimsy. It's pretty bare, but if you don't need it in the cooler weather, no sense in blocking the most gorgeous view.

Bathrooms are not much farther than past where you park. Found them clean, toilets, sinks, hand dryers, what you'd expect. There is a station to wash dishes there too. There are no showers here but there is a place in town I hear you can pay for a shower (we just went camping to Snow canyon the next day and the had showers there anyway).

There was a group fire pit between the parking strip and our site, other campers were using it.

We didn't have problems with noisy campers or bugs, maybe because of the off-season timing or the fact that the storm was as loud a train. The trip was absolutely beautiful.

We camped at Watchman for three nights June 19-22,2020. Shuttles are not running and the scenic drive going to the lodge was closed due to COVID-19. We camped in the B loop, site # 51. This was a back-in space complete with a picnic table, fire ring (which we could not use due to fire season) and electrical hook-up. Portable water to fill tanks was available at the dump station just as you enter the campground. Our site was well shaded and very close to the Virgin River. Although available, we didn’t use the bath house.

The campground was full to capacity the whole time we were there. It is important to reserve your site at least 6 Months in advance at this campground!!

The Visitor’s Center and Park Store are within walking distance from the campground. Lots of swimming and tubing going on at the River. Tubes can be rented in Springdale. If you wanted to hike the Narrows or other trails along the scenic drive you had to either hire a shuttle ($30 round trip), bike or walk in. The paid shuttle pick up and return was in Springdale just outside the Park.

Dogs were allowed in the campground on leash and also on ONE trail. All other trails were off limits to pets.