Last summer, during the pandemic I ventured out to Utah and camped at Zion NP in the South Campground. This is one of the largest and busiest park campgrounds that I've stayed at. Even with this, it felt wild and comfortable. Like all NP's there are bathhouse facilities, but no shower areas. See below for informative on this.

My site was directly on the Pa'rus Bike Trail, which was perfect for my riding through the park. The trail runs along the river and eventually up into the scenic drive into the actual park.

The views are spectacular during the day, and even better at night. I had a fantastic view over the bluffs of the stars and was able to get some great Milky Way shots. There are tons of night hikers that you can watch going along the Watchman Trail on the eastern side of the river…little dots of light dancing along the bluffs and ridges.

It is a 7 mile cycle ride up the drive to the entrance to the Riverside Trailhead and The Narrows. The bike ride has a long steady climb of 500 feet. This sounds daunting, but I made the ride on 3 occasions in 2 days. Early morning is best when it's hot out. You have to follow the posted cycle rules when riding up. Coming down can be exciting as you don't have to pedal for almost the full 7 miles. Stop along the way to see some of the Vistas you will not see if you are on the shuttle.

There is no recreational driving on the drive once you are past the Zion Lodge. You do have to watch for the busses and shuttles. And take plenty water and snacks if you plan on exploring the trails.

The campground is also located very near the town of Springdale. This is the location for Zion Outfitters, which is also where you can do the pay showers and laundry. The showers are located in the basement of the store and are controlled by tokens that can be purchased from the store, or at a kiosk at the entrance to the shower area.

There are several grocery stores as well as gift shops located in town. Bicycles are the main mode of transport for many people camping around the area. Eating out is quite easy as there are dozens of very delicious restaurants. My personal favorite is Sol Foods, a local grocery and deli. Their sandwiches are fantastic and the beer and wine selection is quite large and unique. I purchased several small meals from them to take on rides around town. There is always somewhere to stop and enjoy the view.

Check out the NPS.gov site for information on the shuttles into the park as well as the campground information. The area is very heavily traveled and there are tons of visitors, both camping and staying in the nearby hotels and lodges. Be prepared for slow travel by car through the town itself.

For drawbacks, I would suggest making sure your are prepared for the weather. I was there in mid September and the daytime temps were 95°-102°, with nights not going below 85°. There are few bugs in the majority of the park, however my site was in very close proximity to the Virgin River and did have the occasional small swarm of tiny flies.

Zion is one of the most beautiful parks I've been to. I would definitely recommend camping in the area, with the South Campground as my pick for where to stay. Reservations are required and you will need to book well in advance to make sure of a site as well as shuttle passes.

Great campground located at the entrance to Capitol Reef National Park.

Camped here during the pandemic and enjoyed a very comfortable and beautiful experience. The site I called in was in a great location near the campground hosts and the entrance. It was very quiet even though it was completely full.

The loops within the campground are well marked and everyone was very respectful when driving or at their sites. The views during the day are great with the fruit orchards around you, and a backdrop of the beautiful surrounding mountains.

There is a great little store and museum (Gifford House) within the campground area. They have fantastic fruit pies and ice cream. The Rangers and staff are all very nice and super helpful.

At night you have a great dark sky view of the Milky Way. You have to walk out of the tree covered campsites onto Scenic Drive, but it's well worth it.

I also had my bike with me and rode it the next morning up the scenic drive and explored some of the areas within the National Park. Later I drove my Jeep into the park and really got to enjoy how close the sites are to the beautiful scenery.

The orchards around the campground are available at times to pick fresh fruit. This also draws on a lot of wildlife like the deer in my pictures. The orchard parking got very crowded as the day went on. If you are in the campground, you can take a walk to the orchards.

The only downside is the fact you have absolutely no cell service once into the park, and this includes the campground area. There is wifi provided for emergencies by the hosts. But if you need cell service, or data, you need to actually drive nearly 20 min to the town of Torrey. The town has limited cell service as well as town wide wifi.

Even with this drawback, I would return to the Fruita Campground any time.

Fantastic Campground located right on the beach in Edisto Island, SC!

First off, I've visited the state park since I was a child, but normally we would go to walk the long beach to the northern inlet area. This was my second time camping here and first time tent camping. It was a pure joy and I'll be back whenever I can.

The only drawback is its popularity. I ended up only being able to spend one night at the beach campground because it is fully booked all the way into October.

There are usually available sites in the Live Oak Campground located on the marsh, but the beach sites go quickly.

After almost 10 back to back individual nights at campgrounds, it was nice to be able to have two back to back nights in a tent cabin.  The cabins are great with two wood walls, two canvas tent walls and roof, four drop down bunks and a nice potbelly stove.  The outside area is very nice with a table, fire ring and bear box.  Parking for the tent was directly next to the cabin and outdoor pad.

The only drawback is that the tent cabins are quite close to each other.  The family in the tent next to mine was very nice, but also quite loud.  The area luckily was quiet after 10pm.

The campground village itself was very nice, with all sorts of shopping and food options.  Since I arrived at the campground around 4pm I quickly unloaded my gear into the cabin. Instead of cooking I grabbed a bite to eat and a six pack of local beer, and headed over to a spot on Jackson Lake to have a sunset dinner.  The campground location is perfect to get out and explore.

The cabin bunks are comfortable, if not a bit loud when sleeping and moving around.  I woke myself several times with chains making noise.  After the third time, I grabbed a bottle of bike chain lubricant and did some work to make them quiet.  it worked and the rest of the night was quite peaceful.

Mornings are definitely busy in the village.  I was up around 7am and rode my bike to the General Store to grab a coffee.  I took a little ride down to the lake and drank my coffee in a quiet spot that was perfect for meditation.  I then rode back to my site and grabbed my toiletries and rode back to the Launderette/Shower.  They had a little line to get a shower stall, but it moved quickly.  The cost was $5 and it was well worth it for the ability to take a nice long uninterrupted shower.

I spent the day exploring Jackson and over into the Teton Valley and Driggs/Victor.  I returned later in the afternoon and grabbed a bite from John Colter's Ranch House .  The second night was much more quiet and peaceful with the stars shining bright.  

My only qualms about the site were about how close you are to other cabins and the noise.  I would still love to stay here again.

Long drive from Nebraska and got to campground around 4pm.  Had reserved site on drive.  Glad I did, because when I got there, they had already filled for the night.

Accessed site and set up my tent under the small (very, very, very small) tree/bush on the grass/gravel side of the site.  The parking area was quite large and allowed me to spread out and do a repair (again) to a burnt out headlight.  

I was able to get my bike out and do a quick ride around the area, even going over to Mariner Point.  Great views and excellent conditions to ride.  

Headed out to the local area to get some groceries and returned to cook at the site.  The other campers were very nice and had nice conversation and a couple beers with the nearby sites.  This was the 5th campground in 7 days on a solo tour, so was nice to have people around.

The next morning I was able to get up at a late 630am (after several 5am wake up calls in other campgrounds) and get in a 10 mile bike ride before making some breakfast and breaking camp.  My site was totally packed and ready to roll by 9am on my way to Wyoming.

This is on my shortlist of places to return to in Colorado.

After a long drive, I was looking for somewhere easy to get into and out of, near the interstate.  I stopped for gas and saw the sign for the sites and decided to give it a look.  

When I got there around 5pm, I was able to have my choice of sites.  By 8pm, every site was occupied in the tent area.  This seems to be a good stopping point for transient campers as they pass, like myself.  This does cause an issue with the noise from I-80 just outside of the grounds, but the trees and a dirt berm help to keep that down to just a low drone.

Great campground location, and inexpensive.  The site, and amenities, are very nice.  The campsite itself is very well maintained and level.  The tent area restroom was very clean.  The showers are located over in the Cottonwood Campground, and are adequate.  This was my first encounter with the pay showers though, and I had to scrounge around for quarters to feed into it. 

The only small problem is that at approximately 5am, I started hearing the air/fan boats from a local launch on the Platte River.  I was wide awake and had actually already packed my Jeep by 630am.  I am not sure if this is a normal occurrence, or just something that happened that one day.  Other than that, I would definitely say to give this place a try.

Edit:  The Bosselman Travel Center is a great place to pick up a little food as well as fuel up for your trip.

Camped in Tenkiller back in August 2018.

Got to the campground around 2pm after a long drive from northern Arkansas.  I had a reservation for a tent site, but when I got there, the rangers asked if I wanted to have a room in the Courtyard Cottages for half price since a very bad storm system was blowing in, and they were nowhere near full.  I was going to only be there for the one night, and had camped in storms the night before, so a chance to have a real room for the night was too good to pass up.

I chose the room, and was able to get everything in pretty quickly.  It was great to have a place to lay out all the still damp equipment on the porch area, as well as do some light clothing wash in the bathroom.

It turned out that the storms turned away and never materialized, so I had the late afternoon free to explore the park.  I rode my bike through all the camping and RV loops, and met quite a few people camping.  I was even able to take a little time in my hammock by the lake in the tent site I had reserved…It was a great view and I would have really loved to have tented there.

After the ride, I spent some time replacing a headlight in my Jeep and then ventured to explore the area.  I drove over to Soda Steve's for dinner…and IT WAS GREAT!  All in all, the area was quite nice.  After dinner I did a full drive around the southern end of the lake, to the marinas…then had a nice beer at Big Daddy's Right On The Dam Highway before heading to bed for the night.

The room, showers and location were all great.  Next time I hope to actually camp in the area.  I highly recommend taking the time to drive around the whole lake if possible.  The area is beautiful and the drive is very relaxing.