South Campground

Great Campground right at the entrance, Its 1 of 2 choices you have in the park.
Good views of the Watchman.
Be sure to get in early to claim a spot. Look for sites with out a Tag on the post. There are some really nice spot along the river. Some Tent only spots as well.
Running Water is provide at the Bathrooms to filled up your jugs. The camphosts were very friendly when we were there.

Unlike the Watchman Campground nearby, this one is on a first-​come-​first-​served basis and does not accept reservations. We arrived past 2 pm on our arrival date and were told by the ranger when we entered the East entrance that the South Campground was completely full and we needed to stay at other lodging places outside of the park. Undeterred we went to the campground anyway and we were very lucky that the campground host told us that two sites just opened up 30 minutes ago. We picked a site that was little further away from the main road.
The location of the campground is excellent and deserves 5-​stars. Not only are the views of surrounding mountains and Virgin River that runs nearby fantastic, but the campground is in walking distance of the Visitors’ Center as well as shuttle bus stop to get to the town of Springdale.
However, there are serious negatives that need to be addressed. First, the bathroom facilities are old and decrepit as well as being an insect magnet during nights. Our camp site had millions of ants and the ground was rock hard; is was if were were pitching a tent on pavement.
Furthermore, there is no public shower facilities anywhere within the park; very uncomfortable after a long day of hiking in a hot and dry climate. The nearest public showering facility is at the Zion Outfitter outdoor gear rental shop near the Springdale shuttle bus stop (across the pedestrian bridge past the Visitors’ Center) and the shop charges $ 5 for a 7 minute shower in a small room the size of a very small closet. There are only two showers and people waited in line to use these showers. The water temperature thermostat was not working well one of the nights (it was either scalding hot or ice cold) and the shop refunded the money to us for our inconveniences.
I would hope the US Congress gets its act together and appropriate more money to the Dept. of the Interior. Both Zion and Bryce Canyon campgrounds need serous updating. It is unfortunate since Zion is one of the most beautiful national parks that I have ever been to.

FIRST COME FIRST SERVE CAMPGROUND! Lava Point Campground is also another first come first serve campground, however they have no water and pit toilets. Watchman Campground is first come first serve from December 1 to February 26, however the number of camp spots open to that varies. South Campground has 126 spots and it still amazes me how fast this campground fills up. We arrived at 10am MT and wow… we were SO LUCKY to get a camp spot. Literally every camp spot was filled and my friends and I were running to each asking people if they were leaving or not. I thought we were seriously not going to find one but finally, we did. Thank goodness. We got Campsite 40 which was right across the restrooms.
Tips:
— Even if the campground sign says «full», I would still go in and check it out because you never know if someone is leaving or not.
–I highly highly highly recommend getting there early to reserve a camp spot. On our trip, I’ve seen people come between 5 – 7 am, just waiting and asking around if people are leaving and if they can take their spot.
— The ground is quite hard and rocky so I recommend bringing a yoga mat or those camping foam pads to sleep on with your sleeping bag.
How to Reserve:
1. Get a yellow envelope at the Kiosk when you enter the campground.
2. Find an open camp spot. Ones that do not have the yellow tag or the «occupied» sign on the wooden posts. You can also read the yellow tag and see when the campers are leaving or how many nights they are staying.
3. Fill out the envelope.
4. Tear off the tab and clip it on the wooden post.
5. Put the payment in the envelope (takes cash or card).
6. Put the envelope in the payment cylinder.
Price: $ 16 per night; $ 8 per night for Senior or Access Pass
Maximum: 6 people per site; 3 tents; 2 cars or 1 car + 1 RV
They have restrooms and firepits. Lots of insects in the restrooms at night, be aware! Showers are also available at the Zion Outfitters (I think that’s what the store is called) near the entrance where the shuttle takes you to Springdale (behind the Visitor Center). It cost $ 5 for 7 mins, quite expensive.
This is an awesome campground since you’re close to the visitor center (walkable) and are surrounded by Zion’s beautiful red rocks and mountains. You are also close to the shuttle since the first stop is at the visitor center. Mule deer also stumble upon this campground.

There isn’t much choice when it comes to camping in Zion near the popular hikes. You have South campground or Watchmen. This is first come first serve for south campground. Upon arriving early (8−10am) the entrance booth will say «full» which isn’t true. They don’t really keep track, go and look for a camp site anyways.
Other reviews will tell you to come around 10 (when everyone is checking out) I say its WRONG! Come earlier! On popular days (Thursday-​Saturday) come as early as 8! We came at 10 exactly on Thursday and could not find a spot! We talked to some people and somehow managed to find the last (undesired) spot in the campground.
Here’s how it works:
1. Pick up the envelope at the entrance and fill it out
2. Drive around and stop at your desire campsite and check the yellow ticket on the pole for the date and how many nights they are staying
3. Even if the current campers aren’t out of their campsite but checking out the same day, you can claim it by putting your top half of the yellow envelope there (we didn’t know this until someone told us)
4. Wait til current campers leave
5. Another option is be aggressive and ask campers if they are leaving
Also, everyone is EXTREMELY nice, just ask and anybody will help you. We were shy first but realize it’s freaking Utah man, not California. We got help from everybody!
Campsite: Really close to your neighbors… Campground is hard and full of rocks, good luck staking your tent to the ground. Our campsite (52) was probably the worst. No shade, and somehow it was continuously wet due to the small creek next to us… So our fire pit and everything near the creek was wet. And by creek it’s really not a creek you’ll see it. No showers, we washed off in the Virgin river, which was nice and refreshing after a hike! Bathrooms were pretty dirty… Looks like they don’t clean it often. But plenty of toilet paper and have soap but no paper towels.
Campsite is close to the visitors center… You can catch the first bus out. Which is highly recommended on popular hikes. Campsite hosts are extremely nice! They wave and do their camp runs hourly. Since the campground is so close to your neighbors, make friends or hope you don’t get loud partiers. We got unlucky for one night and had a group of Vegas partiers. Easily fit 2 – 3 cars.
Beware of bees! They love meat. We cooked steak, salmon, Cioppino, bacon and they swarmed us. Also watch out for cockroaches at night! We thought it was our campsite but walked around and saw tons everywhere! But only one night… If must be something in the weather for them to come out. We luckily found only one roach in our tent…
It’s not the best campground but it’s a better alternative to being outdoor and not paying for that pricey hotel room. Also look up at night, the stars are amazing.

South Campground is a first come first serve campground for all you spontaneous campers out there. It’s $ 16 a night — $ 8 if you have an access pass. There’s running water (no showers), clean restrooms (I saw about 2 restroom buildings in the entire camp), a picnic table, fire pit, and two parking spots per site. Each site is extremely spacious with enough room for 2 tents. 6 total people to each site. Before you enter the site, there will be a sign out that either says «camp full» or «vacant.» Do not be discouraged if it’s «full.» Park your car in a line and at around 6:30am a ranger will come out, give you an envelope, and allow you to quietly drive around the campground to try and find an empty site. Usually you can see campers packing up — kindly ask if they are leaving and they would be more happy to reserve the spot for you as you wait for them to pack up & leave (Campers are the nicest!) Finding an opened site has more to do with luck then being the first car in line. Although being early does not hurt.
It’s quite possibly one of the best first come first serve campgrounds I’ve been too. The rangers are extremely friendly and helpful. The Virgin River runs through along the edge and makes sleeping + relaxation super peaceful. You’re a 5 – 10 min walk from the Visitors Center and shuttle buses (these come around every 4 min so there’s never a need to rush. Stress doesn’t exist here). And the Zion Market is less than a 5 minute drive away. Beautiful Zion rocks surround the mountains. Trees are bountiful, but do not block your view of the Milky Way at night. Plus, you can see deers roaming freely without anyone bothering them. South Campground made camping a breeze!

My sister and I planned a last minute trip to Zion National Park and were bummed to find all campground spots already taken through advance reservation online, but luckily enough the south campground is first come first serve and gives those last minute people a chance. We arrived Tuesday morning from Vegas at approximately 0930, there is a one hour time difference so do keep that in mind. I left from Vegas before 6 am thinking we would arrive by 830 around, only to realize my phone wasn’t playing tricks on me when it said arrival time 0930 although through calculations I should arrive at 0830.
We get to the park and read big sign that says camps full, but we didn’t let that stop us from trying. And luckily when we got closer to the booth we saw another small sign that said south campground vacancy. But the whole drive every car I saw I thought of as competition. Most of the spots were taken, but there were still a handful of spots left. I assume a lot of people were there for previous day.
The campgrounds are spacious, good for two cars to park into. Bathrooms are clean. No bugs. Nice fire pit and table with benches. Located by the river AND the visitors center, which also happens to be a location for shuttle stop. During the summer shuttles run around every 10 minutes or so throughout the park makes everything really easy and less stressful. There’s running water but no showers. Who showers anyway ;) but I would definitely like to return to camp here again.

We arrived at the South Campground on a Tuesday morning around 10am and found the perfect campsite, #60! The campsite had plenty of shade all day and is right along the Pa’Rus bike trail and the Virgin River! We biked the trail and played in the River of course! We were just a short walk to the bathroom. The bathrooms were decent, sink with soap & flushing toilets, no showers, and no hand dryers or towels. There were deer in the campground, they just walk around grazing on vegetation and don’t seem bothered by people.
The park shuttle was a 3 minute walk from the campsite. We hopped on the shuttle and hiked the Emerald Pools and the Narrows, highly recommend both.

I stayed here early in June for a couple of nights during the week. The campground still seemed pretty crowded. For the most part I loved my stay here. Most of the campspots were nice. Mine was in the middle and had a decent amount of shade for the most part. I saw some on the outer edges near the virgin river that seemed to have no shade at all. The bathrooms seemed clean for the most part. There is a water station next to the bathrooms where you can supply yourself with drinking water for your hikes. The campground is a very short walk to the visitor center where there are shuttles that will take you all throughout the park. The views are spectacular.
One of the evenings a couple of deer wandered into my neighbors spot and mine and were just eating the grass. I just sat there and watched it. So awesome to see something like that right in front of you.
There are no showers. Hey guess what, you are camping, shouldn’t be that big of a deal. The Virgin River is right there and you can jump in to cool off and remove the sweat and dirt from your body.
My only problem was it was hard for me to find a spot. I got there between 8:30−9am and I think I drove around for 30 – 40 minutes before finding one. I’m not sure i’m a fan of the way it works. You just have to look for a spot without any papers or envelopes hanging from the spot number.
Overall, I really loved my stay here and would easily recommend it. Make sure you hike the narrows and go pretty deep, you won’t be disappointed.

Easily one of the best national park campgrounds we’ve stayed in. Lots of rangers around keeping things in order and cleaning. Sites are all first come first served so get there early (7am) to try and snag one. Weekdays are easier.
Here’s what I liked:
— clean restrooms (no showers)
— reasonable sized sites each with a firepit and table
— right along the river, which we could hear at night
— walking distance to the gate and town of springdale, great for getting dinner or a drink out

The good news here is that the scenery is awesome, the campground is walking distance to the Visitor’s Center, the river runs through (tent campers can camp very close) and the campground host Mike is very helpful. The bad news is that during busy times people start driving around the campground very early in the morning looking for sites and asking you if you’re leaving when you’ve just awoken. I think NPS could do a better job with the way the sites turn over to avoid unnecessary disturbances to the campers already there.

Nice. Close to Visitor Center and shuttles. Drive up only. Restrooms. No showers. No RV hook up sites. But everyone can park or tent camp. Be here around 11am when check out occurs and trailers leave.

2 friends and I camped for the first time in late June. We were fortunate enough to get a really sweet spot with views of the red rock along the river. Each spot is spaced out enough so that you are not cramped or hear your neighbors next to you. We arrived around 8AM to stake out for a site. We asked the people before us if we could take their spot after they were done packing. We were able to park our car there as they were cleaning up and left to hike Angel’s Landing for the day. Each site is $ 16/​night and you can stay there for a good amount of days (you can ask the rangers at the entrance). The restrooms are dispersed around the ground and all within a few min walking distance from where you are. Each have 3 stalls and 1 sink and were kept clean. I didn’t find it crowded at all when washing up. There’s a drinking fountain where you can get water outside of each restroom along with trash bins. There are no trash cans on your campsite so make sure you have a bag to collect your rubbish. Each site has a campfire pit, however we were cautioned that we could not use it due to fire hazards during this season. There are no hookups and no showers. There are public showers at Zion Outfitters just outside the park entrance for $ 5 for 5 min. Our site was 5 min walking distance to the Zion park info center which has the nearest shuttle stop. You can dispose of your propane can at the entrance of south campground.
Tips:
— Arrive EARLY — there is no specific time you can enter and stake out for a campsite. Many people are packing and leaving their site around 5−6AM. 7:30 — 8:30AM would be a reasonable time to come.
— Before you enter into the campground, pick up a payment envelope so that you can drop your money in after you have chosen your site. You can pay by cash, check or credit card. This saves you a lot of time going back and forth.
— Make sure you tear off the slip on the payment envelope and fill out the info and clip it onto the post on your site before leaving. This ensures that you have reserved your spot.

Terrible campground. Tiny camping sites all crammed together, nobody regulating the noise at night (and LOTS of classless people making TONS of noise in the evenings), little to no shade, bugs everywhere, and horrible-​smelling restrooms. Arguably one of the worst US National Parks campsites I’ve ever been to. If you have the option, find a campsite OUTSIDE of the park in Springdale, and take the free shuttle in.

Erst beim dritten Versuch finden wir beim Zion National Park einen Campground, mit dem wir zufrieden sind. Zion Canyon Campground war ein Reinfall, Watchman wäre bei Verfügbarkeit nicht schlecht gewesen — hier nun lassen wir uns für zwei Nächte nieder.
Es handelt sich um einen staatlichen Campground, die meist einfacher ausgestattet sind, dafür aber wunderbare Lagen haben und meist sehr großzügige Stellplätze. Der Campground liegt in einem Wald mit altem Baumbestand, nur einen Steinwurf vom Watchman entfernt. Hier allerdings kann man nicht vorreservieren, es gilt die Regel: first come, first served. 127 Sites warten auf Nutzer, nicht aber im Winter. Der Campground öffnet ca. Anfang März. Ein Stellplatz kostet $ 16/​Nacht.
Es gibt keine hook-​ups, d.h. auch kein Strom– oder Wasseranschluss an den Sites. Einige wenige haben eine Trinkwasserpumpe. Mit einem RV spielt das keine Rolle, ist man damit doch für mehrere Tage autark. Zu begrenzten Tageszeiten (8 – 10 h und 18 – 20 h) darf auch der Generator benutzt werden, so dass dann alle elektrischen Geräte an «Bord» genutzt werden können, Es gibt eine zentrale Dumpstation.
Die Restrooms sind sehr gepflegt, haben aber keine Duschen!
Der Campground liegt am Südeingang des Zion National Parks. Dieser Nationalpark bietet sehr viele, einige atemberaubende Wanderungen. Ein Shuttlebus befördert zum Nulltarif in den Park zu diversen Haltestellen und Ausgangspunkte für Wanderungen. Haltestelle für den Shuttle ist das Visitor-​Center in walking distance. Das Visitor Center liegt zwischen dem South und dem Watchman Campground. Für den öffentlichen Verkehr ist der Park nicht geöffnet. Die Shuttles fahren in kurzen Abständen den ganzen Tag bis in den Abend hinein.
Fazit: Direkt am Fluss gelegen mit einer beeindruckenden Bergkulisse kann der Campground als idyllisch bezeichnet werden. Wunderbar zum Relaxen, vor allem nach den Anstrengungen von ausgedehnten Wanderungen. Wenn man nicht auf Strom/​Wasser am Stellplatz angewiesen ist, ziehen wir den South Campground den beiden anderen vor. Unsere Empfehlung. Vier Sterne.
Hinweis: Wo ein South Campground ist, erwartet man auch einen North Campground. Die Logik ist zwar richtig, aber nicht mehr Realität. Es gab in der Tat vormals einen North Campground drinnen im Nationalpark. Aber das ist Historie.