The drive from Las Vegas to Zion National Park on I-15 was one beautiful view after another that we are glad we didn’t miss. About 55 miles north of Las Vegas, we drove by Valley of Fire State Park. So named because at sunrise and sunset, when the red rocks are illuminated, it looks as if the whole park is on fire. As we crossed from Nevada to Arizona, we drove through the beautiful Virgin River Gorge. This gorge, just north of the Grand Canyon, was carved out by the Virgin River (more about the Virgin River later). The highway twists and turns above the river with enormous cliffs rising thousands of feet on both sides. After climbing out of the gorge and crossing the Utah state line, we traveled through the Mojave Desert. North of the Mojave is the Great Basin Desert, and in the distance, you can begin to see the cliffs of Zion National Park. 
We arrived at our campground, the Zion Canyon Campground and RV Resort, and were in awe! We had a pull-in RV site next to the Virgin River (told you it would come up again)! Seriously, our front window of the RV overlooked the raging river! On the other side of the river were the cliffs of Zion National Park. In fact, we were surrounded by spectacular cliffs all carved out by the Virgin River! We could not have asked for a more beautiful campground. 
Our RV site was gravel/dirt, with a picnic table, grill, and fire pit. Since our RV site was adjacent to the river, we had electricity and water hookups, but no sewer hookup. This meant that we had to be extremely careful about water usage, because we would not be able to dump our gray or black water tanks for five days (there was a dump station at the campground, and we dumped as we were leaving the campground headed to our next destination). Accordingly, we used the campground’s bathroom facilities as much as possible during the day and we took showers in the campground’s shower facilities (tokens from the front desk got each of us 6 minutes of warm water for a shower per day). We made it through the five days without having to dump, which we think is a minor miracle.
The afternoon we arrived at Zion Canyon we walked around the campground admiring the beauty by which we found ourselves surrounded. We had beautiful blue skies the entire time we were there, and the weather cooperated with us; highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s. The Cottonwoods wreaked a little havoc with our allergies, as the white, fluffy seeds were everywhere!
On the evening of the day we arrived, we walked to Hoodoos General Store, the convenience store located across the street from the campground, and bought a few items, including Margarita mix to celebrate Cinco de Mayo! The next afternoon, we took a shuttle from a stop located right outside of the entrance to our campground to a stop at the entrance to the Zion Canyon Visitor’s entrance to Zion National Park (this visitor’s entrance is located on the south of the park; there is another visitor’s entrance located on the northwest side of the park off of I-15: the Kolob Canyons Visitor’s entrance). The shuttle was free to ride, and our stop was about a 5-minute ride (or 1 mile) to the entrance to Zion National Park; in fact, we could have walked instead of taking the shuttle (but reserved our walking for the hiking trails). A shuttle stopped outside of our campground approximately every 15 minutes.
Once inside Zion National Park, we went to the Visitor’s Center to get our passbooks stamped and to buy a few souvenirs. From the Visitor’s Center, we took another free shuttle bus internal to the park. The shuttle bus inside the park runs approximately every 5 minutes and takes riders to various stops within the park, most of which have trailheads for breathtaking hikes. The shuttle takes about 40 minutes from the Visitor’s Center to the last stop at the Temple of Sinawava or about 9 miles. We took the shuttle to the last stop and then back to the third stop at Canyon Junction; admiring the magnificent cliffs along the way. At the Canyon Junction stop, we got off of the shuttle and hiked the Pa’rus Trail back to the Visitor’s Center; about a 1.75-mile hike one way. This paved trail follows the Virgin River with picturesque views of the cliffs. 
We returned to the campground and Tim bought a hiking stick at the Zion Adventures store across the street from the campground, in preparation for a more strenuous hike we planned to take the next day. Then, we returned to our RV to grill and barbeque chicken for dinner (we had too much chicken to fit on the grill, so we also used the barbeque pit provided on our site next to the river). We had french fries and green beans for our sides.
On our second full day at Zion Canyon, we again took the free shuttle bus from our campground to Zion National Park for more hiking. We decided that we would do our most strenuous hike on this day, the Emerald Pools trail. There are three separate Emerald Pools trails: the lower pool, the middle pool, and the upper pool, with the middle and upper being the most strenuous. Along these hikes, you can see various waterfalls in the park. The lower trail is paved but has minor drop-offs along the way. The middle and upper trails are not paved and are considered moderately difficult hiking trails because you must climb rocks to a sandstone ledge, with moderate drop-offs along the way. It is well worth the effort though, as the views can’t be beat! Altogether, it is about a 2.3-mile hike and took us about 2.5 hours to complete. 
The trail started and ended at the Zion Lodge, which looks like an amazing place to stay inside the park. Needless to say, after finishing that hike we were exhausted, and our legs were quite sore from all of the climbing up and down rocks. So, we had drinks at the lodge (well, Tim had a beer and Pat had water) and some cookies. Then we headed back to the campground.
On our third full day at Zion Canyon, we went back to Zion National Park for more hiking. This time, we hiked the Riverside Walk trail located at the last stop on the park shuttle. The trail is paved and follows the Virgin River along the bottom of a narrow canyon. The trail has minor drop-offs and some steep slopes. It is a 2.2-mile hike round trip and took us about 1.5 hours. This trail accesses The Narrows trail, which actually is located within the river for most of the time. Unfortunately, The Narrows was closed to hikers (waders) because the Virgin River had risen to dangerous heights and waterflow pressures from the melting of the record snowfall experienced at Zion National Park this winter were too dangerous for wading in the water. 
After the Riverside Walk hike, we took the park shuttle bus back to the Visitor’s Center and the Springdale shuttle bus back to our campground. Later that evening, Tim grilled burgers for us and we had chips; a reward for three days of hiking!
Our last full day at Zion Canyon involved some maintenance and repair of the RV. Since we full-time RV travel, it is necessary to do some routine maintenance occasionally. We also occasionally have repairs that either we can do ourselves or require a repair person; similar to what happens when you are a homeowner. So, we can’t always just have fun and enjoy where we are staying.
This time, the maintenance included lubricating our slideout, steps, doors, windows, and key holes. We used a product called Boeshield T9 for lubricating all of these areas. Tim had heard about this product at RV Boot Camp, and there was a retailer selling the product at Escapade in Tucson, Arizona; so, we bought a can at that time. Lubricating was pretty simple, with the toughest area being the slideout, which required climbing a step stool to reach the top portion of the slideout and retracting and extending the slideout after application.
Repairs included fixing the sliding door at the entrance to the bathroom. We had been having some trouble opening and closing the sliding door at the entrance to the bathroom since shortly after we purchased the RV but were able to open and close it without too much difficulty. As we were leaving Las Vegas (again, pun intended), the door would not move correctly. We discovered that the railing that the door slides on at the top was loose from the ceiling. When we got to Zion Canyon, we tried fixing the issue ourselves by screwing it back into the ceiling but to no avail. 
We tried calling several repair companies in the Springdale, Utah area, where Zion Canyon is located. We finally settled upon a repair company called Dispatch RV Mobile Service, which will travel to your campground to make necessary repairs. The repair person, Stephen, arrived mid-afternoon; and after explaining the issue, he went right to work. He completed the repairs in about an hour and now the door works better than when we bought the RV.
That night, our last night in Zion Canyon, we went to a restaurant across the street called Spotted Dog. Tim had Rocky Mountain trout with wild rice and berries, and Pat had the Muscovy Duck Breast with fingerling potatoes, squash, and chickpeas. 
Then we headed back to the RV to rest up for our trip the next day to a new destination!
The next morning, as we drove to our next destination, we got to drive through an additional part of Zion National Park. This gave us a view of the park that was new to us; with several twists and turns on the road around the canyon walls revealing more beautiful scenes (the RV handled beautifully around these tight curves and steep inclines).
Along this route, we drove through the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel; a 1.1-mile tunnel that was built into the canyon and opened in 1930. It provides direct access from Zion National Park to Bryce Canyon and Grand Canyon National Parks. The tunnel is not large enough to accommodate an RV our size in one lane and have traffic flowing from the other direction, so in order to go through the tunnel with an RV over 11’4” tall or 7’10” wide, you must purchase a permit for $15 and obtain ranger assistance at the entrance to the tunnel. Once we reached the entrance to the tunnel, the ranger stopped the traffic from the other side of the tunnel, and we were allowed to drive through the center of the tunnel leading a line of cars behind us (and stopping a line waiting on the other end). It was a unique experience; a little nerve-racking, but also sort of fun as we drove on to our next destination! 
Review of Zion Canyon Campground and RV Resort
It is difficult to imagine how any campground could be in a more beautiful location than Zion Canyon Campground and RV Resort in Springdale, Utah. Located within the canyons that make up Zion National Park and adjacent to the Virgin River, this campground is unique in its beauty.
Zion Canyon Campground and RV Resort is the only campground located in Springdale, Utah. It has 131 RV sites and 15 tent sites; and they were constructing cabins while we were there. Most of the RV sites have full hookups, but some of the RV sites located along the river (like our site) have electricity and water, but no sewer hookup. Each site has a picnic table, grill/BBQ, and fire pit.
Other amenities include a playground, pool, shared pavilion with picnic tables and grills, bathroom/shower facilities, and a laundry facility. The office also has a small store for basic food items and RV supplies. In addition, there is the Hoodoos General Store located across the street from the campground that also has an ice cream parlor. There is one restaurant next door to the campground and another across the street from the campground. There is also the Zion Adventures store across the street with all of what you might need for hiking and boating.
Maybe the best thing about Zion Canyon Campground and RV Resort (next to the beauty of its surroundings) is that it is located within walking distance of the entrance to Zion National Park, but also has a shuttle bus stop located on the street outside of the entrance to the campground that will take you to Zion National Park for free. The shuttle bus also passes other restaurants and shops along its route (that are also within walking distance if you don’t want to take the shuttle bus). These are perks that are hard to find.
Despite not having a sewer hookup and having to limit our water usage in the RV and take showers in the campground’s shower facility, having an RV site adjacent to the Virgin River is something we will treasure. We couldn’t recommend Zion Canyon Campground and RV Resort any more highly. We would stay here a hundred times if we have the opportunity to do so in the future.
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