Southern Utah in a tent

We're new to the site, so apologize for any faux pas! We would like suggestions on campsites:

My family (myself, my husband, three teenage boys) are driving to southern Utah in early July and want to tent camp in a centralized area.

Other U.S. campsites we've stayed at had electric hook-ups and water available. We are looking for something similar. I must have a shower each day!

I've noted from other posts that we may have to spend time in a couple of different camps in order to see everything. We will have approximately 6-7 days to spend hiking and seeing sites. Reading about the rafting makes me think we might spend an afternoon trying that (the boys are 16/16/18)!

Seems like a great site - I'd greatly appreciate any help, lots of info out there - hard to sort through it all!

AMSDMS

Welcome to the RTA forum!

Southern utah is a great place to camp, with plenty of places to set up your tent. I'd say your biggest problem will be narrowing down the many options that are available to you.

I'd start by looking at the Utah State Parks website. The amenities, and availablity of showers at each park, are listed on the services section for each park. Personally, I do a lot of tent camping, and state parks are the first place I look. They are usually a little more quiet and often have a few more amenities than public campgrounds on federal lands.

The Next Place I would look is at the Dixie National Forest and then at the individual parks of the National Parks Service.

Finally, you can look into private campgrounds. I usually avoid them if I can because they tend to cost more, and often are more geared towards RV users. But there are very nice ones out there, and they almost always have the amenities that you are looking for.

There are a number of guidebooks that will help you find the campground that is perfect for you. RTA's recommendations for Camping Guidebooks can be found here.

I tend to like national and state parks better myself for the reason Michael stated. Too often, the RVs take over and tent campers just get a corner somewhere. However, an exception to this was at Ruby's at Bryce Canyon. I LOVED my tentsite here, next to a wetland area where I could watch the dogs. And they have wonderful amenities and are just outside the park's entrance!

So, if Bryce Canyon is part of your trip, check out Ruby's.

Thanks, Michael and Judy for the helpful information on Utah camping!

amsdms