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Zion NP Fall or Spring

rangerjean
Explorer
Explorer
I blew my original plan of booking Watchman for early May..totally booked. So my question here for you seasoned RVers. Would it be better to wait until fall ...say October..to go there for 5 days taking day trips out to other parks...or should I stay with original time and try for a different camp? Any opinions on which are close and as good?
8 REPLIES 8

babock
Explorer
Explorer
We were there Oct 10 for 5 nights. Was awesome except for the crowds. Won't be back because of the crowds.

dedmiston
Moderator
Moderator
Our family's best trips to Zion have been in the fall. It's absolutely gorgeous that time of year (but chilly).

Brush up on your conversational German though, because that's a popular time of year for German tourists. Our family joke is that you'll only see retired folks or Germans traveling through the Four Corners states in October.

I studied German for nine years as a kid and used to speak pretty fluently. One year we were in an NP and somebody approached me to say hello. I didn't look retired, so he struck up his conversation in his native German. I was pretty rusty as an adult, but I did my best to keep up with the convo. The guy finally stopped and looked me up and down to figure out if I'd been hit in the head or something because my language skills were so poor. He asked me where I was from and I told him Los Angeles. Then he asked me why I was speaking German to him and I told him because he started it.

I guess we Americans are weird and I was living proof.

One other thought on Spring vs. Fall. We've taken trips to southern Utah in both the spring and the fall, and we've had way more issues with late winter storms than early fall storms. When we're worried about the weather, we aim for the fall over spring every time. Either way though, I don't think we've ever had a bad day in Utah.

Enjoy your trip.

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Busskipper
Explorer
Explorer
4runnerguy wrote:
Do be aware that many people know that September and October are ideal times to visit, so getting reservations as soon as they open is important. Watchman is definitely the best choice if you need electricity. Nice to walk to the shuttle to go up the canyon, rather than driving in and having to get there early enough to get a parking spot.
Tom/Barb wrote:
Gotta remember Zion and Bryce re high, Fall comes early, spring comes late.
That's true for Bryce Canyon (~8000' elevation) but Zion is a lot lower (4000') and thus a lot warmer. We were down there last year between Christmas and New Years and had a great time. Some days were even shirt-sleeve weather.


^^^^^^^^^ I AGREE WITH KEN's ANSWER ^^^^^^^^

We have generally enjoyed Zion in the Winter - Cooler and less Crowded.
Busskipper
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4runnerguy
Explorer
Explorer
Do be aware that many people know that September and October are ideal times to visit, so getting reservations as soon as they open is important. Watchman is definitely the best choice if you need electricity. Nice to walk to the shuttle to go up the canyon, rather than driving in and having to get there early enough to get a parking spot.
Tom/Barb wrote:
Gotta remember Zion and Bryce re high, Fall comes early, spring comes late.
That's true for Bryce Canyon (~8000' elevation) but Zion is a lot lower (4000') and thus a lot warmer. We were down there last year between Christmas and New Years and had a great time. Some days were even shirt-sleeve weather.
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GordonThree
Explorer
Explorer
Visited Zion late December 2015, it was great. 60s during the day, upper 30s at night. Stayed in Watchman. Bryce a few days before, what a difference. 20s during the day, 0s at night. Big change in elevation, and maybe wind patterns?

Watchman at Zion was pretty busy, perhaps intentionally? They had 75% of the campground closed off.
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Tom_Barb
Explorer
Explorer
Gotta remember Zion and Bryce re high, Fall comes early, spring comes late.
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Desert_Captain
Explorer II
Explorer II
To experience Zion it does not get any better than staying in the Watchman CG. It's also a great base location for a number of other National park adventures {North Rim and Bryce to name just two}. I found mid-September through October to be ideal though the weather can vary quite a bit. Summers are too hot {often triple digit} and mid-November through late spring is usually too cold for me. Thanksgiving week a couple of years ago we never saw temps higher than mid-thirties and that was during the day with much cooler nights.

If you can't get a spot in Watchman there are commercial RV parks near Zion but they tend to be pricey and crowded. You need to weigh that tradeoff vs the weather.

:C

TenOC
Nomad
Nomad
When you go book early. We had to stay outside the park on the east side and ALL the parking places inside the park were full by 9:00. We had to park in the town on the west side of the park and take the bus inside.
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