Watchman Campground

We stayed at Watchman Campground this past weekend (Aug 12-13).
It's the campsite inside the actual National Park. I was worried that it was going to be really crowded, but it wasn't too bad, and the sign said the campground was full. It was very clean, the bathrooms were clean, the sites were reasonably spaced apart, which was nice. We stayed at LoopC-17 and it was right next to the bathroom. I wanted convenience, but I didn't realize how close it was. So just keep that in mind when booking. I loved how we just walked from our site directly to the Zion Center, and to the Zion Canyon strip with stores. I felt it was very convenient. We showered at Zion Outfitters, very clean showers. The night photo I posted, is right from our campsite. Beautiful.

Watchman Campground is located on a bench above North Fork Virgin River .4 miles north of Springdale and just south of the South Campground. Watchman Campground's 170 campsites include fire pits, picnic tables, and water, as well as central bathrooms with flush toilets and a central dump station. The campground is partly shaded and provides great views into Zion National Park. Laundry, groceries, and gas are all available within one mile of the campground. Watchman campground is closed from November through March. There are no RV hookups.Please enjoy the campsite photos of Watchman campground.  We will continue to add more campsite photos of the campground if some are not available.

Awesome location for camping! We showed up at the last minute to camp with our pop-up after being turned away from a commercial location outside the park. We are so happy to have stayed here instead, it's a beautiful location right under the mountains in Zion. The only drawback is there are no showers, which was okay for us as we were only here for one night. It should also be noted that we were there in March and the place was packed, so make reservations if you can!

What a gorgeous campground! We were lucky to snap up a cancellation and reserved spot B-060 for four nights in mid-November. It’s convenient to walk to the visitor center where you can catch the shuttle to most of the trailheads. You can also easily walk into town or catch the Springdale bus. So convenient!

This campground rocks! Very close to Zion NP with spectacular surrounding views. Our spot easily accommodated a pop up tent and annex-some spots can be rather close to the road, but there isn’t too much traffic to be a major concern. The campground atmosphere was also great-everyone was super friendly and it was very quiet during the night. Would definitely recommend staying here if you are visiting Zion-just make sure to book well in advance!

Great location just inside the Springdale entrance to Zion. Convenient to get an early start on hikes within the park. We brought ebikes and were able to bike to the trailheads without having to deal with shuttle reservations. There is a paved path that goes part way into the canyon, then you're on the main road (restricted to shuttles at this point). The location is also good to walk across the bridge and into town for dinner, etc. Electric hookups, clean restrooms, and level sites, altho the sites were a little close together and not very private. We camped here in April.

Given that you know ahead of time you’re camping in Zion, I’m not sure what all the hype is about. Yes, the views are nice, but that’s kind of expected. Other than the views, this campground was completely average. Our site butted up to the main parking lot for the park. Car alarms somehow went off multiple times a day, loud groups eating breakfast and lunch at the picnic tables, people leaving their trash behind, and some people cutting through our site. I was also disappointed at the lack of showers, although the dishwashing station was nice. Bathrooms were fine, i imagine it’s hard to keep up with not only campers using facilities but people from the parking lot using it as well. It was nice to not have to unhook the trailer, as everything you need is within walking distance. Only a five minute walk from our site to Zion Village (restaurants and market) as well as visitor center and shuttle service. If our site hadn’t been next to the parking lot, I may have left a better review. Avoid site A03 if you want more privacy!

Very nice campground, well-situated close to the visitors center/shuttle bus stop and trails. Quiet and clean. There's potable water at the entrance. A double service dump station. Our site was right next to the river. Would definitely come back. Beautiful place.

pros: big sites & not too close to neighbors, super convenient to zion!!! (can walk to the shuttle stop & visitors center from the campground and don't have to deal with parking), clean bathrooms, dishwashing & water spigots, good service (& wifi at the visitors center nearby)

cons: have to drive to springdale to shower

We were on our way home from our Grand Canyon trip in early January of '21 and were only able to stay at Watchman one night (actually several hours because we had to get on our way back home) so we weren't able to do any hiking or even do much sight seeing. What a shame as what we were able to see looked simply amazing. We didn't arrive until after midnight and had to set up in the dark and in the morning, we were on the road by 8am. We will make sure to stop there and plan on staying longer the next time we get out that way.