Zion National park

[minniel]

Can anyone help me with places to stay while visiting Zion Nat. Park.

 

[jamstew]

We stayed in Zion Lodge, which I loved! Other than staying in the park, I think the closest town is Springdale, just outside the gates IIRC. If you're asking about a TS, I have no idea. I think the nearest place would be in St. George.

 

[minniel]

I don't think we want to do a timeshare as we want to move from park to park. Also need advice on Bryce canyon lodging.

 

[kjd]

We're staying in Mesquite Nevada at the timeshare called "The Masters Villas at Paradise Canyon" in a couple of months. The place seems to be a golf resort with villas. The MVPC trades on Interval International. It's 77 miles from Zion National Park.

We've never stayed there but the TUG reviews of MVPC are pretty decent. There are a few smaller towns closer to ZNP but Mesquite is a bigger town with more amenities. There is a large casino/hotel there and several restaurants. Other attractions include: Bryce Canyon-177 miles; Brian Head-110 miles; Snow Canyon-43 miles; Grand Canyon-188 miles (North Rim) and St George, Utah-36 miles. In this part of the West where there are few stoplights, mileage is not the problem it is in metro areas.

If you are going to Zion I think that either Mesquite or St George would be fine.

 

[gmarine]

The NP lodges in both parks are the best places to stay.

 

[rhonda]

We stayed at the Worldmark St. George in summer 2008. While we did visit Zion NP from St. George -- I felt it was too far. I'd recommend either booking a hotel/B&B Springdale or the Zion Lodge.

If you have the means, Zion's campground looked great!

 

[Egret1986]

I have to agree that staying inside the park is always a great choice

When we did a road trip a couple of years ago vising all the National/State Parks between Las Vegas and Sedona (including Zion, Bryce, North Rim GC), for the most part we stayed in the Parks. However, when we went to Zion we stayed right outside the entrance in Springdale. It's a quaint little town and we enjoyed our stay at the Bumbleberry Inn.

http://www.bumbleberry.com/

It's definitely one of our most memorable trips. The National Parks are incredible!!!

 

[K2Quick]

I don't think we want to do a timeshare as we want to move from park to park. Also need advice on Bryce canyon lodging.

Which other parks are you planning on hitting? If you're planning on doing Arches/Canyonlands, I'd recommend going up Highway 12 after you visit Bryce Canyon through the Grand Staircase monument, and passing through Capitol Reef NP before proceeding to Moab. That can be done in a pretty easy day's drive.

 

[DaveNV]

I've stayed a few times at the Best Western Zion Park Inn, in Springdale, UT. It's a very nice, clean place, comfortable, and fairly reasonable. Right on the main road into Zion National Park, and close walking distance to shops and restaurants. http://www.zionparkinn.com/

At Bryce, the closest outside the park is Ruby's Inn, an ENORMOUS place with something for everyone. You won't find one easier to reach than that place. It's been there a looong time, and they keep updating and adding on. http://www.rubysinn.com/

If you try to reach the Grand Canyon North Rim, see if you can stay at the North Rim Lodge. We did this last September, and it was fine for one night. Kind of cool to wake up and watch the sunrise from the edge of the canyon. http://foreverlodging.com/lodging.cfm?PropertyKey=181

St. George is only about 45 minutes from Zion, and there are plenty of motels and such there. But if you want to do a sunrise experience inside Zion, it's easier to stay in Springdale.

Dave

 

[Egret1986]

I forgot about the Sunrise thing...and sunset for that matter!

Kind of cool to wake up and watch the sunrise from the edge of the canyon. http://foreverlodging.com/lodging.cfm?PropertyKey=181

But if you want to do a sunrise experience inside Zion, it's easier to stay in Springdale.

Dave

Two of the best reasons for staying inside the parks and walking from your lodging to see these two spectacular times of the day. We did that in Bryce and on the North Rim. Although we weren't inside the park in Zion for the sunrise, it was still awesome in Springdale from our lodging.

 

[sue1947]

I've done several variations of trips through the SW National Parks in the last couple of years and here are my lodging recommendations:

For Bryce lodging, I've stayed at both Ruby's and the National park lodge; the latter wins hands down. The ability to walk out your door to the rim to catch the sunrise/sunset, to stop off in your room mid-hike, etc is wonderful. You are in the trees right on the rim for a true National park experience. With Ruby's (or their new one across the street) you are in a big complex with the bus tours, shopping/restaurant complex. With Bryce, I think it is worth the extra effort and cost to stay in the park.
For Zion: The lodge is in the middle of the valley and you can walk out your door and pick up a trail or hop the shuttle bus (if it's running) to trails further along the road. Springdale is very close and also pretty convenient with the shuttle bus extending into town. I would definitely do the lodge in Bryce, but go with whichever motel in Springdale or the lodge works out best for your pocketbook.
North Rim Grand Canyon is far enough from any nearby lodging that the lodge definitely wins hands down. However, it closes up in mid-Oct and opens in mid May so the timing has to be right.
About a half hour from Bryce is Kodachrome Basin State Park which has some great little cabins right in the park. They just changed ownership but are a great deal. The cost was about $100/night for a cabin with 2 beds, micro/fridge, picnic table on the porch and barbecue outside. We walked from the cabin to the trails etc. I really liked them for comfort and ambiance (and the sunset from the porch was fabulous). Kodachrome SP is a good base to explore the west side of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
For Capitol Reef National Park, the best place is Torrey, Utah and Austins Chuckwagon motel with regular motel rooms, 2-BR cabins with micro and large fridge, and a 3-BR apartment over the store/bakery.
In Moab, check out Accommodations Unlimited for some condo rentals. Excellent service and excellent selection of some very nice condos. There was a group of us splitting the cost so it turned out to be less money than the motels.

Sue

 

[Karen G]

I've stayed a few times at the Best Western Zion Park Inn, in Springdale, UT. It's a very nice, clean place, comfortable, and fairly reasonable.

I recommend that place, too. We stayed there once when visiting Zion. We looked at the lodges in the park, but they were pretty basic and had no tvs.

At the time of our visit, we didn't yet qualify for the National Parks senior pass (age 62). We had to pay the admission fee again the next day when we wanted to take the shorter drive through the park to get to the highway that leads to Bryce Canyon. I think the fee was $25, but we felt it was worth it as it made the trip to Bryce a lot shorter.

 

[akp]

I'm going to Zion tomorrow!

We're going to the Desert Pearl Inn in Springdale for the first night, and a timeshare in St. George for the next 2 nights. I'm worried that the St. George nights are going to feel too far away, esp after staying in Springdale. I'll update after the trip.

 

[John Cummings]

We stayed at the Desert Pearl Inn in Springdale for 2 nights last June. I highly recommend the Desert Pearl Inn and it is very highly rated on "Trip Advisor". It is about a mile from the park entrance and the free park shuttle picks up right in front of it.

 

[Dollie]

Zion Mountain Ranch

We find staying in the National Park itself is always the best no matter what the accomodations are like. However, it can be difficult to get reservations. Usually you have to make them a year in advance. Our last trip to Zion we stayed at Zion Mountain Ranch on the east side of the park. It was a little differenct from all the hotel/motel places in Springdale and even has a herd of buffalo grazing.