Campground Availability

A month-by-month almanac of when campgrounds open, fill and ease off

Zion campgrounds through the year

Page revised
Dates checked against park sources on

The year at a glance

  1. Jan Campgrounds operating 1 of 3 campgrounds operating in 2026
  2. Feb Campgrounds operating 1 of 3 campgrounds operating in 2026
  3. Mar Most campgrounds operating 2 of 3 campgrounds operating in 2026
  4. Apr Most campgrounds operating 2 of 3 campgrounds operating in 2026
  5. May Every campground operating 3 of 3 campgrounds operating in 2026
  6. Jun Every campground operating 3 of 3 campgrounds operating in 2026
  7. Jul Every campground operating 3 of 3 campgrounds operating in 2026
  8. Aug Every campground operating 3 of 3 campgrounds operating in 2026
  9. Sep Every campground operating 3 of 3 campgrounds operating in 2026
  10. Oct Most campgrounds operating 2 of 3 campgrounds operating in 2026
  11. Nov Campgrounds operating 1 of 3 campgrounds operating in 2026
  12. Dec Campgrounds operating 1 of 3 campgrounds operating in 2026

What the shading means

  • No campground operating
  • Campgrounds operating
  • Most campgrounds operating
  • Every campground operating

Zion has three campgrounds and three different calendars. One is open every day of the year. One runs from early March to the end of October. One sits at 7,890 feet on the Kolob Terrace and opens for the warm months, weather permitting.

What ties them together is a single sentence from the National Park Service: from mid-March through late November, the campgrounds are full almost every night. That is more than eight months. The useful questions at Zion are which campgrounds exist in your month, and how long ago your dates were sold.

Three campgrounds, three seasons

Campground Open Sold Notes
Watchman Year-round Up to six months ahead Loops A and B have electric sites, C and D are non-electric, F is walk-to tent sites. Generators are not allowed
South Early March to the end of October Up to 14 days ahead Reached through the south entrance at Springdale
Lava Point Typically May through September, as weather allows Up to 14 days ahead Six primitive sites at 7,890 feet. No drinking water. Vehicles longer than 19 feet are not permitted on the access road

Reservations are required at all three.

Month by month

The last column shows when Watchman's dates for that month first went on sale, six months earlier.

Month Campgrounds operating What the season brings Watchman dates first sold in
January Watchman Outside the months the park describes as full nightly July
February Watchman Same August
March Watchman; South from early March The full-almost-every-night stretch begins mid-month. Shuttle season starts around now September
April Watchman, South Tent caterpillars appear in the campground in April and May October
May Watchman, South; Lava Point typically opens Spring weather on the Kolob Terrace road can change fast November
June All three Since June 7, 2026, large vehicles cannot use the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway and must come in through the south entrance December
July All three Peak heat in the canyon. Ants are thickest in July and August, especially after monsoon rains January
August All three Same February
September All three; typically Lava Point's last month Still inside the full-nightly stretch March
October Watchman; South until the end of the month Cottonwoods along the river turn gold in fall April
November Watchman The full-nightly stretch runs through late November. Shuttle season ends around now May
December Watchman Outside the months the park describes as full nightly June

The park says nothing about how full Watchman is in December, January and February. Those months are simply not part of the stretch it describes as full, and Watchman is the only campground open for them.

Reading the two sales clocks together

Because Watchman sells six months ahead and South sells 14 days ahead, a spring or fall trip to Zion has two separate moments when sites appear.

Take a week in mid-October. Watchman's dates for it opened in mid-April. If you were not looking then, South Campground's nights for the same week are not on sale yet: each one opens two weeks before it arrives. A trip that looks sold out from five months away has a second campground that has not been offered to anyone.

That second moment disappears from November through February, when South is closed. Check Recreation.gov for the exact first and last night each year, since the listing gives the season as "early March to the end of October" without fixed dates.

Lava Point follows the same 14-day clock in summer, but with six sites, no water and a 19-foot vehicle limit it suits a narrow set of trips. It is about 25 miles north of the town of Virgin by the Kolob Terrace Road, well away from the main canyon.

When your month was sold long ago

A Watchman date that sold out in the spring can still come back. People change plans, and a cancelled reservation returns to the Recreation.gov calendar. The park does not publish when or how often.

If checking by hand is not practical, OpenCampsite will do the looking for the Zion campgrounds it supports and message you by text or email once a site fitting your nights shows up. The reservation is still yours to make on Recreation.gov, and nothing is held in the meantime.

Watch Zion dates with OpenCampsite

Short answers

Is any Zion campground open in winter?
Watchman is open year-round. South Campground is listed as open from early March to the end of October, and Lava Point is typically open May through September as weather allows, so from November through February Watchman is the only one of the three operating.
When is Zion camping busiest?
The National Park Service says that from mid-March through late November the campgrounds are full almost every night. It does not single out a month within that stretch.
How far ahead do Zion campsites go on sale?
Standard sites at Watchman can be reserved up to six months in advance. South Campground and Lava Point can be reserved up to 14 days in advance. Reservations are required at all three.

Where these dates come from