I hope to take the family on a introductory trip to the southwest this summer. My tenative plan is to drive out from IL and we want to visit Zion and Bryce plus whatever else we can squeeze in. I was thinking of setting camping at Kodachrome as it seems to be reasonably located. Will it be to hot by the begining of June? My kids are still younger so cooler nightime temps would be great. Or should I look at other possibilities? Also any can't miss recomendations would be great! Thanks

I would expect it to be on the cool side at night, probably warm to hot during the day.

On your way out there, definitely drive the stretch of UT-12 between Boulder, UT and Escalante, UT. The Burr Trail coming from Capitol Reef over to Boulder is also incredibly scenic.

If you spend two (or more) nights at Kodachrome State Park, you might want to take one day and do the slot canyons down off the hole-in-the-rock road.

Kodachrome is cool
Great spot and time of year for what you are describing.
Good advice above.

rasgoat wrote:Kodachrome is cool
Great spot and time of year for what you are describing.
Good advice above.

Yes, also agree with everything above. You additionally might want to check out Calf Creek Falls (upper and lower) and Devils Garden along the Hole-in-the-Rock Road.

Geez, I think I'll do the same!

I love Kodachrome but it is a lot more convenient to Bryce than to Zion. You may want to be closer to Zion with a family (2 hours to east side of park, 2.5to Zion Visitor Center says map quest). Zion has more variety and waterplay potential is a kid pleaser(Narrows etc).

I use Zion as the main course with daytrips to Bryce and Kodachrome thrown in.

North Rim of Grand Canyon is also a nice day trip wherever you stay.

Kodachrome has other nice things nearby though - adding to list lcarreau started: Grosvenor's arch is a nice stop.

I am not a camper - just commenting on location Zion vs. Bryce. How old are kids?

Interesting information on the distance, it has been too long for me to remember. Two hours is a bit too long as a basecamp for Zion, cause Zion is waaaaay cool. Howbout the campsites at Zion? certainly not as nice as the Kodachrome and harder to get I'm sure.

Campsites in Zion are hard to get at weekend. In Zion Valley (~4000') they will be warm in June. Watchman can be reserved on-line, South is 1st-come, 1st-serve. Kolob Terrace is higher but very small, 1st-come, 1st-serve.

Kodachrome is ~6000' or so; nights will probably be reasonable in June. Lots of junipers to shade a small tent, great scenery and showers!

Bryce has three fairly decent campgrounds above 7000' -- and you can always try for a campsite at Ruby's if desperate! Plus Red Canyon is just about 20 miles (?) west of Bryce. These are popular places -- hit them in the middle of the week if you can.

Remember that you can often "disperse" camp (primitive) on BLM land for free.

Sbrande wrote:
Kodachrome has other nice things nearby though - adding to list lcarreau started: Grosvenor's arch is a nice stop.

Sorry, I was NEVER much of a "list" person. I just point to the map and go !!!

Isn't there a few good arches in Devils Garden? And, what about camping in Escalante? I heard they have a lake there for the kids.

By looking at this thread, I'm sure you'll find plenty to do.

The Little ones will be 8, 5 and 2. I thought about 1 night camping at Watchman in Zion then 4 nights at Kodachrome. My biggest concern was the nightime temps in the zion valley could be miserable. At the top of the my Zion list is Angels landing and Zion narrows. A day trip to the North Rim of the grand canyon sounds like a great idea! I have never been to this area of the country. My main goal is to for the little ones to have a great time so when they get older it won't be hard to convince them for a couple more "in depth" visits to this area.

My biggest concern was the nightime temps in the zion valley could be miserable.

They certainly could be. It seems that it's always windy at night in Zion Canyon in summer too. Personally, I don't like camping there in summer. Lava Point is usually more pleasant.

Angels Landing will be very hot, so get an early start. Zion Narrows is usually good in June, but this year it may have high water (snowpack is currently 182% of normal).

Bryce should be pretty pleasant and as said above, Calf Creek Falls is recommended. Also consider Sulphur Creek in Capitol Reef. It's a good one for June.

Highway 12/Boulder Mountain is also very scenic and June is a good time to go. It has many campgrounds and campsites.

As others have said, Bryce temps will be cool but the other places could be hot. If you're concerned about the temps and are willing to fork over some more money, Kodachrome Basin does have cabins: http://www.redstonecabins.com/cabins.html.

I stayed there in 2006, and it was reasonably priced (then). Current summer rates are $90 a night with the 4th night half-price.

But also as others have said, Kodachrome is not a good base if you want to go to Zion. I'd probably try camping at Bryce in your situation.

Bryce is twice as nice, if not too soon in June ..

Though it isn't developed in any way, Mosquito Cove is a free piece of BLM land to camp on outside of Springdale. I wish I could tell you to look for a sign, but I've never seen anything that indicates it's a campground. It's on the right side, down a small hill before you enter Springdale from the west. It's mostly flat and fairly sandy with a few trees still withstanding the camping.

Gafoto wrote:Though it isn't developed in any way, Mosquito Cove is a free piece of BLM land to camp on outside of Springdale. I wish I could tell you to look for a sign, but I've never seen anything that indicates it's a campground. It's on the right side, down a small hill before you enter Springdale from the west. It's mostly flat and fairly sandy with a few trees still withstanding the camping.

Did the BLM ever install toilets at Mosquito Cove? The place was closed down for about a year, because years of crowded camping had left feces all over the place. BLM locked the gate in 2009, then reopened. Some folks used to call it Hepatitis Cove.

MoapaPk wrote:

Gafoto wrote:Though it isn't developed in any way, Mosquito Cove is a free piece of BLM land to camp on outside of Springdale. I wish I could tell you to look for a sign, but I've never seen anything that indicates it's a campground. It's on the right side, down a small hill before you enter Springdale from the west. It's mostly flat and fairly sandy with a few trees still withstanding the camping.

Did the BLM ever install toilets at Mosquito Cove? The place was closed down for about a year, because years of crowded camping had left feces all over the place. BLM locked the gate in 2009, then reopened. Some folks used to call it Hepatitis Cove.

I last visited in June 2010. It was (relatively) clean but totally free of toilets. It was very busy with people strewn around. I didn't notice any filth, but I didn't look too hard. With the number of visitors in Zion during the summer it would be a mess if they closed that site down.

If the BLM installs toilets then they'll have to have someone pump those toilets which will make them charge fees which will make them have someone to collect fees and then they need someone to keep an eye on the campground. I worked with the Moab BLM office last year and I know the cost for building a campground with multiple toilets and garbage collection is fairly significant. The cost for maintaining it is pretty major too. I suppose it's inevitable though, the Colorado riverway near Moab faced the same kind of disgusting overuse for some time in the 90s before the BLM started building campgrounds.