Zion Canyon Scenic Drive

Calico Ghost Town – Zion – Valley of Fire – Death Valley
November 27^th – December 6^th, 2021 (9 nights)

Living in California not only offers access to world class campgrounds in the state, but also proximity to outstanding parks in adjacent states.  On this trip, we thought it would be epic fun to string together campgrounds in California, Utah, and Nevada, while at the same time keeping driving times reasonable.  It turns out that world-renown Zion National Park (UT), Valley of Fire State Park (NV), and Death Valley National Park (CA) are all less than three hour’s drive from another!  And, we discovered, this trifecta of park greatness is a must itinerary!  The key caveat here is to make reservations well in advance for both Watchman (Zion) and Furnace Creek (Death Valley) campgrounds since these national parks are very popular.  Additionally, plan on visiting Valley of Fire State Park (one of our top favorite campgrounds thus far) during the week and arrive in the morning before 10 a.m. because it’s first come first serve (no reservations).  Lastly, don’t go to these places in the summer due to extremely hot temperatures.

Calico Ghost Town
In order to a avoid a long drive directly from our home in Carlsbad, California to Zion National Park, UT (about 8 hours), we decided to stay overnight at a San Bernardino County Regional Park called Calico Ghost Town.  It was a silver mining town in the 1880s and was abandoned in the mid 1890s when silver lost its value.  It’s now a campground and old west tourist attraction.  The buildings on main street have been restored to look as they did in the 1800s and are now operated as gift stores and restaurants.   The campground offers full hookup sites and many of the campsites are on dirt pads.  We had site AC3, which is a good full hookup site that is on the trail leading directly up to the town (about a 5 minute walk).  This park caters to families with young children (and people who like driving ATVs, dirt bikes, buggies and other vehicles, as there are off-roading trails here) and has a Knotts Berry Farm feel (and for good reason – Walter Knott purchased the town in 1951).  We walked the main street in the afternoon, browsed a few of the candy and gift stores, and listened to some live music in the early evening.  We enjoyed a movie in our Scamp before bed and left early the next morning.

Zion National Park, Utah
The trip from Calico Ghost Town to Zion National Park (Watchman Campground) passes through Las Vegas, NV and St. George Utah, and takes about 5 hours without stops.  Although we try to limit our drives to four hours or under, we find that if we do have to drive a bit longer, stopping for lunch to break up the ride into a couple of segments makes the trip easier.  On this segment, we stopped for lunch in our Scamp in Las Vegas and arrived at Watchman Campground in the afternoon.  Our campsite, B46 (electric only), is adjacent to the Virgin River with towering colorful mountains surrounding the entire campground.  There are water spigots in the campground and a free central dump station.  The water spigot near our campsite was very high pressure and our Water Bandit and Water Tank Filler Hose combination made it possible to easily fill our water jug without water spraying everywhere (see “How our Water Bandit Saved our Trip”).

Watchman Campground is within walking distance of the Visitor Center, some nice stores and restaurants, and trails (including one designated biking trail – Pa’rus Trail).  There are shuttle stops by the Visitor Center with two free shuttle routes:  (1) the Zion Canyon Line (park shuttle) which runs from the Visitor Center up the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive to destinations like the Zion Lodge and trailheads, including Emerald Pools, West Rim Trail, and Temple of Sinawava where hikers depart for Zion Narrows (about a 40 minute shuttle ride from the Visitors Center to this last stop), and (2) the Springdale Shuttle (town shuttle) that stops at nine locations in town and picks up and drops off visitors at the park’s pedestrian/bike entrance.  The shuttles were implemented by the park in 2000 as a response to extreme traffic congestion on Zion Canyon Scenic Drive.  The park service temporarily shut down all shuttles the day after we arrived (Nov. 29^th – Dec. 22^nd).  As a result, the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive became open to traffic and we were able to drive our car to hiking spots along the route (although some parking lots were full).

We spent three fabulous days enjoying the Watchman Campground and the nearby local Visitor Center and shops, hiking trails and bike path (as well as watching the stars at night).  Despite being relatively full, Watchman Campground was quiet and our site next to the river was very peaceful.  We saw deer everyday walking around the campground and they appeared accustomed to people.  We sometimes would walk right by one only noticing when just a few feet away.  There are signs warning of deer attacks posted within the campground, but we did not witness any such hostility.  The signs state that last year multiple visitors were injured by mothers protecting their young.  However, during our stay, the deer seemed content on grazing surrounding foliage and resting by the river.  As with all wild animals though, it’s always best to keep some distance and avoid approaching young ones because the parents are usually not too far away.

We drove up Zion Canyon Scenic Drive on our own since the shuttle service was not running.  On our second day, we hiked Emerald Pools and Grotto Trails (about 6 miles / 2 hours combined).  The Emerald Pools hike leads to three tiers of natural ponds (we combined the lower, middle, and upper pools in one hike). Scenery includes stunning mountains, red rocks, waterfalls over sheer rock faces, and emerald colored pools.  In the afternoon, we rode our bikes from the campground to Pa’rus trail which runs along the Virgin River (easy paved 3.5 mile round trip ).  The trail’s name is derived from Paiute (indigenous people language) and means “bubbling tumbling water”.  It’s a beautiful ride along the river and up the canyon and can be done within a half hour on bike (or much longer time if walking).  We enjoyed watching stars in the evening as Zion National Park is very dark and starry (it was officially named an International Dark Sky Park this year).

We were pleasantly surprised to find fast internet at Watchman Campground!  We made our mobile phone a hotspot and used our laptop.  An internet speed test showed quick speeds (40Mbps download / 7 Mbps upload)!  We were able to stream some news video (off our Sling TV), take care of email, catch up on Instagram, and do some internet browsing!  It turns out that the park allowed installation of a Verizon cellphone tower in a stealth building near the Visitor’s Center!  Having internet made it also possible for us to research future planned stops and check traffic heading to our next destination.

On our third day in Zion, we drove up to the last Shuttle stop (#9, Temple of Sinawava) and took the park’s most popular hike, Riverside Walk, which is an easy stroll.  The paved Riverside Walk, which follows the Virgin River upstream one mile through narrowing sandstone canyons ends at the Zion Narrows.  If you want to continue hiking up the Zion Narrows, it requires walking on the wet rocky riverbed.  Many people try to walk to Orderville Canyon, a two hour hike upstream, where the canyon is at its narrowest.  In order to make the riverbed hike more comfortable, it is recommended to rent neoprene insulated socks and hiking shoes which many of the area retail outlets offer.  Since we were there in December and the river water temperature was 47 degrees, shops were also recommending water proof dry pants.  A local shop gave us a quote of $50 per person per day to rent insulated socks, hiking shoes, and dry pants.  Because we wanted to explore other trails and also heard people say their feet were freezing despite the insulated apparel, we decided not to get wet.  Also, some people report foot/ankle swelling and pain after hiking for hours on the uneven river stones.

Our last hike before leaving Zion National Park was on the Watchman Trail.  This trail is an easy walk from the Watchman Campground and a fantastic way to see the entire Springdale Valley.  The trail itself climbs from the valley high above the park.  The trail climbs about 400 feet (but not to the height of the Watchman Spire itself) and is moderately easy and took us about two hours to complete round trip.  There are great views of the surrounding peaks and park below at the top of the trail!  After three days of exploring, we felt content that we had experienced some of the best of Zion National Park.  However, we could have easily spent a couple of more days which would have allowed a hike up to the top of the popular Angels Landing as well as potentially making a day of the Zion Narrows.  We met one camper who comes back every year and stays for ten to fourteen days and never leaves the campground (he’s happy to sit outside and read books and just absorb the views)!  Note – just recently, Zion National Park announced it will require a permit to hike Angels Landing starting next April (April 1, 2022).

We left Zion early in the morning so we could arrive at Valley of Fire State Park early as it is first come first serve (no reservations).  Because we didn’t know what to expect at our next destination, we filled up our Fresh water tank at our Watchman campsite (from our water jug / filled from a spigot) before leaving.  We also dumped our Black and Grey tanks on the way out of Zion at the free central dump.

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada
We arrived at Valley of Fire State Park, the oldest and largest state park in Nevada, at around 9:15 a.m. after a 2 ½ hour drive from Zion.  Our goal was to arrive before 9:30 a.m. as the campground does not accept reservations and we wanted to stay inside this popular park.  There are two campgrounds within Valley of Fire State Park:  (1) Atlatl Rock Campground (has water and electric hookups) and (2) Arch Rock Campground (water spigots only).  Both campgrounds are a short distance from each other and there is a shared free central Dump Station right outside the campgrounds.  We targeted Arch Rock Campground because the campsites are a bit more private and scenically placed within the rocks compared to Atlatl Rock Campground.  We found water spigots at each campsite at Arch Rock Campground (and some have threads which may allow the connection of a fresh water hose).  We didn’t have any cell phone coverage (Verizon) at the campsite but found good coverage at the top of the stairs at Atlatl Rock as well as several parking lots on White Domes Road above the Visitors Center.

We drove into Valley of Fire State Park on a Wednesday morning in December and headed past the Visitor Center straight toward the campgrounds.  The first thing we noticed was the out of this world landscape of crazy, huge, bright red Aztec sandstone rocks.  It certainly made sense why scenes from Star Trek Generations were filmed within Valley of Fire State Park!  We passed Atlatl Rock Campground and turned into the entrance of Arch Rock Campground.  Upon entry, we immediately noticed many open campsites in the lower, more open, part of the campground.  Since there was no one behind us on the road, we decided to drive around the entire campground loop to see if we could get a really cherry spot.  As it turned out, we found a beautiful campsite in site #29, the last site on the loop and surrounded by towering red rocks!  The site has its own picnic area as well as a dedicated threaded water spigot and plenty of sunshine for solar panels.  We set up our Scamp 13’ at the campsite and then drove back down to the entrance of Arch Rock Campground to pay the “Iron Ranger” (metal fee collection box).  This involved placing our campsite fees of $25 per night cash (non-Nevada vehicle fee) into the metal lock box and taking the receipt back to our campsite and displaying it on the post (note: hookup sites are $10 more per night).  It appeared that the “Iron Ranger” here only takes cash or check.  We only brought $50 cash with us on our trip and no checks, so we just covered our campsite fees for two nights!  (Note to self – bring more cash on future trips).

There’s plenty to explore at Valley of Fire State Park, so a minimum of two nights at the campground will allow a good visit.  This is one park where it really pays to have a trailer or motor home because there aren’t really many places to stay nearby.  Many people visit for the day, driving in from Las Vegas (about an hour away), but miss much of the park’s greatness (e.g. starry nights, big horn sheep walking through the campground in the early morning, fantastic sunrises and sunsets ….).  Stop by the Visitor’s Center to get a park map (and see the park film and exhibit).  Then, drive White Domes Road above the Visitor Center to take a number of scenic hikes.  We chose White Domes for our first hike – the highlight is a really spectacular slot canyon.  Closer to the campgrounds, make sure to see Arch Rock and climb the stairs of Atlatl Rock (seen in Star Trek Generations) to view the petroglyphs dating back more than 2,000 years at the top of the platform (and grab some internet while on the top of the platform!).

Two large bighorn sheep walked right past our Scamp 13’ on our first morning!  We watched one of them ram one of the water spigots to get it to turn on.  Then, the other came down off a large steep rock and both drank fresh water at the spigot!  They also put on a show by ramming their horns together, making a tremendous crashing noise.  We saw this pair at other times during our stay as well as many other bighorn sheep families on our hikes.  It was an amazing experience being so close to these beautiful magnificent animals.

The Fire Wave hike (Parking Lot #3) is one of the park’s most popular.  The rainbow colored rock formations are incredible and the hike takes about an hour.  After hiking Fire Wave, make sure to hike Rainbow Vista Canyon which ends in an otherworldly view of a landscape that looks to be from another planet.  We saw 9 bighorn sheep during this colorful easy canyon hike.  We followed these two hikes up by walking Mouse’s Tank where petroglyphs are on display.  If you have more time, there are some other interesting sites to see like Elephant Rock, Petrified Logs, and Beehives Rock Formations.

We could have stayed a couple of more days at Valley of Fire State Park as we enjoyed it so much, but we had reservations made six months in advance for Furnace Creek (Death Valley National Park).  So, the next morning, after sharing the free Central Dump station at Valley of Fire State Park with a mob of bighorn sheep (enjoying fresh water from the spigot), we retraced our ride back through Las Vegas and then onto Death Valley.

Death Valley National Park, California

We passed Creech Air Force Base on the way to Furnace Creek Campground and watched Predator / Reaper drones taking off and landing.  We also stopped at the Area 51 Alien Travel Center, close by Area 51, refueled our tow vehicle and purchased an alien t-shirt.  We arrived at Furnace Creek Campground in the afternoon with almost a full tank of fuel and found our site #55 (no hookups).  Furnace Creek Campground is a paved parking lot on flat ground in the desert with mountains in the distance.  When we arrived, we were told the central Dump Station was closed in the campground (although we could use another one down the road toward the Visitor Center).  After walking around the entire campground, I didn’t see any water spigots to fill our 6 gallon water jug (just metal sinks for washing dishes).  I’m glad we filled our Fresh tank and dumped our Black and Grey tanks before leaving Valley of Fire State Park!  We ended up filling our water jug at an empty neighboring campsite’s spigot.

Furnace Creek Campground offers an incredible location for exploring Death Valley.  There are a couple of luxury resort hotels close by (Oasis Hotels:  The Inn at Death Valley and The Ranch at Death Valley).  Be forewarned however, prices in the area are very high.  During our visit at The Inn at Death Valley we browsed the menu and found Caesar salad priced at $19 and chicken breast at $43.  We stopped by The Ranch at Death Valley, just down the road from Furnace Creek Campground, to purchase some supplies to make s’mores with our new camping friends, Holly and Bill, at their evening campfire.  They have been staying at Furnace Creek Campground for the past forty years!  At checkout, without any prompting, the sales person at the register unexpectedly apologized for the store’s high prices when the bag of marshmallows, box of graham crackers, and four small Hershey’s bars rang up to $24!  Winter rates at the Inn at Death Valley aren’t cheap either, ranging between $500 to $600 per night for a single room.  We found the only gas station in town selling Regular gas for $6.70 / gallon.  Given that our campsite fee was only $22/night (non-hookup site), we felt like we could splurge on making s’mores!  We were also happy we had all our food and drinks with us and were able to cook all our meals in our Scamp!

The first thing to do after setting up at Furnace Creek Campground in Death Valley is to go to the Visitors Center next door (within walking distance of the campground).  The Visitor Center has a nice amphitheater which shows movies about Death Valley and informative displays (and a great gift shop in front).  There are also an information desk and a board listing the times and locations of various free Ranger programs offered.  We attended an interesting evening star program at the Harmony Borax Works (just down the street from Furnace Creek Campground), where the Ranger spoke about the Cosmos in near darkness under thousands of stars.  Death Valley is a certified International Dark Sky Park.

There is one main bike path in Furance Creek which starts at the Furnace Creek Visitors Center and ends a mile down the road at the Harmony Borax Works.  It’s a quick easy ride on mostly flat terrain on a paved path separate from the main road (people also walk on this path).  Borax (a white mineral) was found in the Furnace Creek area in 1881 and the Harmony plant began processing the mineral in 1883.    The ore’s best known use is as a cleaner for laundry.  Twenty mule team wagons transported borax 165 miles from Death Valley to Mojave.  The Harmony plant shut down after only five years in operation due to the financial collapse of its owner.  Now, visitors can walk a loop and see examples of a 20 mule wagon and homes the Chinese laborers used while mining for borax.  Another short bike ride from Furnace Creek Campground is down Airport Road (behind the Visitors Center) to the Furnace Creek Airport.  The airport is usually very quiet with occasional private airplane traffic.

Many of the main sites in Death Valley are located down Badwater Road.  It’s a 16 mile drive from Furnace Creek Campground to the farthest popular stop, Badwater Basin.  Badwater Basin is the lowest point in North America (282 ft. below sea level).  During the cooler months it’s possible to walk out onto the large salt flat.  Large salt formations (salt polygons) seem to span the basin for miles.  The first quarter mile has been flattened like hard packed sand, so it’s easy to walk on.  On the way back to the campground, we also drove Artists Drive (the most popular scenic drive in Death Valley), a 9 mile windy road through colorful rainbow hills formed by volcanic deposits (most vibrant in the afternoon).  If you are feeling energetic and it’s not hot, try the colorful Golden Canyon to Red Cathedral hike (3 miles) through multihued hills.  We added the Gower Gulch loop (additional 1 mile) which climbs up a dramatic mountain with steep drop offs on one side (we saw an older couple turning around, saying it was too scary).  The combined hike took us about two hours to complete.  These hikes are moderate / strenuous and should only be done in cool weather (preferably morning) with a partner and carrying plenty of water.

We didn’t have time for a halfway overnight stop to break up our drive on our way home to San Diego, so we left Furnace Creek early the next morning for the 6 hour drive.  We left the campground at about 5:30 a.m. and stopped at the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes on the way out of the valley to witness the dunes at sunrise.  The dunes have a nice golden hue at first light and it’s special walking out on them (and climbing up and running down the hills of sand).  We ate breakfast in the Scamp before leaving Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes and then fueled up our tow vehicle in Stovepipe Wells (gas was about $2/gallon cheaper than at the Furnace Creek gas station) before crossing the vast expanse of the Panamint Valley to connect to the 395 highway.

Some of the strategies we normally follow helped us tremendously for this trip.  The first thing we always do in trip planning is to schedule trips for the appropriate time of year (e.g. mountains in summer and deserts in spring, fall, and winter).  For this trip, we chose December as our travel month, which usually is perfect weather for these desert climates which tend to be deadly hot (130 degrees) during summer months.  We also normally pack enough food and water for the entire trip, which for this trip provided some safety in case we had a break down in a remote area in the desert (as well as saving on the expense of buying food in pricey tourist areas).  We always make sure to fill up our gas tank before crossing large remote areas, which on this trip there are many stretches of remote desert without any service stations.  Lastly, we always make sure to carry water (or cans of sparkling flavored water) when hiking.  So, when planning your next trip, keep these strategies in mind and also see if you can link several regal national and state parks on your itinerary for a perfect royal flush!

Note:  The “America the Beautiful National Park Pass” is currently $80 and provides for unlimited visits for one year for all national parks for everyone in the car (up to 4 adults)!  Considering many national parks charge $35 per car, it’s a great value if visiting three or more national parks per year.

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