Looking for a nice camping spot and other nice canyons near Water Canyon

Planning a trip for early June, and had Water Canyon (http://www.climb-utah.com/Zion/zionwater.htm) on my list.

1. Does anyone know any nearby canyons I should consider doing, while in that area? I thought of combining it with Rock Canyon (http://www.climb-utah.com/Zion/rock.htm), but saw the warning on the true-4WD needed for that canyon (I'm going to have a Premium-SUV rental car..."suburban like"...so not sure what I'd get and whether it would be considered at true-4WD (we will have a very capable driver in our team)
2. Does anyone know of a nice (isolated) camping spot? If we end up doing Rock Canyon, we'll camp nearby, but if not...looking for another option. Feel free to private-msg me if you do want to blast location to the entire www :naughty:

Cheers

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Originally Posted by nkanarik

Planning a trip for early June, and had Water Canyon (http://www.climb-utah.com/Zion/zionwater.htm) on my list.

1. Does anyone know any nearby canyons I should consider doing, while in that area? I thought of combining it with Rock Canyon (http://www.climb-utah.com/Zion/rock.htm), but saw the warning on the true-4WD needed for that canyon (I'm going to have a Premium-SUV rental car..."suburban like"...so not sure what I'd get and whether it would be considered at true-4WD (we will have a very capable driver in our team)
2. Does anyone know of a nice (isolated) camping spot? If we end up doing Rock Canyon, we'll camp nearby, but if not...looking for another option. Feel free to private-msg me if you do want to blast location to the entire www :naughty:

Cheers

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Yankee Doodle would combine nice with Water Canyon and lots of good campsites near Yankee. You can also combo High Star or Boltergiest with Yankee.

You’ll have a blast in Water Canyon! It’s varies a lot in what happens (you’ll understand that point after you do it once) and what you see.

And as far as vicinity - rock is the only thing nearby.



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Thanks Jman and Shane. I'm planning on doing Hidden Star & Yankee as warm up prior to Water Canyon and others. Was hoping to have something else closer :)

No worries

A deluxe option:

https://www.hipcamp.com/utah/water-c...fside-campsite

Water Canyon is one of the most-utilized (aka crowded) canyons in the Zion area, as it is a GREAT guiding canyon and gets a lot of guided trips to it. Don't expect to find it free of other groups.

There is a road from Rockville across Gooseberry Mesa to near Hilldale. The hill getting from Rockville up to the Mesa is called Crybaby Hill, for a good reason. Rough. I do not recommend going up that, even in a rental... perhaps down. Here is a map. From the Hilldale side, once you are in the vicinity of Smithsonian Mesa, there are quite a few side roads that offer primitive camping. (The light blue line).

Tom

Thanks Tom...This looks like what I was looking for. Will plan on driving North from Big Plain Junction towards Smithsonian Mesa and then look for a place to crash away from the crowds :). Thank you ALL for the other replies!

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Originally Posted by nkanarik

Thanks Tom...This looks like what I was looking for. Will plan on driving North from Big Plain Junction towards Smithsonian Mesa and then look for a place to crash away from the crowds :). Thank you ALL for the other replies!

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The road is not well marked, but is conspicuous (in daylight) as a straight road between fields heading off in that direction.

T

We camped near the radio tower / cliff overlook in the Little Creek Mountains when we did Water Canyon and really enjoyed that spot. The road to it is pretty good other than the last 100 yards to the cliff area. A Prius even got to that point without any problems.

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Originally Posted by mcweyen

We camped near the radio tower / cliff overlook in the Little Creek Mountains when we did Water Canyon and really enjoyed that spot. The road to it is pretty good other than the last 100 yards to the cliff area. A Prius even got to that point without any problems.

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Thanks...now I have another problem of too many options to choose from :). Just sanity check...Google Maps shows it's (37.09601, -113.18684) ~40 min drive from the Water Canyon TH (climb-UT: N37° 02' 16", W112° 57' 19")

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nkanarik

Thanks...now I have another problem of too many options to choose from :). Just sanity check...Google Maps shows it's (37.09601, -113.18684) ~40 min drive from the Water Canyon TH (climb-UT: N37° 02' 16", W112° 57' 19")

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We camped a little South of there and barely North of the road at the cliff. I think it took us less than half an hour to get to the trailhead, just over 20 minutes is sticking in my mind.

Thanks!