If you know me, you know that I love to travel. I also love a good hotel room and a nice bed to fall into after a long day outside. So, you may be shocked to see the title of this post and that it says glamping. Yes, it’s true! We went glamping in Zion National Park! Well, just outside of the park but you get the idea!
We hiked Angels Landing in October 2024 which is a hike located within Zion National Park. At the time, we lived 8 hours away and decided to drive and make a weekend out of it. We are on a budget (hello law school) so we couldn’t stay in a hotel right outside of the park due to price limitations.
My husband and I are not campers. We love being outside but there is something about sleeping outside that just doesn’t do it for us. When we were looking for AirBNB’s near the national park, we found that glamping is a popular option. We decided to go for it! This is our experience glamping in Zion National Park!
Glamping in Zion National Park
We looked at a few options before deciding on the South Zion Glamping Cabin. Located in Hildale, Utah, we were within an hour of Zion National Park. You truly are not that far away. The reason it takes so long is because you have to drive around a mountain to get to the national park entrance. Dang natural landmarks.
When looking at the options for glamping in Zion, we preferred glamping for a few reasons. The cabin that we chose is unfortunately no longer available for booking which is very sad. A few of the reasons we loved it is because it was not in a community of small cabins or tiny homes. This is a one off cabin that someone owns on a piece of land and rents it out. Second, there isn’t a lot of traffic around and it is nice and quiet which was perfect for the relaxing and “glamping” experience we were looking for.
The Cabin For Glamping in Zion
The cabin was great! It had a nice “living area” which had a mini kitchenette and bar seating. There were 4 windows that let in a lot of natural daylight and a window that you could prop open on the front side for additional light and air flow.
The bed was located above the living area on a platform. This space was so cool because they have a picture window as a large skylight on the ceiling that you can stargaze through while in bed at night. The bed was a real mattress so it was actually very comfortable which we were grateful for!
The outside area had market lights, a porch and a fire pit which was very nice at night. We sat outside while watching the sunset every night. It was truly relaxing! Our golden retriever, Ellie, was thrilled to spend so much time outside! One of the biggest reasons we chose this cabin was that we could bring our dog! We love to include her in any traveling that we can, if it makes sense.
The Amenities
The amenities were slim haha! Glamping and camping don’t have many differences other than the fact that glamping has something more solid than a tent and a much more comfortable mattress.
The cabin did not have any running water, plumbing or electricity. There was no wifi, air conditioning or anything basically! We didn’t mind it at the end of the day. We made the most of our time there and really embraced the outdoors.
For the bathroom, we walked to Maxwell Public Park with public restrooms across the street. We were able to go to use the bathroom and clean up in the mornings and evenings. They do close at night so we had to make sure and go before everything was locked up. Otherwise, we just went outside and embraced the experience!
For light at night, the cabin did have solar electricity. There were night lamps and sconces both downstairs and upstairs that we could turn on once it got dark. However, it was all based on how much sunlight it got. We tried not to use it until we absolutely had to to make sure we didn’t run out of light before we were ready to go to sleep.
The Bathroom Situation..
Regarding the park, they do have bathrooms that are fairly clean! They only had bathroom stalls so we brought baby wipes to clean ourselves as best as we could. Once the bathrooms were locked around 8:00 pm, we just went to the bathroom outide of our cabin. The park also had running water sources! This was perfect for filling up refillable water containers or large jugs of water! We brought a few gallons of water to keep in the cabin and were able to refill them when they were empty.
Other Things To Bring When Glamping
We didn’t have much of an issue with bugs while we were there until the end. There was a large wolf spider inside the cabin on our last morning. However, there were mosquitos and ants if we left food out. We packed bug repellant and brought mosquito coils to light while we sat on the porch. This was extremely helpful for the evenings when the bugs were out and about!
For a fire, we brought the self starter fire logs that you can buy at any grocery store. These are so easy and self explanatory which is perfect for beginner campers. But do look ahead and maybe ask someone in town before you light one. We learned once we got there that there was a fire ban in effect which meant we could not light a camp fire.
The weather was warm in the day and cold at night. For attire, I would bring something for all weather types unless you are going in the heart of the summer. We brought flannel shackets for layering and thermal hiking socks in case it got really cold at night. This was helpful since the weather did drop significantly and we did not have a source of heat.
What To Eat When Glamping
Since we don’t have experience with camping, we struggled to know exactly what to plan on for food. We weren’t sure what to bring or where to go if we wanted to grab something. We ended up doing a mixture of eating food that we brought and eating out.
When packing, we obviously needed food that wouldn’t parish and would travel well. For breakfast, we relied on bagels with peanut butter, pop tarts and granola bars. For snacks, we brought a lot of cliff bars and granola bars for quick snacks that offered sustenance. We also had bags of chips for simple snacks. We brought a few gallons of water to have on hand which was very helpful to stay hydrated!
For meals, we brought canned soup to heat up over a fire since the cabin provided a few pots and pans. We ended up eating out for lunch and dinner to explore the national park and the town of Hildale. Other things that we brought included ingredients for s’mores and we brought our own wine! We chose to bring red wine since we wouldn’t have to keep it chilled. We also brought our own coffee and a travel french press to enjoy coffee first thing in the morning.
Where to Eat When Glamping in Zion
We chose to eat out for lunch and dinner when we went glamping in Zion National Park. We chose to do this for a few reasons. One, we got to support local businesses and try different foods without having to prepare anything ourselves. Second, it got us out of the cabin during the day so that at night, we really enjoyed the quiet time and ability to wind down “at home”.
Since we had Ellie, we also tried to find places that were dog friendly! We had to leave her in the cabin while we hiked Angels Landing and we both hated every second of that! While understandable, leaving a dog in a space they don’t know is always nerve wracking.
One spot that we ate and loved at Zion National Park is Camp Outpost Co. They have a wonderful patio and are extremely dog friendly. I ate the outpost club sandwich and my husband had a fried chicken sandwich. They also have a great beer selection so we sat here for a long time enjoying the fresh air, good food and great beer!
We also tried coffee from Feel Love Coffee. It’s located in the visitor center where you can also rent E-Bikes. The coffee was decent and held us over after a very early morning getting up for our early hike time!
Where to Eat in Hildale, Utah
Even though we went glamping in Zion, we technically stayed in Hildale, Utah. This is a border town with Colorado City, Arizona. I will admit, the food options were limited. However, we found a Pizza spot that we absolutely loved and visited for dinner twice! It is the Edge Of The World Brewery in Colorado City. We ordered the jalapeno popper pizza which was delicious! They also offered an incredible beer selection!
Other than this, we didn’t try much local food. We ate at McDonalds the morning of our hike. This was because we had to leave at 5 o’clock in the morning and this was the only place open so early. These two towns are so small that you can easily drive through them and feel like you missed them!
Final Thoughts On Glamping In Zion
I will be honest, I did not know what to expect when my husband suggested glamping. I’ve never been against it, but this was a little bit more like camping than glamping. I will admit that I was nervous.
With that being said, we truly loved it! Overall, the experience was very good! We enjoyed so many moments about our time here! We had so much fun unplugging, spending time together and letting our dog roam around outside. The views were incredible and the sunrises and sunsets were absolutely stunning!
Disclaimer: I will warn you, Hildale has an interesting history. We were not aware of it before visiting but it is home to a large population of FLDS. We saw a few families out at the park but there were also many other families around. They are kind and don’t really interact with you. We were taken aback at first but it did add a little bit of interest to our stories!
If you are planning a visit to Zion National park and considering glamping, I would highly recommend this spot!