Virgin River Canyon Recreation Area — Hotel in Saint George

Amended: there really is a site map at the fee station. See additional comments at end of review.

Would give this a 5 as it's beautiful here; HOWEVER, one nights stay has cost me $24 instead of $8...SO BE AWARE. Here's why:

No map at fee station showing layout and indicating which sites by reservation only, and which are FCFS.

No direction indicators of which way to best drive thru the campground so that you will actually see the single skinny post at far side of each campsite advising by reservation only BEFORE you have walked back to the fee station and deposited your money for the night's stay.

Finding the poster on seat of picnic table advising this is a reserved site after the fact rather annoying.

Checking the reservation website and booking for the night if it's not already spoken for, (it wasn't), cost $8.00 for the night PLUS $8.00 reservation service fee. And the fiddling with opening an account, getting an email confirmation, not being able to add 2nd night - even tho' "available" because mobile webpage doesn't accept edits of checkout dates EVEN THOUGH there's an editing icon, taking 3 tries to get credit card to register, all leave a person, this person, feeling rather aggravated.

Good news: nice weather, especially after driving thru some whiteouts south of Provo; beautifully landscaped campground; clean restrooms; helpful maintenance staff - they told me about checking the website; stunning natural environment.

Cheers!

*Addendum: eating some of my words. The fee station does have posted maps of the campsites and which are FCFS and which are by reservation only. Im adding pics of these. The fee station area provides designated small vehicle/day use parking. It does not provide designated temporary parking for RVs while occupants stop to peruse the map to find either their way to their reserved site, or, the FCFS site(s) they will want to visit to see if empty & available, (which, once a FCFS selection is found, would then require walking or driving back to the fee station to complete pay envelope with site noted, taking stub back to vehicle). This writer did what SEEMED logical at the time, not wanting to block any traffic with her rig, and drove around til finding a reasonable campsite for her 28 ft. Class C & trailer, parked, noted site number painted on the curb, and walked back to the fee station and paid, her focus being on the envelopes and the deposit slot. She lives...

Such a beautiful place. These mountains are a breath of fresh air literally. 2 dollars for day use and 8 overall at night. Now if you have a disability, my suggestion is get a Disability Access Pass from the BLM office in nearby St. George and it will cut camping cost in half. If your a senior, you can get the Pass as well at the BLM. It covers admissions for any Federal Lands or National Recreation Areas. This campground has clean restrooms, plugins in the bathrooms to charge phones and other electric equipment, water spikets. The campground does not have showers and their wifi signals are in and out. There are plenty of trails to choose from and the Virgin River runs right through the campground. Its so beautiful on the other side of the bridge in the BLM mountain wilderness area. For one, the skies are pitch black with stars. Books and videos do an injustice. Do watch your belongings as there has been multiple reports of stolen merchandise but the campground did hire host and is monitered by several rangers so it should be safe. But one thing I dont like is the people who come into any campground and bring illegal weed or drugs and act crazy and ruin it for everybody. There was a man who did this and he was a creep who kept knocking on people's doors while being high as a kite and driving. So please move on, away from any public places especially natural and recreational areas if your going to smoke pot or medical then do it in a state where its legal and watch for posted legal signs. For the love pf God, recreational areas are a place where nature and wildlife should not be disturbed and where humans get recharged and feeleing refreshed. So dont ruin it with your illegal activities. Alright everybody, you will love Cedar Pocket and Virgin River Recreation Area. ...

Very nice recreation area with two campground loops, 108 sites, and bathrooms with running water, no showers. Day pass $2, camping $8 . Truly an oasis between St. George and Mesquite. Well maintained with ADA and sheltered sites. Several trails provide miles of hiking, but the paved loops and entrance make a great walking route. Perfect place to walk dog. The upper loop is noisy because of the interstate, but the lower loop is much quieter and down near the river there's virtually no noise. Some really nice spots with paved pads and fire rings overlooking the river and canyon. Amazing scenery with Joshua trees and cacti where the Mojave desert meets the Colorado plateau with steep walls cut by the Virgin River. It doesn't seem that many people camp here as the place has always been pretty much deserted apart from people stopping by from the freeway to use facilities and stretch legs when I've been there. Really dark night skies. Four trails also just north of exit, two by freeway and two more a mile up the road. You could get 10-15 miles of hiking in easy. Sullivan's Canyon trail from campground crosses the river so be prepared to get wet or...