Is camping at Zion National Park in mid-December feasible?
A group of four family and friends including two senior adults is contemplating about camping at Zion National Park in mid-December.
I wonder:
- How cold (in terms of real feel -- sometimes past average temperature range is not sufficient as a reference for this sort of planning) it would be? Is camping really a good idea for that time?
- What additional items should I prepare or be prepared for compared to times at milder temperature?
I do a dozen camping trips during later spring through early fall in midwest most years and are familiar with that type of camping.
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I camped in Zion during New Years a few years ago - it is very cold. The air is frigid and the only times you feel warm is with sun. That being said, the park is very quiet and beautiful in the winter. Theres lots of huge icicles hanging from cliffs, icy lakes, etc. Keep in mind a lot of the trails are closed. We were able to do Angels Landing and the extra ice added for a thrill ;-) Camping in the cold is not fun in my humble opinion - but if you wanted to do so, get a sleeping bag rated for 10 degrees less than the average night temperature. You'd rather be too warm in that situation than too cold!
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You can get a weather forecast for Zion here. As you can see, daytime temps are about freezing or slightly above by night temps can drop pretty low.
In my opinion camping in -10 to -15 C is pretty cold and you need to have the right gear, although its definitely possible. Obviously make sure you have suitably warm clothes, a decent tent and you'll probably want a good 4 season sleeping bag. If you have not camped in these kinds of conditions before I'd recommend planning so you can easily escape to somewhere warm e.g. your car if you need to.
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