Escalante Petrified Forest State Park RV & Campground Guide
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Utah’s Escalante Petrified Forest State Park is next to the Wide Hollow Reservoir and a short drive from the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. It’s a popular destination for outdoor adventurers and geology enthusiasts curious about the park’s ancient petrified conifers. Visitors can hike the trails and marvel at the colorful mixture of red, yellow, black, and white agate in the fossilized wood specimens scattered about the landscape. The park is home to a 50-foot log that is one of the most complete plant fossils in the Morrison Formation, an area of sedimentary rock layers producing most of the dinosaur fossils in North America.
The Escalante Petrified Forest has been a protected area since 1963, following the construction of the reservoir in 1954. Today, the reservoir is popular for swimming, fishing, boating, and birdwatching. The park also includes a newly renovated campground with RV sites, a picnic area, marked hiking trails, and a visitor center that exhibits marine and plant fossils, petrified wood, and fossilized dinosaur bones from the Jurassic Period.
Nearby Cities:
Escalante, UT
Cannonville, UT
Boulder, UT
Bryce Canyon City, UT
Spring 28-75 F
Summer 49-92 F
Fall 26-81 F
Winter 17-48 F
RV Resorts & Campsites in Escalante Petrified Forest State Park
Campground Accommodations
Wide Hollow Campground
Water hookup: Yes
Electrical hookup: Yes
Sewer hookup: Yes
Wi-Fi: Yes
Pet-friendly: Yes
Max RV length: 45 feet
Other amenities: ADA access, picnic tables, trash receptacles, firewood available, drinking water showers, toilets, dump station
Lake View RV Campground
Water hookup: Yes
Electrical hookup: Yes
Sewer hookup: No
Wi-Fi: Yes
Pet-friendly: Yes
Max RV length: 45 feet
Other amenities: ADA access, picnic tables, trash receptacles, firewood available, drinking water, showers, toilets, dump station
Escalante Petrified Forest State Park Campgrounds
The two Escalante Petrified Forest State Park campgrounds make an ideal home base for exploring the park and the surrounding area. Choose from basic sites and electric sites; some are 65+ feet long, so you'll have plenty of room for a big rig. There's a dump station close by, and hot showers are available from mid-March to mid-November. At Wide Hollow, sites are $20 per night; Lake View charges $28 per site.
Escalante Cabins & RV Park
Book a site just two miles from the park at Escalante Cabins & RV Park. This spot offers large RV sites, each with full hookups, cable TV, and free Wi-Fi. A short walk away, there are bathrooms, hot showers, and a laundry room. The best part, however, is the view; your site will overlook colorful cliffs. The restaurants and stores in Escalante are within walking distance, so you can explore on foot. Love to grill? Be sure to ask the owners about purchasing their family's locally raised beef to toss on your grill. Rates start at $38 per night.
Canyons of Escalante RV Park
Known for its exceptionally friendly staff and sparkling clean facilities, Canyons of Escalante RV Park delivers a comfortable and relaxing stay. All RV sites have full hookups, plus access to showers, bathrooms, and a laundromat. Access free Wi-Fi from anywhere in the park. This campground is a great option if you're bringing ATVs; the trails are accessible right from your site. Nightly rates start at $39.
RVshare’s Top Picks for Nearby RV Parks & Campgrounds
What to Do at
Escalante Petrified Forest State Park
Escalante Petrified Forest State Park offers a unique view of ancient fossils you won’t find anywhere else. You can hike the trails, marvel at the landscape, swim in the reservoir, or rent a canoe. The shoreline is home to a surprising diversity of waterfowl, and the campsites, picnic area, and visitor center are lovely places to relax.
Escalante Petrified Forest State Park is a one-of-a-kind destination that offers you a historical view of nature and a range of outdoor recreational activities.
Inside Escalante Petrified Forest State Park
Once you've set up camp, head straight for the petrified forest. With its massive stone trees, it offers a fascinating glimpse of the past. The park's visitor center is a great place to learn about the local area and check out more fossils. Down by the park's reservoir, the Floatwerks company offers kayaks, canoes, and paddleboard rentals in the park during the summer months. Bring your fishing gear because the lake is stocked with bluegill and rainbow trout.
Fishing
Fishing is a popular pastime at Escalante Petrified Forest State Park. The Wide Hollow Reservoir is stocked with rainbow trout in late October, which should provide a good catch during winter. In the summer and fall, anglers can fish for largemouth bass, black crappie, and bluegill. Tiger trout are stocked early in the spring and are best caught through the summer and fall.
Geocaching
Escalante Petrified Forest State Park has a geocache a short distance from one of the park’s maintained trails. You are advised to stay on the trail as you hike toward the cache. If you have a hand-held GPS (Global Positioning System) or a smartphone, you can find the hidden treasure and leave something behind for the next scavenger hunter.
Nature Watching
The petrified forest is home to various small desert mammals, plants, and insects, but the big draw is seeing evidence of how the land has been shaped over hundreds of millions of years. The most spectacular fossil examples are the petrified wood specimens, but visitors may also be able to spot ammonites and dinosaur bones as they hike the trails.
Stargazing
With its clear skies and remote location, Escalante Petrified Forest State Park is a spectacular place to stargaze. The park also opens up extra campsites during rare celestial events.
Flora and Fauna
Escalante Petrified Forest State Park is part of the Upper Sonoran Life Zone and hosts juniper, buffaloberry, scrub plants, and piñon pine trees. This desert woodland, known as a pygmy forest, contains dwarf trees that are hundreds of years old. The trees owe their small size to the limited water availability in the area. You can also find wildflowers and small rodents, lizards, woodpeckers, deer, and coyotes in this part of the park. Visitors to the reservoir’s shoreline will find stands of cottonwood trees and are likely to spot any number of waterfowl, including Canada geese, American wigeons, American avocets, great blue herons, and a variety of ducks.
Hiking
If you like to hike, you’ll enjoy the two trail loops that take you through the park. The one-mile Petrified Forest Trail takes you up the side of a mesa to the place where you will find an area filled with petrified wood. The Sleeping Rainbows Trail is a steep, 0.75-mile hike that requires climbing over rocks. You may also spot old Indian petroglyphs and fossilized dinosaur bones as you navigate the landscape.
Boating
The Escalante Petrified Forest State Park rents canoes, kayaks, and paddleboards to visitors. You can enjoy making your way across the 130-acre-wide reservoir while enjoying beautiful views of the surrounding desert.
Swimming
The Wide Hollow Reservoir is a popular cooling spot for swimmers of all ages. The shore area can be rocky, so you may want to protect your feet with water shoes.
How to Get to
Escalante Petrified Forest State Park
Escalante Petrified Forest State Park is a little over 25 miles south of Salt Lake City and about 50 miles east of Bryce Canyon National Park. To reach the park, drive two miles northwest from the town of Escalante off State Route 12.
Entering Escalante Petrified Forest State Park
The day-use fee is $10 per day, or $5 per day for Utah seniors aged 62 and older.
Escalante Petrified Forest State Park Day Use : $10.0
Escalante Petrified Forest State Park Day Use, Utah Seniors 62+ : $5.0
Whether you're coming to paddle the reservoir or hike through the petrified trees, Escalante Petrified Forest State Park is sure to deliver a relaxing getaway. The team at RVshare would love to hear about your impressions. Share them by tagging RVshare in your social media posts or send them by email to [email protected].
Frequently Asked Questions About Escalante Petrified Forest State Park
The best time to visit Escalante Petrified Forest State Park is from late March to September when the temperatures are pleasant. Summer hikes can be very hot during midday, and temperatures can drop below freezing during winter.
Escalante Petrified Forest State Park is home to songbirds, waterfowl, many small rodents, coyotes, ospreys, and many more small desert animals.
The Lake View Campground and Wide Hollow Expansion Campground have camping spots suitable for RVs. Each site has a picnic table, a fire ring, and nearby restrooms.
Visitors to the Escalante Petrified Forest State Park campgrounds may reserve a camping spot online, but you do not have to make one. Lake View Campground sites cost $30 a night and include electric hookups. Alternatively, you will pay $60 a night to stay in the Wide Hollow Expansion Campground, but these sites feature full hookups.
Escalante Petrified Forest State Park is pet-friendly. You must keep them on a leash, and you are expected to clean up after your furry companions.
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