Luggage while in Zion

Hi there!

We are planning our next trip, whoohoo!
When we are in Vegas in October, we will go camping in Zion national park for 2 nights.
We don't want to bring all our luggage to Zion, so we were thinking about leaving our suitcases in Vegas and only take our camping gear to ZNP.

The plan was to bring our suitcases to the hotel we will be staying in after Zion (don 't know where we will be staying yet) and collect them when we arrive two days later.
Will that work? Will the hotel do that?
Or are there other/better options I'm missing? Let me know please!

Thank you!

 

Sounds fun. Been there, but never camping. My first thought is what part of October will you be there? I ask since as you get later into October, the weather there is quite cool in the evenings for camping. You could see temperatures above freezing, but relatively close to that level, near the end of the month. Be prepared.
https://www.nps.gov/zion/planyourvisit/upload/Weather-Chart-2.pdf

As with many questions posted here, no doubt you will get a dozen replies about the luggage storage question, maybe even with some contradicting each other. If you are checking in later that same day that you are dropping off the luggage, I think you'd likely be able to store luggage at most hotels. If it's longer than the same day, then it might be iffy. There are doubts if hotels would let you do this, as, especially in today's world, as storing luggage, especially for someone not currently in the hotel, could be a potential security risk. I know you are overseas, but I would suggest you clear this request first with whichever hotel you are planning to stay at by email or phone.

 

I know some people have just left with the departing hotel as that is normal. Do not have to say anything.

Are you driving a car to Zion? Any option to just leave them in the trunk?

 

We went camping in the Utah parks in late September three years ago, combined with a Vegas visit. We flew into LV, picked up our rental car, drove to St. George where we stopped at Walmart with our list of camping needs we couldn't pack, ate a fast food dinner, and continued to Zion, arriving at about 10:30 pm. We camped for a week, visiting all five national parks in southern Utah and ending up in Moab before driving back on a Sunday to Las Vegas. We had literally been camping out of a suitcase and checked into the Golden Nugget not having showered since leaving home. My wife wouldn't stand in line with me she was so embarrassed. Nobody seemed to notice, thank goodness. Spent four days there offsetting the healthy effects of the week outdoors.

So, it can be done. First thing, make sure you have a camping reservation at Zion and any other park you may decide to visit. They are surprisingly busy in the fall. If you have a reservation you have an assigned site, and if you come into Zion late your site will be posted on a white board at the campground entry station.

Second, you may or may not be able to leave your suitcases at a hotel. We've found that most don't ask if you are a guest, whereas others (e.g., Main Street Station) make you prove you are a guest. I suspect that if you show your hotel you have a reservation they will let you check your bags until you return. As Zingnerlv suggests, best would be to contact them and get an answer first. In our case we just took our Vegas bags with us. The car had room in the trunk for luggage and we used the back seat for the cooler, food and camping stuff.

 

Hey,

We will be in Zion October 17th through 19th. We have a decent air mattress (quite high/not too close to the ground) and my parents have two good sleeping bags that will keep us warm. As long as it's not freezing when we're there, we will be good!

Too bad to hear about the luggage policy's at most hotels. I will send an email when we know where we will be staying, but it's a little early to book a hotel.

Thanks for your reply!

 

Yes, we will be driving. I was wondering if it will be safe to leave all our belongings in the trunk... We won't have many valuable items, but it would really suck if our suitcase would be stolen and we have 4 more days in Vegas without our clothes etc

 

Hahahaha!! "My wife wouldn't stand in line with me she was so embarrassed." I was already a little worried about 2 nights of not showering

We already have our reservation for Zion. We will be camping at the Watchman Campground, and already have our assigned camping site. I'm really looking forward to it!

 

Sure, trunks do get broken into - but how often?

And, like carrying cash - how do the bad guys know which trunks are empty and which are full? (hint- they all look the same)

So, the odds of a car theft are equal with an empty trunk and a full trunk.

Stuff visible inside the car is a totally different story - as people that leave purses on the seat find out.

 

I remember my first trip to Zion, staying at Watchman. We left So Cal when dad got home from work and drove up. Obviously we arrived in the wee hours and just crashed in the car. I woke up a few hours later, that gorgeous high desert morning sky ... to see the Watchman. Wowza.

Are you talking about stuff in your trunk while at the campground? You'll be fine. If you want to drop at the bell desk, pipe the guy or gal a $20, tell 'em you'll be checking in in a few days.

That's so cool you'll be experiencing some of our natural amazingness here in the states!!

 

You can leave your luggage at most of the major hotels on the strip. I was gone for 5 nights and left my bags at MB with no problem. Don't have to tell them anything.

Be aware that you may have a problem leaving your bags downtown or away from the strip. I tried to leave my bowling bag at Southpointe because of a bowling tournament. They wouldn't allow it even if I tipped them so I had to lug my bag to the alley each day. Many hotels downtown don't have a big area to store luggage so you may have a problem leaving your bags for a few days.

 

Thanks so much for your replies, I really appreciate them!

Okay, so we will probably have more luck on the strip. We don't visit the strip much, but maybe one night in a nice suite after two nights of camping in Zion won't be bad.
OR, we will just take our luggage with us to Zion and keep it in the trunk. Our car will be on our camping site, so I guess it will be safe and I just shouldn't be so scared people would want to steal my clothes

Yes!! We went to Valley of fire last february and we've been to Red Rock canyon three times, it was time to go bigger

 

Zion will blow you away. And that's a good time of year to go, without the hordes of gawking shorts-and-knee-sockers!

 

actually I didn't stay on the strip, I just left my bags there.

 

I would say that keep your suitcases in the trunk is safer and easier than leaving them at bell desks.

 

Yes, do this and don't worry. We made two night trip to Zion and Bryce and kept all luggage in the rental car trunk with no problems.

 

I disagree, I see it in Hawaii all the time, people leave their stuff in the trunk and the car is broken into and they lose everything. At least at the bell desk you can lock your suitcase and leave it with them.

While most of the time it is safe to store them in the trunk you don't want to be that one person who gets their car broken into.

But the problem is that some people open up their trunk so someone can see what's in it so they can target the car for a break in.

Anyway, I would rather leave it at the hotel than take a chance of anything getting stolen, but that's JMHO.

 

Hawaii is noted for its car break-ins. Even the state tourism folks -- those dispensers of nothing but goodness and sunshine -- say don't do it. Apples/oranges.

 

Put your stuff in the trunk and don't sweat it. Besides the RVers, everyone's stuff is in their trunk and back seat. Further, everyone's stuff is similar -- camping equipment.

Just don't leave laptops visible on the car seat, iPhone on the dashboard, etc. American national parks are largely safe and secure.

If the water temperature is okay, be sure to walk the Narrows.

 

I can understand in a tourist hot spot car break-ins happen a lot. But at Zion park, I don't think there are many.

 

An interesting feature at many of the popular U.S. parks is a "take it or leave it" area, typically set up near one of the campground hosts. A lot of the visitors, particularly those who have plane travel involved, can't (or don't want to) take all the things they bought home. People are encouraged to leave things or take them as needed from the designated area. We picked up a two-burner camp stove at Zion and a tent at Dead Horse Point State Park outside Moab. We used the tent a couple of nights and left it at another park in their designated area.