The Riverside Ranch

This is a great private campground in range of a number of parks and trails. The campground is divided into two main sections. The top section (where we stayed) has about two dozen big rig-friendly full hookup sites. All the sites are gravel, fairly level, and are wide: after the super narrow sites we had at our last two campgrounds, having lots of space between us and our neighbors was a relief. The top section is also home to the office, a recreation room, a bathhouse, a play area (with a swing set, basketball hoop, and horseshoe pits), and a communal grill area.

The bottom section is laid out in a semi-circle that hugs the Sevier River. The southern end of this section has water and electric hookups for RVs that back up to the river’s edge. The rest of the area is for tent camping or boondocking (some of the tent sites did have water). In the middle of the semi-circle is a wide-open field with a single teepee that visitors can camp in. While there is no fenced-in dog park, that field plus the perimeter of the campground provides a lot of space to walk your dogs.

The cell service was decent. I couldn’t get a consistent speed test reading with my Verizon Jetpack hotspot and MIMO antenna - the day we set up I saw between 10 and 50Mbps down and between 4Mbps and 12Mbps up - but I had no trouble working online and we streamed TV with rarely any stutters. Meanwhile, my AT&T cellphone was getting 26Mbps down and 3Mbps up.

Even though the campground was nearly full every night of our three week stay, it was very quiet: there’s a little road noise but it wasn’t noticeable. And with Hatch being a small town, you can see a lot of stars at night.

At the front of the short road leading into the campground is a building that houses a small convenience store that serves ice cream and a Mexican restaurant. But if you need actual groceries, you’ll have to drive 15 minutes north to Panguitch for a local grocery store, or an hour down to Cedar City for a Walmart. There is a Sinclair station in Hatch that can refill propane tanks, but when we were there the sole employee was still waiting on their certification to work the propane (as a fallback, there are places to refill propane in Panguitch).

This is a nice park in an excellent location. You care close to Red Canyon, Bryce Canyon and close enough you can drive to Zion. We were there 16 days and didn't feel like we even scratched the surface of things that could be done in the area. The lots are large and you have a nice area to walk that isn't on the highway. We would definitely go back! There is a laundry mat available and a little convenance store that sells sandwiches and ice cream at the top of the hill. You look out at the red rocks and the sunrises and moonrises are very pretty. There is some noise from the highway above but it didn't bother us.

We loved our 2 weeks stay. The park has very friendly staff and they are working their butts off to implement improvements. The sites are all freshly covered in gravel, the dump station received a new concrete surround, the gravel round around the dump station is being widened so it's easier to get in and out. Everything is well kept.

Reasons why we like it:

• The spacing is large, I've been in parks where they would fit an RV in the gaps. We never walked near the next RV.
• A big open field is excellent for walking the dogs and they don't mind dogs off the leash towards the bottom of the space away from the RV's. The dogs were very happy here.
• It's 20 minutes to Bryce Canyon, 1 hr 20 minutes to Zion (and you get to enter through the east gate which is an amazingly beautiful drive), it's 15 minutes from Panguitch for shopping and dining.
• The view is great, with Bryce canyon like-colored hillsides, which makes sense because Bryce is behind those hills!
• The river is great fun to fish just 100 yds from your door. I was dry fly fishing and caught many small trout. Great fun.
• Full hookups/50A with no issues.
• Good signal on multiple services so reliable connections for work.

The best thing about the park is the spacious sites by the Sevier River and its proximity to Bryce Canyon and Red Canyon and Zion. The river borders the campground and you can fish in it.

It has new owners and they are beginning the process of upgrading the facility which is needed. I'd like to see it in the Spring of 17.

The sites by the river are water and power only but, again, worth the experience of being right by the river, (See my pics). The pull throughs are typical and away from the river. The road noise from Hwy 89 is evident.

We chose this spot because of the proximity to Bryce and Red Canyons and Zion. It makes a great bass camp to see all three.