Did we find the perfect campground?

Now I know what you are thinking…what is one’s idea of “perfect”? So yes, let’s start there.

Our perfect campground has incredible views, amenities at a hotel standard without the hotel feel, a gracious host, spacious sites, and outdoor adventures right outside its boundary. It must feel like we woke up in a dream, as if it isn’t suppossed to be there but by all accounts it is and leaves you in awe. And when you leave you feel as though it is far too soon and that you are leaving a little piece of your heart behind. You want others to experience it while also wanting to keep it all to yourself.

You can't miss the sign to Dark Sky Campground.

Booking a campsite at Dark Sky was easy. A really simple website, not many pictures, low expectations. They were relatively new and all we cared about was getting a spot where we could visit Zion National Park and the surrounding caves and dunes. In all honesty, staying at Dark Sky was a mistake in my mind. I had waited too late to book Zion and had to pivot and find something else. And find something I did! Now, when I say low expectations, let me explain. Instructions were to go directly to our campsite and something about they would come find us or we could find them. I don’t remember. I blocked it out because those instructions usually come along with a campground that we just get a parking spot and hook up and leave when done. No fanfare. Nothing special. And I was so wrong.

Upon arriving at Dark Sky, the designer and merchandiser in me from my past life, lit up! The sign entrance was a piece of art and crafted throughout the beds of indigenous plants to the area were things you might find in the desert on a long forgotten dirt road; rusted metal cans, an old white washed skull from a steer that may have fallen prey to coyotes, and part of some old fencing you image could have belonged to a ranch long ago. My first thought, who is decorating this place? I have to meet them.

We found our way to our campspot (#13 ). It was a pull through with the most perfectly simple modern pergola structure and two red chairs to compliment against the oranges, reds, and yellows of the desert. And the view was out of this world. As far as I could see… nothing. Just desert plants bending in the breeze as the sun was setting. Noticing the sounds of footsteps crunching on the gravel I turned away from the mesmerizing horizon to see a bearded guy walking in our direction. That bearded guy we would find out, is Jeff, one of the owners of the property. He was excited to see us and tell us all about the property; the common area, he could bring us a propane firepit if we wanted, the free roam dog area that was too many acres to count, “The Dig”; a kids sand area that had buried dinosaurs the kids could find and turn in for a coupon for a scoop or cone at the local ice cream shop, and saving the best for last…”have you heard about our bathrooms?”

Tell a kid they can win ice cream at The Dig and you will never see a more motivated excavator!

Now let’s skip ahead to another paragraph because these bathrooms deserve their own “write of passage”! The bathrooms are exquisite in the most perfectly artful, raw materials mixed with luxury material, way. And it is the reason that you can not fly drones in this campground. We would soon find out that the name, Dark Sky, not only perfectly matched the view at night from this campground complete with a million stars and the Milky Way, but it also perfectly matched your view when you take a shower…should you be so inclined. The shower heads at Dark Sky have a long enough extension on them that if you would like to step out from their beautifully tiled indoor shower into their artfully decorated, walled in outdoor shower you could do so. Just open the glass door to the outside and step out and place your shower head on the outdoor holder and take a shower beneath the stars! And when you are done and step back into the heated floors you will agree there is no bathroom like a Dark Sky bathroom. Now keep in mind, we stayed at Dark Sky in February and it snowed the next day, so taking a shower outside, would have been crazy…so of course, we did it! You can truly enjoy these showers no matter which month you are there! Worth it! You can find the Reel about this bathroom on my Instagram page.

While staying there we did not utilize the Jeeps you can rent because we have those of our own, but we did enjoy the common area in the afternoons with other campers and Jeff & Britt. This place had such a chill relaxing vibe and we were all about it! While staying at Dark Sky, I recommend enjoying the shops in the historic downtown, hiking up to see the Sand Caves, visiting the Coral Pink Sand Dunes, taking a drive or a tour through Best Friends Sanctuary (the largest animal sanctuary in the country), a hike through Peekaboo Canyon, and the best way to enter Zion National Park.. the East Entrance. A quick elaboration on that… when entering Zion at the East entrance outside of Kanab you will start at the top of Zion and it is the most, jaw-dropping, gob - smacking way to start a day in Zion! In fact, I tell everyone I can that it is the only way to see the grandeur of Zion. Trust me.

When I started this blog post I said the perfect campground needs to make you want to stay. It needs to make you wish you never had to leave and that you are leaving a piece of your heart behind. And the only way I can assure you this is true of Dark Sky Campground is to inform you that the last day of our stay we reached out to a Realtor to look at land while we were there. We just did not want to leave. And although we never found the right acreage for us that time around, I know that the call to dig in roots in Kanab, Utah will be there everytime we visit because Dark Sky has an ability to show you all that is possible when you include luxury and the raw beauty of nature.