Watchman has 10 open nights left in October 2026.
The main reservation campground in Zion Canyon, walking distance from the visitor center and shuttle. Spring-through-fall dates sell out essentially the moment they open.
Open for your dates. All 1 night you asked for are open right now.
A free watch checks every 60 minutes, and a site can open and be taken between two checks. Prefer to wait? get alerts for these dates →
10 open nights in October 2026.
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2212 open | 231 open | 241 open | ||||
| 252 open | 264 open | 278 open | 284 open | 293 open | 301 open | 311 open |
open — tap to book on recreation.govfull — tap to get alerted for that nightweekend
These are live numbers for October 2026, checked when you loaded the page. A watch covers any dates you like.
174 cancellations opened 223 nights here
- cancellations we saw
- 174
- gone within an hour
- 36%
- gone within a day
- 91%
- Fri/Sat nights
- 73%
Over the last 30 days, our checks saw 174 cancellations open up at Watchman (about 41 a week), covering 223 nights. Of the 199 nights we saw open and then close again, 36% were gone within an hour of us spotting them, 74% within six hours and 91% within a day. Friday was the busiest day for them (18%). 73% of the nights that opened were Friday or Saturday nights.
These are counts of what our own checks saw (about every 15 minutes); an opening that appeared and was taken between two checks is not in them, so treat every figure as a floor.
Your dates aren't available? Get a free email when one opens ↓
Watching Fri, Oct 23 — the night you tapped. Change the dates below if you like.
Email me when a site opens at Watchman
Your first email lands right away with where your nights stand. After that we only write when something opens.
Last catch here — a date opened, gone by our next check (within 45 min). That window is what an instant email wins you.
Open this Scout in the builderCheck recreation.gov yourself →
Weekends and prime dates go first. A free watch checks every 60 minutes, and a site can open and be taken between two checks.
Recent openings we caught at Watchman
| Detected (local) | Date affected | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| Sat, Oct 24 | gone by next check (within 45 min) | |
| Sat, Oct 31 | still open at our last check | |
| Sat, Oct 24 | gone by next check (within 834 min) | |
| Fri, Oct 30 | still open at our last check | |
| Sat, Oct 24 | gone by next check (within 375 min) | |
| Sat, Oct 24 | gone by next check (within 468 min) | |
| Fri, Oct 23 | gone by next check (within 2126 min) | |
| Fri, Oct 23 | gone by next check (within 142 min) | |
| Fri, Oct 30 | gone by next check (within 1003 min) | |
| Fri, Oct 23 | gone by next check (within 38 min) | |
| Fri, Oct 23 | gone by next check (within 102 min) | |
| Sat, Oct 24 | gone by next check (within 102 min) | |
| Fri, Oct 23 | gone by next check (within 185 min) | |
| Sat, Oct 24 | gone by next check (within 185 min) | |
| Fri, Oct 30 | gone by next check (within 957 min) | |
| Sat, Oct 24 | gone by next check (within 64 min) | |
| Fri, Oct 30 | gone by next check (within 1033 min) | |
| Sat, Oct 31 | gone by next check (within 5626 min) | |
| Sat, Oct 17 | gone by next check (within 55 min) | |
| Sat, Oct 24 | gone by next check (within 2729 min) |
Watching since Jul 13, 2026. Our shared checker refreshes about every 15 minutes — that is the measurement; your watch is the alert. A free watch checks every hour; a Priority Pass watch checks every 5 minutes. We can only report what we saw between checks — a change that appeared and vanished inside one interval is invisible to us, so these are floors, not totals.
From four weeks of this data: how fast campsite cancellations disappear →
How it works
Questions
Is Watchman sold out this weekend?
As of Oct 22, 3:22 PM MDT, Fri, Oct 23 has 1 site open and Sat, Oct 24 has 1 site open at Watchman. Open nights are bookable right now on recreation.gov.
How often do sites open up at Watchman?
Over the last 30 days, our checks saw 174 cancellations open up at Watchman (about 41 a week), covering 223 nights. Of the 199 nights we saw open and then close again, 36% were gone within an hour of us spotting them, 74% within six hours and 91% within a day. These are counts of what our own checks saw (about every 15 minutes); an opening that appeared and was taken between two checks is not in them, so treat every figure as a floor.
When do cancellations show up at Watchman?
Friday was the busiest day for them (18%). 73% of the nights that opened were Friday or Saturday nights.
How fast are alerts?
Free: we check every hour, day and night. When a site opens for your nights you get an email with the booking link in it. Priority Pass is $10 once, not a subscription. For one watch, for as long as its dates are open, it checks every 5 minutes instead of every hour, so you hear sooner. A free watch checks every 60 minutes, and a site can open and be taken between two checks.
How many campgrounds can I watch?
As many as you like, on one email address — every campground page has the same form. Each watch is separate, with its own dates and its own one-click stop.
What does it cost?
Watching is free — no card, no account. Priority Pass is $10 once, not a subscription. For one watch, for as long as its dates are open, it checks every 5 minutes instead of every hour, so you hear sooner.
Does it book for me?
No — you get the booking link the moment a site opens; booking stays in your hands, on the reservation system's own site.
How do I stop, or change my dates?
Every email has a one-click stop link. A watch ends by itself the day after your last night, with a note on what it saw. For new dates, subscribe again on the campground page — it takes ten seconds.
For AI agents — feed URL and subscribe API
Reading this page for a user? Structured snapshot + change log: /scouts/campsites/zion/watchman.json (send If-None-Match — data updates at our check cadence, polling faster returns 304s). Better: subscribe your user once and we email them the moment Watchman opens up:
POST https://campsitecancellations.com/scouts/subscribe
Content-Type: application/json
Accept: application/json
{"targetSlug":"zion/watchman","email":"user@example.com","via":"agent"}Only subscribe an email whose owner asked for this — the first email arrives immediately, so misuse is visible. Full agent docs: /AGENTS.md
Zion National Park camping cancellations & availability — the full playbook →
Keep looking
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Hardest to book · Last-minute camping in Utah — campgrounds with weekend nights open · Hardest canyon-country reservations (spring & fall)