Johns Valley Dispersed Camping

We loved this spot and were greeted to the area with the most amazing sunset I have ever seen. The GPS coordinates for this spot will take you to a side of the road with about 5 campsites. That's the side we camped on because the last spot was wide open and had great access to the sky for solar and Starlink, but there are tons of other spots on the other side of the road. This location is great because you are 15min away from Bryce, 15 min away from Red Canyon and 30 min away from Kodachrome State Park (a must see). I do have a few notes:
Driving: If you are driving in on Hwy 12 heading East towards Bryce, you will see a sign that says Tunnel 13ft. 6in. That's exactly our height so I was really nervous to see the tunnel. You will be fine, we had plenty of room to drive under the 2 beautiful red arches so no need to panic like I did. You will also see a sign saying no vehicles over 22ft long. I have no idea why that sign is there, but we had no issue and saw several semi trucks going through that road during the week.
Water and Dump: We visited early November 2023 and most water and dump spots were closed for the season. We filled up on water before we left Salt Lake City but did need a refill while we were staying near Bryce. There is a water spigot in the parking lot of Ruby's Inn and they said I could use it for free. There is plenty of room in there parking lot to pull up a rig, but we just used some water containers. Across the street is a Sinclair gas station that was still open in Nov but charged $20 for the dump and water. We did not use this. Sinclair also does Propane Refills for $3.99 a gal.
Trash: We took our trash to the National Park, they had plenty of dumpsters around the park.
Laundry: There is a small laundromat at Ruby's Inn near the entrance of Bryce. I went there on a Monday and was the only person there. They have 8 washers and 6 large dryers. Later in the week I went to visit Kodachrome State Park and discovered that the park also has a laundromat. They had 4 washers and 4 dryers. I wish I would have known about Kodachrome before I did laundry near Bryce because you can go on hikes in-between loads. Kodachrome also has showers you can use for free (Just $10 entry fee to the park).

Stayed while we were visiting Bryce Canyon. Lots of space for all types of campers, especially bigger rigs. Saw many larger rv's in the area, so that made us free safer to leave our trailer as we went hiking in the morning. We did have to look around a bit for a level site, but as we drove further down the road we found a good site that was level, had a fire pit, and some tall trees for shade. Wild flowers were all around. Lots of birds and critters near by to watch. Beautiful starry night. There were some bugs, but the breeze blew them away. I would definitely recommend staying here. Only 12 mins to Bryce Canyon, with lots of places to eat, gas, and places to shop.

We arrived from the north using Highway 22, that turns into Johnson Valley Road (very doable, paved all the way). The turn in was a bit steep for our 38' 5th wheel, but doable.

I was expecting bigger and better than what it actually turned out to be. I was deceived by the wide open, level looking photos, which as I look back are accurate just deceiving. No one was occupying the space. We parked just off the road and took the short walk to the end to the fenced area and cattle corral. This is where we set up camp. Turning our beast around would have been difficult if the area was occupied. It took me a couple of days to realize that this was a pretty good spot.

Certainly convenient to Bryce National Park.

We walked up the forest service road 419 (and FR1480) across the street. There are 2 spots just up the road and then there were a few more spots for smaller rigs/truck campers/vans/tenters.