Cottonwood Campground

There are three campgrounds in Big Bend: Rio Grande Village, Chisos Basin, and Cottonwood.

Rio Grande is like a commercial campground, with full hookups, showers and a store. It and Cottonwood are closer to the river, so they are much warmer.

Chisos is at a much higher elevation and is significantly colder. We went to BBNP a couple of years ago in late February with reservations at Chisos and quickly moved to Cottonwood for warmth. Cottonwood is a great spot if you like dry camping. Only facilities are pit toilets and good water. There are no reservations at Cottonwood, but we’ve never had a problem getting in. Typically, we’ll take a spot for a night, then get one of the better, shadier spots for a week. Generators are not allowed.

The campground borders the river, but very rarely floods. In the springtime, river water is allowed into the campground, area by area, to irrigate the trees. When approaching the campground from the north, you’ll appreciate the contrast — a beautiful, lush set of trees suddenly pops out from the dry desert just north.

There is no wifi at all. There is a store about a mile away that picks up one bar on Verizon. Drive north about a mile or two and you can get email or texts.

Birds are plentiful, highlighted by a pair of great horned owls. We’ve seen fox, road runners and a bobcat. Javelinas are plentiful at times.

Santa Elena Canyon is not far and the hiking is great. After Santa Elena, Upper Burro Mesa Canyon trail is recommended.

After spending 5 nights in Rio Grande Village Campground, we moved to the west side so we could enjoy the hikes and drives on the other side. This is a smaller campground - all dry camping. There are maybe 2 dozen spots. It was relatively empty when we arrived 10/31 and spent 4 nights. We were able to find one suitable for our 27 ft TT. We preferred the more open space of this campground. No flush toilets or dish washing station like RGV but they did have vault/pit toilets and a place to refill water bottles.
Perfect location to explore Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, Chisos (we couldn't fit there), and Santa Elena Canyon.
No cell, no internet, no TV, not even a radio station - perfect place to unplug!

Great campground at the south end of big bend. No hookups but that works for us in our camper van. Hiking in the area was fantastic. WanderingWakes.Net

We loved. Way off grid, not a hint of cell service. Small rigs, tents and van life fit best.

Well spaced sites. Well patrolled. Clean vault toilets. Near great hikes. Water available.

We stayed first in Rio Grande Village, which was more crowded and noisy with generators audible even in the No generator zone. We had NO cell signal there at all. Reservations only, online and we made ours six months in advance. Then we moved to Cottonwood, also reservation online only, but TWO WEEKS ahead! So we made the reservations exCtly 2 weeks before. We DID have cell service at Cottonwood. Weak but serviceable on our T-Mobile hotspot. One bar on each of our phones, one Verizon and one AT&T. That was with our WeBoost booster!
Cottonwood is lovely. Quiet. Spacious. Great birding and close to all the West side sites including Santa Elena Canyon. We LOVED it here. Water available at entrance. But no hookups. Great place to get away from it all.

This is a simple campsite with only vault toilets and no running water. Pluses: raised pads with lots of shade widely spaced so it was VERY quiet. Negatives: no running water and when I was there (Jan 2022) lots of standing water which made some site unusable. Also only water in one location which I did not use. I also had no cell (verizon) coverage.

Finally the campground is fenced to keep out the javelinas (wild boars). I did not see any while I was there.

Arrived in Big Bend National Park during a snowstorm, luckily our first night was in Cottonwood, in lower elevations. Roads got better as we went down to Cottonwood. Nice level sites, not too close together (I forgot to take pictures). There is NO cell reception in the campground even with a booster; however, if you drive up the hill to the visitors center, they offer Wifi (I did not confirm as I did not walk in), and I was also able to get AT&T cell service from the visitor center parking lot; NO Verizon.

I paid $8 with senior pass, normally $16; vault toilets only, there is potable water tap.
Small store near visitors center.

we loved it here. after driving down through the mountains and desert you reach this lovely well irrigated green space. all the sites look very level, with enough privacy for us.
the rangers check a couple of times a day to make sure everyone is ok, and to answer any questions.
oh and to make sure your dog is leashed and there is nothing hanging from the trees.
water spigots thought out campground but the only potable water is the filtered water at the entrance of the campground . i understand the water throughout the park is not filtered and has a high mineral content?
toilets are clean and well maintained
we had a white wing dove visit us each day hoping to get a treat. and a road runner came wandering through our site one afternoon.
site 16 and 17 seem to have the most shade,
and i’m guessing to say no site would disappoint.
if your camping in a tent be advised that they move the irrigation area around, so a posted high ground
notice will be placed at the sites that are affected.

We chose Cottonwood to be a bit off the beaten path. It worked out great - the other campers were friendly, the bathrooms spotless, and we enjoyed exploring this end of the park. Sites were a little small so we had trouble cramming our truck in our spot without blocking views from the trailer. However the camp hosts came by and invited us to park the truck near the bathrooms (we were at the far end...). Camp hosts came out each day to make sure all was ok and offer any help/advice for the area.