Cottonwood Campground

This is the only option for camping in the southern part of the park. We came in on a Sat. (dumb move) and all the other campgrounds were full. When we made it down to Cottonwood Campground we were pleasantly surprised to find it only about two thirds full and so we had plenty of sites to chose from. Cottonwood doesn't get the same amount of use as the other campgrounds because it's in the southernmost section of the park which in some ways does not have as many things to do or sights to see. For instance, you won't see any Joshua Trees near Cottonwood Campground nor find the big boulders so favored by rock climbers.

Still,this campground is not without its charms. The sites are spacious, well laid out, and have some degree of privacy and pretty desert views. Each site has a picnic table and fire pit. There are flush toilets and a dump station with potable water. A trail from the campground will take you to the pretty little Cottonwood Oasis and well as on to longer hikes. It's just a short trip to a nice little visitors center which on our visit was staffed with some of the friendliest rangers we've ever encountered.

All in all this is a nice option, especially if you find the other park campgrounds full,

Our rate reflects our Senior Access Pass rate. Regular fee is $20/night.

Most recent stay 4-28-16 [I’m late on writing my review] ~ We camp in a "Tear Drop” style RV only 15' long w/o toilet or shower and thus rely on condition of campgrounds facilities and this National Park Campground is w/o the amenities of other private or some state campgrounds ~ BUT they do have a water fill / dump station on site and restroom with flush toilets and sinks [no hot water no electricity] that being said we still loved the true “camping” experience. Ran on battery power and propane for cooking and frig.

Excellent large site with asphalt pad, sturdy picnic table, water spigot 50’ away and roomy site with green-way between and not close or tight against any of neighbor sites. Had plenty of room for our dinning fly shelter ~ could have added a tent even with our rv - campground is located at most southern end of park ~ 1st come 1st served and we had no problem selecting site ~ take 45 min to drive through park to reach other “attractions” and campgrounds of the most popular “northern” end. Lot’s of pull out and points of interest along the way, you won’t miss a thing.

About a 15 degree temp change difference between south and north – warmer on the south end. Best to camp during spring or fall – summertime it can get very hot. Pitch black at night – you’ll be amazed at how many stars you can see – absolutely a sight to behold. The peace the absolute quiet was incredible.

Lots of pictures taken by previous reviewer Evergreengirl sums it up - we added a couple extra of our own.

This is in the south end of Joshua Tree National Park. This is only 1 of 2 campgrounds inside the park that has water. There is also a dump station. The water spigots are located throughout the campground but we filled up at the dump station.

There are 2 loops, the motorhome sites are perimeter parallel road sites. Our driver side slides were next to the road, we are 32’ long and 12’ wide. It looked like the cars coming through were inches from our slides. We were told they had just repaved everything but nothing was level. When we arrived on Monday it was empty. We had concerns about our size with the road. The campground host told us we could drive around and see if there was another site more suitable since they weren’t full. We drove around for over an hour and couldn’t find any back-in site long enough or anywhere near level.

We finally decided on a deeper perimeter spot. There are nice flush toilet bathrooms but no showers. We enjoyed the sunsets each night. Then on Wednesday we were informed by the camp host we had to move back to our original site. They were booked up for the weekend.
He wasn’t kidding! It turned into the Daytona 500! We had people walking through our campsite, cars buzzing past our slides and kids playing right by our bedroom slide at 6am.

We had no hookups so we had to leave all of our windows open. The once peaceful campground was overrun. We found out that several families were together for a wedding and since our site was between all of them, they just used it as their travel path.

We left as early as we could on our last day, the campground host had put our site tag under our tow windshield wipers so we wouldn’t forget it was check-out day, as if!
There is BLM land right outside the south entrance with cell service. We headed there.

The rangers are however super nice and very helpful. Check-in is at the Cottonwood Visitor Center. We also very much enjoyed the park, it’s incredible.

I would of rather camped outside the park for free with more space.
Just wasn’t a good fit for us.

This is a reservation only campground, and we lucked out to come across a family who was leaving early and vacating their spot, so we took over their reservation. Flush toilets are very clean - we saw someone clean them daily. There is a large table, fire pit with grill and large pad for parking at our site. I noticed some sites did not have a pad, and cars parked on the street. There were many water spigots through the campground. Our site was right next to the bathroom, which was not an issue for us, but might bother others. No lights (including bathrooms) or electricity in the campground, which made stargazing wonderful! This campground is located in the most southern part of the park - 90% of the activities and exhibits were in the northern part. Keep in mind it’s about a 40 minute drive to these locations, which worked out nice, because that meant there were fewer people in our area.

What a joke!
I couldn’t possibly fit into a spot they called a 45 Ft spot. Nothing more than a slightly wider spot than the road itself.

We had been boondocking for a while, so the amenities of this campground fit our specific needs. Having the dump station and potable water was a huge plus. There are several dumpsters and an area for recycling. Flush toilets and sinks in the bathroom. The sites and facilities are well maintained and clean. Great sunsets. We really enjoyed the view and privacy of site B29. The parking was cramped for our 34 ft Class A and fairly unlevel; our site was basically parallel parking directly off the main path, but we made it work. Class B or C most likely not have any issues. Just like everywhere inside Joshua Tree, there is no cell service. In addition to the site fee, you’ll pay a $30 park entry fee at the visitors center; we recommend getting the yearly interagency pass for $80. With that, you’ll get free entry into all national and some state parks. Even though the parking was cramped, we’d stay here again.

The positives: The site wasn't bad, and the bathrooms, while small and minimally-outfitted, were at least clean.

The negatives: This campground is in, by far, the most boring part of the park. It's not a terrible backup, if everything else is taken, but if you can stay at ANY of the other campgrounds in the park, do that, instead.

There is NO cell service, and NO wifi.

I had the impression this campground was designed before slideouts became a thing. The back-in spots are very short. The "pull through" sites are just a bump out on the main road. Our site did come with a warning that you may not be able to use your slides. That was true for many of the pull-throughs. I checked Google maps before booking and was fairly confident we would fit. We did by getting as close to the rocks as possible. Even so, we pulled out slide in when away from camp to reduce the chances of being side-swiped. One camper, with automatic stairs, wea given permission to pull in counter to the one-way signs to keep their slide safely away from the narrow road.

Once in our site, we found our front yard very spacious and it offered a lot of privacy.

We were across the road from the camp host and overheard many of the shenanigans she had to put up with. One camper wanted to be closer to his buddies and their community kitchen, so he took a spot that hadn't been occupied yet. Then when they victims found their spot occupied the guy kept telling the host he'd "work it out with them". A jeep with a tent top camper asked if they could pull in with our neighbors and then wanted to park on the sidewalk to the bath house - I think they were directed to the BLM land 6 miles away. In another example of bad behavior, a camper with no reservation pulled into a site that hadn't been occupied yet. When the registered campers arrived they contacted the host and she promptly set them up in an emergency spot and then had a discussion with the intruders. She handled all these situations professionally and should be commended. She also made sure that quiet hours were maintained.

Enough on the rudeness of others. We found ourselves happy to be on the quiet side of the park on this crowded weekend. We did a nice hike to Mastodon Peak. We found the facility well maintained. There were some water spigots around the camp, but you need to stop by the dump station just outside the campground to fill your RV. We couldn't get Verizon, even with a WeBoost Drive.

Convenient place to overnight as you exit after a visit to the park. Sites are narrow. Bathrooms have flush toilets but no showers. Has dumpsites. It worked well for us to stay at Jumbo Rocks for to explore the main park attractions then stay our last night at Cottonwood. It gave us a full day in the park and a head start to get on the road again the next morning.
No cell coverage.