Chisos Basin Campground

In our opinion, Chisos Basin is the premiere campground in Big Bend NP. The campground is nestled right in the middle of the Chisos Mountains and is at a higher elevation than much of the park itself. The views from our site rivaled that of Zion NP and Glacier NP. While the campsite is about ten miles from the main road, Chisos has its own visitors center, shop, and lodge/restaurant next door to it. So while Big Bend is in the middle of no where you have amenities close by. Yet of course no cell service.

All that to stay, our stay at Chisos was brought down a star by two things. The first was the amount of wind we experienced for two days/nights straight. The wind gusts were constant and probably up to around 45 mph. I believe the basin contributes to the strength of the wind. We slept very poorly for the last two nights, but were told it was not that usual by some locals. Secondly since you are in a basin, the campground does not have any extra space so the sites are pretty close together. This is fine if you have quite neighbors, but we had some rowdy college kids that played drinking games throughout the day.

Another factor to consider is that the road to Chisos is not for bigger rigs. The sign says no trailer over 24' are allowed on it. Its a steep road that will test your enginge's cooling system.

All this to say our main downsides could happen anywhere, so I would still definately recommend Chisos campground if you are in Big Bend.

I was hesitant about camping in Big Bend during the summer, but Chisos had refreshing cool weather and incredible 360 degree views! The campground has 62 sites, many of which have a shelter with concrete patio, picnic table, and charcoal grill. Ground fires aren't allowed, as in many of the other western parks. There were well kept bathrooms with flush toilets, sinks, electricity, and a dishwashing station but no showers.

The campground was fairly quiet while we were there. Noise seems to carry in the basin, so this could depend on your camping neighbors. Bears are commonly spotted in the area, but food boxes are provided at each campsite.

The campground provides access to the popular Window Trail and the Lost Mine trailhead is just a mile or so down the road. The Chisos lodge has a small store with necessities (there are no towns around the park).

Note: We camped here in a tent. This campground has spectacular views (much better than the 2 other campground options) but the sites are really on top of each other so if you're camping in a tent, you'll hear everything from the other campsites around you. If you're bringing a camper, they don't suggest longer than 20ft-24ft, which we thought was generous, and there are very few spots available even for that. Most are definitely set up for tent camping.

If you want easy access for trailers, good cell service or showers don't camp here. If you want to unplug, have a tent or small rig and are happy to have flush toilets then drive up the mountains! Beautiful views and access to many trailheads. If you are in the mood you can walk the mile over to the lodge for a reasonable, good meal.
Lots of young hikers, but the camp hosts keep an eye on things. The upper loop allows generators, lower loop, no. Water available at faucets throughout campground. Nearest Good showers are 45min away in study butte- check at the hotel.
If you need cell access drive down the mountain to the bear sign. If you need WiFi go to the lodge and enjoy a drink on the deck.
Big Bend is not for the faint of heart. Expect to spend hours driving in the park. Plan accordingly. Bring your passport and enjoy the boat, and burro ride across to Mexico. Enjoy lunch and a beer.

Beautiful, but hot at the end of June. Colorful sunsets through the "window". Nice restaurant, gift shop and camp store. Tricky drive in Ford F150 and 16 foot trailer, but not bad. Forget trying to level it out as most pads are nowhere near level.

We were here a the beginning of October, so kind of a shoulder season. The nights were cool but the days warm, almost hot (mid 80s), which was pleasant enough. However, a number of the sites in this campground were closed due to the presence of fire ants. Our site wasn't affected, and we were in a pickup camper and thus didn't have to deal with them, but I wondered if any of the tent campers got bit.

The setting itself is amazing! Big Bend has such an amazing variety of landscapes to view, but the Chisos campground is maybe the prettiest location in the park. There is lots to see and do using this as a basecamp. We would stay here again.

I forgot to add one more comment. I can't remember the site number we stayed in, but it definitely was not anywhere close to level. We took the camper off the truck to that we could level the camper with the jacks. I suspect many RVs may have issues with getting level on many of the sites here.

This site is basically a pull off the road, but if you can fit. The view is awesome. A 24 foot would be tight, but our 22 foot was fine. You wouldn’t want any slides in this site as they would be hanging in the road.

Also we had good cell phone service off and on from fossil discovery to chisos basin

Gorgeous setting with great sites. Super hosts. Only showers in park are coin operated, warn at best and located in the big Rv village.

Incredible location in the heart of Big Bend with an abundance of vistas and hiking trails. We saw a meteor shower too. We loved it but left after 5 days as we’d exhausted all family suitable hiking and driving and the showers were closed as well as the cafe.

We loved Chisos Basin campground!

The campground is in a perfect location to access the best hikes for your average hikers, and even some challenging hikes for more experienced hikers.

The road getting into the campground is very steep, but doable for most all vehicles, but if you’re towing a trailer, make sure your vehicle can handle steep hills.

The campground itself is simple and perfect to feel like you are truly in nature. You’re surrounded by big mountains all around with unique rock formations, and the star visibility at night is unreal!

The sites are primitive, no electric or water at your site, with a few clean drinking/filling water spouts shared among campers, clean toilets with hot water sinks, and spots 1-18 allow generators, all other spots do not. Generally speaking, it looked like camping trailers were in spots 1-18, and mostly tents or small trailers/vans used the other spots.

1/11/21-1/16/21 We stayed in spot #35 with a popup camper by the restroom and water spout, and loved it so much we booked more nights in spot #34.

The Chisos Basin visitor center is a few minute drive from the campground and is a great starting point for many hikes and views. There is also a convenience store for ice and snacks by the visitor center.

We enjoyed the “window trail”, “window view trail”, “laguna meadows trail”, and the “lost mine trail”. (*you can check out our AllTrails hiking account to see the exact foot steps we took with photos, on our home page of our website at the bottom of this review).

The camp host “Mark” was so friendly and helpful with informing campers about bears and mountain lions to make you feel safe, and shared pictures with us of a mama bear and her two cubs that visited the campground while we were on a hike.

If you enjoy Camping and Hiking Adventures, and want to see even more details about Big Bend and other National Parks, check out our travel blog website to 43 National Parks in 1yr :)

www.NationalParkAdventureGuide.com