Natural Bridges Campground

The campground within the Natural Bridges National Monument is just a short jog down the road past the Visitors Center. We stayed just one night in early November, and pretty much had the place to ourselves. The layout is designed for shorter vehicles (under 26 feet) and you just won't fit if you're any larger. However, each site is spacious and has a tent spot or two and the standard metal picnic table and fire ring. Vault toilets are clean and located conveniently. Natural Bridges has the distinction to being the first International Dark Sky Park and we certainly had a crystal clear view of the Milky Way and more celestial goodness.

The rangers are very helpful in suggesting hiking options, so make sure to stop in and pick their brains. Many of the pines were dripping with fat pinon nuts in November.

We had no Verizon signal at all, and you know what? That was fine with us. We took the day off from technology and the world survived without us.

We arrived in the middle of the day, and walked into the visitor center. It was May and Cedar Mesa was as crowded as it gets. As we walked in, we overheard a ranger telling a group of people "Last I heard, the campground had one or two available sites, you will want to...." at that, we quickly walked back to the truck and drive the short distance to the campground. It's a small campground with maybe a dozen sites. We did a loop, and saw no obvious open campsites. On the second lap, we noticed someone walking with a couple of bags of trash. They responded to our hopeful query with "yep, we are getting ready to leave". And so, we got the last open spot that day. And what a site it was. The exterior campsites are huge. As are the views. The hiking is great. Try the trail that bisects the driving loop, it's a great walk. The Natural Bridges are a treat. Don't be a wimp, make a point of walking all the way to the bottom of them, on at least one, you'll be treated to petroglyphs you can't see from the road.
The campground is spacious, clean, and the sites are pretty secluded. We hated to leave.

Got in late but ranger sent us down the road to a boondocking spot. Absolutely amazing dark sky and great hiking the next day. Water and flush toilets at the headquarters so good. Not really an option for huge RVs but excellent for small easy to turn around because road is a bit small and starring to be washed out. No phone service but great sights

Sites at this location are very hard to get, you better be there by 9am waiting. There are no hook ups, in fact the water spigot was broken, so no water... But the sites are nice, paved road and paved site. Two pit type bathrooms. The site was $14 / $7 with senior pass ! The site is right on the 9 mile loop road for natural bridges. There are nice dispursed camp sites on the two roads just before you get to this campground, the dirt roads that go to Bears Ear and Deer Flats... we stayed on the deer flats road the first night, then got a campsite.
We had a 19 ft trailer, plus the pickup, longer than the max 26 ft total length posted, it was not a problem and the ranger did not mind... The were other small trailers..

Drove in at 10am and got this spot. On of the 3 that were open. Guy came by and said the spot had been empty less than an hour. Visitors center closed Tuesday and Wednesday which is a bummer. Hiked the canyon trail starting at 6am. Took a couple wrong spurs but still hiked just over 10 miles. No service at all anywhere in the Monument.

pros: big sites, water at the visitor center, clean pit toilets, awesome stargazing!! (it was a little overcast when I was there and there were still amazing views of the milky way)

cons: only 13 sites so make sure you arrive early to claim one, no service at all

Lovely campground, but only 13 sites. Get there between 9-10 AM to score a site. When we arrived at 930 AM only 3 of the 13 were open, and all were filled by 11 I think. Lots of hopefuls cruising in the afternoon without joy. And only 26 feet or smaller, vehicle+trailer. Sites are pretty level for parking, have one or two big level tent pads, picnic table, and fire ring. Reasonably spread out and private. Pit toilets clean, and both trash and recycle bins. Nice views of the mesas through the piñons. No cell service. A short walk to the visitor center which is small but good, and the loop drive to the bridges begins a few hundred yards away. Most definitely worth a visit - and if you are up for it hike down to the bridges - amazing scenery and a good workout!