Cottonwood Campground

We stopped here to camp overnight and get some sleep. The location is nice, but the campground was swarming with mosquitos. Also you could hear the train passing in the night. It woke us up a couple of times in the night.

We aimed for Willard Bay State Park and pulled into the North Marina location...but they were full. So, we were told there was a South Marina RV park (about ten min drive) so we went there. The North Marina campsites looks really nice...all of them are along the trail to the water (beautiful views, beach, etc). All were pretty private with big trees, etc...but it's a state park so they aren't reachable by phone (to check availability) on Sat/Sun...which is why we didn't know they were full. If you can reserve a spot here, it looked really nice. (full hook-ups available) There are also some dry camping spots right next to this campground, which were not full...looked decent.

Anyway we ended up at the South Marina, which is more like a parking lot just down the hill from the water. There are still some big trees, and it's not too bad. A two-minute walk up the trail to the water is SO worth it...really beautiful views and a beach to play on. This was a pit-stop stay for us, but we had full hook-ups, a picnic table and saw the water at sunset...gorgeous! (no wifi, but there were bathrooms and showers)

If I had a choice, I'd pick the North Marina, but the south marina views still took our breath away!

Got a spot on a Sunday without a resi. We were looking for a place to camp near Salt Lake but not in the city. This place is perfect. There is a little highway noise but not a big deal.

We stayed in the north end of the park at Willow Creek campground, spot #20. Willow Creek is primitive, offering no hook-ups, but plenty of bugs, even in late April. Potable water spigots and bathrooms are abundant.

The full hook-up sites were mostly full during the weeknights, but the primitive area was nearly empty. The lack of steady visitor activity may have contributed to the disappointingly dirty and luke-warm showers, dead bugs, and spider webbing throughout.

About a 60 minute drive to downtown Salt Lake City, proximity to the city is decent, but not what I would consider convenient.

Cellular voice and data coverage is solid, even without boost. AT&T, Verison, and T-Mobile (data) all performed well. Digital nomads will have no issues, including video streaming.

Not what I would consider a destination campground, this campground is an easy place to kill a few days when passing through the area.

Stayed here 3 nights total in April 2017. First was a Friday and Saturday night and the next was a the following Friday on the way home. Easy to get to off I15 and there is a handy Flying J right under the Interstate the other direction. Cottonwood is the campground with full hookups. Even this early it was full so recommend getting your reservations in early. Willow is the camground with no hookups. Both spots were back in and all spots are paved and large. Sites are pretty level and hookups are easy to get to. Both of my spots backed up to the nature trail which was very busy the first stay as the weather was nice. Love that the picnic tables were covered and the grass well kept. If I were to go back 75 was a better choice as it wasn't right on the nature trail access as 74 was. Lots of bird song and I give kudos to the many locals camping there as the kids were all well behaved and not overly noisy. All people I saw with dogs had them on leash. By 10 the place was very quiet.

Check in was super easy but there will be lines at peak times. They had my reservation by name and proveded a mirror hang tag for the truck and pink stub for the site (okay I missed that part and forgot to hang the one at the site). Park personnel at the gate were very pleasant.

Getting to the spot was easy if you followed the signs but did notice some people were confused about the roads. So not as straightforward as you might want if arriving late in the day or in the dark.

The biggest warning would be that in warmer weather the bugs, especially the mosquitos will be aweful and that was confirmed by a number of locals. I would not stay there in the summer unless it was just overnight with no intentions of hanging outside. Quite a bit of standing and swampy water along the nature trail.

Trail does lead down to Eagle beach which looks very nice and set up for many visitors and boaters. No dogs allowed at the beach.

If you are there during bird migration seasons it is perfect with the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge just 30 minutes north. Also had a fabulous view of the mountains to the east on the first stay, they were totally fogged in with rain and snow the second.

This is a great location to Ogden where you can stock up on groceries and get whatever you need. Also the Flying J right at the entrance to the park is good for getting gas and filling up propane.

The sites are fairly large, level and private and the beach is beautiful and clean. The downsides are the staff doesn't maintain the grounds. Overgrown weeds etc lead to a bit of a junky feeling around camp. Also there are no rule enforcements. I saw a park ranger drive by 1 time in a week. There were people letting their dogs roam the grounds and some not so savory individuals but it was really only a couple of people so maybe that's a 1 off.

Road noise was really bad so don't plan on quiet here but inside the RV it was not noticeable. I've read some reviews talking about bug problems but I did not experience that. Yes a mosquito here and there but nothing out of the ordinary for living outdoors. I was pleasantly surprised at how nice the beach was. There's a short nature walk.

Having 50 amp FHU at $30 is great for a state park. Connectivity was excellent. Verizon 5+ d/l, ATT 30+ d/l, T mobile (can't remember the speed but fast enough to stream) - All unboosted. TONS of OTA channels.
I would stay here again if I had a need to stay around Ogden.
Bonus shout out to Sierra RV which is about 10 miles away. I had an issue with my RV door handle. The spring popped out. I took it there, they fixed it for me, no charge. Very nice RV shop there, and HUGE, clean, new with tons of bays. If you need anything done, give them a chance.

Site accessibility (good roads, easy to navigate, level site) - 4
Campground location (Easy off the hwy, but road noise was bad) - 2
Nearby amenities (Everything 15 min away) - 4
Site Privacy (large sites, good privacy) - 4
Campground amenities (50 amp FHU, no cable) - 4
Dog friendly (Dogs allowed everywhere but not a lot of walking trails) - 3
Activities (Awesome beach, short walking trail) - 3
Cost ($30/night for FHU, no cable) - 4
Staff (Friendly but limited site maintenance and no rule enforcement) - 2
Connectivity (Decent Verizon, excellent ATT, Tmobile good, tons of OTA channels) - 4
Total rating = 3.4

We stayed three nights in the beginning of June 2018. The park is right off Interstate 15 so there was road noise in the evenings. There is also train tracks nearby and you could hear the trains during the day and at night. We typically sleep with a fan running so did not have too much problem as it was enough to drown out most of the noise. They have several fresh water spigots throughout the campground and a dump station as you exit. The Willow Campground is dry camping and is $30/night for a single site. A double site is $50/night (double the cars and double the people allowed). The Cottonwood Campground is full hook-up and is $40/night. They also have camping at the South Marina (different exit entirely and you cannot get to it from the main park) and the North Marina but I’m not sure how much for those. I believe they are both full hook-up though. You can reserve sites online, but it must be reserved more than 48 hours in advance and we missed the window. We arrived right at check-in time at 3:00 to see if they had any first come first serve sites. The staff said they had one more left and we snagged it. This was spot #38. We should have instantly realized it was not going to work for our rig, but we tried it anyway. After a few tries, we realized we were not going to get in the site properly and it was going to be impossible to level. Also, that particular site was very shady which is great for most people, but not us, who rely on solar. Some of the staff came by and we told them the site was not going to work for us. We were planning on heading out to a different park, but they indicated another site was available. Apparently, the reservation group thought it was taken, but it was open. We promptly moved to the new site and it was much better. This was site #26 and was a bit more open for solar and was better for leveling. If you are reserving online, make sure you look carefully at the site if you have solar. There were several in the shade, but there were many in full sun. Most of the spots were pull-through which was nice. Overall, there is not much to do at this park. There are no hiking trails. Its claim to fame is Willard Bay and the beach. Great for boating and fishing. We biked and did some birding (which was decent). But for us, it was not worth the cost. Internet access was good. We got 3-4 bars 4G for AT&T and 3 bars 4G for Verizon on the hotspot. The mosquitoes were out in force, but nothing a little bug spray could not handle. Overall it was a nice stopover, but we would not stay here again simply because of cost. $30/night with no hookups is a little much when the park does not have a lot to offer (at least for us).

Stayed overnight nice site, not close to neighbors. Full hook ups. I’ve gotten spoiled on my 4 week vacation. Close to highway so there was some noise.

We camped at the South Marina. Full hookups and bathrooms with showers. Was a nice stay. Camp host is very friendly. Picnic tables and fire rings. Tent camping down the middle. Got a little crazy on Friday but it was the start of Memorial Day weekend. Not much to see as far as water views. Go to the north marina and the views are beautiful. Used our pass to get into the north side so no extra payment. Overall pleasant stay. Would stay again.

Other than some freeway noise this is a great campground! In September we practically had the place to ourselves.