Established Camping
Cottonwood Campground — Grand Canyon National Park
About
National Park
Cottonwood Camp is located on the North Kaibab Trail halfway between the North Rim and the Colorado River. Since the North Rim only gets about 10% of the visitation of the South Rim, Cottonwood also gets fewer visitors. It is also much more rustic than it’s South Rim neighbors, Bright Angel Campground and Indian Garden. Because of this, I have found that the majority of the people who make it to Cottonwood tend to be better prepared and more of the ‘backpacker-type’ as well. Download NPS Corridor Trails Hiking Map (PDF – Free Adobe Reader required) There are 11 small group site accommodating 1 – 6 people and 1 large site for a group of 7 – 11 people. All sites are located north or upstream of the ranger station. Below are some photos of the ranger station and a couple campsites. The bulletin board and water faucet with treated water is located near the composting toilets, also shown below. Some things to be aware of at Cottonwood: Treated water is only available during the non-freezing season. So be sure to check with the Backcountry Office before you come down if your timing is in early spring or late fall. Bright Angel Creek flows year ’round, so you can always get water from the creek as long as you treat it. Carry toilet paper with you! Cottonwood is often out. Due to lack of funding, Cottonwood is usually not manned full time. Rangers check it from Roaring Springs or Phantom Ranger Station. This means that if something happens here, you have to be prepared for emergencies yourself. Carry a good first aid kit and make sure that you take all the precautions to prevent illness and injury. There is an emergency phone located located outside the ranger station.
Access
- Hike-InBackcountry sites.
Stay Connected
- WiFiUnknown
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- AT&TUnknown
- T-MobileUnknown
Site Types
- Tent Sites
- Group
Features
For Campers
- Picnic Table
- Drinking Water
- Toilets
not bad
it’s not close to much, but there is some running water you can cool off in and refill water. just make sure you filter it. when we were there they didn’t have running water to just fill up from. very hot on the way to this camp site as there is not much cover on the trail.
Nice camping
This campground wasn't too crowded, but even if it had been full I think it would have been ok since the camp sites are further apart than the other main corridor campgrounds. There are a few trees for shade. Running water is only available seasonally, but Bright Angel Creek is nearby if you do need to filter. There are composting toilets. This is a great little campground for such a busy trail.
Simple and easy
Campground was nice and well maintained, there are actually some space between campsites too so people aren’t right on top of each other which is nice.
Location
Cottonwood Campground — Grand Canyon National Park is located in Arizona
Coordinates
36.17023958 N
112.04091754 W