The Dyrt can help you find the perfect horse camping site near Calipatria. Finding a place to stay in California while traveling with your horse has never been easier. These scenic and easy-to-reach California campsites are perfect for your horse camping excursion.
$30 - $213 / night
Download the NPS app prior to visiting the park trail maps and more! Cottonwood Group Campground is one of the best places in Joshua Tree National Park for stargazing and wildflower viewing. The group campground is part of the main Cottonwood Campground and has three sites that are by reservation only. It is one of three group campgrounds in the park and the only campground that lies in the southern section. To get the most out of your visit Plan Like a Park Ranger Travelers who enjoy warm, dry winters flock to Joshua Tree from October through May, when temperatures reach between 70 to 90-degrees during the day and drop to 40 to 60-degrees at night. Summer is the park's off-season due to the uncomfortably high desert heat. Cottonwood Group Campground is at an elevation of 3,000 ft. and has little shade from vegetation; however, there are picnic shelters that provide shade at each site.
Stargazing and wildflower viewing are among the most popular activities at this facility. Several hiking trails leave from the campground and several more trailheads are within a 1-2 hour drive.
The landscape around Cottonwood is that of the Colorado Desert, which encompasses the southern edge of the park and a large portion of Southern California. Rather than being surrounded by large rock formations and uniquely-shaped Joshua trees, like campgrounds in the northern section, this facility overlooks flat, open-desert shrubland. It is also further from towns or cities that would contribute light pollution. As a result, it offers wide, dark and uninterrupted views of the night sky that draw astronomers and amateur sky watchers alike. Cottonwood is at a lower elevation than other campgrounds within the park, so desert wildflowers begin to bloom earlier in the spring than in other locations. Flowering occurs anytime between the beginning of February to the end of March; timing varies depending on the amount of winter precipitation and the arrival of warm temperatures.
The General Patton Memorial Museum, a U.S. military history museum, is just over 12 miles away in the town of Chiriaco.
Reservation Cancellations & Changes Cancelling a Reservation: Customers may cancel their reservation prior to arrival both on-line and through the call center. A $10 service fee will be withheld from any refund for a cancellation. Depending on when you cancel in relation to your arrival day, it may be considered a late cancellation (see below). Changing an Existing Reservation: When changes are made prior to the cut-off window: If a customer wants to switch dates that are entirely outside of the original reservation dates, there is a $10 change fee. There is no change fee if a customer extends or shortens a reservation, as long as the change includes dates from the original reservation. If they choose to depart early, they may forfeit the recreation fee for the day of departure. There is no change fee if the customer wants to switch sites that are the same price with the same reservation dates in the same facility. If a reservation is made that includes dates beyond the maximum booking window, that reservation cannot be changed until 18 days have passed from the original booking date. Late Cancellations or Cancellations within the Cut-off Window Group Facility : Customers who cancel a group overnight facility reservation less than 14 days before the arrival date will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee. No-Shows Overnight Facilities: A no-show customer is one who does not arrive at a campground and does not cancel the reservation by check-out (noon) time on the day after the scheduled arrival date. Staff will hold a campsite until check-out time (noon) on the day following the arrival date. No-shows are assessed $20.00 service fee and forfeit the first nights recreation fee for a campsite. *Note: the entire reservation will be cancelled for no-shows.
$25 - $50 / night
reservations required
Guide
We got a bit unlucky with rain, but would stay on the north side of the park if we did it again. South side doesn’t have as much going for it comparatively. Neighbors were loud.
GuideNo internet or cellphone capability unless you drive back near I-10.
Scout
Nice people, mainly for during the winter here.
SPA and pool is nice - but no fire allowed. We took the cheapest side for 39. But they also have some with a table and more atmosphere.
dirt camp is 30.
RangerCottonwood Campground is an excellent home base for exploring Joshua Tree NP. There are hiking trails right out of the campground, and easy trails from trailheads within a short drive. You pass the visitor's center on the way in. Sites are narrow and short and unlevel, but you are surrounded by Sonoran desert. Great dark skies! Great scenic drives! Great sunsets!
TravelerBeautiful campsite. No Joshua Trees on this side of the park, but beautiful sunrise and sunset views. Sites are a bit narrow for big rigs with slides, but we made it happen with our class A super slide.
TravelerI've spent many weekends at this resort over the last 15 years or so, visiting my grandparents that lived here in the winter. Tons of activities, clean and quiet, such a wonderful spot!
GuideReally nice little desert campground in the east portion of the park. Sites are pretty tight together. Beautiful night sky viewing. Pit toilets and running water.
Guidethis campground is on the Southside of Joshua Tree National Park. You will not see any Joshua Trees here (they are on the Northside) however, it is definitely a spot to check out. You pull up alongside your site, a huge area with a fire pit and a picnic table. A great area to go for a hike and watch the stars at night. Try and get site B13, epic views.
When Planning a trip through Joshua Tree you will want to spend most of your time on the Northside anywhere between HiddenValley - White Tank Campgrounds. Plan to spend time at skull rock exploring like a child and taking pictures like you are Ansel Adams. Cottonwood Campground is a great, inexpensive stop on the Southside before you leave Joshua Tree. Highly recommended it.... oh and check out the gift shop at the entrance they have a tour guild/hike recommendation area that was super helpful.
GuideI really liked this campground. It’s one of the campground inside Joshua Tree NP and reservable through Recreation.gov. The sites are very private but they are small. Both the pull through and back in sites are small so this is definitely not for big rigs. We had A19 which is a pull through on the right side of the road and we had to go into the gravel part of the site so we would be in enough to open our driver side slide out. And we ended up pretty slanted as a result, but it fit. There are flush toilets that are very clean. This side of the park is very nice but most of the action is north of here and so we’re an hour drive to a lot of the hikes we want to do. No cell service at all.
Ranger
We didn’t plan on camping here but when everything else was packed, we found this little spot. It’s perfect for overlanders
GuideThis campground is located right at the entrance of Joshua Tree, next to the Cottonwood visitor center. There are plenty of sites, especially between September-May when Loop B is open. Each site has a fire pit and picnic table, with about half the sites having a back in parking spot and the rest having parallel pull ins. The bathroom is really well maintained (possibly due to the pandemic). There is also a few potable water spigots.
LegendBeautiful mountain view and desert plants. Cactus were just beginning to bud. Camping spots are a little tight for larger RV's. There was a bit of city glow from Palm Springs so stargazing wasn't as good as we'd hoped. Had great hikes on the many paths. Drove through Joshua Tree National forest, through Cholla and Ocotilla gardens. Saw Skull rock and the fabulous gigantic rock formations. Had a bit of a time getting our 36 ft RV situated so we could extend our slides, and had to park our toad at the bathhouse(only a short distance away), but overall a great two day stay.
ScoutToo many activities to list.
TravelerMy wife and our two dogs (small chi mixes) stayed at this campground over Veterans Day weekend. There are two halves, one for RV’s, horses, and a few tent sites and the other half is all tents. In the center are the restrooms/showers, a few parking spots, and camp host’s RV. The sites are pretty small and very close together but even on a busy holiday weekend where nearby Agua Caliente was full, here were plenty of sites available. Camp host was very active driving around welcoming everybody and was helpful with any questions you might have. Tons of coyotes! They’re tricky and smart, so stay sharp at night on walks with furry ones.
There are fire rings and tables at every site with water sources every few sites. The stage coach station is a historical landmark and sits in the center near the facilities. Pretty cool small cemetery and children’s playground available as well. It was definitely a safe, accessible, and incredibly clean campground. Lots of flies between late morning/afternoon but I’m sure citronella and a cooler period would have solved that problem. We would stay again!
GuideWhat a nice campground in Joshua Tree NP. It’s located closer to I-10 and a drive from most of the things to see at the park. Nice quiet and good spacing between sites. Flush toilets-bring own soap and towels as none provided. Also no lights at night so carry your own. Wild coyotes can be heard in the early morning and the moon was beautiful coming over the mountains on our trip. Drove by the other campsite and noticed how tight the sites were, glad I picked this one. Definitely will return.
LegendVallecito is a great secluded campground. It doesn't get a lot of visitors like Agua Caliente 4 miles down the road. As a result the wildlife is everywhere; bees, coyotes, hawks, rabbits.... This is an old stagecoach stop in the 1800s with lots of history. Around the Stagecoach building there is poster telling you of the history of the area. There's also a small cemetery.
There's water but no power hookups. The bathrooms are clean.
The park volunteer was super friendly and made my stay.
Have good cell service
GuideWe stayed June 6, 2019. We were driving cross country and wanted to see this national park along the way. This was the tail-end of their “peak season” since it is the desert most people visit in the cooler months and avoid it in the summer. We rolled in around 5pm, the ranger station was already closed but we drove on to the campground where there was a self pay station. Plenty of open sites that were not reserved at the time. The sign upon entering says there’s no water within the campground but this is incorrect it must be an old sign. Flush toilets with sinks (no soap or anything to dry your hands just bring your own) also no lights in the bathroom so take your flashlight at night! Beautiful campground, with lots of desert wildlife! This is the southern portion of the park so there’s no Joshua Trees here but if you drive through the park northwest then you’ll see the Cholla cactus gardens, Boulder fields, as well as the Joshua Trees!
ScoutAbsolutely amazing.
LegendUnfortunately did not get to spend a lot of time on this campsite as we just used it as an overnight stop on a road trip out to Utah, but we did enjoy the site a lot. Reservations filled up about a month in advance, but several of the sites were not occupied. Water was a little tricky to find at first because it was tucked next to a campsite that had an RV parked out front.
Wildflowers were blooming all around in mid-spring. Nights were cool but not too cold, and heat during the day wasn't too bad yet in the spring. There were several hikes available near the campsite.
Easy access to the 10 freeway made this a great road trip stop but with the added benefit of experiencing a national park.
ScoutWe just got back from a weekend at Cottonwood Campground. This was an awesome campground. It’s super clean, paved, has potable water and running toilets. We had a scouting troop with us ages 5-12 and the girls had a blast. We hiked 3 miles locally and the terrain was amazing. Looked like Pixar’s Cars Land. Then we took a drive over to Skull Rock for some rock scrambling, and even made it all the way over to the visitor center at the north entrance before heading back for dinner. Afterwards we topped it off with a Ranger chat at the campground amphitheater where a local astronomer showed up and gave an amazing talk about the stars complete with astronomer pointer and telescope where we got to see Saturn! The girls LOVED it! We plan on coming back and hitting a northern campground - but definitely recommend Cottonwood. It won’t disappoint - the star viewing was awesome!!
GuideWent here over Christmas school break stayed here two nights, there are 3 group sites here. Nice spaces with flash toilets and running water. There are several parking spots or each group site. While we were there we had several people park in the empty spots and sleep in their cars cause they didn’t have reservations, also during the day random people just show up and use the empty picnic tables at your site.
TravelerNearly the southernmost location of Joshua Tree Natl Park. ~1 hr drive to the main area of the park (north side). A few hikes near Cottonwood Campground.
Travelerif you are looking for a day or months this is the place to stay. everything you need is right here
TravelerCottonwood is the furthest south campground in the park, and was the only camp that had space. It's extremely clean and spacious. There are hiking trails just off the campground. The restrooms don't have showers or lights.
ScoutA great spot to camp! We were only there briefly, but it had everything we needed. Very well kept, a good fire pit, a picnic table and plenty of space for tents and parking
GuideThis campground was away from the primary campground like Jumbo Rock and therefore less crowded. Campsites included fire ring and picnic table. Flush toilets on premises and away from primary sites. Tent sites were very close together and as we found or a very popular site for star gazing and meteror showers. Required aunt of a drive to get into the primary park area and firewood not available in campgrounds (Walmart is the closest location it was available). Camp hosts were very nice however did not enforce quiet hours. We camp with our daughter (5 at the time) and unfortunately we were surrounded by many college students drinking heavily (not Joshua Trees fault). We ended up leaving a day early because of this. Aside from the other campers we had a good desert camping experience. I think next time we would try a different site to attempt to be more secluded and avoid this issue in the future.
TravelerWent on overnight trip with the Astronomy Department of my College. Two sites comfortably fit 20+ people and the large sunshaded eating areas were great for food prep and socializing.
Horse camping in California offers a unique blend of outdoor adventure and equestrian-friendly amenities, perfect for those looking to explore the state's stunning landscapes on horseback.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Calipatria, CA?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Calipatria, CA is Fountain of Youth Spa RV Resort with a 4.8-star rating from 4 reviews.
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TheDyrt.com has all 3 equestrian camping locations near Calipatria, CA, with real photos and reviews from campers.
