Situated among mature cottonwood trees along the Gunnison River, this campground has six campsites, including one ADA accessible site with an adjacent accessible fishing pier. Site amenities include a boat ramp (non-motorized watercraft only), shade structures, picnic tables, fire rings and a vault toilet. Camping is free with a 7 day/6 night maximum stay length. Sites are available on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, please contact the Montrose Public Lands Center at 970-240-5300. \_\_

BLM Cottonwood Grove Campground

This is a true gem. I imagine it gets busy in the summer. It was already pretty busy this weekend and it's still early. There are six campsites total in the designated campground. There are plenty of others along the way, just this area has the toilet.

The drive in is a little rough. The road is narrow and it drops off in places but the views are spectacular. It follows the Gunnison River and once the view opens up, it really is magnificent. We came in after dinner time and got to the campground. At that time there were two of the six available. The campground sits in a little grove of Cottonwood trees so there is shade to be had and it is right on the river. There is a little boating dock right there too. A handicap accessible pier for fishing, although this weekend it hosted a wedding, albeit small, it was still there. Very quiet little event, I slept through it. They pulled out before dinner even.

I think two of the six campsites had a shade shelter in the site. Those were quite nice. But even with out a shade shelter they all had picnic tables, nice heavy concrete tables, and fire pits. I think the site closest to the pier lacked in shade but the rest were pretty well shaded.

We had to go back to Cedaredge for a sporting event and decided to go back for a second night. We were so glad we did. There is a trail called Cool Rock Trail and it was a nice trail. Hot for sure, so take plenty of water and if you are hiking with a pup, bring water for them too, they will need it! I think our 10 month old lab puppy drank a good three bottles on his own. If you are in to geocaching, there are about 5 or so from trailhead to about 1 mile to mile and half in. The terrain wasn't too hard, our five year old son and 14 year old pug both handled it just fine.

There are other hiking trails too but that is the only one we did. Also for the geocaching campers, there is one in the campground itself. So that was another fun activity for my kids. There was lots of space in the campground. We could have easily played ball or frisbee and not bothered anyone. The toilet was well stocked and pretty clean. It is just a pit toilet but it's better then nothing.

There aren't any hosts or anyone really moderating anything so if you get a discourteous neighbor, no one is really going to stop them. Most of ours were good, we had one a couple sites down that played music and chopped wood through out the evening and mornings. Lots and lots of wood. Dogs are often off leashes, well at least while we were there. I'm not sure anyone used a leash except us.

This really is a great place to slip in to for a night or two. Go check it out!

Simply Amazing and FREE!

6 sites of which 4 have shelters and there’s 4 RV pull ups. Plenty of distance between campsites. No electricity or water. 1 satellite toilet... and a great fishing dock and a small beach. The weather in the canyon at the end of June is hot during the day and comfortable at night. I pulled in on a Friday and the campground was empty. By Sunday 4 of the 6 sites were taken. Definitely a quite place to enjoy the stars and watch the lizards hunt. 

River retreat 

There are parking spots for rvs who don’t want to go down the worst of the road to the river.
We stayed 2 nights in a huge site with a big tree in the middle right on the river. Farther down there are a bunch of sites together with a bathroom.
Lots of locals use the area for fishing so trucks were coming and going but not so much as to be a bother. The scenery is terrific. A real oasis in the desert.
There are hiking trail off the main road in the campground. The river is mostly shallow on the campground side and perfect for cooling off. We watched guys fly fishing by our site, which is definitely an art form. 
It can be windy and very dusty.
At night we watched the bats swooping around and it’s a great place to star gaze!
The road down to the river was rough. I wouldn’t bring the family sedan down it.






Quiet and secluded

Rough ride getting there but amaizing cliff view. Traveling with tiny camper would dive a big rig there. Narrow roads! 