Ledges Cottonwood Campground

We stayed there in June of 2020 and were the only campers.  We have a short 5th wheel but I think any camper under 32' should have no problem.  As the other review pointed out, the road in is narrow and there is a cattle fence/gate at the beginning.  No worries, the road is public so just close the fence/gate behind you. 

We had a spot right on the river.  Not much to do there unless you like to fish or bird watch.  We watched golden eagles soaring along the canyon rim above us and added a couple of high desert birds to our life list.  We did have a fox visit us one morning.  Sorry for the picture, it was taken through the window with a screen.  We were looking for a place to chill for a couple of days and this one hit the spot.

There are two campgrounds on this road.  The first one is better for small trailers and tent campers.  The farthest one back is better for larger trailers.  There is also some dispersed camping all along the river.

This is a free campground.

Campground Review

This campground is tucked back a little ways. We had to go through a cattle gate, it's not always closed but this trip it was. Rule of thumb, leave it how you found it, but there are two campgrounds back there so it's ok to open the gate and go through. The road is narrow and a bit bumpy, at times a higher clearance vehicle is nice but I think I've seen cars back there too. The campground is right on the river, there is a boat ramp, however the water has always been pretty low when we've been to this area. This is our first time in this campground, we've stayed farther down the way before. Once you get there, there are plenty of campsites. We have never seen more then 2 campers there (us and one other this trip) but there are a good 12 or so campsites. Maybe more. They have fire pits, most have grills. Plenty of space. A couple were a little tighter but I've never seen it full so you usually have pick of the sites. They aren't numbered but if you head down the first turn to the right and make the loop, we stayed right after the loop on the other side. It was a huge site, had a small trail that went down to the river where my kids and dogs played. They found frogs and snakes and enjoyed cooling off. While there are poisonous snakes possibly around, this was a small rat snake. Looked to be some good fishing spots, a couple eddies and big rocks that fish could be hanging out behind, but we didn't have poles along.

The mosquitos can be quite bad. During the super heat of the day they were there but not overwhelming, but by the time it started to cool slightly, they came out in full force! In fact, they are the reason for the dropped star and for our early turn in for the night.

There is currently a stage one fire restriction, it still allows campfires in established rings and for the grill usage. Just make sure your fire is fully out before you leave it.

There is plenty of shade to be had and hammock use would be possible. You just have to battle the mosquitos. Which leads in to my product review…

Product Review

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time - today I am testing Green Goo's Bug Be Gone. I am always skeptical of "natural" bug sprays, very few of them work. I was pleasantly surprised that this stuff worked. My husband had nothing on and I had the green goo on and the mosquitos eventually drove him to spray while they did not land on me. Also, being all natural it is safe for people as well as pets. So we sprayed down both our dogs. Our younger, slightly more apprehensive dog wasn't too sure about the sound or the smell but our older dog didn't have a problem with it. It seemed to keep the bugs at bay for the dogs and they weren't itching as the night went on. Definitely would recommend this product.