Best Glamping near Fairfield, ND

Cottonwood Campground was a very welcome oasis in the prairies of North Dakota. Along our year-long trip, we slept in a lot of campgrounds, but Cottonwood stands out as just what we needed at the time: quiet, spacious, and beautiful sites, nestled right up along the Missouri river, perfect for taking a dip at the end of a long day of hiking.

We spent four days at Theodore Roosevelt National Park: two in the south unit and two in the north unit. (We also loved Juniper Campground in the north!)

Cottonwood Campground was a great place to crash for two nights. It was cheap, comfortable, and quiet. It allowed great access to the heart of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We even ran into a Teddy impersonator at the Visitor Center!

In the south, near Cottonwood Campground, we loved the beautiful scenic drive, the views from Buck Hill, Wind Canyon Overlook, and the Petrified Forest (a bit of a drive around the park).

You can read much more about our four days in the park on our blog: Switchback Kids (Theodore Roosevelt)

Camped late April for 5 days, so it was offseason one pit toilet open one water spigot open in the campground.  There are two loops, the south look which is tenting and smaller sized trailer sites but it was not yet open while we were there,  The North Loop is mainly pull through sites and can handle larger sized RV's.  This is dry camping, there are no hookups.  You can experience some nice hiking and opportunities for wildlife viewing.  Buffalo were common visitors while having coffee in the morning.   Elk, deer, wild horses were common as well as hawks and prairie dogs.  Currently Western North Dakota is experiencing a drought, and being early in the season for the campground, it was dry and dusty but did not prevent us from hiking and exploring the park.  There is a convenience store in Medora ND right outside the park entrance that you can purchase basics but there was no grocery store.  Part of the scenic loop drive is closed due to road erosion but you can still travel most of it though its an out and back with turnarounds for larger vehicles. We would defiantly camp there again, but if you need the luxuries of an RV "park", you will not find that here.  The campground is well maintained and clean.

I visited this campground for 1 night while driving across North Dakota. It's super easy to access from I-94, but you feel like you're a million miles away from the interstate. Arriving at the Teddy Roosevelt NP main entrance late in the day, the booth was closed and the "Campground Full" sign was up. I decided to check for myself and I'm glad I did. They sometimes put the campground full site up when the ranger leaves for the night- always check for yourself.

The campsites were basic- picnic table, fire ring, and close proximity to some basic bathrooms. My site was grassy and easy for a tent. The campground didn't allow hammocks or anything attached to trees. The rangers were very friendly and actively patroling the campground. There were NP events at the campground each night.

The cost for a site was $16 (and 20$ to enter the park if you don't have a pass). You cannot get change from the ranger and you cannot use a credit card to register. The closest place to get change, firewood, gas, etc. is Medora which is about 7 miles away. The convenience store there has anything you might want.

There are lots of great hikes accessible in the park, but the park is not crowded like other National Parks, so be sure to get a trail map and directions for hiking as all trails are not well marked.

What can I say, I went to Theodore Roosevelt National Park just to hangout with my brother and do some camping. I had very low expectations considering it is located in North Dakota. Let's just say that of the dozen National Parks and Monuments that I have visited and camped in, Theodore Roosevelt is my second favorite.

I saw more wildlife than I have in any other park. There were very few people so it felt like we had the park to ourselves. The scenery was fantastic with so many different things to see. There is a South and North unit and they are both amazing, although the North unit is my favorite.

The Cottonwood campground is in the South Unit. It was great. The toilet near are campsite was a pit toilet, but it was clean. I must admit, I prefer a flushing toilet, especially when I am paying money to camp. Having said that the rest of the campground was quiet with some great scenery. Aside from not having flushing toilets, the reason it gets 4 stars instead of 5 is the campground needed more shade trees. It did get hot during the day.

Wildlife walks through the campsite regularly. I woke up one morning with a buffalo walking 10 yards from my tent. I was sitting down and eating lunch at the picnic table and a beautiful snake with lots of colors just slithered through. If you want an experience with nature and have the opportunity to see bluffs, trees, badlands and a petrified forest, you need to stay at Cottonwood.

This campground in Theodore Roosevelt National Park near Medora ND has 76 sites. Half of the sites, the even-numbered ones, are not reservable. Sites 55-66 are walk in tent sites; parking spots and grills for these sites are numbered so you have a specific site.

We arrived before 10:30 am on a Sunday and sites were being claimed quickly. There were 7 of us choosing sites at that time. The hosts had a whiteboard that listed available sites; we took a photo of the list and chose quickly as we drove around because sites that were listed as available were already being claimed. We ended up on a reservable site that was open for the next several nights. The host couple was really on the ball and their attention helped keep the site selection process orderly.  After you put your tag up, they fold it over later in the day and mark your departure date. This is a practice that is used in many campgrounds.

Cottonwood has been full every day since Memorial Day so you can't show up in the evening or possibly even mid-afternoon and expect to find an open site.

This campground has no hookups but has flush toilets, sinks, potable water spigots, a sink for washing dishes/disposing of grey water, a place for filling water tanks, trash disposal and firewood for sale. There are charcoal grates for cooking that can also be use for campfires, but there are no fire rings; your campfire will be a few feet off the ground in something that I think of as a grill!

Showers? No, but there area couple campgrounds in Medora that have showers for $5.

If you stay here, you're obviously here to see Theodore Roosevelt NP. Both the campground and park are worth a visit. The scenery is incredible and gave us a new view of North Dakota. There is a hike near Pleasant Valley Ranch where you can use a few trails to make a 5+ mile loop that will show you everything the park has to offer - Little Missouri River (and you have to cross it at the beginning and end), prairie dog towns, bison herds and beautiful scenery. I highly recommend this as a way to see the park from a better vantage point than the highway.

One complaint - the position of our site (#19) had some people think it was acceptable to cut through our site on their way to the bathroom. Do you walk through someone's home to shorten your walk? Didn't think so but 3 people did within 30 minutes.

A little difficult to access if you’ve never been but worth it. Direct access to 100+ miles of the Maah Daah Hey trail!

We were headed to the north unit of TRNP and found this nice campground. Small and private, only one other group there who were visiting with their horses. They said they had good trails, but we didn’t have much time to explore. Beautiful views and very peaceful. Only downfall was the long drive on the rough/ unpaved roads. My Toyota Corolla isn’t the best “off roading” car, but we got there safely. Definitely would visit again!!! Paid $10 cash for the evening.

I’ve stayed here multiple times. The sites are relatively spread out, though I like to stay towards the back of the site where it’s even more secluded. Every time I’ve been here, the camp is never over 1/2 full. The part I like most about this campground is the easy access to the world renowned Maah Daah Hey Trail: >100 miles of trail open to hikers, bikers, and horseback riders. Either head south on Magpie road to Magpie trailhead, or follow the campground road away from the main road past the cattleguard and find the connecting trail there. From there, either head west towards Devil’s Pass or east towards the ice caves. At dusk, be sure to listen for coyotes barking in the distance

Very nice modern bathroom very clean. Your in a large valley surrounded by the beautifully colorful hills.

This place is wild. We had a herd of wild horses run through our campground and a local bison slept next to someone’s tent. They do have a restroom and water, no other amenities. Great for tent or truck camping.

If you visit Theodore Roosevelt, you likely want to see the bison the park is famous for, and if you stay at Cottonwood, you likely will. We did--up close. One passed within about 10 feet of our campervan (which we'd jumped into with our dog, as the bison started to approach). What a thrill. We wondered if it was the same bison we'd seen grazing about 50 yards away the day before and the same one who'd left muddy hoofprints all over the campground. 

We didn't love the campground itself as much as the other reviewers did. The sites are decently spaced, and many of them are at least partly shaded. The bathhouse near our site was newish with flush toilets (which my spouse always loves). 

So why not five stars? The camp host committed one of my pet peeves, which is not enforcing the generator quiet hours (8 pm to 8 am here). A camper near us was using his generator till at least 10:30 (when I finally managed to fall asleep; he might've been using it even later). Too, the campground was buggy--as buggy as I've experienced in the West (which I usually find to be much less buggy than my homelands in the muggy, wet East).

Herds of buffalo walking through the campground greeted us in the evening. Plenty of spots available, even though the sign said Campsite Full. 14 bucks a night for well hidden sites with water, a grill and picnic table at each. Coyotes howled throughout the night, so bring some earplugs. Very beautiful as the morning sign rose above the canyon walls

This is a great spot if you’re looking to stay in the park. It’s the only in-park campground. Convenient and just past the Medora entrance station.

There are no services however and this is almost borderline boondocking here. But it’s right off the river and pets are allowed. Bison walk through the campground often.

This was a last minute stop and I’m so glad I stopped here! The sites are well maintained. The bathrooms are so clean and seem new. The hikes in the area are great. The baby buffaloes are so darn cute!

Cottonwood is located inside the NP, so an extra admission fee of $30 is required. The sites are fairly wooded, but some are very small and oddly placed. The bathroom is a brand new building with flush toilets, it’s just too bad they did not add showers. Water spigots are plenty throughout the park, there is an RV fill-up, but there is no dump station. We didn’t see any wildlife in the campground, but it was plenty in the park. (Saw more in the 3 hour drive than our 3 days in Yellowstone!) We would hope to come back and spend one more day touring the north unit of the park. No AT&T service in the campground.

We had what we (and the camp host) considers the best site in the whole campground! The views are incredible! We saw the wild horses from camp every single day. No bison, but saw plenty in the park. . This campground has very limited services. There is a water filling station across from the camp host and also several other water filling sites throughout the campground. There is no dump station for RV’s so we pod $5 to use the one at Medora Campground in town. There is a newer bathroom facility in the middle of the campground with several trails that lead to it, but I just can’t believe that they didn’t include a shower! So many people tent camping that I was extremely surprised by this. . Tip: use Google maps to “drive thru” this campground to see what your site looks like ahead of time if it is important to you.

What a great spot! We came on a cooler day. The camp host suggested spot 52 and we couldn't be happy...you can walk right to the river, it's private. We raced to get here this am as we were told it fills up fast, but at 9am we still had plenty of spots to pick from. Everyone favors the south side campground and park, but we really enjoyed both of them! We saw a ton of buffalo on the north side and we have already spotted buffalo, seen prairie dogs and wild horses from the road. Great overlooks!

We have cell service at our spot. Not a ton of bars but can text etc and again bathrooms are super clean, no showers.

Spot wasn't overly level so we used our blocks and we got perfectly level after that. Highly recommend this campground!

Choose your tent only walk in site carefully. Most (esp those next to river) have no shade. This means it’s hot in the sun and exposed in thunderstorms. Most sites are on top of each other with nothing to block sounds or sites.

Bathrooms are a distance off from walk in sites. You must use (as of late July 2023) the bath near the amphitheater. The facilities next to walk-in camp are just a pad at the moment with no signs of construction happening anytime soon.

Trail to sites is narrow and uneven and prone to flooding with rain.

Someone noted this earlier that it is close to the road and if you are in a walk in site you can hear I-94 and the main park road. Yes, you can hear the main park road easily and when the breeze dies down you can here the interstate. Bring earplugs and your fine.

No campfire pits.

Beautiful, quiet campground right on a river. First come first serve, grills, has water spickets and bathrooms. Located right off on the main park road, and an easy drive to other overlooks and hikes.

Lots of trees and plenty of space between most sites. Clean toilets with running water. Drinking water spikets throughout with a camper water fill Station at entrance... no dump station. Seemed odd numbers were reservation and even numbered sites were first come. We reserved site 3 but were very disappointed, it was not an accommodating site for our truck and small 23' camper... BUT the campground host allowed us to switch to another site that was available!! Awesome!!!Our stay was 6/10,11/2024