Cottonwood Campground (CA)

Camp site A11 was a good size, but no pull in parking. The hiking trail to Mastodon Peak is right next to it, but very few hikers were walking by, so it was not a problem. Bathrooms are clean, with flush toilets, but there are no lights and no showers. We drove in from the west entrance at Joshua Tree, then did some day hikes in the central portion of the park, before driving down to the south end where Cottonwood is. The campground is about 40 minutes from the busier attractions. The trail at Cholla cactus garden is closed, but you can still stop, park and walk around all the plants. We saw some shooting stars at night. We went at the end of March, and the weather was good, but windy at night. Would recommend this campground, although it is more isolated than others in the park. It has running water, and most of the others don't.

Cottonwood Campground is well maintained and has hiking trails directly from the campground. The wind can make it a trying experience for tents, our campsite neighbor had to take down their canopy, and eventually their tent, and decamp and leave early due to wind gusts of 30mph. Without the wind, it can be a very good experience.

Camp site A11 was a good size, but no pull in parking. The hiking trail to Mastodon Peak is right next to it, but very few hikers were walking by, so it was not a problem. Bathrooms are clean, with flush toilets, but there are no lights and no showers. We drove in from the west entrance at Joshua Tree, then did some day hikes in the central portion of the park, before driving down to the south end where Cottonwood is. The campground is about 40 minutes from the busier attractions. The trail at Cholla cactus garden is closed, but you can still stop, park and walk around all the plants. We saw some shooting stars at night. We went at the end of March, and the weather was good, but windy at night. Would recommend this campground, although it is more isolated than others in the park. It has running water, and most of the others don't.

Very good campground. Just some limited space for bigger tents and the coyotes can be loud at night. But overall a great experience.

Site was clean and lots of room.

Very good campground. Just some limited space for bigger tents and the coyotes can be loud at night. But overall a great experience.

Site was clean and lots of room.

Great campground at southern end of the park. Spot 23A was clean, spaced out from neighbors, near the bathrooms and water, and everyone was quiet and respectful even though there was no camp host present. Would stay here again!

Great campground at southern end of the park. Spot 23A was clean, spaced out from neighbors, near the bathrooms and water, and everyone was quiet and respectful even though there was no camp host present. Would stay here again!

I have been car camping at Cottonwood several years now and every year has been excellent. One thing different this year
I will comment on is that due the lack of rainfall this winter/spring it is very dry, almost no wildflowers anywhere. The campsite
was clean as usual a great experience.