Cottonwood Campground (CA)

Excellent campground. Even when this campground is full, it is always a pleasant experience. We had clear skies 3 of the four nights and even saw the SpaceX launch which was amazing!

Sites are nicely sizes, campground premises is very clean as is the bathroom, beautiful dessert views. A great place to get away from it all and enjoy day trips into the northern part of the park.

A beautiful campsite. Nicely situated for good views and privacy. Beautiful park.

Nice separation between sites, clean and nice view.

Nice separation between sites, clean and nice view.

This campground has 360 views. Staying here was a great way to spend some extra time appreciating the cottonwood area and lost palms oasis, as well as some spots along Pinto Basin Road that we liked. It was nice to be down in cottonwood over Easter weekend when the main part of the park was more crowded. It was very windy on our first day there, I recommend bringing extra tent stakes in case this happens on your stay. We ended up having no problems after staking down our tent thoroughly.
The camp host was really nice and took our leftover camp fuel that we couldn’t fly home with. They said they collect those kinds of things to give out to others, so definitely check in with them if you need something like that!
Bathrooms were in decent shape throughout our stay, and it was great to have access to water right in the campground (most other JT campgrounds don’t have this).

This campground has 360 views. Staying here was a great way to spend some extra time appreciating the cottonwood area and lost palms oasis, as well as some spots along Pinto Basin Road that we liked. It was nice to be down in cottonwood over Easter weekend when the main part of the park was more crowded. It was very windy on our first day there, I recommend bringing extra tent stakes in case this happens on your stay. We ended up having no problems after staking down our tent thoroughly.
The camp host was really nice and took our leftover camp fuel that we couldn’t fly home with. They said they collect those kinds of things to give out to others, so definitely check in with them if you need something like that!
Bathrooms were in decent shape throughout our stay, and it was great to have access to water right in the campground (most other JT campgrounds don’t have this).

When we arrived at our site, we found that the fire pit was not located next to the picnic table. Instead, it was separated by several small bushes, which made the layout quite confusing. At first, it even seemed closer to the neighboring site, so we had to spend some time confirming that we were using the correct area.
Additionally, while the weather was calm when we arrived, strong winds picked up during the night. The wind came through the tent, making it very cold, and the constant noise from the tent flapping made it difficult to sleep. As a result, the children did not rest well.

When we arrived at our site, we found that the fire pit was not located next to the picnic table. Instead, it was separated by several small bushes, which made the layout quite confusing. At first, it even seemed closer to the neighboring site, so we had to spend some time confirming that we were using the correct area.
Additionally, while the weather was calm when we arrived, strong winds picked up during the night. The wind came through the tent, making it very cold, and the constant noise from the tent flapping made it difficult to sleep. As a result, the children did not rest well.

Very friendly staff at the gate, restrooms were clean for a campground, overall great experience