Cottonwood Campground (ND)

We loved cottonwood! The camp ranger was so helpful and thorough. The hiking and wildlife experience was the best! Great wildlife and less people!

Cottonwood is a beautiful National Park campground. Not all the sites are created equal, but there are many really nice RV sites.
The Camp Host at Cottonwood during our visit in June 2023 was the best we've ever experienced. A really nice, calm and extremely helpful camp host. He was great about helping us get a site on a night we didn't have a reservation - and we saw him help others the same way. A really great experience in this beautiful campground in a beautiful National Park.

Cottonwood is a beautiful National Park campground. Not all the sites are created equal, but there are many really nice RV sites.
The Camp Host at Cottonwood during our visit in June 2023 was the best we've ever experienced. A really nice, calm and extremely helpful camp host. He was great about helping us get a site on a night we didn't have a reservation - and we saw him help others the same way. A really great experience in this beautiful campground in a beautiful National Park.

As the lone campground in the South Unit of a major National Park I had very high expectations. Some were met, some not. First the positives:. Location is fantastic! Right on the scenic loop. In fact, I noticed buffalo droppings throughout the campsite- very cool! There was a trail to the prairie leading from my campsite that was scenic. The hosts were super-friendly and answered all my questions!

Now the bad:. The layout for the restrooms was probably the worst I have ever seen in ANY park! The campground is set-up in a one-way loop. There's sites on both the inside and outside of the loop. All the bathrooms are in the very middle. If you need to use the facilities and are located on the outside of the loop(like I was) you must find an empty site to walk thru to access the path from that site to the 'main' path in the middle connecting the 3 bathrooms. I walked the whole path and couldn't find an entrance/exit to the main path that didn't involve walking thru somebody's campsite! If you're in the inner loop you are golden as there's small paths going from every inner site to the main path.

One bathroom(of the 3) was under construction. Not open. The middle one was very clean and had flush toilets and running water. The last bathroom was the handicapped accessible restroom and it was just a pit toilet with sanitizer for washing hands. 3 stars.

As the lone campground in the South Unit of a major National Park I had very high expectations. Some were met, some not. First the positives:. Location is fantastic! Right on the scenic loop. In fact, I noticed buffalo droppings throughout the campsite- very cool! There was a trail to the prairie leading from my campsite that was scenic. The hosts were super-friendly and answered all my questions!

Now the bad:. The layout for the restrooms was probably the worst I have ever seen in ANY park! The campground is set-up in a one-way loop. There's sites on both the inside and outside of the loop. All the bathrooms are in the very middle. If you need to use the facilities and are located on the outside of the loop(like I was) you must find an empty site to walk thru to access the path from that site to the 'main' path in the middle connecting the 3 bathrooms. I walked the whole path and couldn't find an entrance/exit to the main path that didn't involve walking thru somebody's campsite! If you're in the inner loop you are golden as there's small paths going from every inner site to the main path.

One bathroom(of the 3) was under construction. Not open. The middle one was very clean and had flush toilets and running water. The last bathroom was the handicapped accessible restroom and it was just a pit toilet with sanitizer for washing hands. 3 stars.

Amazing spot right by the river. There's not a lot of privacy but we found all our neighbors to.be friendly and respectful. The wild horses hung out near the campground for several hours while we were there.

We loved our stay. Our girls wanted to be part of the junior ranger program so the amazing camp host, former ranger, came and helped them through their field journal and then led them through the oath and pinning ceremony. The girls were and still are so proud. The wildlife is amazing, seeing wild horses, bison and prairie dogs. We highly recommend!!!

Amazing spot right by the river. There's not a lot of privacy but we found all our neighbors to.be friendly and respectful. The wild horses hung out near the campground for several hours while we were there.

We loved our stay. Our girls wanted to be part of the junior ranger program so the amazing camp host, former ranger, came and helped them through their field journal and then led them through the oath and pinning ceremony. The girls were and still are so proud. The wildlife is amazing, seeing wild horses, bison and prairie dogs. We highly recommend!!!

This is a beautiful campground and it was nice to stay right in the park. A bison greeted us as we drove into the campground, it was amazing. The sites were nice and fairly spread out. It was a bit of a hike to the restroom, so people with mobility issues should be careful which site they choose and plan accordingly. The only real down side to our experience were the ticks that we picked up during our hike, they were really terrible. There was no mention of ticks on the hiking trails, but if you had a dog it would be covered with them for sure. Otherwise, we had a great experience and really enjoyed our visit!