$14 - $20 / night

Camper submitted image from Cottonwood Campground - 1

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Nature

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Roads

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People

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Buildings

Established Camping

Cottonwood Campground

18 Reviews

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About

National Monument

Canyon De Chelly National Monument

The Navajo Parks and Recreation Department (NPRD) manages the Cottonwood Campground and collects fees for camping.

There are about 90 individual campsites available and 2 group tent sites. Each site includes a parking space, picnic table and grill. There are 3 restroom facilities that include sinks and flushable toilets, but no showers. No hookups are available, but a dumpstation is located in Loop 1. Limited services are available during winter months.

GROUP SITES: Reservations for group campsites are required. Sites are for tent camping only. No reservations are accepted for RVs.

RVs: Sites cannot accommodate vehicles more than 40 feet, including vehicles-in-tow. Full hookups are available in the surrounding areas of Gallup, NM; Monument Valley, UT; and Holbrook, AZ.

Fee Info

Camping: $14.00 per night (up to 7 people) FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED BASIS

NO RV Hookups Group Camping: $50.00 per night (14-30 people) BY RESERVATION ONLY

Day Use/Water/Dump Station: $5.00

Backcountry Permits: (issued 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. daily)

NPS Backcountry Permit: $2.00 per person, per tour (with authorized guide; only for Canyon de Chelly National Monument) Navajo Nation Backcountry Permit: $12.00 per person/24-hour period.

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Location

Cottonwood Campground is located in Arizona

Directions

1/2 mile South of Canyon de Chelly National Monument Welcome Center

Coordinates

36.14876229 N
109.53966328 W

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Access

Drive-In
Park next to your site

Stay Connected

WiFi
Unknown
Verizon
Good
AT&T
Good
T-Mobile
Poor

Site Types

Tent Sites
RV Sites
Standard (Tent/RV)
Group

Features

For Campers

ADA Access
Trash
Picnic Table
Phone Service
Toilets
Pets

For Vehicles

Sanitary Dump
Pull-Through Sites
Big Rig Friendly

$14 - $20

/ night

For information regarding reservations, contact this campground directly.

First Come - First Served

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Contact

General Info

Reservations

(520) 674-5510

Dawn B.

Traveler

Reviewed May. 3, 2024

All you can ask for and only $20

Paved roads and pads, picnic tables, picnic fire pits, flush bathrooms, water and sewer (1 per loop), all in a beautifully trees setting. Birds singing. Conveniently located near the visitor’s centre and at the halfway point where you choose the north or south scenic drive.

Site5 (loop 1)

Month of VisitJune

(8) View All

Dennis P.

Guide

Reviewed Nov. 12, 2023

Beautiful in fall colors

Near the entrance to Canyon de Chelly Nat'l. Monument, it was ablaze with fall colors. Nice toilet facilities and spacious sites fairly far apart. No hook-ups so I couldn't give it 5 stars, but even then it was within walking distance to a restaurant at a quaint lodge.

Month of VisitNovember

Catherine S.

Traveler

Reviewed Oct. 27, 2023

Reliable camping close to Canyon de Chelly

Well-spaced sites under gorgeous cottonwood trees in bright yellow fall foliage (beware if allergic!). Basic services as listed, except no internet that we could find. Verizon = 3 bars. Ranger told me he's never seen the campground fill up. Great staging location for both North Rim and South Rim exploration. Private homes surround the park, fairly close. Stray dogs come around but were not aggressive. $20 for camper van.

Site41

Month of VisitNovember

Jeni D.

Traveler

Reviewed May. 12, 2023

Canyon de Chelly campground

Slightly run down campground with clean bathrooms, flush toilets, no showers, no hookups. Dump station with water fill. The dispersed water fills not working. Close to visitor center but no views from campsite. Good shade trees. No problem getting site around 4:30p on a Thursday in May.

Site55

Month of VisitJune

Neil T.

Legend

Reviewed Mar. 20, 2023

Functional - and right at the door to Canyon de Chelly

Saw it in the wintertime so it was sort of barren. Functional. Okay spacing but not much barrier between sites.

Across the street from the Thunderbird Lodge which has a gift shop and cafeteria.

The true beauty of this campground is its proximity to Canyon de Chelly….wow, what a place!

Month of VisitApril

(10) View All

Dominik

Traveler

Reviewed Sep. 22, 2022

Very quiet and peaceful

The campsite is quite spacious and quiet but at the same time super close to the Canyon and very easy to find driving from or to Chinle. We arrived late at night (9:30pm) and there was a lot of free spots. Internet works fast, there're tables and BBQs around. The only problem we had was that Dyrt GPS coordinates were wrong, but easy to Google the right place when in the area.

Month of VisitOctober

Terry

Guide

Reviewed Jun. 30, 2022

Empty

We were the only ones here in June. 93 sites bathrooms were clean flush toilets. $20.00 a night. It was quiet good shade with the cottonwood trees

Siteb31

Month of VisitJuly

Sotnos B.

Guide

Reviewed May. 18, 2022

Exceeded expectations

Based on reviews we were apprehensive about staying here....boy were we happy we did. Absolutely quiet. Nice shady pull through site. Campground was about 1/4 full. Strong 4g signal. Easy walk to visitor center. Only drawback were goatshead thorns....our poor dog couldn't spend much time outside without getting them in her paws.

Site66

Month of VisitJune

Laura M.

Legend

Reviewed May. 6, 2022

Nice & Right Outside of Canyon de Chelly

This is a really nice peaceful campground at the entrance of the Canyon de Chelly National Monument. Canyon de Chelly is beautiful and amazing and worth going out of your way for. Be sure to pre arrange with an authorized tour guide, if you want to go down into the canyon. We didn't plan ahead and didn't get to go down, though driving all the way to the end of the canyon (we went along the south side) was beautiful on its own. Just about each pull off has native vendors selling handmade art and goods.

$14/night (cash only!) for a tent site, and $5 for day use. Camp fee includes use of dump station and water fill, but heads up that the water is turned off for the winter. Dump station open year round.

There are flush toilets but no showers. 2 of the restrooms were closed for the winter as well.

Sites come with a picnic table and grill, no fire rings (fires not allowed here). There is no privacy or any kind of barrier between sites. It was not a big deal when we were here as there were only a few other campers, but I could see it feeling crowded during busy season. Some sites have a lot of shade and some are in full sun, so there’s something for everyone.

Heads up - this is Navajo Nation and there is no alcohol or marijuana use allowed, and there are loose dogs hanging out everywhere.

ATT had LTE, and Verizon and TMobile were roaming.

Site33

(13) View All

Mike G.

Traveler

Reviewed May. 6, 2022

Decent Campground

There were lots of spaces available, and only at 20% capacity on a weekday. The price increased to $20 as of May 1st. Decent grounds, nothing beyond basic campground needs, but seemed clean.

Site69

Month of VisitJune

Pam P.

Scout

Reviewed Nov. 8, 2021

Good campground

Paved mostly level sites.
Hosts were very nice.

Site48

Month of VisitDecember

Sharon N.

Traveler

Reviewed Sep. 18, 2021

It's a pit!

Its the only campground anywhere near Canyon de Chelly. Sites are not reservable. We arrived at about 3:30pm on Fri and it was about half-full. Problem was that half of the sites were blocked off (Covid?). We finally found a site in full sun (lots of shady ones were there but blocked off). 90+ degrees today... OK, we have a generator. We back into the site and get out to get settled and the first thing we see is a huge, active ant hill by the back trailer tire (had to go buy spray so they didn't get in the trailer). All of the "greenery" around the site was cockleburr plants. Of course the burrs ended up in our shoes and socks and therefore in the trailer. It's quite a sketchy area around the campground so we didn't leave anything out. They only take cash payment you put in an envelope in a drop-box. On a good note, it is very close access to Canyon de Chelly.

Site60

Month of VisitOctober

Elsa L.

Scout

Reviewed Sep. 3, 2021

Cottonwood Camphround

We stayed at this campground at Canyon De Chelly in a 35' Motorhome towing. No hook up but there is a dump station & potable water. Restrooms & showers are available & clean. Barbecue & picnic table at every site. $14 a day. They only accept cash. It was quiet & clean. Great place to stay and explore the Canyon.

Site41

Month of VisitSeptember

Taitlyn

Scout

Reviewed Aug. 11, 2021

Basic Campground

This campground has around 50 sites, about half of which are large enough for camper drive-in. Facilities include clean bathrooms with running water. The sites are pretty close together for my liking, but this is a nice, cheap campground for an overnight stop.

Site43

Month of VisitSeptember

Bob & Ramona F.

Guide

Reviewed May. 16, 2021

Closed......

Arrived at 12:30 pm on Sunday, May 16 and there's a closed gate across the entrance.

Sitenot open

Month of VisitJune

Robert A.

Guide

Reviewed Sep. 3, 2018

Visit Canyon de Chelly

Stayed here two night so we could hike and horse back ride in canyon de Chelly. This campground could be better the grasse in the site needed to be mowed. It’s a nice location close to the opening of the canyon and horseback rides are across the street. Be careful what you leave out theft here is a problem, we had our bumper hitch stolen while we were in town shopping.

SiteGroup site

Month of VisitJuly

Tom K.

Legend

Reviewed Jul. 1, 2018

I FEEL BAD GIVING A 1 STAR

... As far as campgrounds go, I would not choose this spot. It is close to a scenic national monument and is located right at the entrance and is easy to get in and out of. That is where the positives end. It is sparse and fairly packed. It doesn't have a ton of vegetation as it is in the desert so expert dirty and hot. The monument itself is worth experiencing but I wouldn't plan for it to be a destination, just a pit stop. I won't stay here again.

Month of VisitSeptember

Kelli J.

Guide

Reviewed Jul. 11, 2016

Wide open spaces

So open and wide in this state park, the sky is beautiful and the rocks are orange. I remember going here when I was younger and to revisit is just amazing. I would defiantly recommend this state park to anyone.

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