Cottonwood Campground

Arrived on Wednesday, April 14th, 2022. First come CG, many sites open. We chose one on the outside which I think was a pull-through.
A decent CG, most attractive because it's convenient to the Canyon and the town of Chinle which has a relatively new grocery store, Bashas' and a Burger King. The CG was clean and quiet with large cottonwoods providing shade. Nothing fancy just functional. Water available, dump station and cell service (Verizon).
Must have been lucky, encountered no goat heads. Walked to the Visitors Center from our campsite.
Nothing negative happened when we were there.

Took the south rim drive that afternoon, stopping at 6 of the 7 scenic overlooks. White House trailhead, the only public access to the Canyon is still closed as mentioned. Spider Rock Overlook was our favorite. Booked a 3 hour private jeep tour for Friday morning.
Drove the north rim Thursday, only 3 overlooks there but they were cool. A bit more driving than the south rim I think.
Highly recommend doing the Canyon Tour, the only way you can see the inside of the Canyon unless you're a tribal member. Lots of folks doing the same.

I stayed here two nights and did a jeep tour of the canyon, which was incredible. Agree with other review that there are goathead stickers everywhere, the picnic tables are old, and there are sweet reservation dogs looking for food.

While it is an older campground, it's on par with some state parks I've stayed in. The site was super level, the bathrooms very clean (checked/cleaned daily) and is very quiet at night. I would definitely not hesitate to return.

This is a FCFS campground ran by the Navajo Nation as part of the the Tsey dine Heritage Area, appropriately named Cottonwood Campground as it sits in a cottonwood grove near a creek. Loop 3, sites 56-93 were closed when we camped there in late March 2022. We did not use the rest room facilities. Many of the sites are small and not for big rigs, but a few are.

Although this is dry camping, there is water available and a single dump station that you may have to get in line for as you leave. The park manager was very friendly.

Fuel and groceries can be obtained in Chinle.

Although we never had a problem, there are signs everywhere both in the campground and along the roads in Canyon de Chelley warning against leaving valuables in vehicles. In one viewing parking lot we did see broken glass from a vehicle. There is one viewing area along the east canyon road that is actually closed because you must leave your car in a parking lot for a hike down into the canyon. The Monument's Superintendent we were told in the Visitor Center closed that site to address the break-in issue. The solution to the problem it seems, at least interim, is to close the parking lot and public access to the canyon floor.

You may however hire one of the Native American tour services to take you down into the canyon. I guess that is similar to Monument Valley to the north, also on Navajo Nation Reservation land. If you have time, I would recommend hiring one of those companies to go down into the canyon. It's beautiful!

Since this is the only place to camp if you’re here to see the Monument, then you have no choice. However, the restrooms were clean and the staff nice.

Goat heads are the huge problem. Every time we entered the trailer we had to stop outside, remove our shoes and pick goat heads off. And, if you have a dog or two like us . . . They suffer. Can’t walk off the pavement to do their business without stepping on them.

We were here in early October and the full campground was open, if not we’d be hard pressed to fit our rig in their 1st loop which is only open during the winter.

We were also very careful where we parked because this campground isn’t called “Cottonwood Campground” for no reason. We made sure we didn’t camp under a cottonwood, like everyone else. Cottonwood trees are notorious for limbs breaking off, especially in windy conditions. The last night we were there the wind howled and rocked the trailer. Have no idea if anyone had a damaged rig but we did see large downed limbs in some of the campsites.

The campground is convenient to exploring the park and taking a tour.