Cottonwood Campground

The back-in sites in the cottonwood campground are pretty tight. They just accommodated our truck camper. Anything bigger than a small pull behind or camper van should try and get a pull through site. While the space for your camping rig is small there is extra space on the site that has a picnic table and fire ring. The park lived up to expectations with a large bison herd right next to the campground and wild horses that walked through the morning we were there. There are lots of hiking opportunities in the park and we observed antelope, deer and coyotes in addition to the bison and wild horses. The town of Madera where the park is located has many entertainment options.

We arrived early afternoon on a Sunday. We were told upon entering the park that all of the even numbered campsites were available on a first come-first served basis. However, when we got to the campground, we discovered most of the even numbered sites had reserved cards on the posts. When we inquired with the campground host, he told us that the National Park had reserved those sites for the summer. That left very few first come-first served sites available. Of the sites available, very few would accommodate a camper or bigger rig. We camp with an r-Pod, and struggled to find a back-in site (all of the bigger pull through sites were reserved by the park) that we could get into. We were pleased to find site 74. It had a lovely meadow & mountain view and was not terribly close to our neighbors. (It did seem as the campground filled up later each day, people did use those reserved sites as first come-first served, even though we were told that was not an option).
The campground does have a nice bathroom with running water & flush toilets. There are no hookups, but there was a water spigot nearby to access water. Our site was level, and it seemed most were.
We toured both units of the park during our stay, and visited Medora and the Maah Daah Hey trail nearby, so the campground was a good location for that purpose.
Cell service was ‘spotty’.

We arrived late afternoon on a Thursday and got one of the last what I would consider suitable first come- first serve sites. Spacious and peaceful.

FYI- the even numbered slots are all FCFS. Odd are reserved. If making a reservation- look at the map closely as some are far from ideal- being the “side of the road” style.

As of June 2022- the scenic loop is partially closed with paving operations on going but no date set for the loop to open completely.

Staying here for 3 nights- worked for our overall travel needs but there is not 3 days worth of stuff to do- if staying busy is your jam- allow for a 1/2 day max and you’ve seen the park. Services are bare bones- but camp hosts and fellow campers are all personable.

And yes- the bison roam about the campground so stay alert.

I pulled in here this past June 25th without reservations. The campground was pretty crowded, and though there were quite a few sites long enough for my class A and trailer - they were all full. The park rangers stopped as I was looking for a spot and told me I could park on the parking apron near the pay station if I liked - it was flat and there was plenty of room for my 56' rig. They were very helpful and accommodating and it enabled me to unload my Nash Metropolitan and use it to tour the park - TRNP is a beautiful park and there was so much wildlife to see - Bison, a herd of Mustangs, deer, and of course, Prairie Dogs! The terrain and all the color is just amazing. I only had a few moments concern when a group of about 8 or 10 bison including a couple of calfs came walking down the road past me in my little convertible - they passed me by without incident but GEEZ were they BIG! When I left the next morning I had to drive my rig through the larger loop to get pointed toward the exit. The loop road is narrow and quite a few trees lean into it as well. I made it through without attaching any tree bark to my rig but breathed a sigh of relief when I got through.

We enjoyed staying there. Convenient location for exploring the south unit. Our site had vegetation that shielded us from the loop road. Good site for roof top solar. Dump station available at Medora Campground near the entrance. Cost was $5. We paid the day before because of our early morning need to dump.

Had 3 Buffalo hang around the picnic table one evening. 12 turkey strolled through the camp site

We got here early to find a First come-first serve campsite in mid-September. At 11am we got one of the last pull-through sites, but with our R-POD we could have taken a back-in site, though many looked small no doubt to keep very large rigs on the pull-through side of the campground.

The campsites are built around central flush toilets (no hot water or showers). There is no dump site at the campground, but a water hose is available at the entrance to fill your on-board fresh-water tank, a nice touch.

The park is as advertised -- lots of buffalo, wild horses, prairie dog towns and a few deer. There are also a number of hikes appealing to all levels of fitness.

I imagine that in summer season the place would be mobbed, but that's no surprise. We were nearby this summer and found the heat to be impossible during the day -- 90 degrees plus, so be prepared.

Highly recommend the campground and location out of season.

Canyon, River and Buffalo.... Beautiful NP in canyon of Little Missouri River. Campground is on the river with many sites, including ours #7, backing to the River. Our site could fit our 40' coach even though it was a shared pull through with #6. Large area with composite picnic table. Buffalo and Prairie dogs are abundent. Medora is right outside (5 miles) the NP gate. Unfortunately the Musical and Pitch Fork Fondue were closed for the season during our visit.

If you are visiting the park, this is where you want to stay to save yourself some drive time and lines to enter the park. It's a better campground than in the north unit and has sites that will fit any size RV. If your rig is longer than about 20 feet and you don't have reservations, you will want to arrive in the morning during the summer. I would suggest 9am. Drive through the campground and find a vacant first-come site. If you are lucky, you may have some shade. If you just need a smaller space, the "tenting" loop seemed to have availability until late afternoon on a weekday. If you get here too late to get a spot, check out the listing for the Scoria Pit for a nearby quick overnight boondock. There is a water fill station at the entrance but there is not a dump station here. There are commercial dump stations in Medora, a dump station at the north unit of TRNP, or if headed west on I-94 there is a free dump station at the Cenex in Miles City.

Very nice campground within the National Park. Dry camping with potable water at entrance/exit of campground. No on-site dump station. They do have bathrooms and water spigots located within the campground. Booked through Recreation.gov (even sites are currently FCFS/odd sites are reservations). The road throughout the campground is paved, sites are gravel. There are some low hanging trees. We stayed in site 27 which is listed as a pull through. We have a 37 foot class A that was too large to make the turn into the spot. Easy enough to back in. Plenty of room to park in front or behind the RV. Biggest plus of the site was the trees that provided afternoon to the motorhome. We happened to be there when in was 90+ degrees. Biggest con is its located next to a dumpster and recycling bins. There were lots of flies, mosquitoes and other bugs. Definitely recommend a screen room if staying here. Verizon signal worked most of the time, definitely not reliable.