Cottonwood Recreation Site

While close to the road we couldn’t hear any road noise. The sound of the rushing Salmon River permeated the space so while this isn’t boondocking it does feel remote. No showers. Pit toilets were clean. Water was available from several spigots spread out throughout the grounds. Even got to see an Osprey with his freshly caught lunch. Wish we could have stayed longer.

We loved our short stay here - calm, relaxing, cool breezes and beautiful views. The water can wash away the stress from long travel days.

We pulled in on a Friday and had only a couple of neighbors during our entire stay. The area is well maintained with a friendly on-site camp host. Sites have picnic tables, grills, and fire rings. Garbage, dump, and water fill all in the campground along with pit toilets, day use parking, boat launch, and a swimming area.

While not the best for our solar, we were able to use a portable solar panel in the paved parking spot to keep us topped up. There are a few sites that are more open to the sun, we picked a nice shady spot steps from the river.

Paved parking spot is relatively flat and easy to level. The entire area is workable for larger rigs. At 31' we had no issues getting in/out. Trees on some of the sites may cause issues for those with opposing slides.

Internet is available on Verizon (4GLTE) and nothing on TMobile or AT&T.

Nearby Challis has a great brewery, River of No Return Brewery, a grocery store, bakery and, of course, a bank. We ventured to the Challis Hot Springs to check them out as well as Bayhorse Ghost Town, well worth the visit.

We stopped for one night the end of July 2018 on the way to Stanley Basin. Very well maintained CG, great host, lots of sites with shade. The place was only half full on a busy travel day. The Salmon River abuts one side of the CG. There is water and a dump station on the way in. It's quiet, clean, level paved sites with clean campsites. We pay the senior rate but even full price is a great bargain. We'll stay here again when we travel along this route.

Pull in here after a long hot drive in the desert, and you enter another world. All the sites have some shade, most have lots of cottonwoods around them, and many are just steps from the Salmon River. We saw a huge beaver across the river at dusk. There’s a lovely big sandy beach to swim or sun bathe, and a nice deep calm swimming hole. Sites are asphalt but there is lawn and space between sites. This place is incredibly clean and well maintained, apparently by one camp host. Don’t drive by! Stop and stay, it’s beautiful.

We stayed here for quick access to Goldbug Hot Springs. The campground is in the middle of nowhere with any sort of services or groceries quite a ways away. But it was relaxing and scenic. There are several spots that could accommodate larger trailers like ours.

The road is close by the campsites furthest from the river so there was road noise throughout the evening and night.

There isn't a lot of privacy between sites and for some reason, a small camper van was in a large pull-through site so that he could run power from the outhouse outlet. Why would he be allowed to do that?

The camp hosts were nowhere to be found when I needed to make change to pay for our spot or to take care of the off-leash dogs roaming around. I don't know why the majority of dog owners seem to disregard the signs at any trail or campground we've been to but I don't need a random dog in my site so that my leashed pets can't play safely in OUR site.

Nestled in a grove of shady cottonwoods, this spot is aptly named. Only 1 other rig there at the time, giving me at least a half-dozen awesome low-bank riverside camping spots to choose from. Picnic tables, fire rings, vault toilets, dump station. Water, but turned off already by the time I arrived. 2 bars VZ 4G LTE unboosted. $2.50/night with NP pass in the off season. 14 day limit.

Nice day use area has a large grassy play area, boat launch, and horseshoe pit. Great fishing spot. Clean and well maintained. Fairly close to the road, but low traffic area, so it wasn't an issue.

Stayed here in late October 2016.

This is a stellar site. For $10/night ($5 seniors or NP pass holders), you get the shade of cottonwood trees and a nice river for swimming. This area is hot and barren in the summer, and the Cottonwood campground is a welcoming oasis. The grounds are green and well maintained, with a day use picnic area, boat launch, $5 (for camp patrons, $10 for non-campers) dump station, and horse shoe area. There are separate Men's and Women's vault toilets, and water available at spigots.

We got no mobile internet access, but the site host allows campers to use wifi, you just have to ask for the password.

Stay limit is 14 days.