Croton Springs 1 & 2 Primitive Campsites

We lucked out our second night and didn’t have any neighbors in site no. 1, but the previous night we had a family of five tent campers next door. We could hear them talking from inside our rv so there’s really no privacy at all and nothing to separate the two campsites. Most people drive down the road to the trail head but turn right back around and leave. You can hear a lot of road noise even though you can’t see the road from the campsite. I’d rather stay in a more secluded backcountry campsite where it’s just us next time and not a parking lot, especially since we have a truck camper and can go pretty much anywhere. This was our first visit to the park and I was not sure what to expect so I played it safe with campsites.

We never found the spring. The trail is poorly marked/not marked at all and we went the wrong direction down the draw/creek. I think once you get to the creek you’re supposed to go right to get to the spring. We followed everyone’s footprints to the left and never found it.

when i paid for a back country camp site i hadnt realised id just be parked at a trail head with zero privacy.

i had to wait for three day hikers to move their cars so i could even get in my spot as they had ignored the camp signs completely and parked in peoples campspots. im not sure what cs1 would have done if they had arrived and found 3 suvs and a van in their spot. hugely dissapointing experience

This site is half a mile off the paved road on a somewhat rutted dirt road, but passable by our Class B. There are 2 sites right next to each other with no privacy between and no shade. You also share the cleared space with any day users that park to hike in the area. We got lucky with good neighbors, but it was disappointing for a “backcountry” site to have such close sites (we picked up a last minute reservation during busy spring break time, so took what we could get!) The kangaroo rats and other rodents are desensitized to humans and know they can get food so WATCH OUT! They will come in your rig or tents any way they can. Beautiful wildflowers and cactus bloom up one of the washes at the end of the trail in March and great view of the Chisos mountains.

Just want to comment on the previous two reviews.
The reservation system for Big Bend Backcounty Camping is now up and running. I logged in to it 2 minutes after it was activated and it took a little while to learn how to use it. I was able to reserve 4 nights at one of the sites I had chosen and for dates that were acceptable. I am definitely a fan of this new reservation system.

Croton Springs 1 & 2 are a half mile from the main road. You do not see or hear traffic on the main road. This is Backcounty Camping. The site may have been leveled since the prior review. We camped in CS2 and had no problems getting level. CS1 & CS2 share a large open space with plenty of room for turning around and maneuvering.

While at Big Bend we drove back and looked at several of the other reservable Backcounty Camping sites. If we come back to Big Bend again, I will try to reserve CS1 or CS2.

Loved the boondocking in B.B. Nat’l Park, but their reservation system is confusing, and, quite frankly, just stupid. Not too many spots in the park to support a larger rig outside of the campgrounds, where we didn’t want stay(the online park map shows campsites, but doesn’t differentiate between spots for larger trailers or tents). There are only about 6-8 spots for any rig bigger than 18-20’ depending on your off-road capability. To reserve a boondocking spot, you HAVE to go to Panther Junction ranger station to get 1) Backcountry permit, 2)permit for the particular spot you want. You can make a reservation (only in person) 24 hours in advance. So, for example, you can make a reservation for Sunday on Saturday, but only in person. Your reservation can be for 14 days. We tried for 2 days to get a reservation, we were
successful on day 2 by being first in line before the Panther Junction Ranger Station opened.
BTW, plan ahead for fuel, long drives in the Park, and fuel is available at Panther Junction and Rio Grande Village. Maxwell Ross Scenic Drive is very nice. If staying in larger rig, our recommendation is boondocking, then Cottonwood Campground, then Rio Grande Village Campground. The park is big, so staying close the Panther Junction is ideal if you can get a spot to park your rig.
Favorite hike was Windows Trail in Chisos Basin. Hot Springs near Rio Grande Village were awesome.

We got to spend two nights at this site. One night in CS1 and another in CS2. CS1 is the more level site by far. I had to use an extreme angle to get level on CS2. It's one big open space and we were fortunate enough to have no one else camping next to us!
Every site in big bend is nice, but if you can get a site to yourself, it's so much better!
The hiking path behind it is not that great, but it made for a good walk in the mornings.
It's also very close to the main road, but over a hill so it's private and you can't hear the cars on the main road at all. We walked out in the middle of the night and watched the stars without anyone else around and loved it!