Mather Campground

Remember to buy an annual National Parks Pass so that you don't have to pay that crazy fee when entering the Grand Canyon National Park. The campsites feel private and are in a natural pine grove of trees. Camping in October, I was happy for a site that got sun. You will hear road noise from all the tourists driving around, which made my rating lose one star. The hikes around the Grand Canyon are really wonderful and worth your time. The campsite has washers, dryers, and showers. It's a great deal at $18.

We were fortunate to get a site as we booked it only two weeks before our arrival on September 5. It was ideal as it was right in the park and there was a shuttle to take us around, although we were in the farthest loop out so it was a bit of a walk to the shuttle stop. It was very busy, but quiet during overnight hours. The campground seems to be old and could use a little TLC but it met out simple needs.

I will say service was great. We rolled in and asked if there were any available spaces. All the other camp grounds were taken up in the area. It was only $18. There were no hook ups. We were only able to run our generator from 7am to 9 am and 6pm to 8pm. The shower house was $2.50 per shower for 5 mins. The water pressure was horrible. The laundry was located in the shower house and they were brand new washer and dryers. They ranged in cost, but for a standard load it was $1.50 per machine. It I had to chose I would pick another camp ground, but it was a place to park. It was located in the heart of the Grand Canyon National Forest. The sites were paved. Cell service was non existent in the national park and camp site.

This was our second time at Mather. We left the Airstream at home and tent camped with my son's scout troop. Though this campground has so many sites, there are plenty of trees all around so you don't feel like you have no privacy, and the sites aren't right on top of each other. This site felt spacious and had a great spot for the tent. The back-in driveway was at the wrong angle, though. Actually, many of the driveways are not back-in friendly around the one-way loops. We just pulled the car in forward because we weren't planning to be in the site much over the weekend, but it would have been more convenient for loading and unloading to be able to back in. But that's a trivial complaint for being in the park and close to shuttle stops, etc.

The noise is pretty noticeable early in the morning. You can definitely hear people getting ready to hike early. We were those people on Saturday, but we heard those getting ready at 4 am and driving away at 4:45 to catch the hiker shuttle.

Those who occupied our site before us left a trace. But people who leave corn cobs go everywhere, so it's not this campground's fault. It's disappointing to see but good teachable moments for the next generation of outdoor enthusiasts.

Coin-operated showers were a game changer after a long, tough hike. Hot water running for for plenty of time for $2. Fabulous! There's a laundromat in that building, too, if needed.

No cell coverage for us all weekend unless we were right in the heart of Grand Canyon Village.

This campground is such a lovely surprise! The sites tend to be large; some more private than others of course. It was a challenging squeeze for us to pull through our site with our 22' trailer but so worth it. Be sure and research your intended site to make sure it is doable. There are no hook ups, but there are showers and restrooms. And there is a dump station at the entrance.

The park is showing a need for maintenance on some of the asphalt pads, however, we had a great location with nobody behind us except the wandering elk each morning and evening.
We ran our generator a few hours one evening to "catch up".

This campground is very close to the grocery store which also was a very pleasant surprise as well. My husband purchased a "Centennial" hat for the Grand Canyon.
One day, we headed east in our truck for those viewpoints and the next day we parked by El Tovar Lodge and took the shuttles for the west viewpoints.

We had a reservation for two nights and ended up leaving after the first. The location is very convenient, within walking distance to the canyon and lots of trails. The showers were clean and hot. And I was very pleased with the full sized laundromat. But the campgrounds were a little disappointing. Firstly, there’s no cell service anywhere. Pull-ins are super tight and the pavement is falling apart. We only saw the Aspen Loop so I can’t speak to the quality of the other loops. Our loop was also pretty close to the road so we could hear cars all throughout the day and night. And particularly annoying, I had trouble falling asleep because of incessant dog barking. We decided to eat our $18 for the second night and return to the free dispersed campground we had stayed at the night before, where it’s spacious and quiet and we get lightening fast service. Coconino Rim Rd FTW!

We loved staying at Mather for four days to visit the Grand Canyon. The surrounding forest was filled with deer, elk, and birds, yet had enough breaks in the tree cover to allow for decent solar power generation on our portable panel during the day. We felt like we were in an isolated forest, even though we were in the middle of the busiest of the busy national parks. This is a great forest camping site, but the best part of the campground is being in the heart of the Grand Canyon hospitality complex -- there is a shuttle stop at the campground entrance, and the visitor center is within walking distance (about 1.2 miles away) -- although the campground is not on the canyon rim.

Like most NP campgrounds, there are no hookups, but the bathrooms were OK and water spigots were located throughout the campground. Our biggest complaint is that the campground loop roads and the parking spaces themselves are paved, but completely falling apart. We had trouble finding a configuration where we could get all our trailer wheels on the pavement because of the crumbling sides to our spot, and many were in even worse shape, with huge sections of pavement missing. With a little TLC, this could be a star of the NPS system!

We were on Juniper loop, toward the back of the campground, which was conveniently located near the greenway bike/walking trails. Like most national parks, cell service was nonexistent (at least on AT&T -- there was some roaming coverage).

We stayed here to be as close to the Grand Canyon as possible. There are some boondocking spots just outside the park, and normally we'd take those, but this was closer for a short trip, and since there was rain in the forecast, we didn't want to risk the mud on forest roads.

We're a 33' 5th wheel (but the model is a 29, so they let us in). It was tight. There aren't many sites that would have fit us. Their email states, "Trailers which are 30-feet long should be booked into one of the following sites: 120, 121, 128, 172, and 185. Most of the other sites will NOT work for a 30' Trailer." I didn't scout the whole place, but from what I saw of the sites, that's probably accurate. Again, we were slightly over 30' but had one of those spots, and we did fit without much trouble. If you can't get one of those sites, reconsider staying here if you're borderline too long.

It was a nice campground. Nothing particularly special by itself. It's in a forest, and you won't have views of the canyon or anything, but you can walk to the park shuttles to get anywhere you want to be. That's the best part about being here. We did see elk in the campground every morning and evening. They seemed to be everywhere. It was pretty awesome.

They have a dump station and potable water. There are spigots around the campground, too, but they strongly emphasized that you are not allowed to hook up to them, even just to fill a tank. They are for water bottles/jugs only. Fill up at the dump station on your way in if you need it.

It seemed like most sites were shaded, so if you're counting on solar power, keep in mind that you won't be getting a ton. Site 185 did have a pretty clear view of the sky for mid-day, though, so we didn't need a generator. If you do need to run a generator, the hours are very limited (2 in the morning, 2 in the evening). Plan accordingly.

Cell reception was pretty awful. Our Verizon hotspot with directional antenna worked sometimes. My Verizon phone had 3G service, but it wouldn't do more than send text messages (slowly). AT&T was the same. Google Fi occasionally picked up LTE, surprisingly, but I definitely would not count on it for work. If you need signal for a job or something, you'll need to go into the park. I was able to get LTE near the entrance to the campground, so maybe some of those sites would have some signal. The better LTE was near the visitor centers, though.