Mather Campground

Great stay. We did two nights #172 badged as a large site and one at #182. We are a class C technically 32 ft and did fine in both. We are very self contained and don’t break out a lot of stuff. #183 has a water hookup that leaks and makes a puddle but also really good wildlife watching. There are four other “large” sites recommended 120,121, 128 and 185. These are on the juniper loop like our #172. It is a bit of a walk up the road from the very helpful blue bus stop but if you are here… you probably are already good at walking and hiking so should be fine. The rangers are not all that concerned, a little checked out even… but that’s fine and makes for a chill experience. Site toilets are also good and easy to access

checked on a whim and managed to snag a tent site on the pine loop on the friday of memorial day weekend. wild luck! then we showed up to the park entrance at 5 pm and there was zero wait!!! i guess high gas prices kept people at home?

anyway, our site and the neighboring ones were very roomy with room for lots of tents with plenty of trees for hammocks. pleasant and quiet with some resident elk passing through from time to time. great value considering the location and nearby amenities. we availed ourselves of both the market and the yavapai lodge which are about a 5 min walk away. the rim itself is more like a 25 min walk away.

we had decent verizon coverage at our site, but didn't test the speed. was good enough for casual phone use.

We are a class C technically 32ft, but I figured that rounded to 30 ft. There are 5 spots recommended for 30ft “trailers” (120, 121, 128, 172, 185) so I booked 172 for two of our three nights (wasn’t available one) and figured if we were an RV without a toad we should be fine. Our third night was in #182 that was for 27ft and we were still fine… In fact we preferred #182 to the “large” spot #172 because it was slightly more level but also closer to the leaking water faucet at #183 where the wildlife came to drink. Spot #183 has a muddy spot but you get super close to a cow elk and deer who line up for a drink. The blue bus picks up by the ranger station and from it you can access everything. Great spot and $18 a night.

Last, the rangers are very chill and almost not interested. They are there to do a job and do it. No ‘karens’ here

We stayed here for three nights Afyer Memorial Day. Lots of tent campers, as most RVs go to trailer village (full hookups) but the sites at Mather are larger and in the woods (though there was plenty of sun for our solar). Bud stop and bike trails right at entrance to campground to see the whole park. Marketplace store a short walk away. Skip the hookups at trailer village and enjoy this campground!

Stayed late March 2022. Checked-in at Camper Services and staff was very friendly and helpful. My T-Mobile was practically non-existent at campsite but about 2 bars on South Rim Trail. Fir Loop allowed generators during limited hours but I didn't hear anyone using theirs. It was very peaceful. There are no utilities at the sites but there were water spigots throughout. They were operating in late March. There were working restrooms throughout but the showers and laundry were only at the main camper services area and had limited hours during my stay. I did see elk one day grazing a few sites away. I also saw crows occasionally and were numerous and noisy. Easy to enter pull-thru site but like another review said, some sites had the passenger side toward the drive, not the picnic table. There are many trees and the sites are well spaced. My RV is only 20' long but would be tight for much longer RVs. The shuttle was convenient and there is a path to it from the sites. The path that runs on the main campground road, on the Sage and Pine Loop side will also take you to camper services and across Market Plaza Road to the Market Plaza with a general store and other shops and a restaurant.

This is the best place to camp if you really want to experience the Grand Canyon. Stayed at sites 206, 210 and 258. 210 and 258 best for solar. We have a Thor Vegas class A approximately 26.5’ (29’ with rear slide deployed). Towing a Jeep Cherokee. No problems with fitting on these sites. Restrooms not bad for a basic campsite.

The only complaint would be that it appears that a number of selfish campers made reservations and didn’t show up leaving about 25% of the sites vacant. Commented to the rangers and they said it happens a lot but people have already paid so they wash their hands of the situation and keep turning people away. Doesn’t seem fair.

We were able to snag the last open site for a one night stay in Mather Campground. Our trailer/truck combo is 52' long and the pull thru site was very narrow with broken blacktop. Most of the driver side of our 28' trailer was sitting on dirt. We were in Oak Loop and it was tough getting the rig leveled. We apologized to each other later! From the reviews, I didn't expect much for cell coverage, but was pleasantly surprised. Verizon hotspot had 3-4 boosted bars, enough to let me work.
The elk were feeding through out the campground and did not seem afraid to be in close proximity to people. The open space behind us did have some trash, I suspect the raven's got ahold of something.
All in all, this was a very affordable campground and we would stay again.

Got to stay here because of a last minute cancellation. MAKE RESERVATIONS!!!
It was secluded-feeling even with the park full. Elk, squirrels and ravens were everywhere! We had a short walk to the restrooms, the showers were a 10 min walk to the main building, but we did not use them.
The free shuttles were great, took us to the Grand Canyon Village and we hiked about 2 miles back to our campsite.
If you’re going to the Grand Canyon for a few days, definitely book ahead!!! First come first serve lines start early, and we missed getting a second night by 2 people.