Mather Campground

There is an abundance of elk and they love to graze in the campground! Pick out your campsite very carefully! They are mostly pull through sites and the road is one way! As a result, we were unable to really enjoy lounging around because our entrance door had to face the street. It was very nice camping right in the National Park. Generator hours are pre established 7-9 am and 6-8 pm so you need to plan that accordingly as well.

As a “no frills” campground this was a very nice stay. Keep in mind you are “boondocking”. The sites can tend to be small so be sure to check against your rig size. Parking the TV may be an
Issue. We lucked into a just large enough pull through to fit our 21’ camper and truck. Potable water is nearby and there is a dump station. It is an easy walk to the camper services building (laundry, etc) and bus stop. All in all and easy place to stay while visiting the canyon.

We arrived at the campground without a reservation. The sign in front said camp full. We walked up anyway to see if they had a cancellation. They had a spot, no problem. Staff was super friendly & helpful.
They had showers, laundry, RV fresh water & dumping of sewage.
You can’t get any closer to Grand Canyon . The park was large, but very quiet in the evenings. I highly recommend.

No complaints at all. Beautiful campground, big sites, lots of nice trees, but still enough open sky to use starlink, cell service was solid (Verizon), bathrooms were clean, close to the canyon. Will definitely stay here again.

*One thing: we were here in mid May, before it got crazy. Who knows how things change during the busy season.*

We stayed for 7 nights in mid April and were able to get the sites from FF and from cancellations on Recreation.gov. FF has to be renewed daily but they only have 15 sites so you need to be in line long before the office opens at 8am (I got there at 7:30 and there were at least 10 parties ahead of me on a Tuesday morning). You are not guaranteed the spot you had last night but the rangers do seem to try to work with you. I think there are a disproportionate number of tent sites offered FF and they are very strict about not allowing RV’s in those sites even if a campervan can fit into it. If you are able to reserve a site, they do not ask about your vehicle when you check in. In fact, you don’t even technically need to check in. You can just drive on through and occupy your site (making sure that your initials are on the site post). Anyone arriving after hours can go right to their site and check in in the morning. It is a beautiful campground and very convenient for experiencing all that the South Rim has to offer. You can walk or bike to showers, laundry, and the market and take the shuttle to just about everything else. Good vibe too!

We stayed for 4 nights There were limited sites available but that may have been more to do with the fact that some areas weren't plowed yet. We came about a week after their 20+" of snow. The sites were plowed but we had to walk through knee-high areas of snow to get around your rig. We enjoyed it, though!

We had a pullout site which I thought would be good, but be aware of trees being very close to the camper. We had to use leveling blocks, but we usually do at most parks. The roads in the campground are windy so smaller campers are a must!

We immediately saw elk grazing around the campsites, which was fantastic! We also saw the ginormous aggressive ravens so don't leave garbage or any food-related items out!

None of the sites in Mather campground have electrical connections, so be aware of that. With the beauty of the trees also comes the challenge to use solar. They do have some limited generator hours in some loops. We ended up having to use our generator for a few hours since we were hit with multiple days of rain. I did try to limit as much as possible since the majority of the folks around us were tent campers.

We walked to the shuttle area on the main campground road since the trail was still snow-covered. The buses were easy to figure out but were JAM PACKED at the visitor center, so be aware.

Easy check-in and no additional fee as we had the America the Beautiful pass. The parking area was level and we were right next to the heated clean bathhouse. It is quiet there in the winter with lots of elk and deer roaming around. Please mind your belongings as the ravens are sneaky opportunists. The buses were continuously transporting folks around even with the snow. A big bonus for visiting that time of year is the scenic Hermit Road is open to private vehicles. We heard a big snowstorm was coming so left a day early. It was a good plan as the park became locked down waiting for the plows to come in. Looking forward to visiting again without snow next time.

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.