The Cottonwood visitors center is a small building with a bookstore, helpful park staff, and exhibits. It's a great place to stop if you are entering the park from the south for the first time. There is potable water and flush toilets, along with a small picnic area nearby. The cottonwood area recently underwent a long closure due to flooding, so make sure to check in with the rangers regarding current trail conditions to make sure everything is open again.
Cottonwood is the only campground in the lower Colorado Desert section of the park, and it serves as the park's southern hub of activity. Due to its location, this campground is quite different from the others you'll find in the park. Simply put, it's fully exposed to the sun and open desert.
While it's not the most glamorous campground ever, there are some nice amenities that come along with it. RV and trailer campers will enjoy the large open driveways, each loop has a restroom and potable drinking water, and there is an amphitheater which has regular weekend evening programs. There are 62 individual campsites broken into two loops (A and B) which each have 31. Site #11 on the A loop is about the only one you might want to avoid if you're an RV camper since its picnic table is set back a little bit.
These campsites are all first-come first-served, with the exception of the three group sites located at the entrance to the campground. The group sites can be reserved 12 months ahead of time.
