Chisos Basin Campground

First time in Big Bend, and it was stunning. The views were amazing, and the campground was clean and taken care of. The water faucets, bear boxes, and bear proof trash cans were all very helpful in making this a more comfortable camp. The store on the edge of the campgrounds saved our bacon with heavy-duty tent stakes (get heavy-duty tent stakes. It's rock out there with some dirt sprinkled on top) and not a moment too soon as the second night we were there, the temperature was 38 degrees with 20 MPH winds. The store has a wide selection of foods, drinks, and clothing to cover most of the small items you forgot, and it was not price gouged. Important for winter camping, the basin is easily 10 degrees colder than the rest of the park. The hiking path right at the campground is gorgeous, and we will definitely be back.

Finally reached Big Bend Național Park after a 4-year delay because of covid. My wife and I have visited and camped in many national parks in the US and Canada, and we agreed that the view from our campsite here at Chisos Basin is the most impressive we’ve ever experienced.||Campsite facilities are adequate. Paved roads, with a picnic table and shade shelter at each site. Don’t come here expecting a KOA or other heavily developed campground experience. No hot showers at the campground (although you can get coin-operated showers 45 minutes away at Rio Grande Village within BBNP). Plenty of hydrants near campsites for water. Restrooms were clean, with cold water only, but there’s a utility sink on the side of the building for washing dishes - yay!||I’m not a hardcore birder, but I enjoy seeing, identifying, and observing birds to gain a greater appreciation of the varied natural heritage this world offers. Since I’m from the eastern US and BBNP is in a desert bordering Mexico, about half the birds I saw and heard were new to me. So many right in the campground! Even if you’re not camping here, park at the Amphitheater and walk through. As we were setting up, a roadrunner strutted through our site; we saw her/him each morning and late afternoon of our 4-night stay. (Definitely go on the bird walk at Rio Grande Village - the only one scheduled during early April was on Tuesday at 9am. They usually have loaner binoculars too.)||Incredibly varied desert plants at the campground too. To learn names, walk the easy 1/2-mile loops at most BBNP visitor centers.

Great time! Location is fantastic. Campsites are close together and make sure to try to get a site with covered table or being a cover. Bear boxes provided are large and can hold a lot of stuff. Bathrooms are clean but no showers. We used shower tent with a solar water bag but make sure to limit water use and no soap or use wildlife approved soap. We also brought weight plates to use inside four corners of tent to help hold down with wind. We were able to stake tent down but make sure you have heavy duty stakes because ground is rocky. Not all sites have a large flat footprint so keep in mind when bringing tent. But you cannot beat the location!

Beautiful campground with some of the best views, but some of the spaces are small and quite sloped. Also the road to the campground is difficult to navigate for travel trailers. I posted a full walkthrough of this campground & the drive to Chisos basin on my YT channel outdoormary if you’d like to see each and every campsite.

Nice campground close to lots of hikes. Bathrooms are clean. Sites has lean shelters on most sites, a bear box, and a grill. Getting level in an RV took some work. No showers though. They did have a dump station. The views were great. You might even see some deer pass through.

Overall, this campground was satisfying. Proximity to the restaurant, general store, major hiking trailheads, and the visitor center was highly convenient. Actually, the proof of reservation will let you bypass the traffic control during the high season. The campsite was well maintained, and the restroom was clean and well functioning. If this campground had shower facility, I would have given 5 stars instead.

great views, central location , higher altitude keeps it cooler, clean bathrooms, plenty of water stations, many trails lead away from this spot. definitely will stay here again. deer walk right up to your Camp spot though haha

Great place to camp. It is about 20 degrees cooler than the outskirts of the camp. Bring a vehicle that can handle slopes and tight curves

As you are driving down the road there are signs that point to the campground. When you pull up there is a bulletin board, make sure to stop there as that is how you get an envelope to put on your campsite and 'pay' for it. Make sure to put your receipt on the designated post on your campsite, thats how the park rangers know who has paid for the campsite and such. If you do not have cash you can head to the visitor center and pay with card there. There are indoor bathrooms with running water and drinking water available. There are also dumpsters nearby to drop off trash and recycling. Each campsite has a bear safe storage container along with a picnic table and a grill. A good 80 percent of campsite has a covered porch with a flat level concrete foundation. Usually, the picnic table is on the concrete porch but i saw a couple of people camping that moved the picnic table set up the tent in the concrete to have the covering sheltering them incased it rains and such. Pretty smart idea but if you do that then you won't be able to see the stars at night. This campsite really close to the window trail and if you start from the trail marker there instead of the 'original' start point, you will save yourself at least like 39 minutes of walking. What i also liked about this campsite was that you are in a higher altitude so there are no mosquitos but because of the altitudes, there are mountain lions and bears nearby. Also, the mountains around you seem so unreal when you are in there. You set up your tent and look around to see the chisos mountains surrounding you, it is incredible!! I went during June "off-season" meaning you don't need a reservation. It was not crowded at all, there were plenty of campsites available and the people that were camping seem friendly and did not cause a lot of noise. The park rangers that were in charge of the site were really friendly. They went around each afternoon and introduce themselves to every campsite and answered any questions the campers might have. They also made sure that camping fees were paid and park rules were being followed. They were also really helpful on suggesting trails to hike and great on conversations about the nearby towns to visit. Great people overall. I went in June of 2019 and the night was a little chilly since you are higher in the mountains it will get cold so bring a jacket or hoodie to wear in the afternoon. At night make sure you bring a ticker sleeping bag. This campsite was by far my favorite and would sure go camp here again. until next time xoxo GG

This is a beautiful campground! I did not expect such a stunning view for a car camping site. I really appreciate how they had so many tables in the covered area. The campsite was huge, which was perfect for our group of 13. I even had service. However, I must express a serious grievance. The bathrooms smelt SO strongly of cigarettes, although they otherwise appeared clean. I felt like vomiting. Yuck!

My family and I went to big Bend national Park in June 2022. Of course we visited at the hottest time of the year. But it was really fun. We stayed at the chisos basin campground And that was a very good decision.It was very cheap, And well worth it. I had a pop-up tent and my daughter and her husband had a tent on the back of a truck. Of course if you're going to camp always consider buying a blowup bed or something. That makes things a lot more comfortable. I actually bought two twin sized blowup mats at Academy for about $10. The views at the camp were epic, it's amazing how small we are compared to the mountains and Big Bend national Park. We brought our own little grill and cooked out some food. As you can see with the pictures there is a bathroom, however I don't believe there was a shower there. There was a store in the vicinity but you had to hike about a half mile to get to it. There was also a restaurant that was really good. The big bend national park is an official dark sky, so the sky's were bright and beautiful. I was concerned about sleeping overnight because it was in June, but believe it or not it was fairly cool inside of the tent. I wonder if It is because we were in the basin. If you ever go to big Bend make sure that you stay at the chisios basin campground you'll be glad you did.

This is my first time camping at Big Bend National Park! Nothing like waking up to a beautiful view in the Chisos Basin Campground - took notes on the ideal camping spot #'s for next time!

So Alison L.'s review has a two small errors, 1) It is not ALL first come first serve. In fact, it is mostly NOT first come, first serve, which means a reservation is highly recommend. Since we did not have a reservation, IDK where that it is done, but a little online sleuthing should get you started. If you don't have a reservation, there are a few campsites that cannot be reserved and must be claimed in person. If you find yourself in his situation, there is (at least on our visit) a camp host who knows which sites are available. There may still be a bit of "racing", but you should do OK. Pick your site and leave something in the site to mark it as "claimed", fill out your envelope, put cash in envelope, and drop envelope in box at campground entrance. If you don't have the cash, or exact change, you can pay by credit card at the Chisos Basin Visitor Center a short distance up the road. If you pay by credit card at the visitors center, you'll probably discover the camp store on your own. But if you brought exact change, I just thought I'd mention the many amentias up the road, including a restaurant and bar. 2) Second error is not all campsites have a "cover." Some do, but not all. All sites do have a picnic table, grill, and bear box. The bear box is quite big, and be sure to put all your food and cooking supplies in it. If you are camping, don't forget your soap and toothpaste. Some critters, i.e. the javelinas, like the smell of this stuff too. Or they just may be curious abut the sweet smells, and your tent is not going to stop them. As an FYI, we did not see any bears or javelinas, or signs of any, in March... But that doesn't mean they are not there. Another nice thing about this campground, there is a "no generators" area. Now I do think there is a curfew on generators, but if you are camping in a tent, you may want to think about this. One last thing worth pointing out - No open fires. Charcoal is OK, hence the grill. But don't expect to have a campfire here. Just too much of a danger. Lastly, check the bulletin board for any programs going on in the area. There's an amphitheater, with overflow parking for the campground, opposite the campground entrance. When we were here, we saw a presentation on ravens, which can be seen in the park. In fact we saw some the next day, and had a greater appreciation for these birds. Bottom line: We were there in March, and it was quite cold a night, so be sure to bring something warm. A campfire would have been nice.

SPECTACULAR VIEW. We did not expect to arrive to such an amazing campground, so we had only booked one night. We loved it so much, but the recreation website said the whole week was booked, so we couldn't book a second night. However, camp host Ranger George was just the most thoughtful and friendly host ever. He told us to return to him the next day to see if there were any no shows. He ended up finding a spot for us to stay another night! We got to experience the most amazing star gazing experience that second night. We cannot thank Ranger George enough for providing us with one of the best memories of our life!

The Chisos Basin Camp Ground has 60 sites, not counting the group campground. Reservations can be made on 26 of the 60 sites. They are 21,22,23,24,25,27,29,31,32,33,34,36,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,47,48,50, 53,55,and 56. These can be reserved from November 15 to May 31. The rest of the year it is first come first served at all the sites If you are in the campground the sites you can reserve are marked with a red reflector underneath the number on the camp site pole. They are all in the no generator zone The generator zone is 1 through 18 which is the top or first loop in the camp ground Site 37H is the handicap. Sites CB01 and CB02 are the Camp Host sites. Hope this helps Here are the reservation rules as posted on the camps main bulletin board. A reservation system for the Chisos Basin Campground is in effect from November 15th through May 31st for 26 of the 60 total sites (See the bordered or shaded numbers on the bulletin board maps). These reservable sites may also be identified by a strip of RED tape under the numbers on each site post. Reservations for the 26 reservable sites must be made in advance on-line at "recreation.gov" not less than four (4) days in advance. "Recreation.gov" may be accessed via the Big Bend National Park website. Reserved sites will have a tag identifying each reservation showing arrival and departures dates and last name of the person for whom the reservation is made. Reservations made through this system will always take precedence, even if the reservation tag is missing from the site post. A reservable site may be utilized by campers, if not reserved, on a one-day-at-a-time and first-come, first-served basis. All others sites (non-reservable) may be used on a first-come, first-served basis, as usual. Contact the Campground Host on duty if there are questions or issues.

Fantastic camping experience at Big Bend and at Chisos! You're basically sleeping in a giant hole in the ground which has the added bonus of protecting you from too early of a sunrise. All sites come with a cover, table, grill, bear-box, and bathrooms nearby. I appreciated the easy access to the general store and lots of trail heads nearby. It's first come, first serve so have fun racing your fellow campers down the winding road to the campsite.

Chisos Basin was an excellent camping experience! We selected Campsite # 24 which provided a great deal of afternoon shade from the sun. Sites are well maintained and bathrooms are VERY clean.