Chisos Basin Campground

Reviews

Reviews are sorted by relevance, with the most helpful and insightful feedback listed first for easy reference.

  Ross Johnson
a month ago
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.Nearby activities: Hiking trails, Big Bend State Park, Fort Leaton State Park, Terlingua Ghost Town.

  Kathleen Reimer
3 weeks ago
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.Nearby activities: Tons of trails.

  David Kloss
2 months ago
Camped in site 37 . A central campground for trails and the very nice restaurant. But for a dark sky park it was annoying to have lights on all night around the bathrooms! Kind of crowded. But friendly campers in mid January! We liked Cottonwood campground better; more rustic.Walkability: Central to some great trails . The View trail head was very close to our site. 4.5 mile out and back. A moderate trail.

  David de Lajunta
a month ago
Location is everything. Chisos Basin Campground is a very close quarter campsite with very little parking for large vehicles. Even when you are within the recommended length according to the .gov site, you may still be sticking out on the road or parked along the edge of the road. This is not a "secluded" campsite.. The winds can get up and disturb your gears across the campground if your not carful.But Locations is everything. It's high in the "mountains" with grand views, wild animals, and close to a lot of trailheads. There is a small store up the hill and a restaurant. The sunsets are amazing from the basin. The mountain cliffs will turn bright orange and red with the right light. There are bears, cats, coyotes, pigs, and foxes. We even saw a small ground bird that wound visited our camp, scratching at the grass and brush for seeds. We saw a fox one evening dart across the road.Big Bend is a Dark-Skys Park, so don't be that one guy that leaves his exterior camper lights on all night. The stars at night are big and bright, and absolutely amazing!! We laid there looking through the sky light for half the night. They will keep you awake.. So many and oh so bright!!If you want secluded, look to the back row at Rio Grande campsite or one of the backcountry site. Cottonwood is quite and peaceful too. Spring is best, summers are rough, hot and can be dangerous for the unprepared. The beast season is Nov - March/April. The best time is when the cactus blooms around spring break.Enjoy and be prepared, it is a desert, but oh what a beautiful desert she is...

  Bonita Burden
3 months ago
Fantastic campground. Absolutely stunning views, lots of hiking, clean campsites, and friendly / helpful Host. Chisos Basin Campground is for smaller campers and tenting. We camped in a truck camper and it was tight. We camped in site 17. Could not take the camper off the truck and have room for the truck. But do not let this stop you from visiting this stunning NP. Thank you!Walkability: Hiking : easy to difficult with beautiful views!

  Erica Saint Clair
a week ago
Lovely camp spot, the stars at night are insane. Clean bathrooms, the lodge had great breakfast and a reasonable price, lots to do in Big Bend!Nearby activities: Window trail is goregous

  RK Jain
2 months ago
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  Ryan D
2 months ago
Super close to the best hikes. Each site has its own little pavilion. Nicer than Rio Grande Village and you can t beat the location right in the middle of the park.

  Jennifer Thornal
5 months ago
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  Laura Maroon
2 months ago
Great views in the basin. Our site was hard to level but they do warn you. Cell is stronger on last loop. Close to many trailheads

  Allie Williams
7 months ago
Beautiful campground with spacious sites, plenty to do in the areas surrounding campsite.Lodges, visitors center, and small store/gas station near by.There are a lot of campsites so would not recommend to anyone looking for something off of the beaten path.Temps in Chisos are typically much cooler than other areas of the park so a great place to beat the heat while exploring Big Bend!!Bathrooms are well managed and clean. Plenty of access to drinking water.Picnic tables, bear box, grill and SOME sort of shade at every campsite.

  Sam Clark
6 months ago
Rained hard during one night at the campground, but was an awesome experience . We saw a couple scorpions at night roaming camp, and we even had a Tarantula camping with us! We love those and we watched her for many hours re digging her whole after the storm, we estimated 10-15 year old texas brown spider. Awesome campground with AMAZING views!Nearby activities: Lots of hikes close and walking distance to campgroundWalkability: Lots of hikes within walkable distanceFood & drinks: Bring lots of water and don t forget food!

  Oran Davis
a month ago
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  Ilinke Royse
2 months ago
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  The Beard of Reason
8 months ago
We stayed at the campground in the basin. I highly recommend site 13 or 14. I believe those can't be reserved until 2 weeks out. We had reservations for site 18 which we made 6 months prior, and then switched to site 14 when we could make the reservation.A lot of people don't know this, but the basin is usually 20� cooler in summer, than it is at the river. Typically, the high temperature in August at the basin is in the mid to upper 80s. This summer with the heat wave, it did reach the mid-90s around 5 or 6:00. It fell down to the upper 60s to lower 70s at night.As long as you're doing your hiking in the upper elevation trails, August is a great time to visit.You can even hike the lower trails in August if you can manage to be off the trail by 10:30 or so a.m. that means you need to get up at 5:00 and drive down to the Santa Elena canyon to knock it off the list before the heat comes.Be prepared for the monsoons in August as it will rain every day in a typical summer. Unfortunately, this summer was not typical and it was warmer and dryer than normal.One last thought- make sure everything on your vehicle is in proper order. I've never made it to big bend without being pulled over just south of Marathon by the state police. This time they pulled me over because I had a clear plastic license plate cover on my front plate. They said it was against the law.Luckily, I've never been given a ticket. They just want a reason to pull you over in hopes to find something illegal going on. It's called fishing. If they pull enough cars over they'll eventually get to take someone to jail.

  Steve Valmassoi
2 weeks ago
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  Emilia Aleksander
a year ago
RV campers: yes, if you are longer than 20ft you won t be able to camp here. Not because of the winding road to get to Chisos, but rather because you won t fit in a site. If you do have a small travel trailer or Class B, there are only 3-4 sites that you would be able to *enjoyably* camp in. I say enjoyably meaning: will completely fit and will have slightest sense of privacy. Site 15 is hands down the best site for RVs. Site 9 will also work. There are some sites that are so close to its neighbor, almost like a shared driveway. There are also sites that are merely designated spots on the campground road. No slab for backing in etc. You really don t want this. We unfortunately saw a trailer that booked one of these sites and their slide out was in the middle of the road. Bottom line: do your research. Look at Google maps, make sure you have eyes on the site you are booking, because they vary wildly at Chisos Basin.***Very important: the water spigots (even at the dump station/water fill) will not accommodate a standard hose attachment. I believe this is intentional to restrict water usage - water is limited to 5 gallons per person per day. You must have a way of pumping water into your rig from Jerry cans/bucket etc. Thankfully we have a nautilus system, so this was a non-issue for us.

  Ray Mora
4 months ago
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  John Ainsworth
4 months ago
This is our 3rd trip this year. December is the best..... Cool but not cold yet. Think this is the thirtieth-something time to BIBE.Walkability: Trails to South Rim and Window have been recently "worked". Easy hike!!

  Nadja
a year ago
We stayed in a tent, site number 1 on Chisos basin campground. One of the reasons was the location of this campground. It has an access the window trail that was on our hiking list. We met the campground host, very friendly and helpful. We were surprised that even with the lights the view of the stars was pretty amazing. Also got a chance to see a mama bear coming down from the mountains with her cub behind her. Bathrooms were clean and well maintained.

  Jeff Smith
a year ago
Great Campground tucked in between some great hiking trails. Very well laid out with a lot of amenities and peaceful. We hiked the window Trail. It's 3.6 miles round trip. There's some aggressive moments and about a 600 FT elevation change.

  Chadi Abdallah
a year ago
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  Amber Ryan
11 months ago
If you go to big bend this is the place to camp. If you go in the spring, the cacti are blooming. The window trailhead is by the campground. We ve seen roadrunners and black bears (far away) but cool to see. Also, like that the lodge restaurant is close too

  Kurt Langheld
a year ago
The location is beautiful but the camp sites are only ok. Small, Open but reasonably spaced. No water or electric as is usual at national parks so no surprises. The bathroom was insufficient as there was only 1 stall ,sink and urinal for a hundred male campers. Someone was often waiting. I'm always surprised that the NPS is inferior to most state parks. America's jewel?

  Jeff Mccullough
6 months ago
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  Eric Schroeder
11 months ago
Amazing tent camping experience. The campground has a store and a restaurant so no need to rough it. If you're on a motorcycle, pack a tent and take a two-day trip through the park from Alpine Texas. Stop here for an overnight!Noteworthy details: There are a few short hikes that will reward you with beautiful views.Restrooms: Running water and toilets. No showers.

  Steve Shawl
10 months ago
I was there the nights of May 17-21. I simply want to thank and praise volunteer Kim Reilly. When I made online reservations some time ago, I was able to only get one night at Chisos Basin (campsite #33), which "forced" me to get 4 nights at the Rio Grande campground. When I got to Chisos and met Kim, she commented on my short stay and I told her my story. She immediately said they had some cancellations and proceeded to set me up for two nights at #47 and then 2 nights at #52. So, she set me up for those, cancelled my Rio Grande reservations, and was just wonderful...all the while saving me some money. One day I did go south and visited the Rio Grande campground; while certainly nice (grassy!), my experience of Big Bend would have been totally different from the great time I had staying at Chisos. Thank you, Kim! A wonderful volunteer!

  Read Langhenry
a year ago
Views are great, but several campsites are connected without even native grass areas between them. Had people/kids walking through my site at all hours as a shortcut to restroom. Park stays loud deep into night with people talking and kids shouting less than 20 feet from where you re sleeping.

  Lawson Smith
a year ago
The views from this campsite rival any National Park campground I ve stayed at. A good number of the sites have shade shelters, which are almost essential during the summer months. Unfortunately the site we reserved did not have one, but the camp host was super helpful and moved us to a site that would be cooler in the afternoon. Loved staying here!

  Blake Robinson
2 years ago
Absolutely beautiful location. The campsites themselves vary highly. Some have shade structures with picnic tables, some have no shade structure. Some sites have a bit of privacy, some are directly on top of your neighbors. Some have great flat spots for your tent, some have somewhat slanted spots. All sites have bear boxes. Bathrooms are basic but adequate. Enjoy! Pretty good Verizon cell service in the campground. Amazingly fast free wifi at the Chisos Visitors center a 15 minute walk away.