News Release

Cottonwood Campground Closure at Big Bend National Park

Date: January 5, 2018
Contact: Jennette Jurado, 432-294-2382
Contact: Heather Rickleff

Big Bend National Park will be working on deferred maintenance projects in the Cottonwood campground this winter. The park will replace an out of date irrigation system with a modern system and restore the landscape to facilitate proper irrigation of the low lying areas. The planned work will occupy the entirety of the campground and temporary closures will be enacted.

Closures are planned January 29^th through February 28^th, 2018 for the Cottonwood campground, including group sites. Pedestrian access to the Cottonwood campground and river access adjacent to the campground will also be unavailable. Visitors will still be able to visit the area including Castolon, Dorgan House Trail, Santa Elena Canyon Overlook, and Santa Elena Canyon Trail.

The park reminds visitors that the Rio Grande Village and Chisos Basin campgrounds remain open, as well as campgrounds outside the park at Stillwell’s Ranch and RV park north of the park, and within Terlingua and Study Butte just west of the park. VisitBigBend.com provides additional information on the facilities outside of the park.

These projects will help in reducing the near $90 million dollars of deferred maintenance projects at Big Bend National Park, and will directly benefit visitors by providing a well-maintained campground. The park appreciates the patience and understanding of our visitors during this important upgrade to the Cottonwood campground.