My second stay at Belle in Joshua Tree National Park. I prefer it to the other campgrounds because of it's seclusion. It's also the smallest campground in the park with only 18 sites. Makes it nice and quiet. If you want to climb and boulder, you can do it right here or you can travel a short distance to another area in the park to do that. Saw no kids as usual. There are no 40 footers in here, they couldn't make it around the boulders. There is no water, thus no showers in campground. You get a table, bbq and firepit at your site. You also get some awesome views out into the wilderness of Joshua Tree in every direction. It is located within minutes of everything there is to do and see in Joshua Tree. Be sure and reserve a tour of the historic Keys ranch, it is very interesting. Spent 5 wonderful days and hopefully will return again soon. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

Belle Campground is an awesome place if you are looking for the ultimate in dry camping with marked spots and few amenities. The desert scenery is fantastic. This is one of the smallest campgrounds in the National Park with only 18 spots. Ryan Campground one mile away with 15 spots, is the smallest. You can get big rigs into Belle but carefully through the narrow entrance. I have a 15' travel trailer and was able to maneuver through the campground quite easily. Campground does not get a lot of people driving through to just take a look, which is nice. There is a trail accessible from the campground but it is not a trail head. There is rock climbing in the campground if that is what your into and is fun to watch. There are picnic tables and fire rings at each site but there is no water in the campground so come prepared. You can run a generator from 7AM-9AM, 12PM-2PM and 5PM-7PM. There are no showers. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

Beautiful park but there is not plenty of room for big rigs here. The entrance is surprisingly narrow - between 2 rocks in the ground. An easy fix and would be a big improvement to slightly widen this. We have a 39' motorhome and there was an identical one to ours at the park as well. Both of us had problems finding and fitting into our spots. They were very tight. The only spot big enough for a large RV is directly next to another campground - and there was a big group there. We stayed near the entrance, which was a bit of a drag because of the constant flow of traffic going by us. We went off-season and were told we'd have the park to ourselves, but there was a constant flow of vehicles and a fair amount of campers. Some people come tie up a campground just to rock climb, so we lost a potentially better spot not realizing this until it was too late. Surroundings are beautiful. No water or dump anywhere nearby that we could find. Closest one within the park was Cottonwood - about 45 minutes away. The park rangers didn't know of any local dump stations. Look into this before you go if you want to stay more than a few nights. We ran out of water after 3 nights and lost the opportunity to stay. No Verizon cell range anywhere in the park - had to drive to the service road about 2 miles away for range. Very secluded - no ranger presence. We will return but certainly not during the busy season. We camped here in a Motorhome.

This campground is the least attractive in the Joshua Tree park. The pavement is broken and the humps and potholes make it difficult to get into the sites. You actually look out and see residential homes. We just spent a week in Belle, Jumbo Rocks and Cottonwood and looked at all the other camps. All are nice except this one. We are terribly disappointed, but it is too many miles back so were staying the night. The cost is 50% higher and you are not in a pretty area or even near the park attractions. You can get water at the two visitor centers. They keep vault toilets nice in other campgrounds. We camped here in a Motorhome.

We stayed Thursday and Friday nights in the middle of October. Very few campers on Thursday. Surprisingly, there were still a few unoccupied sites on Friday. We drove in around 10 PM and got lost because of the ups and downs and curvy roads within the campground. Fortunately, we found the cordial and friendly camp host who walked us to our site. When we were there, the temperature ranged from the low 50s to the low 80s, sunny with some dark clouds, and a light breeze during the day. Black Rock has 9 water spigots spread throughout 99 sites. Water is free. We stayed in site 20 which is a pull through site. We were able to level front to back without using leveling blocks, but we did not have enough blocks to level side to side. I would suggest spending 2 to 5 minutes at the Nature Center to learn about the history of the park. Black Rock does not charge the $15 entry fee that the other 3 entrances charge. If you wish to visit the rest of the park, the $15 entry fee is good for 7 days. Dump fee is $5. The downsides: I don't like the desert, Black Rock doesn't have the spectacular rock formations like some of the other campgrounds, and the entrance road is full of potholes. Touring tip: Skull Rock, about half way between the West and the North Entrances, can be easily seen by standing in the blue handicap walkway across the street from the Skull Rock Trail sign and by looking directly above the Skull Rock Trail sign. We camped here in a Motorhome.

Be advised, if you have a slideout and can't back into a site for a 25' trailer, you are out of luck. The so-called pull through sites are wide spots on the curvy loop roads, and with rocks that prohibit "cheating" by pulling your wheels into the sand, you cannot extend a slide without being in the roadway. We had to leave. Some kind of warning on the NPS website, or when we called them would have saved us an hour. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

Big thanks to the camp host who posted the earlier review. As stated, this is the last camp to fill up. Tried Jumbo and Belle but they were long since full. Spring Break is no different than any other peak weekend. Campers show up on Thursday evening to grab a spot. Most of them leave Sunday morning. Our 29 footer fit in one of the back in spots with room on the side for our truck. Nice and quiet, even though full. Great hiking. Hope to return again to Jumbo or Belle for easier access to boulder climbing for the kids. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

Full disclosure - we've been Campground Hosts here for the last two months. Thought we'd share a few notes for those wishing to visit Cottonwood Spring: This campground is much quieter and has a good bit more "elbow" room per site than most of the other campgrounds in JTNP. Cottonwood Campground fills up last as it's the most remote in terms of distance from civilization. When all of the more northern sites in JTNP have filled up, Cottonwood will frequently still have sites. Fair warning though, the sites are all first come, first serve with the exception of the three group sites located at the entry to Cottonwood. All of the sites have paved pads, none are exactly what you'd call "level". Bring leveling boards with you. There is a black/grey water dump and water fill station available in the Park right next to the Campground. Currently the dump fee is $5. The longest coach we've had in here was 40'. There are several sites that accommodate that size rig, however as other posters have noted, you may not be able to safely extend your drivers side slideouts as the "pull-out" pads are not all that wide. We'd strongly suggest that you drop your toad before entering the campground. No, firewood is not available in the Park, but fire rings are provided. Don't even think of collecting wood in the Park!!! There is plenty to do in the immediate area of Cottonwood. The southern location in the Park also makes for a good base to explore the rest of the Park while still experiencing the quiet beauty of the desert. As of Dec 2012, there is no cell phone or Wi-Fi available in the campground. This has been one of the nicest places we've ever had the opportunity to visit, let alone explore for the last few months and would highly recommend that you take the time to visit Joshua Tree NP. We camped here in a Motorhome.

Tuesday, April 16 – Indian Cove Campground. This campground is located in Joshua Tree National Park, CA. It is one of eight campgrounds in the park plus you can wilderness camp but need to check at the Visitor Centers. Indian Cove is in the northern section of the park, and one must drive out towards Twenty-Nine Palms and then off of route 62 take the Indians Cove road to drive back into the park about 3 or more miles. The reason we selected this campground is that it is one of two that accepts reservations in the park. There were 101 one sites located among the rocks with fancy pit toilets located all over. No water or electricity in the park. Sites can be tight, but there are sites that can hold RV’s, but nothing I saw that would take a 35 foot or larger RV. We have a 25ft RV, and our site 53 was a tight squeeze. The park is beautiful with rocks all over. All sites were in the rocks and there are hiking trails and rock climbing areas throughout this campground and the park. This campground is near Twenty Nine Palms for services. We drove up from the south entering near Cottonwood campground and there is a single lane stretch of over 13 miles that you have a lead car that takes you. Heading north the lead car takes off every hour and half hour, and coming down from the north it goes every quarter past and forty five minutes past the hour. Speed limit is 25 but our lead car took off at 40 going over tar, rocks, loose gravel and by construction crews. Watch out for stones hitting your windshield from the car in front. On our way we passed two other campgrounds, White Tank and Belle (smaller than Indian Cove), and we could have fit in there. We also drove into Jumbo Rocks Campground, and that one was stunning and there were some sites in there we could have fit in. They have a limit there of 30 feet. Those campgrounds are first come first serve and Jumbo Rocks on a Tuesday was almost full. Over the weekend all campgrounds were full and campers had to park in an overflow area near Twenty Nine Palms. There are three main visitor centers at the entrances, and all of them have different exhibits. The Twenty Nine Palms Visitor Center also has the Mara Oasis located there. Black Rock, Cottonwood, and Indian Cove cost $15 per night and the others $10. If you have a pass, your entrance to the park is free and the camping is 50% off. Nice spot to camp, and in April the nights are still cold. We camped here in a Motorhome.

We have visited Joshua Tree National Park several times but had never stayed in this campground before. We have a 32' motorhome and tow a Subaru Forester. I would not recommend this campground to anyone driving this sort of set-up. The roads inside the campground were extremely rough and had been made even worse by heavy rains that had fallen just prior to our visit. We found only two or three sites that we felt were suitable for a rig of our size. The area is nice enough, but not as pretty as Jumbo Rocks in my opinion and Jumbo Rocks has more spaces that work for larger rigs and is more convenient to the rest of the park. Be aware that there are no hook-ups of any kind nor any water or dump station at Indian Cove. There are pit toilets, but no showers. This is a dry camping experience, so come prepared. As others have said, generator hours are very limited. I would recommend this campground to anyone tent camping or using a small trailer or truck camper, but not to anyone with a large rig. We would not stay here again. We paid $7.50 with our Golden Age pass, for others the fee is $15 a night. We camped here in a Motorhome.

We camped here while the massive rain storms were hitting Southern California and we got some light rain, lots of wind and great weather. The interesting thing here is the weather is different than Joshua Tree, so don't be discouraged - It's beautiful. We were one of two RVs (the other our friends) as this is totally dry camping. Pay attention to generator run times, there is no water (except at ranger station) and the nearest dump is at Blackrock - about a 10 mile trip. We found out on leaving that it's only $5 to dump at Blackrock and they have drinking water too, so from now on we'll come empty, fill, camp then dump too ($10 vs. using all the fuel to haul 75 gallons of water). This is on the North end of the park and a long hike can get you into more of the park and if you drive in you still have to pay the $15 fee. There are lot's of climbers here, great rocks to scramble over and at night it's so quiet you can hear someone breathe 10 ft away. We'll definitely be back. We camped here in a Motorhome.

Best campground I've ever been to. My kids, who are age 6 and 3 had the time of their lives. Amazingly unique setting with giant rocks surrounding each site. The climbing capabilities are crazy. We went during Spring Break and showed up on a Thursday, late morning and the campground was half full. By sunset all the sites were taken. Never felt crowded as we were all the way at the end. The night sky was also incredible, as it was very near New Moon. We will return. My son and I can't wait to come back here and do some hiking and climbing. We camped here in a Motorhome.

National Monument rustic campground. Camped on the Senior Pass so raters were very good. Not crowded and plenty of places to explore. Currently the road from the Cactus garden to Interstate 10 is closed due to a major wash out. Unknown time until repaired. The best part of the park is northern from Jumbo rocks north. Outhouse toilets and plenty of them and clean! No other amenities, you pack everything in with you. No water or phones We camped here in a Motorhome.

Very pretty campground. It is more geared to the tent camper but there seemed to be plenty of sites for RV's. A large "A" might have trouble finding a site. No hookups but for $10 who can complain. We stayed there 2 days, hiking and sight seeing. Would stay there again. Be sure to come with plenty of water and empty black and gray tanks as there are no dump stations close by. We camped here in a Motorhome.