South Rim Campground — Hotel in Four Corners States

This is a review of the campground only Family of 4 adults who recently stayed at this campground for 5 nights, in order to see and explore the Black Canyon. We were in loop B, which is the only loop with shore power and has only 23 sites. I did not see any power poles in loop A (34 sites) & loop C (32 sites). My only gripe with our site (#B11) was that there was a large bush with overhanging branches near the picnic table, so we could not put up our gazebo over the table. Also, the fire pit did not seem to have been cleared out in a while as it was full of ash. We knew this is a fairly primitive campground as it only has vault/pit toilets (non-flush), which also do not have sinks with running water. Each loop has 2 small vault toilet outhouses. In loop B, they were, surprisingly, not foul-smelling and relatively clean, albeit a bit old. Each outhouse has a hand sanitizer unit, a light with a timer switch, a deodorizer unit, and even a small infrared heater on the wall. There are no sites with water or sewage hook-up for RVs with flush toilets and showers, and consequently there is no dump station to empty your black & gray water tanks. In fact, potable water for drinking and some limited washing, is only available during the high camping season. There's one pump or water station per loop. Most sites are gravel and sand/dirt-based and most RV sites also have a raised area to pitch a tent. In loop B, at many RV sites you just park your RV in a space next to the road, but there are several pull-through sites as well. B11 is pull-through and affords a bit privacy due to a large bush in front. Each loop also has one or two ADA sites, which are paved, and close to the vault toilets. The road through each loop is fairly narrow, so take that into account if you have a very large RV or motorhome. Special metal bear boxes are available throughout each loop to store your food (for tents and pop-up campers), and all trash/recycling cans as well as dumpsters have bear-safe locks. Apparently, there are black bears in the area (didn't see any) that may come into the campground. All in all, it's a simple, well-kept campground, but fairly remote. There is no camp store, and if you need groceries or want to eat out, you'll have to go into the town of Montrose. We did not experience unruly campers and it was mostly quiet. South Rim Road runs next to the campground, so you'll hear cars passing by during the day. From the campground, you can easily access some hiking trails that take you to the main draw, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River). If you're not up to hiking, you can easily access South Rim Road to drive (or bike, in our case) to a number of view points, which afford different and amazing views of the...

This campground is definitely a nice find. We stayed hear for 6 nights. 2 days we stayed at the Great Gunnison National Park. The other 4 days we traveled to other National parks like Great Sand Dunes National Park and Mesa Verda National Park. Every night we would go down at 8-9 ish and watch the stars and planets. This park is one of the parks that have clear night sky free of light pollution. So you can actually see the stars and planets. It was my kids or at least the youngest one who is 9 first time seeing all the stars so every night she would go down to where they had the telescopes to learn about the universe and to see the stars it was the coolest thing to her. I also in joy seeing the stars this was how we found the park in the first place. Every morning we would wake up to mule deer in our camp site. We would also see them all day hear and there around the campgrounds. Water you ha e to walk to get. Every camp site has bear box and picnic tables. Trails are very close the the campsite so I went for a early morning hike to watch the sunrise. This is a great place for a family vacation without electricity, onsite electricity or shelter. It’s all tent or rv camping at the rim. Once again I would recommend coming hear with or whiteout the family. If you plan on going down to the river make sure to bring bug spray and shoes because there is sooo soo sooo many ants down by the water. I hope you have a good time and this place is definitely worth camping at and try to make sure you stay up on a clear night to see the stars they are...

This definitely wasn't the greatest camping experience we've had. The sites are squeezed so close together that there's very little privacy and you can hear the voices of everyone at the sites immediately around you. There were also no bearproof food lockers at or anywhere near our specific site, even though before the trip I'd emailed the park about it and they said there would be. Being able to take Rim Rock Trail from the campsite to Oak Flat Trail to Uplands Trail and back to the campsite was cool, but that's the only hiking near the campground unless you get a permit and take a class to go down into the canyon or drive 2 hours to get to the north side of the canyon. The twilight talk at the amphitheater was cool, the bathrooms were clean, the rangers were friendly, and the canyon itself and the views of the night sky were absolutely beautiful, but we ended up cutting our trip short by a couple days due to the hyper-close proximity to other people and lack of other hiking opportunities. Also be aware that the water offered at the campsite is for drinking, not for washing dishes or anything else. The walk to the bearproof dumpster is also definitely sketchy once it's nighttime, so throw your trash away...