Grand Canyon camping on both rims.

All 4 Grand Canyon campgrounds, compared.

The short version: pick Mather if you want to camp in Grand Canyon Village, or if you are coming in late fall or winter, when it is the only campground open. Pick Desert View for a smaller campground at the east end of the South Rim if you can book ahead. Pick Trailer Village if you need full hookups, because it is the only place in the park that has them. Pick North Rim Campground for the side of the park only 10% of visitors see. Every figure below comes from the NPS camping pages, the NPS campground records, the North Rim status page, and the Recreation.gov listing, checked September 10, 2026. The RV column is the maximum vehicle length each source gives. Fees are per night.

How to book.

The NPS campgrounds book on Recreation.gov or at (877) 444-6777, up to six months ahead, and NPS says every campground in the park is booked well in advance. At Mather, most sites are reservation only from March 1 through November 30, but 15 first-come, first-served sites go on sale at 8 am. Desert View is reservation only, with no walk-up sites and no wait list, though you can make a same-day reservation online or by phone.

The North Rim. The NPS North Rim status page gives North Rim Campground a 2026 season of June 1 to October 15, booked on Recreation.gov. Aramark runs it for that season, and NPS warns that fees and reservation policies may differ from its own campgrounds, so check the price on the Recreation.gov listing before you book. Grand Canyon Lodge, the only lodge on that side, burned in the 2025 Dragon Bravo Fire, so read the NPS lodging page for what is open. The two rim villages are a five-hour drive apart, per NPS, and North Rim roads close to all vehicles from December 1 to May 14; Grand Canyon road closures has the dates.

Trailer Village. Trailer Village RV Park is the only campground in the park with full hookups: 30 and 50 amp electric, water, sewer and cable TV on paved or gravel sites, right beside Mather. Delaware North runs it and takes reservations up to 13 months ahead. Book and check its status with Delaware North, and read the NPS current conditions page for park-wide water restrictions, which have closed it before.

Mather and Desert View family sites are $30 a night, or $15 with a Senior or Access pass. Mather also has group sites for 7 to 50 people, a horse camp, and hiker/biker sites for people arriving on foot or by bike. Desert View has no group sites.

RVs: where your rig fits.

No NPS campground in the park has RV hookups. Trailer Village, run by Delaware North, is the only in-park option with full hookups. Mather fits motorhomes and fifth wheels up to 30 feet, most of its RV spaces are pull-through, and it has a free dump station. Its generators run 7 to 9 am and 6 to 8 pm, and not in Pine Loop. Desert View allows 30 feet combined, with trailers no longer than 20 feet, and has no dump station, showers, or laundromat.

North Rim Campground is best for tents and smaller RVs. The NPS campground bulletin gives a 40-foot maximum, but Recreation.gov says the forested sites can't take large or high-profile RVs, or rigs with a number of pop-outs or awnings. Site limits there are the combined length of the RV or trailer and its tow vehicle. In the 2026 season there is no gray or black water dumping, so plan to pack all liquids in and out, and portable toilets are spread through the campground. Once you are parked, the Cape Royal Scenic Road and the Widforss and North Kaibab trailheads are limited to vehicles 22 feet or shorter.

Plan your water. North Rim campers bring their own potable water or buy it at the Aramark-run General Store next to the campground, and there are no hookups. On the South Rim, water restrictions come and go. At their stricter stages NPS turns the campground spigots off and Mather and Desert View become dry camping only. Read the NPS current conditions page and the NPS South Rim operations update before you count on a spigot.

Trailer Village is closed and not listed.

Fire, water, and camp rules.

Fires. Grand Canyon spends much of the year under fire restrictions, and at the stricter tiers no wood or charcoal fires are allowed at all, including campfires and charcoal barbecues. Stoves and lanterns that turn on and off stay legal on ground cleared of anything flammable for 3 feet, and outdoor smoking is banned except inside an enclosed vehicle. The restriction stage in force is posted on the NPS current conditions page, so check it rather than packing firewood on faith.

Stay limits differ. Mather and Desert View allow 14 days in a row and 30 days a year. North Rim allows 7 days in a row and 30 a year. Family sites at Mather hold 6 people, 3 tents, and 2 vehicles. Desert View sites hold 6 people with 2 tents and 2 vehicles, or 1 vehicle with an RV or trailer. North Rim's numbered sites hold 6 people, 3 tents, and 2 vehicles, and its group sites take up to 25 people. At North Rim, check-in is noon, checkout is 11 am, quiet hours run 10 pm to 6 am, and generators run 7 to 9 am and 6 to 8 pm, never in the tent-only area.

Pets must be leashed and can't go below the rim, on shuttle buses, or into buildings.

Below the rim. Camping inside the canyon needs a backcountry permit: $10 to apply plus $15 per person per night below the rim (see the NPS backcountry permit page). Below the rim the park's campgrounds are Bright Angel, at Phantom Ranch, and Cottonwood. Both are a long hike or a mule ride from either rim, and flooding and heat close the corridor trails and these campgrounds from time to time, so check the NPS current conditions page before you apply. Tuweep needs its own advance permit, bought before your trip.

Camping and the crowd calendar.

Mather is open every month, so this calendar is mostly about the South Rim. July is the peak, and from April through October visits never fall below 81% of July. NPS says South Rim campgrounds are often full in summer. The seasonal campgrounds close as the park quiets down: in 2026 North Rim Campground's reservations end October 15 and Desert View's last night is October 18, and North Rim roads close to vehicles every year on December 1. November averages 62% of July's visits and December 56%, with January and February at 32% and 34%. Winter nights are cold, with average lows of 18°F to 21°F. If an easier booking matters more than warmth, November is our pick: Mather is open, visits drop to 62% of July, and the average high is 53°F.

Month-by-month tradeoffs are on the best time to visit Grand Canyon page.

Outside the park.

NPS lists campgrounds just outside the park. Near the South Rim, the Forest Service runs Tusayan Montane Campground, at-large camping is allowed in the national forest at least a quarter mile from Highway 64, and Grand Canyon Camper Village in Tusayan is a commercial campground with hookups, per the NPS South Rim campgrounds page. Near the North Rim, the Forest Service runs DeMotte Campground, 7 miles north of the park boundary. We don't track their seasons or prices.

Common questions.

How much does it cost to camp at the Grand Canyon?

NPS family sites at Mather and Desert View are $30 a night, or $15 with a Senior or Access pass. Aramark sets North Rim Campground's 2026 fees, and NPS says they may differ, so check Recreation.gov. Trailer Village charges $80 a night for a gravel Classic site and $85 for a paved one, before taxes and fees. Backcountry permits and the park entrance fee are separate.

How far in advance can you book a Grand Canyon campsite?

Up to six months ahead for the NPS campgrounds, on Recreation.gov. NPS doesn't publish an advance window for the Aramark-run North Rim Campground in 2026, only that reservations run through October 15. Trailer Village books up to 13 months ahead, and Delaware North recommends a year out for May through October.

Can you camp at the bottom of the Grand Canyon?

Only with a backcountry permit, which costs $10 to apply plus $15 per person per night below the rim. The inner-canyon campgrounds are a long hike or a mule ride from either rim, and flooding and heat closures take them out of service from time to time, so check the NPS current conditions page before you apply.

Is there camping with electricity at the Grand Canyon?

Yes, at one campground. Trailer Village RV Park beside Mather is the only one in the park with hookups, with 30 and 50 amp electric, water and sewer on every site. Delaware North runs it, not NPS, and no NPS campground in the park has hookups. Outside the park, NPS lists Grand Canyon Camper Village in Tusayan as a commercial campground with hookups.

Where these facts come from

The campground list, the six-month window, the booked-well-in-advance and summer-capacity notes, Desert View's 2026 dates, the rim-to-rim drive time, the 10% North Rim share, and the Tusayan Montane and DeMotte forest campgrounds come from the NPS Grand Canyon camping page; dispersed camping and Grand Canyon Camper Village from the NPS South Rim campgrounds page. North Rim Campground's 2026 season, Aramark operation, water and General Store come from the NPS North Rim status page; its 40-foot limit, site capacities, stay limit, and generator hours from the NPS campground bulletin; its 2026 services, check-in, quiet hours, site-length rule, and the 22-foot road limit from the Recreation.gov listing. Mather, Desert View, and Trailer Village sites, fees, lengths, booking rules, dump stations, fire-restriction stages, pets, and campground coordinates come from the NPS API campground records. How South Rim water restrictions affect the campgrounds is on the NPS South Rim operations update, and the Grand Canyon Lodge fire on the NPS lodging page. Backcountry permit fees come from the NPS backcountry permit page, North Rim winter road dates from the NPS North Rim directions page, and the Tuweep permit rule from the NPS Tuweep page. Visit shares are five-year monthly means (2021 to 2025) of recreation visits from NPS Visitor Use Statistics, as a percentage of July. Temperatures are NOAA 1991 to 2020 climate normals. Crowd numbers are five-year monthly means (2021 to 2025) of recreation visits from the NPS Visitor Use Statistics Data Package on NPS IRMA Stats. Independent site, not affiliated with the National Park Service.