Cottonwood Group Campsite
- Right now
- OpenInside the published season, our reading; a database flag says not open
- Sites
- 21 on recreation.gov
- Season
- May 25Opens May 25. No closing date published.
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 9 notices
In the agency’s own words
Cottonwood Group Campsite is located near the scenic Cottonwood Lake below Salt River Pass in the forest of western Wyoming. Keep reading
Recreation
The lake offers great canoeing and boating for smaller craft and fishing for brook and cutthroat trout. Hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding trails are in the area, as well as a motorized route for trail vehicles Facilities This group campsite can accommodate up to 25 guests and is most appropriate for groups camping in tents. Two vehicles can be parked at the site (van-sized vehicles are the largest the site will accommodate) and six additional vehicles can be parked at the adjacent Cottonwood Lake Day Use Area. Single-family sites are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided.
Natural Features
Peaceful North Fork Creek flows through the campground. Its banks and the surrounding canyon are forested by dense stands of pines and aspens, which offer excellent shade and privacy. Vibrant summer wildflowers are abundant.
What the agency tells you
Please bring garbage bags
Out-of-state horses must have proof of a current Coggins test
Hay brought in must be certified weed-free
Everything else this campground posts · 6
Off-road vehicles allowed on designated trails only
Off-road vehicles must have a current Wyoming State OHV sticker
The Cottonwood Lake area is accessed via a narrow gravel road
Office hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday - Friday, (excluding weekends and federal holidays), 671 N. Washington, Afton, WY
Learn more about Bridger-Teton National Forest
Don't Move Firewood: Help prevent the spread of tree-killing pests in our national forests by obtaining firewood near your destination and burning it on-site. For more information visit dontmovefirewood.org.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 2 · 1 group
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…on a first-come, first-served basis. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided. Natural Features…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…first-served basis. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided. Natural Features Peaceful North Fork…”
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek
- Biking
- Hiking
- Hunting
- Wildlife viewing
Something open on 11 of the next 11 bookable nightsread 16:40 UTC
recreation.gov lists 1 of the 2 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
OpenBookedNot reservable
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 12
What you actually pay
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 5
recreation.gov availability, read 16:40 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
2 sites · the site map
All 2 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 1 of the 2 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| COGC | 001 | group standard nonelectric | 129 ft | $45 |
| Scan & Pay | S&P Site Type 0 | type not stated |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Cottonwood Group Picnic SiteBridger National Forest · 0.2 miSwift Creek CampgroundBridger National Forest · 7.4 mi
Cazier CabinBridger National Forest · 8.0 mi
La Barge Guard StationBridger National Forest · 10 miAllred Flat CampgroundBridger National Forest · 13 miMiddle Piney Lake CampgroundBridger National Forest · 13 miFrom Afton, Wyoming, take Highway 89 south approximately 7 miles to Smoot. After a half-mile look for directional signs to Cottonwood Lake Campground.
The Forest boundary is about one mile up the access road, and the campground is 6 miles beyond that. Continue past the first loop of the campground, then turn left at the 'Y' intersection onto the east loop. The group site is at the far northern edge of this loop, just past the water pump.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Smoot, WY
Typical weather
Typical May night 29°F, day 62°F.
Coldest night of the open season: typical May night 29°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or moreOutside the published season
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Cottonwood Group Campsite is in Wyoming’s at-large congressional district. Its representative, Harriet Hageman (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →