Chisos Basin Campground in Big Bend National Park: How to Get a Site and Who It Fits
Photo: Yinan Chen, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; cropped, with lettering added by Brian Russ Guides.
Chisos Basin Campground is Big Bend's mountain campground: a reservation-only loop at 5,400 feet, inside a bowl of the Chisos Mountains, with some of the park's most popular trails starting nearby. It has no hookups and no showers, and it suits tent campers and small rigs who'd rather be cool and close to a trailhead than down by the river.
The real work is getting a site. If you're still building the bigger trip, my Big Bend National Park guide has nine one- to three-day itineraries and a trip-planning chapter that covers campground reservations. The rest of this post covers how the Basin campground works, who it fits, and where to go if you can't get in.
The Basics
As of November 2026, the NPS campground page lists 56 sites, open year-round, with flush toilets year-round, drinking water, a dump station, and a camp store with ice. It lists no electric hookups and no showers. Cell service is listed as available in the campground. A site holds up to eight people and two vehicles. NPS also lists a separate group tent area about a quarter mile away, with seven sites for parties of 9 to 20 (the page doesn't say whether the 56 includes those seven).
The campsite fee is listed at $16 a night, and the park entrance pass is separate. Trailers over 20 feet and RVs over 24 feet aren't recommended, because the road into the Basin is narrow and winding and the sites are small and unlevel. There's one accessible site, with a paved walkway.
Photo: Fredlyfish4, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Casa Grande, viewed from Chisos Basin Campground.
How to Get a Site
There's no first-come, first-served camping here. Every site is reserved on recreation.gov, and NPS splits them in two: about two-thirds can be reserved up to six months ahead, and about one-third are held back until 14 days ahead (checked November 2026; the rules can change).
That split tells you how to plan. If you're coming on a holiday weekend, Thanksgiving week, Christmas, or between mid-January and mid-April, the park says campgrounds often fill, so book on the first day your dates open. If your trip is flexible, set a reminder for two weeks out, because the held-back sites show up then. NPS doesn't publish how quickly the Basin sells out, so don't assume a site will be there.
Photo: Yinan Chen, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Dry grass and scrub in the Chisos Basin, looking toward the Window.
Where It Is and When It's Open
The campground sits near the end of the Chisos Basin Road, 10 miles from Panther Junction. NPS names the views of Casa Grande and Emory Peak, and says sunset through the Window is a Big Bend highlight. The Window View Trail is a short paved loop from the Basin trailhead, and the Lost Mine Trail starts at about mile 5 on the Basin Road, so you'll drive to it.
One thing to check: NPS once planned a two-year closure of the Basin for lodge and water-system construction, starting in May 2026. It cancelled that plan (NPS update) and says it will reissue a contract for the water system only, with the schedule not final. As of November 2026 the campground is open, the Basin visitor center is open daily with a lunch closure, and a food truck is open daily. The lodge restaurant is closed. Check NPS alerts before you drive up.
On weather, NPS averages for January show the Basin with a high of 59°F and a low of 37°F, against 70°F and 31°F at Rio Grande Village. So the river is the warmer place by day in winter, but the Basin is the milder place at night. Pack for the low, not the high.
Photo: Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Chisos Basin Road at the Lost Mine Trailhead.
What Camping There Is Like
NPS describes the campground as open woodland in a mountain basin, with small, unlevel sites. It doesn't publish loop-by-loop notes on shade, noise, or wind, and I'm not going to guess. Use the campground map on the NPS page and pick a site on recreation.gov with that in mind.
My read: this is a good fit for a tent or a camper van, and a poor fit for anything over about 24 feet. Generators are allowed only in specified sites, 8 to 11 a.m. and 5 to 8 p.m.
Photo: Yinan Chen, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. A view of the Basin and the mountains beyond.
Rules That Matter Here
No wood fires or ground fires anywhere in the park. A charcoal fire in an above-ground grill is allowed, with the ashes packed out, and liquid-fuel stoves are fine. Store food inside your vehicle or in an animal-proof locker, and remember the park counts toothpaste, soap, and trash as food: javelinas will tear into a tent to reach them. Black bears also live in the Chisos, so don't leave a cooler on the ground.
Pets are allowed in the campground on a leash of six feet or less, never on trails, and never left alone. You can stay up to 14 consecutive nights and 28 nights in a calendar year, and January 1 through April 15 the limit is 14 nights total. Details are on the campground regulations page.
Photo: Yinan Chen, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. A closer look at the Chisos Basin.
Who Should Look Elsewhere, and Where
Skip the Basin if you're towing a long trailer or driving a big RV, or if you need hookups. Rio Grande Village Campground, on the river side, has 93 sites and, per NPS, accommodates large vehicles. The concessioner's Rio Grande Village RV Park has 25 full-hookup sites with a 38-foot limit. NPS notes that summer heat there, 110°F and up, means only a limited number of sites are offered in those months.
If the Basin is full, Rio Grande Village is the natural swap. For November through April, NPS lists 60 sites reservable up to six months ahead and 33 up to 14 days ahead. After that, you're outside the park. NPS says there are no overflow campsites and no nearby public lands, and that camping in parking lots or on road shoulders gets you cited. Its list of options includes Study Butte, Terlingua, Lajitas, Alpine, and Big Bend Ranch State Park.
Photo: Jonathan Cutrer, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Mount Huffman, with Casa Grande Peak at left, seen driving up near Basin Junction.
Fitting the Basin Into a One- to Three-Day Trip
For a three-day trip, I'd split the nights: one or two at the Basin for the mountain trails, then a night at Rio Grande Village for the river, the nature trail, and Boquillas. Big Bend is big, and the two ends are well over an hour apart. My Big Bend National Park guide builds plans around that, including a two-day strenuous itinerary that uses the Chisos Basin as a base.
More about the park: Big Bend in winter covers the peak season and closed roads, and visiting Big Bend with kids has family-friendly stops near the Basin.
Before you go: see Big Bend National Park alerts and current conditions, checked daily, for current closures and what they mean for your trip.
This is an independent guide. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Park Service. Campground seasons, fees, reservation rules, and closures change; check the park's current alerts and recreation.gov before you go.