Mathers Campground Grand Canyon

Do some training before you attempt hiking to Phantom Ranch. It's a doozy - both going down and up!

Some sites border the main highway and would be noisy. Look at the campground map when doing your choice.

https://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/upload/mather-campground-bulletin.pdf

Hover your curser over the pictures to get the site number:

https://www.campsitephotos.com/campground/az/mather/

Here's a YouTube on Site 308 - looks spacious.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xojneGRSm7M

Thanks Folks! Right now we're planning on tent camping, so any site will do, just didn't know if some loops were preferred. we are in between campers at the moment but that may change prior to our trip to GC.

We're hoping to get in at phantom ranch in June for two nights so we can hike down to the floor of the canyon and back up. we'll make our campground ressies as soon as they open.

Since you are not going until 2019 you should be able to reserve a large site. I fit in with a 30 foot TT. I forget the site number.

Make your reservations 6 months in advance.

Assuming you are small enough to get into Mathers, it is quite nice. Much nicer than Trailer Village which is more like a Trailer Park. No room. No matter which one, you are not there for the camping experience you are there for the canyon.

Or, if the tarp on the sewer hose doesn't work for you, there's a dump station at the entrance to the parking lot for the showers/laundry.
Camping aside, it's one of those places you have to do at least once, and stay for at least 3 days, to really see it. There's also a CG out to the east called Desert View that's first come, first served. Another option?

If you end up at Trailer Village instead of Mather, bring a thick tarp to drape over your sewer hose -- the ravens will peck through the hose.

Why the ravens do this here and nowhere else, I don't know. But it's true.

Depends on what you're driving, or pulling. Big rig or combo might not fit. The Mather (no "s") Campground sites and loops are all pretty much the same. Some sites are roadside pull throughs, some are back ins. Larger rigs/combos might not fit in the Mather CG. Probably around 25' in length will not have any problems at most sites, and there are a few exceptions that will work for a bit longer rigs. If you're longer than that, you might have to use the Trailer Village CG.

The bus stop is at the entrance (at the foot of the hill). One site is a good as any other.