Chisos Basin Campground
Big Bend National Park · Texas · 56 sites
Photos: National Park Service via Recreation.gov
Overview
Chisos Basin Campground is a National Park Service campground in Big Bend National Park, Texas, with 56 sites in 3 loops. Mostly open: only a few shady sites. Verizon reports coverage at every site; T-Mobile at 19 of 56; AT&T reports none.
1 of 56 sites shaded
55 of 56 sites in full sun
56 of 56 sites with clear sky
Map of the campground
Every site from the Recreation.gov listing. Choose a layer to see it across the campground; tap a site to open it in Roam.
Layers
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Questions
Which sites at Chisos Basin Campground are the shadiest?
Only a few. 1 of 56 sites have good shade; most sit in the open.
See the tree canopy in RoamWhich sites at Chisos Basin Campground get the most sun?
Plenty. 55 of 56 sites are open to the south and the sky — easy for solar panels, and warm on cool mornings.
See the tree canopy in RoamWill Starlink work at Chisos Basin Campground?
Easy here. All 56 sites have open sky for a Starlink dish. Satellite texting on a phone needs less open sky, but still works best from the most open spot you can find. This is our estimate from tree heights — check with the Starlink app's obstruction check when you arrive.
See the tree canopy in RoamWhich sites at Chisos Basin Campground are the most level?
1 of 56 sites is flat, and 10 more have a gentle slope most RVs can level with blocks; 45 are steeper, better for tents. Sites that take RVs or trailers fit rigs up to 24 ft.
See the slope at each site in RoamDoes Chisos Basin Campground have cell service?
Mostly. Verizon reports coverage at every site; T-Mobile at 19 of 56; AT&T reports none. That's the coverage each carrier reports to the FCC, not a measured signal, so under trees or below a ridge it can be weaker.
See the coverage map in RoamWhat’s the weather like at Chisos Basin Campground in October?
In October, expect highs around 77°F and lows around 53°F, with about 1.1 inches of rain over the month. Every month’s averages are in Roam Premium.
Open Chisos Basin in RoamCampground facts
- Sites
- 56 in 3 loops
- Kinds
- 42 for RVs or trailers · 14 tent-only
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 24 ft
- Accessible
- 1 site
- Elevation
- 5,080–5,151 ft
- Amenities
- Drinking water, Food storage lockers
- Every site
- Picnic table · Pets allowed · Check-in 1 PM, check-out 12 PM
- Managed by
- National Park Service
- Booking
- Reserve on Recreation.gov
How we know Sources and limits
Shade, sun and Starlink are our estimates from Meta and the World Resources Institute’s canopy-height model (about 2 m pixels, from satellite imagery calibrated with space lidar; CC BY 4.0). From 2 m above each site we trace 72 lines out to 60 m and note the tallest tree in each direction. Shade counts trees overhead, the canopy within 30 m and how much of the afternoon sky is blocked. Sun counts how open the southern sky is. Starlink needs open sky above 35°, with the northern half counted twice because US dishes tilt north, and we keep the best spot within 8 m of the site’s post. The model sees tree heights only, not trunks, buildings or hills, so check with the Starlink app when you arrive.
Slope is the ground at each site’s post over about 4 m, from USGS 3DEP 1 m lidar: level under 2%, gentle to 4% (most rigs level on blocks), sloped to 8% (fine for a tent), steep beyond.
Cell coverage is from the FCC Broadband Data Collection (carrier filings as downloaded May 2026): each site is tested against each carrier’s modelled outdoor 4G/5G coverage. It is what the carriers report, not a measured signal.
Weather is NOAA’s 1991–2020 climate normals for the campground. Sites and facts are from Recreation.gov’s open data (July 2026). Map imagery: USGS The National Map. Photos: Recreation.gov.
From the campground’s Recreation.gov listing: “The Chisos Basin Campground has 60 individual campsites. The campground is reservable year-round, some sites six months in advance, some two weeks in advance (Sites 8 - 10, 12 - 15, 31, 37 (accessible), and 48 - 60. There is no first-come, first served camping. A few sites are set aside for administrative use. Because of the size of each campsite, they are more suitable to tent camping than RVs or trailers, though both are allowed at some campsites. Each site comes with a picnic table, charcoal grill and bear-proof food storage container, and some sites come with picnic shelters for shade. Sites are generally rocky and not level. The national park is named for a curve in the Rio Grande called the "big bend." For 1,250 miles (2012 km), the river is an International Boundary between the United States and Mexico. The campground lies at the base of several sloping cliffs amidst montane shrubland; desert plants such as Arizona cyprus and mesquite trees fill the landscape. Maple, aspen, pinyon and ponderosa pines grow at higher elevations just above the campground.”
Page data as of October 15, 2026. Full source notes are in each layer’s info in the app.