This was the first backpacking trip for my sister and I. Thankfully my husband was with us and had done this before. We were at the Bright Angel Campground for 2 nights. The campground is along Bright Angel Creek and near the Colorado River. It is also 1/2 mile from Phantom Ranch. Our campsite was nice. It's first come, first serve. About half the sites are right on the creek and the other half are 'next to' the valley wall. We chose site #17, which was away from the creek. The sites have a place to hang your pack, a picnic table, a small square cement piece on the ground to put your cooking stove on and 2 metal ammo cans to store your food. We had 2-2man tents in the space with no problems at all. There is toiles (clean toilets - ladies room has 2 toilets and 2 sinks with mirrors and a hand dryer) and drinking water available in the middle of all the camp sites. We had a wonderful time. The campsites were all full while we were there. The night sky is amazing and the sounds of the night were very soothing. It's nice to have Phantom Ranch close by. We had 2 of our meals there, along with buying an occasional iced tea and lemonade in the afternoon. I would highly recommend this campground (it's tough to get a permit - so be persistent)!

Bright Angel Campground is right near Phantom Ranch located at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. The view is awesome and well worth the hike. We were able to set up tent right on the Bright Angel Creek, where cottonwood trees line its shores. The only drawback was that the water line in the Canyon broke the day before our hike. As I understand that happens often so be sure you are able to treat your water. There are flushing toilets at this campground, but no showers.

Made this our second stop during a 3-night/4-day hike into the Canyon. After spending the first night on the Tonto Plain we spent a very relaxed night at Bright Angel. We arrived on a very hot day and after spending about 30 minutes hydrating ourselves we found a great spot right next to the creek. We quickly set-up our gear and then hopped into the creek to cool off and do some cleaning. After being "counseled" by the ranger for our hanging of clothes and apparent inappropriate use of bio-degradable soap, we made it with a few minutes to spare for dinner. We had inquired at the south rim before hiking down and discovered some steak dinners were available for purchase. We loved it! After a long day of hiking and severe thirst, being able to sit in air conditioned (swamp cooler) comfort having steak, potato, salad, vegetables and LOTS of iced tea, hard to imagine anything better.

In addition to the food (we also did breakfast the next morning and purchased sack lunches for the hike out), we also enjoyed the clean and modern restrooms and I even made a call using the pay phone.

The only real issue with this kind of camping is the constant concern for your food (provided ammo cans are a must) and keeping your gear up off the ground away from the critters.

Highly recommend planning ahead (we made our reservations almost 6 months out) and taking advantage of this great gem.

The Bright Angel campground was the first stop on our trip which I really fell in love with. It runs right a long side a stream that flows into the Colorado River. People would wade in the water to cool off and relax after a day of hiking, rafting, or just lounging around. It also has a building with an actual flushing toilet (with tissue), sinks (with soap and electric hand dryer) and drinking water. Each section is semi private, with places to hang your packs and containers to store your food. Though there were squirrels and other animals around, they really didn’t bother you (that’s if you put your food away). The deer that were around, pretty much ignored you and minded their own business as if they had just hiked down as well.
If you take a five minute walk past the campground, you would run into Phantom Ranch. Here is where you can get snacks and things to drink but not soda. The lemonade there was so good but I don’t know if it was because I had the luxury of ice or if I just enjoyed be able to drink something other than water. You couldn’t get food there, only through reservations but they did have wine and beer for those that were interested. Around the ranch, it had a volleyball net set up for those that wanted to play. It even had a seating area with a mist of water being circulated around with a fan. That was pretty nice if you were not interested in getting in the cool stream. If you hung around, there is an area where the Ranger would talk about the park and unknown facts that common people were not aware of. The Ranger even took everyone on a scorpion hunt. I didn’t go but I heard that they found a lot of them.
When you go to the bottom of the canyon, you really gain a lot more than those that stay on the rim but one thing that you have to relinquish is the ability to watch the sunset. Because you are so far below, you don’t get that option, which is really ok with most. Once it got dark, people either sat in the stream or retired to their tent, which is what I did. I laid there looking at the stars and listening to the stream, slowing falling a sleep to prepare for the next day hike. It is definitely a different view from at the top of the rim and is a world away from everything.