Sitgreaves National Forest Canyon Point Campground

Early May. First come, first served. Plenty of room between sites. Deep forest, for the most part. We liked it. State road is rough at the present time!

Very nice, clean campground with reservations and first come spots. Fire pits and BBQ grills. Showers available from 8-5.

First time here the other night. Very clean spaced out sites. Vault toilets are clean and there are showers too. Many sites have electric hook ups too. I’ll be back for sure.

Clean, very widely dispersed camp sites(lots of social distancing trees) especially in loop B (no electricity hookup); loop A sites a little closer but still great and most sites have electricity. Double lane dump station but no full hookups. Very clean restrooms and showers (require a ticket, not open on Mon & Tues). Campground mostly quiet after 8:30pm. Nice little (about 2 miles round trip) hike to Sinkhole. Campground close to several wonderful lakes for fishing, canoes, kayaks and stand up boards.

Very nice clean rv park with well spaced campsites. Have yet to use the vault toilets or dumpsters so no opinion yet. Reserve and FFS sites there is a dumpsite and water, and some of the sites have electric. There are tent sites as well. Having been here through the afternoon/evening, I have to add that this campground is a bit noisy with hwy traffic and pets. I have to add that the staff here are very nice and helpful.

Sites are nice, lots of trees, space between each campsite.  Dumpsters were full and rarely emptied.

All bathrooms and showers are closed for Covid, would have been nice if website said this.

The camp hosts are AWFUL. They speed through the area going the wrong way, yelling at us to move out of their way! A campsite truck with a trailer and one with a lawn mower almost ran us down each. Larry almost hit my child with his golf cart. They play favorites, buddying up with certain guest who drink with them. The ladies at the check in guard gate are just plain nasty. As soon as we got there Larry was yelling at us for having a tire three inches off the pavement yet he was driving a truck the wrong way. Unreal! They have ruined a good place.

This is a well known campsite on the Mogollon Rim in Arizona, I remember camping there as a kid and they were one of the only sites that had showers. It is still a nice spot with very large campsites and nice drinking water.  Those are two of the best selling points though as everything else feels run down, from the toilets to the campsites themselves. Was there over the July 4th weekend in 2020 and there was yellow tape on broken items at many campsites. The bathrooms are old and even as just pit toilets, could be improved on. The water spout nearest our site dripped unless properly turned off, resulting in a flooded area and lots of bugs.  Instead of fixing it or posting about how to properly turn it off to prevent the water spoilage, it was also closed off with yellow tape. We stayed in site 71, loop B, which was very large and had tons of great shade trees/space for hammocks. Across from us though was an RV who insisted on running their very loud generator for long periods of time, 6 hours in one stretch until 10pm. While the campground allows for generator use up until 10pm, this was too loud and sounded like a lawn mower was running well into the night. The RV owner even yelled at the campground in a very threatening manner at 10pm one night when multiple people cheered that the generator was off.  The camp hosts advised that generators must be below 85 decibels but never returned to test it and most of the time, appeared to be socializing with the offender, even though multiple people complained. It's understandable that tenter's and RV campers have different priorities but there should still be a level of respect between the two groups so that peace and respect an be maintained. I for one wouldn't mind seeing large campgrounds such as this one to have RV only sections so that their additional devices do not disturb those of us who enjoy the peace and quiet of tent camping. Its location is stellar, right by Woods Canyon Lake and perfect elevation to escape the heat.  Beware favoritism though with camp hosts. They also were not enforcing the social distancing rules listed on their own website, to advise that you are not allowed to socialize with other campsites and one family per campsite.  One pair of camp hosts were walking around each evening having drinks at various campsites.  Sad to see at this stage of a public health crises.

I’ve been going to this site for years. They keep the bathrooms clean. There’s showers available if you need it. They do free water and sewage dump. Not many sites do that. Friendly workers that want you to have a great time. A must visit site.

The sites are very well maintained and for it being so big, you didn’t feel cramped (although it wasn’t full). Perfect site for our first camper tow. Amenities are nice (water/dump station), showers, paved roads throughout, but the campground pit toilets are old and stinky. Will definitely be back, but will probably use our own bathroom. 😬

This place is a very well maintained campground. The sites are big. Your neighbor is not on top of you. They have bathrooms and showers which are very clean and always kept up. There is a lot of campers that come from other campsites to use the shower.

The best thing about canyon point is the fact that it’s one of the other campgrounds that have showers available, that’s a huge plus after a couple days of being outdoors. The sites are similar to other campground around the area. The sites are kind of close together but that’s to be expected. Nice paved roads, close to forest lake estates, and Payson is a short drive away for anything you might have forgot or need.

My first impression of Canyon Point was how clean and well organized the whole campground was. There is a kiosk at the front staffed with a couple workers who were very friendly. The provided a map and directions and offered lots of information.

It’s a little expensive but not terrible at $33 per night for hookups and $28 without. That being said, there are full hookups and a dump station, showers, and even an amphitheater with schedule activities. A and B loops, reservations required. I thought that the sites were a little close together for me.

This is one of the most well run and organized campgrounds that I’ve been to!

Located in the scenic Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in north central Arizona near the town of Heber.

Beautiful campground. Very well taken care of. Sites are large and spread out. Very quiet. Great tall pines for nice shade in Arizona summer.

No organized activities. Not much to do for children if they are looking for activities.

Showers and bathrooms are very clean but showers only open at 8:00am.

Campground Review

Canyon Point is located in a beautiful Pine and Aspen wooded area just above the Mogollon Rim. The area has plenty of hiking trails, streams, and lakes. The closest lake is Willow Springs which is about 5 miles West of Canyon Point and allows fishing. There are 2 trails that start from within Canyon Point campground. One goes to the edge of the Mogollon Rim and the other is the Sinkhole Trail. We decided to brave the Sinkhole Trail while we were there. It was very easy and only about ¾ of a mile each way with great tree coverage.

I have been to plenty of campgrounds within 20 miles of this area but I was impressed with Canyon Point from the moment we arrived. They have a designated Contact Station at the entrance that was staffed with multiple camp hosts to assist with check in and check out. As part of the check in process the campground host assisting us, Linda, explained some of the campground highlights, provided a campground map, a trail map, a printout of the rules and regulations, and a comment card with directions on where to submit it. Linda also told us that the hosts would be around camp on golf carts and if we needed anything, we could just flag them down. At one point one of the hosts, Fritz, stopped by to see how things were going and if we needed anything. He made instant friends with my son and even had a dog treat for our four-legged friend.

Canyon Point boasts 113 sites between 2 loops with both back in and pull through sites. We stayed in site 75, which is at the very back of Loop B, and we were amazed at how well the sites were laid out near us. We heard the other groups when the kids were playing or they would laugh in unison at something but beyond that, it was spaced out enough that the day to day conversation couldn’t be heard. Our site had a plastic coated picnic table and a ground level fire pit that had a rotating grill and a low grate. Unfortunately, we were in Stage II fire restrictions so we were not able to use it but it looked to be very well maintained and in working condition. Generally, when we go camping we make it a routine part of our trips to pick up trash around our site and any areas nearby. This campground was so well maintained the only trash we found was a bread bag plastic tab.

Loop B had 6 bathroom buildings that all featured a Men’s and Women’s side. The bathrooms were immaculate! They were clean and fully stocked with paper products, a trash receptacle, and air freshener. The campground also has a shower building near the entrance that is available 8a-8p (with the exception of 1p-2p for extra cleaning). Canyon Point also had a dump station available and an outdoor amphitheater the Forestry Service Rangers often use to host educational programs. The roads throughout the campground and the driveways were all paved so there was very little dust being kicked up. The campground also had more than enough dumpsters to accommodate the trash and they keep them locked at night to deter the animals.

When we went the Day Use fee was $5 per vehicle and an additional vehicle costed $12.50/night.

Product Review

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time – on this trip I tested the KoolSkinz Pet Vest. The vest is designed to be worn under your dog’s harness or collar and includes 3 reusable Kool packs that can be chilled to help your dog stay cool or heated to help them stay warm. The Kool packs are filled with S9 Kooling agent that is clear when hot or room temperature and then turns semi-solid and white when cold. All 3 packs are the same size so you don’t have to worry if you are putting them in the right pockets on the Pet Vest.

At first, I was really worried that the dog wouldn’t be able to move properly or he would destroy the Pet Vest because he loves to rub on the ground, the trees, the bushes, and really anything else his height. He was able to move freely without issues and didn’t mind continuing to rub on everything. The Pet Vest is a stretchy material and I did notice slight catches in the material after he had worn it a few times but it doesn’t seem to effect the functionality. The only other thing that I disliked about it was that the trim around the neck/chest was stitched with a single thread and as the dog wore it and stretched it the seems popped in multiple places. Again, it doesn’t affect the functionality but it looks silly having broken black threads on the bright material so I’m going to just pull the rest of the pieces out. I was also very impressed with the strength of the Kool packs. Our dog loves to roll on the ground and run into things. I kept expecting to see one of the Kool packs burst open but they have held up to his abuse.

When we arrived at the campground it was just over 80 degrees. We put the Kool packs into the cooler for 20 minutes and they turned white and semi-hard. I tested the temperature on the inside of my wrist to be sure it wasn’t too cold then placed it in the Pet Vest and put the Pet Vest on my dog. The Kool packs in their cold form aren’t “burning” cold like ice cubes. They work in two ways, one is releasing cool temperatures in the vest surrounding the dog but the other is to pull heat away from the dog’s body which is why they don’t need to be freezing cold. I was shocked that 20 minutes of chill time could stay cold for 2 hours but sure enough after 2 hours of wear the Kool packs were still chilled and definitely helping to cool the dog.

Our dog is a fairly big dog (he’s a black lab) but he doesn’t like to be cold. When we go camping and the sun goes down the temperatures can drop quickly especially when we have fire restrictions and no fire for warmth. The Kool packs can be boiled for around 2 minutes then put into the Pet Vest to help keep the dog warm for up to half an hour. We brought an extra pot of water for our propane stove and boiled the Kool packs to put in the Pet Vest to help keep him warm. Our dog stopped shivering almost immediately and seemed to greatly enjoy the extra time he could spend outside with us. Really great side note with the Pet Vest is that it will also hold hand warmers so if you are backpacking or don’t have access to a microwave or boiling water you can use those to help keep your dog warm! (they also last a lot longer than the Kool packs do when heated)

The vest is machine washable which is a major perk for us. The dog LOVES to roll in the dirt and after every camping trip we get a steady stream of mud off the dog. After a weekend in the vest it was pretty filthy also. I threw the vest in the washer (with all of the buckles snapped together per the directions) and let it air dry. The vest cleaned very well and after washing the colors were bright and vivid and the material lacked any evidence of previously holding about a pound of dirt!

All around the concept of this product is really neat. In Arizona they close down the trails to dogs after temperatures reach 100 degrees. I definitely wouldn’t want to be out (nor take my dog out) hiking in temperatures that warm but even at 80 degrees it can get very hot and having something as simple as this KoolSkinz Pet Vest can make a big difference. We have definitely been using the packs more for heat than cold because of how much the dog dislikes being cold but it is such a great option because really how else do you blanket wrap an active dog to keep him warm.