Free camping only next to the road with a quarter mile stretch to pick with 2 spots. Car traveling on bumpy dirt roads with dust on camp sites. I rather pay 27 dollars to save my vehicle from damage and dust.
No overnight camping.
We've camped here twice. it's mainly tent camping. If you have an RV or camper you need to park on the edge of the parking lot. as of April 2021 the area will be for day use only no more camping.
Just camped here over the weekend, and I left satisfied. There is nothing super special here; you’re still near the highway and there is no workers cleaning up after other campers. There is a ton of trash littered around, so bring a plastic bag so you’ll be able to clean up your area before you settle in. There are more secluded areas and also very open and communal areas, it all depends on which one you grab and when you get there. There are no rules, so I was near some guys playing their boom box all night until 10, but I didn’t mind the music, so it wasn’t horrible. Overall, it was nice since you can pitch a tent wherever an there is no fee compared to other pricey nearby camping spots. If you’re lucky to get a good area, then you’re all set. But there are some pretty bad spots here as well. Take your chances! The stream right behind the campsites is really nice and is a good little area for some wandering around.
If your looking to throw up and tent and relax this is the place for you. There is enough space to boondock a small RV, Tent Trailer, or Travel Trailer. The main campsites sits on the creek, which always has fresh clean water running. There are several other tent camping sites further back, however they are closed till 2022 for regrowth. You will hear cars/truck from time to time as this is the same road the Ranchers use to get back and forth to Payson. There is one vaulted bathroom. You are in nature so you will see clear skies, animals, and be able to cook over and open camp fire. In all in all I love this place and always look forward to our weekend trips up there twice a year.
Flowing Spring was an interesting area. The only bathroom was very close to the main highway (less than a mile) but the road was VERY wash-boarded and had a drop off to one side. The scenery on the way in is more high desert than lush green forest. The bathroom area has a large parking lot that could easily accommodate a lot of cars but all the spaces to camp there will be walk in only. The trees aren't super dense so expect a decent amount of sunlight.
We traveled a bit further down the road and found a spot right over the bridge and next to the river. This site (as well as a lot of the others we saw) was not very level. There was a lot of powder fine dust at the camp site and every time the wind kicked up it was a giant dust cloud. There were trees around but not a lot of shade. I'd say that had we gone when the weather was perfect to be outside in the sunlight and there was no wind blowing the dust the site would have been really nice.
Towards the end of the road there are a few more places that you could park a small trailer to camp. We arrived on a Thursday and almost everything we saw that would accommodate a trailer already had people in it. I'd guess we saw around half a dozen places you could put a small trailer (the website says nothing over 20 feet). There were plenty of places that will accept tents especially if you're willing to walk in.
We walked the river for a ways and the water was really dirty in the pools and you couldn't see much deeper than a few inches unless it was running. We didn't see any evidence of trout in the river but honestly didn't try fishing either. A lot of the pools didn't have enough water to connect them so I assume the river was just very low when we went.
We were going to camp here and set up our tent, then drove to Strawberry for a wine tasting. We weren't impressed with the campsite since there were a ton of ants, the ground was pretty slanted, hard ground, and a camp of kids were there. After driving to strawberry we saw a trailhead where people were camping for free and moved our campsite here. Much better.
The campsite wasn't that bad, but there are MUCH better ones around.
