Forty miles east of Safford in the Pinaleno Mountains, Hospital Flat Campground operates at 9,000 feet elevation within Coronado National Forest. The Forest Service maintains this established campground with basic toilet facilities from mid-April through mid-November, when snow typically closes mountain access roads.
Sites spread across both forested and open terrain near a creek. Upper Hospital Flat Group Site sits just uphill from the main campground. The high elevation means cooler temperatures than the desert below, but campers should prepare for potential afternoon thunderstorms during summer months and pack warm layers for chilly mountain nights.
Description
Hospital Flat is so named because in the 1880s it served as a site for a field hospital for ailing soldiers from Fort Grant. That frontier outpost is located along Grant Creek on the south slope of the Pinalenos. The restorative powers of this cool mountain meadow, carpeted with wildflowers and traversed by a small creek, were sufficiently notable that it also became a summer retreat for officers and their families trying to escape the heat of their desert outpost. Fort Grant was closed in 1905 and now serves as an Arizona State Prison Facility. Hospital Flat still serves as a popular refuge for forest recreationists who come to its pleasant surroundings for much the same reason as did those soldiers.
RV Road Trip Guides
Location
Public CampgroundHospital Flat Campground is located in Arizona
Directions
In Safford, AZ, at intersection of US Rt. 70 (5th St.) and US Rt. 191 take Rt. 191 south for 7.4 miles to State Rt. 366. Turn right onto Rt. 366 and go 23.2 miles to campground sign. Turn left into campground
Coordinates
32.66599972 N
109.87400018 W
Connectivity
T-MobileNo Coverage- VerizonNo Coverage
- AT&TNo Coverage
Connectivity
- T-MobileNo Coverage
- VerizonNo Coverage
- AT&TNo Coverage
Access
Site Types
- Tent Sites
Features
For Campers
- Toilets
Drive Time
- 2 hrs 23 min from Sierra Vista, AZ
- 2 hrs 24 min from Tucson, AZ
- 3 hrs 39 min from Las Cruces, NM
- 3 hrs 53 min from Phoenix, AZ
