Campground Review
Pine Flat is a beautiful little campground right off the highway between Sedona and Flagstaff. When I say right off the highway I’m not exaggerating. A few of the sites were within 20 feet of the asphalt. Thankfully, it is only a 2 lane road and most of the traffic seems to be day use so you really don’t notice it much at night. There are sites on the East side of the highway near the canyon wall and sites on the West side of the highway near the creek. The creek is mostly just a small amount of water running through some rocks (no fish bigger than 4 inches that we saw) but there were a few pools that were about 2 feet deep and perfect for cooling off in the mid-day sun. The campground had multiple bathroom buildings and over the weekend there wasn’t very often I had to wait to use one. The bathrooms were not immaculate but they were clean enough.
There are drinking water spigots in multiple places around camp. We were told this is unfiltered and directly from the creek so in my opinion use at your own risk… we didn’t try it. Due to the proximity to the creek you are not allowed to dump grey water on the ground so if you plan to wash your hands, dishes, or even brush your teeth bring a grey water collection bucket. This can be dumped into the toilet before you leave (per the camp host) so you do not have to travel with it. There are also signs right next to the spigots that say “No Washing” and I saw a million people doing it and a million people get called out by other campers and the host for doing it so don’t be that person. Pine Flat does not have showers but you can travel a few miles down the road to Cave Springs to use coin operated showers there.
The sites themselves varied a lot as far as what to expect. They all had a tent pad and most were very level and cleared out to accommodate a tent. Some were super shaded all day long and others (like site 11) didn’t have a single tree over the tent pad so you were relying on the canyon walls for shade which meant you caught the mid-day sun. Not all of the sites had driveways long enough to fit a trailer or multiple vehicles. Thankfully, our second car was tiny so we were able to squeeze it in the very front (which you will see in some of the pictures). The road through camp is a one-way single lane road and pretty narrow with boulders on the sides. A lot of the back in driveways had fairly sharp turning angles. It took us a bit of finagling to get the pop up in our space without hitting a boulder or a tree.
The campground was full by noon on Friday and we went during Stage II fire restrictions which often deters people from coming out. Their website suggests making reservations or coming earlier in the week then staying through the weekend to guarantee a spot. Part of the reason this campground is so busy is because it is beautiful and so close to Slide Rock State Park as well as Sedona. Slide Rock State Park does have limited parking and fills up quickly so you will often see lots of cars waiting on the highway to enter or parked on the side of the highway throughout the day. The park features an 80 foot long natural water slide formed by algae covered sandstone rocks and a large swimming area. If Slide Rock sounds a little too exciting for your type of camping trip you can visit Sedona which offers beautiful red rock landscape, plenty of places to hike, local artist galleries, unique restaurants, and spiritual vortexes.
Product Review
As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time – on this trip I tested Silipint. Silipint has non-toxic silicone products that are heat-safe (up to 450 degrees F but not over direct flame), cold-safe (yes, they can go in the freezer), insulating, dishwasher safe (which is a total make or break feature in my house), and microwave safe! They call them toddler safe as well and after they have been tossed around, knocked over, and squeezed repeatedly by my entire group in showing them off… I would completely agree. I think they really are indestructible aside from taking a machete to them. Some of the products I have were matte and others were polished but I have noticed no difference in the durability, usability, or ability to be cleaned between the two so it appears to be purely cosmetic.
Squeeze-a-Bowl (pictured in Tie-Dyed Polished Hippie Hops and Translucent Matte Bend Blue)
The Squeeze-a-Bowl was actually incredibly sturdy. I tried filling it up fairly full and could still easily pick it up with one hand without it flopping around and spilling the contents. It was sturdy enough that even my 4 year old could be trusted holding, carrying, and using it. We have used it for cold cereal, hot soups, and hot chili. I also tried doing scrambled eggs in the microwave. If you have ever done this you know that there is always a film left on the dishes that requires scrubbing and soaking to clean off. In the Squeeze-a-Bowl I used a little water and it wiped right out and there was no weird bubbling on the sides like you get when you reheat in plastic containers. With any temperatures, it insulated really well and prevented us from burning our hands on the bottom when we were holding it. These stack really well and fit into the dishwasher without any problems. The only thing about it that bummed me out was that it stained a little red from having the chili in it (but we all know tomato sauce stains everything).
Original Pint Glasses (pictured in Tie-Dyed Matte Arctic Sky and Translucent Matte Everlasting Emerald)
These glasses were perfect for hanging around camp. Mid-day it was in the low 90s and any canned beverage will not stay cold long. We would pour our sodas and beers into the cups and they stayed cold much longer. Another added perk is the benefit of them not being breakable so if you have glass bottled beverages you can transfer them to these cups and not risk shattering a glass or bottle when you want to go sit in the creek to cool down. With as large as the cups are (a full 16 oz) they keep their shape incredibly well even when full of liquid. I didn’t feel as though I had to be super careful holding the cup so that I didn’t squeeze in the sides and spill my drink all over my hand. The Travel Lid does fit the Original Pint Glass by sitting flush with the top of the glass pressed inside the cup itself. We actively tried to shake the lid off with liquid inside and it held on for dear life. Then to make it even better when we were ready to take the lid off you just use the Quick Lift Grip and it comes right out.
Tumbler Base (pictured in Tie-Dyed Polished Hippie Hops)
Amongst the group that used these this weekend this was the overall favorite. The sides are a little thinner and the bottom is weighted. I know it sounds “sili” that a weighted bottom may be important but we spent a lot of time sitting in the creek and the rocks make great tables but often aren’t perfectly level which makes cups a bit easier to spill when they are full of a cold beverage. The capacity on it was perfect as it held a 12oz canned beverage without issues. The Travel Lid does fit the Tumbler Base and made it easy to keep the bugs out while still providing a leak-free drinking experience. The only down-side to this style was that the walls of the cup are straight up so it will not stack nested inside of another Tumbler Base.
Shorty on the Rocks (pictured in Translucent Matte Frosted White)
The Shorty has a lot of great qualities. It is quite short and wide which made it fit comfortably in the hand and still helped make it a bit harder to tip over than the Original Pint. The sides are slanted so they will stack nested in other Shorty on the Rocks glasses. While we were out we were making bacon and realized we had way too much grease in the pan. For fear of it burning in the pan we started panicking looking for something to pour it into because we didn’t want that on the ground at camp and if you’ve ever tried putting hot bacon grease in a Styrofoam cup or a plastic cup you know it doesn’t end well. Then I saw it…. The Shorty on the Rocks. I thought to myself if it can handle the oven and boiling water it can handle this… so we poured the grease in. After the grease cooled I cleaned it out and the cup was still in perfect condition with no sign of being burnt or damaged at all. To top off the greatness of this cup the Travel Lid does fit (even though it is not included on the compatibility list). It could not handle violent shaking upside-down but casually knocking it over it stayed on without problems and was leak-free when used for drinking.
Kid-Friendly Half Pint (pictured in Tie-Dyed Matte Sea Swirl)
I wish I had known about these when we did the sippy cup phase with my son! The cup is perfect size for little hands. We used this for hot chocolate with my son and even though he doesn’t drink his hot chocolate nearly as hot as we do we do still mix it with boiling water then mix in ice. The cup handled the boiling water without issues and was cool enough to the touch that it could be held without a sleeve. When used with the Travel Lid the cup could be shaken with liquid in it pretty violently without the lid coming off which is super cool for the little ones that may get easily overexcited or a little wild. From a purely aesthetic standpoint the designs and colors are really neat and my son didn’t want to stop using the cup even when we got home.
Silicone Travel Lid (pictured in Opaque Matte Bouncy Black, Translucent Matte Frosted White, and Tue-Dyed Matte Hippie Hops.
While the Travel Lid is “just an accessory” I think it is a must-have for anyone using Silipint with any desire to help keep debris out of the cups and a little extra spill proof ability. I love that the lid fits all 4 of the cups that I tried meaning you don’t have to stock a ton of lids for each variation of the cups. The Travel Lids also allow you to close and open the mouthpiece. I turned the cup upside down with the mouthpiece closed and nothing leaked out unless I started shaking it around then the straw hole would leak.
Sili-Straw (pictured in Translucent Matte White)
The Sili-Straw fits perfectly through the opening in the Travel Lid and makes a very good seal. It is slightly thicker than a fast food straw but about the same thickness as every plastic reusable straw I’ve ever seen. It is flexible and was easy to use and drink through.
If you have read this far then you can tell I’m SUPER impressed by Silipint and I would definitely recommend them. I have only tried a handful of the many uses that Silipint lists on their website and I look forward to trying even more as these are now on the “must have” camping supply list in my house.
