Ponderosa Campground (AZ) Tonto National Forest

I loved this campground. friendly host, spacious sites, and reasonably priced.

We’re we there during the week so there were very few others there. Camp hosts were amazing, very helpful. It rained and stormed each day. There were running streams all around, but no mud. Beautiful forest, lots of hiking or strolling paths. No TV very limited cell service.

We enjoyed this camp site for its beauty day and night. The stars at night were unbelievable. The sites are large with grill, fire pit, and barbecue. No hook ups. Toilets were primitive (think outhouse) but secure and clean. There is some highway noise so take care selecting site.

Campground is very clean, seriously I’ve never seen cleaner restrooms at a campground! I was camped at the back of the campground and it was really quiet, I couldn’t hear the highway at all. There are bear safes for your food if you are rent camping, and plenty of back roads to bike ride or hike. The camp hosts, Patti and John S. Are awesome too, they drove us to our spot and got us set up with some firewood, and were very friendly. If I wasn’t on my way to the east coast, this is definitely a place I would visit again!

The site was amazing, tall trees, clean bathrooms, fire and bbq pits, also a bear safe for your food. Firewood is sold here for 8$ and the the camp hosts are really nice. Everything is with in walking distance of the camp sites and the drink water is next to the bathrooms. It was very quiet out there and at night the woods came to life with owls and coyotes howling but we didn't get to meet Lary the bear who apparently frequents the camp area looking for snacks.

The only drawback to this popular weekend campground near the Mogollon rim, is its proximity to the highway. The drone of logging trucks and other vehicles is mostly a nuisance in the early hours and in the evening when you'd rather just listen to the sound of crickets and nocturnal birds. Of course, the further into the camping area you go the lesser the impact from the road. 

Otherwise, this campground is a lovely example of Arizona mountain country, with tall Ponderosa Pines and hearty shrubs covering the forested landscape. This campground provides a shaded refuge from the sun with opportunities to hike, bike, or drive, to some inspiring viewsheds.   We run on solar, so found one of the only spots with enough sun to keep us charged up.

While it was super busy on the weekend, the mid-week peace of this place was priceless. Just down the road near Upper Tonto Creek, there are many popular, multi-use trails for hiking, horseback and mountain bike riding. The creek is stocked with trout for fly fishing enthusiasts. The fresh water is very palatable (which is rare for AZ) and the pit-toilets are efficiently kept clean by the annual resident camp hosts who work hard keeping this large campground tidy. They will also sell you some firewood or chat you up about the area or just about anything else.   

The town of Payson is less than 20 minutes away and has all the services and restaurants you could want. I highly recommend going to Alfonso’s Mexican take out– absolutely worth it.  We went for dinner, then couldn't resist a breakfast burrito the morning we left.

This is one of my personal favorite campsites in Arizona, for many reasons.  It's very clean, with drinking water and well maintained toilets/trash facilities. The camp hosts are very diligent about quiet hours so you can rest assured that the nights will be peaceful. This is also a short drive from Payson so easy access to supplies and at times, cell phone reception if needed.

This is one of the first campgrounds you will find when hitting the Mogollon Rim so it can get warmer due to lower elevation in the summer months. It is a great jumping off point though for exploring other regions of the area and a short drive from the Horton Creek Trail starting point.

This is a large campground and A loop is right by the road so will be very loud with trucks. D loop has the largest campsites and the most privacy between your neighboors.

Nice campground overall. I enjoyed the easy access off the 260 and also the paved roads. We had a great campsite with tons of space D08 but it was also close to the bathroom. 2 issues were the flys and the bees. It was overload. They actually had bee and fly catchers up before we even got there and they still were an issue. Overall not bad but probably won’t come back.

Clean, functional, and staff was very understanding and helpful and even was very flexible when we had a miscommunication and some extra cars and tents. Stayed around end of May and weather was fantastic.