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Dispersed Camping

Coconino Rim Road Dispersed Camping

CAMPER SUMMARY PRESENTED BYFord

Coconino Rim Road Dispersed Camping, near Grand Canyon National Park, offers a fantastic escape into nature with its wide-open spaces and stunning forest surroundings. This area is perfect for those who appreciate a more rustic camping experience, with plenty of spots to set up your tent or RV.

Visitors rave about the peaceful atmosphere and the abundance of fire rings, making it easy to gather around a campfire after a day of exploring. One camper mentioned, “Waking up and seeing horses grazing around the campsites was a highlight!” With no permits required and a free stay, it’s a budget-friendly option for anyone looking to enjoy the great outdoors.

The location is also a great jumping-off point for adventures in the nearby Grand Canyon. While the road can be a bit bumpy at first, it opens up to a variety of sites, some more secluded than others. Just be cautious of the weather; a few campers noted that muddy conditions can make access tricky after rain or snow.

Whether you’re here for a weekend or a longer stay, Coconino Rim Road Dispersed Camping provides a laid-back atmosphere where you can unwind and soak in the beauty of the Arizona wilderness.

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Location

Coconino Rim Road Dispersed Camping is located in Arizona

Detail location of campground

Coordinates

35.9595176 N
111.95745027 W

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Connectivity

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    T-Mobile5G
    Excellent Coverage
    Verified by 1 user
  • signal strength bars
    VerizonLTE
    Some Coverage
    Verified by 5 users
  • signal strength bars
    AT&TLTE
    Some Coverage
    Verified by 3 users

Detours Nearby

LOCAL FAVORITES PRESENTED BYToyota Trucks
Fire Rd 688 - Dispersed

Fire Rd 688 - Dispersed

27 min away

Fire Road 688

Fire Road 688

27 min away

Drive Time

Presented byToyota Trucks

Connectivity

Presented byT-Mobile SatelliteT-Mobile is introducing T-Satellite to extend coverage in the outdoorsLearn More
  • signal strength bars
    T-Mobile5G
    Excellent Coverage
    Verified by 1 user
  • signal strength bars
    VerizonLTE
    Some Coverage
    Verified by 5 users
  • signal strength bars
    AT&TLTE
    Some Coverage
    Verified by 3 users

Access

  • Drive-In
    Park next to your site
  • Walk-In
    Park in a lot, walk to your site.

Site Types

  • Tent Sites
  • RV Sites
  • Standard (Tent/RV)
  • Dispersed
  • Group

Features

For Campers

  • Phone Service
  • Toilets
  • Alcohol
  • Pets
  • Fires

For Vehicles

  • Pull-Through Sites

DISPERSED CAMPING

Enjoy dispersed camping on government land and leave no trace. Pack in and pack out. No (or limited) services at this camping area. Permit may be required.


PERMIT might be REQUIRED

We curate permit requirements across the US for our PRO members. Try PRO to see if Coconino Rim Road Dispersed Camping needs a permit.

Contact

General Info


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Reviews

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4.5

out of 5

19 Reviews

Reviewed Jun. 23, 2025

Clean, quiet, accessible

The access road was fairly well maintained, enough for even 2wd cars. The sites were large and clean. Very peaceful.

Month of VisitJune
Reviewed Dec. 1, 2024

Fantastic spot

Fantastic spot for camping. We went in late November so pretty cold but nothing a camp fire can’t fix. Great open space. Easy access for my 4Runner. Would recommend this camping spot.

Month of VisitNovember
  • Play button icon
  • Review photo of Coconino Rim Road Dispersed Camping by darinn M., December 1, 2024
Reviewed Nov. 27, 2024

Kaibab National Forest Beauty!

This site was just inside the Kaibab National Forest. Beautiful trees, nice dark sky with a million stars and a stones throw to the south rim. Would highly recommend.

Month of VisitNovember
  • Review photo of Coconino Rim Road Dispersed Camping by Jason W., November 27, 2024
  • Review photo of Coconino Rim Road Dispersed Camping by Jason W., November 27, 2024
Reviewed Nov. 8, 2024

Great spot so close to the Grand Canyon

I was uncertain if this was a legitimate site or not, as we seemed to be on National Park land, but once you turn off onto Coconino Rim road, and pass the cattle grid you are on Forest land. So all good! Lots of space on flat land.

Month of VisitNovember
Reviewed Aug. 7, 2024

Awesome spot

This spot was perfect. Lots of spaces so not very private if that’s what you’re looking for. However, the site I found has an awesome fire ring. It was quiet, convenient to Grand Canyon NP. The selling point was waking up and horses were grazing around the campsites! Definitely plan to stay again

Month of VisitAugust
  • Review photo of Coconino Rim Road Dispersed Camping by Tyler C., August 7, 2024
Reviewed May. 11, 2024

Nice and peaceful

There are two pit toilets near the fire tower. Sites were sold out in the national park so we came over here and there was a ton of empty spots. Lots of fire pits and I have ATT cell service and it worked decent here.

Month of VisitMay
  • Review photo of Coconino Rim Road Dispersed Camping by Emily F., May 11, 2024
Reviewed May. 6, 2024

Spacious

Easy to access and tons of sites. I came in about 12am, and still found a site, after some looking. Just make sure you are IN the national forest, and not the park; you will not be happy

SiteN/A
Month of VisitMay
Reviewed Jun. 16, 2023

Easy Camping

After the Grand Canyon this was a solid spot. Very open, quiet, and plenty of spots to pick from.

A little bumpy on the way in.

There’s available toilets near the ranger station at the base of the lookout tower.

Month of VisitJune
  • Review photo of Coconino Rim Road Dispersed Camping by Salo C., June 16, 2023
Reviewed May. 21, 2023

Secluded and peaceful!

We went pretty far in, but it was worth it! There is camping all along the road so you’ll see others, but there are so many places available that you can find one more remote. Lots of ruts as it just rained the other day, but not horribly bad. We are in a lifted GX460 with a small pull behind camper and made it through going slowly. Beautiful forest all around. So happy to find this spot! Saw elk! There’s a neat lookout tower at the entrance of the Arizona Trail too!

Month of VisitMay
  • Review photo of Coconino Rim Road Dispersed Camping by Cassie T., May 21, 2023
  • Review photo of Coconino Rim Road Dispersed Camping by Cassie T., May 21, 2023
  • Review photo of Coconino Rim Road Dispersed Camping by Cassie T., May 21, 2023
  • (7) View All
Reviewed Apr. 29, 2023

Great proximity to fantastic views!

Dispersed camping along the Coconino Road has plenty of locations to choose from. Be advised that the first mile or so of the road is very rough (ruts, large holes), but it does improve after that. Also be very careful leaving the dirt road. The ground looks solid enough but you can easily find very soft ground and sink into it (ask me how I know).

Siteintersection of 310/2719
Month of VisitApril
Reviewed Apr. 18, 2023

Beware Mud!

We came after a few snow storms and the snow melting during the day made a virtually impossible escape from the site on departure. Other than that, very quiet, clean, no disturbances! Lots of nature to wander during daylight hours and so close to the canyon!

Month of VisitMarch
  • Review photo of Coconino Rim Road Dispersed Camping by Luke M., April 18, 2023
Reviewed Jul. 19, 2022

Great Spot

so many spots! If you pull off of 64 and follow the road back to the Kaibab Forrest sign and there are a lot of dispersed camping spots. There are some trails back there too.

Some people left trash so we picked it up, just remember to pack it in and pack it out.

Month of VisitJuly
Reviewed May. 21, 2022

Great boondocking!

Driving a 38’ Class A motor home towing a car is what I do but when I see “Fire Road” on the map it makes me a bit nervous. Well this place is great - even for big rigs. Found a great spot. Road was bumpy the first 1/4 or 1/2 mile but if you take it slow, you won’t have dishes all over the floor. Sites are nice. Pick as tree covered or open as you like. I have 3,500 watts of solar on the roof so I picked a spot that was open to afternoon sun. You are close to many of the scenic areas of Grand Canyon. It’s right there. I was pleasantly surprised when I got here.

Site35.958549, -111.955796
Month of VisitMay
  • Review photo of Coconino Rim Road Dispersed Camping by Robert G., May 21, 2022
  • Review photo of Coconino Rim Road Dispersed Camping by Robert G., May 21, 2022
Reviewed Mar. 19, 2022

Closed

The gate is locked due to poor road conditions. We visited March 19 2022 should be open by end of June if they decide to open it at all. Per ranger

Month of VisitMarch
Reviewed Nov. 28, 2021

Quiet but busy

The trees here are very thin so you can see quite far. Many spots down this road so you can have your pick but you can see everyone. From our spot you can see 5 cars, and we are hundreds of yards apart. Otherwise it's very quiet.

Month of VisitNovember
  • Review photo of Coconino Rim Road Dispersed Camping by Blake V., November 28, 2021
Reviewed Nov. 6, 2021

Free camping near GCNP

Free camping along the rode, we passed about 10 people before coming to a spot from GCNP. Camped next to the watch tower. Our spot was close to road so lacked toilet privacy, but the other spots were farther off the road. Perfect spot to camp and drive 5 minutes into GCNP.

Month of VisitNovember
  • Review photo of Coconino Rim Road Dispersed Camping by Brady , November 6, 2021
  • Review photo of Coconino Rim Road Dispersed Camping by Brady , November 6, 2021
  • Review photo of Coconino Rim Road Dispersed Camping by Brady , November 6, 2021
  • (8) View All
Reviewed Jun. 9, 2021

Nice, widely spaced sites, just a mile or so off of East (South) Rim Road (

We have a 36’ Class A with a Cherokee Trailhawk tow and parked and dropped just past the entrance to the NF, then went to scout for a site that would accommodate us. We found a site about a mile in or so, just off to the right of Coconino Rim Rd(FR 310) for 7 days(end of May, beginning of June). As others have said, the Forest Roads, while a little bumpy, are in much better shape than the first part of the road as you turn off of Hwy 64 and leave GCNP. There are quite a few sites along the FRs and almost all of the sites are very well spaced, most being 0.4 miles apart or more. Some are clustered a little more closely together, but would make nice group sites. There is quite a bit of traffic on Coconino Rim Rd and the vehicles and ATVs do kick up bit of dust. The further off of the road you can get the better, and with the winds predominantly out of the“West”, that side of the road is generally less dusty. There are a number of trails/forest roads in the immediate area to hike and/or bike. Due to the decades long drought, there is usually a fire ban in the area. We did see herds of elk late in the evenings and early mornings. The ranger that stopped by to check on us was very nice. He said they have to truck water in for the elk now, as there are no longer any natural water sources for them. Flies were only a periodic nuisance, but we were infested with dozens of Dingy Cutworm Moths every night from~7-10pm. I understand that this only happens for a few weeks a year, but it was very annoying. AT&T coverage was weird, varying between 4 bars of LTE service, to 4 bars of 4G, to 4 bars of 3G(mostly), to no service and speeds wildly varying as well, ranging from nothing up to about 2 MB/s. There was a T-Mobile tower about 300 yards from our site. I contacted AT&T and they’re looking into the weirdness. There were few trees, but widely spaced, so we were able to get DISH coverage on all three western satellites at our site. There were no OTA channels to be had with our fixed omni antenna.

SiteDispersed
Month of VisitMay
  • Review photo of Coconino Rim Road Dispersed Camping by Ray & Terri F., June 9, 2021
  • Review photo of Coconino Rim Road Dispersed Camping by Ray & Terri F., June 9, 2021
  • Review photo of Coconino Rim Road Dispersed Camping by Ray & Terri F., June 9, 2021
  • (6) View All

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Coconino Rim Road dispersed camping located?

Coconino Rim Road Dispersed Camping (Forest Road 310) is located just outside the boundary of Grand Canyon National Park, in Kaibab National Forest. It's a convenient 5-minute drive from Grand Canyon National Park, situated near the Watchtower. The dispersed camping area stretches along FR 310 with numerous potential campsites scattered throughout. This free camping area provides an excellent alternative when park campgrounds are full, offering proximity to park attractions while providing the flexibility of dispersed camping in a national forest setting.

What are the rules and regulations for dispersed camping on Coconino Rim Road?

Dispersed camping on Coconino Rim Road follows standard National Forest regulations. Camping is free and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Campers must practice Leave No Trace principles - pack out all trash and waste. Camping is only permitted within Kaibab National Forest boundaries, not inside Grand Canyon National Park. There's no time restriction posted, but standard Forest Service dispersed camping typically allows a 14-day stay. Fire rings are available at many sites, but always check current fire restrictions before having a campfire. Pit toilets are available near the fire tower for campers' convenience.

What road conditions should I expect when accessing Coconino Rim Road for camping?

Coconino Rim Road (FR 310) has variable conditions that campers should prepare for. The first quarter to half mile is typically rough with ruts and large holes, but conditions generally improve further along the road. The road can become challenging or impassable during and after rain or snow, with melting snow creating particularly difficult conditions. During winter months, the gate may be locked due to poor conditions. Large RVs, including Class A motorhomes up to 38 feet, can access the area by driving slowly over the rougher sections. Be cautious when pulling off the main road, as ground that appears solid may be soft and prone to getting vehicles stuck.