Ironwood Forest BLM National Monument Pump Station Dispersed

Just an overnight. Rolled in late and left early but never heard a noise and site is nice and flat. Was 111 during the day but cool enough for easy sleep at night.

The road from the highway is paved for most of the way. It is about 7 miles from I-10 north of Tucson. You can see the small airport, but it's not busy. The Pump Station Rd dirt access road is a little washboard, but inside the camping area, it's pretty good. We only went in a short ways as we were just overnight. The Ironwood Forest is close by and was a nice ride.

The washboard road getting to the coordinates is worse than the road within the dispersed camping area! There are a few good rolling bumps and small ditches but going slow will help. Plenty of areas to pull into, some are ez in and out loops, some are back-ins. I went in 1.25 miles from the entrance on Pumps station road with my 18’ trailer with no issues other than stuff moving in the cabinets. I walked another half mile and saw more sites but they are closer to the “airport”. Don’t be put off by that. There is almost no activity during the week and on the weekends there are some very small planes in and out that are towing gliders or dropping parachutists. Very little noise and fun to watch! The site I was in must have had frequent or dedicated visitors because there was a very lovely set of stone boundaries, rock and creosote gardens and a fire ring with an edged path! (see photos) Very clean,very quiet!!

I want to know if there are any dangerous animals in such mountains and forests. My group of friends and I are planning to come here to explore among us.

Easy to find- road isn’t too bad. Was quiet, breezy- and just what we were looking for.

About 40 minutes away from Saguaro NP. Absolutely beautiful. Arrived late in the afternoon on a Saturday night. Only a couple of other campers, plenty of sites available. Dirt roads, but easily accessible in a mini van. Fires allowed.

Easy access to a few spots off road. Not to busy. Nice sunsets.

Always leave it cleaner than it was. Some really nice sites, one had super nice fire pit even flat rocks for pans. Another site was basically landscaped with fist size or larger rocks. Very much enjoyed our stay. Seems to becoming more popular but sites are a good distance apart. You can be out of site easily or within 60 feet of the next site if you wish. Don't recommend if it's going to rain, you'll be stuck.

We stayed here 2 nights and enjoyed our stay for the most part. The highlight is that you’re among all of the beautiful saguaros next to a gorgeous mountain. Noteworthy mentions:

A long dirt road to get to the sites. Gets sketchy in some parts.

Not as many sites available as you’d think. Looks like may 5-6?

The mountain is a ways away from most of the sites.

The mountain itself doesn’t have any marked trails and is a bit of a free for all but we enjoyed exploring it.  Beautiful sunsets.

A lot of helicopter activity above.

Very large space between sites.

Beware of teddy bear cholla cactus! They are everywhere, grab right onto you if you brush them gently by accident. Very painful to get out. View photos.

It's nice at night. During the day there are dump trucks passing on north pump station road every 5 minutes

There's also an airport, so planes pass by.

It's good for a free nights stay. It is clean and there are other campers, 👍

This was my first real Arizona camping experience. I actually came back a second time and my make it back some more. There are very easy dirt roads for awhile. After a bit, you can get into some much rougher, rutted roads. There’s a small cemetery back a ways that I stumbled upon. Fun to camp and/or explore. I could find Verizon service very scarcely but mostly no service. Pretty quiet; which is what I was looking for.

If you want the environment you expect Arizona to be, this is the place. Plenty of spots to choose from, open to all types of camping. I chose to tent here, but the majority of people were in RVs. Spots weren’t too hard to find although there were a lot of people. The roads back to it were pretty poor farm roads, but any type of car can make it. No amenities, good cell service. Would stay here again

This seems to be the popular dispersed camping area along North Pump Station Road within the BLM Ironwood Forest National Monument. Numerous dispersed sites along a two track dirt road on both sides of the main gravel road. Free dispersed, 14D limit. No water, trash, toilets or designated spots. Cell signal is very good and OTA tv is also very good. Last mile or so from end of pavement is a wide graded dirt road accessing the dispersed sites from either direction, however the Silverbell road access seems to have a narrow bridge with a 6k weight limit?, So access to this site is from the south on gravel west El Tiro Rd for larger rigs?

(Note that State land is adjacent and also offers dispersed camping sites but an AZ state lands permit would be required on State lands.)

One negative issue is the constant target shooting from adjacent State lands.