Best Dispersed Camping near Black Canyon City, AZ

We stayed at dispersed camping spot number 8. Very secluded with a hiking trail right off of it. Easy to get to with our van. Very private spot.

Great dispersed camping spot close to Sedona!

Heads up we camped a little further down on Beaverhead Rd where there were more open spots and an easier dirt road to drive onto. Plenty of spots to choose from which was surprising on a holiday week (Christmas to New Years). The camping was a lot quieter than I expected even though there were a bunch of other campers. Everyone seemed to be able to find a spot far enough from another to have a secluded space.

The location is super convenient from Oak Village and downtown Sedona. There is even a back way on highway 89 if you find yourself in West Sedona and don't want to drive through traffic to get to highway 179.

Secluded dispersed camping in the woods just outside of the town Crown King. 4x4 is recommended, campsites are not accessible when snowfall has occurred. Beautiful wildlife including deer always nearby.

Okay so I prefer free camp spots and places that are quiet and tucked away. This place is great. It’s not too far off the paved road but the road does get a bit bumpy once you’re off the paved road. I stayed in site #4 and it was perfect. I did have to pick up some trash left behind but very little. Came here to avoid the heat in Phx and it was still warm but nothing like the valley. And cooler at night which was wonderful. You do hear traffic from the road above but it’s not too bad. There’s a good amount of space from other camp sites so you don’t hear people very much and everyone was quiet once the sun was down. Overall I really enjoyed this spot. Oh and no bathrooms or water which I don’t mind bc it means less people around. And we did have cell service so that was a plus.

Mostly secluded which is my preference

Shared by boon-dockers

I have camped at every dispersed camping place within 150 miles of Phoenix. 99 percent are over run by noisy, disrespectful ATV AND DIRT BIKE riders. If they see people camping they like to rev their engines really loud and create big dust flumes to show how nasty they really are. Last year I never saw a dirt bike or ATV in blue point, but this year there's been a lot. Come on guys and gals you have control of every single other spot this was just one place the family could go and have some peace and quiet. NOT THIS YEAR!!! the ATV'S AND dirt bikes have been tearing down the roads making sure they really rev their engines and creat dust when they go by campers. Just be jerks. But besides that, compared to any other place, this is the quietest. Don't park near the gate, the sound from the road can get really loud. 6 am every morning a helicopter comes overhead it's extremely loud, just so you know. Make sure you go to the Tonto national Forest Mesa ranger station and get a permit for bulldog canyon on Ingram street in Mesa. You need the gate combination codes to open the gate and be in there. The rangers do come through and check your permit and ID's to make sure you are the one on the permit. Ive only seen coyotes and wild horses in there.the horses actually came up to my window, it was awesome.you can have fires, but there's no water or toilets. Try to stay away on Friday and Saturday nights. Allot of kids go there to drink and party. One more thing, if you open the gate, close and lock it! I have seen people call the rangers and tell and the rangers came down and took the person's permit away.enjoy!

Dispersed camping along this road with a convenient location to Fossil Creek and Wet Beaver Creek trails.  The campsite was clean and had a fire ring, no facilities so pack out what you pack in! The one we picked had a great view and the STARS WERE INSANE

We hiked from Copper Basin road along the Prescott Circle Trail and camped the night at one of the Thumb Butte dispersed camping sites. The campsites are large and well maintained. We were lucky enough to get the last open campsite for the day, but the sites are far enough apart from others so the area stays pretty quiet. There are fire pit rings at each site, but a fire ban was in place for the summer already.

Well, it's free and its a beautiful part of the Prescott Basin, but our campsite #6, was really dirty. We should have jumped out and looked around before setting up camp. We were just so excited to start our trip. Needless to say, after arriving at 6:00pm we left the next morning.

There was a beautiful stream we could hear from our site, but you had pass over wads of used toilet paper, broken beer bottles and empty propane tanks to name a few. 

Im hoping it's not always like this, and its quite possible that the people staying there before were just careless. Maybe it's to be a little more expected when dispersed camping, but we couldn't enjoy our time there.

This is a relatively small BLM dispersed camping area. There’s maybe 20 sites depending on the the type of vehicle you drive. There are definitely some high clearance vehicle only areas but we were able to find a nice spot in our Winnebago next to the base of the hills. There are no services here, it is strictly dry camping. There is s cemetery right next to the area, a little weird but they didn’t make much noise. There are plenty of hills to hike around on and there are some old mines in the area but be cautious, there are arsenic warning signs in some and it appears some mining is still going on. Great sunsets and star filled nights.

For free camping there aren’t very high expectations but this would be really difficult to get back too if you are in a big rig or don’t have a lot of clearance. The road isn’t well maintained. There was garbage and stuff left everywhere. There was a fire ring and Prescott was really close.

Access road is fresh gravel so better than 2024. Large open flat area in middle close to a livestock water and corral, so cow noise and smell. Free dispersed but need the $15 AZ lands permit. Cell signal is very good. No toilets, no trash, no tables...just rock fire rings. Close to the hwy so some hwy noise. Some Campers look to be folks that work in town. The other dispersed camping area a bit to the north closer to town by the cell tower may be another good spot. Only 4.5 miles to the Safeway in town.

Only 2 stars as the area is no scenic and had beat down vegetation, cow crap smell and general vibe is ick.

Easy to moderate trails throughout the area. Lots of dispersed camping and miles of trails. Heavy UTV use has made some of the trails even more challenging. Lots of fun.

Nice open dispersed camping area near the trailhead to Vulture Peak. Lots of random washes and remnants of mines to discover. Grocery store is only a few miles down the road near Wickenburg.

Nice enough place for dispersed camping, but requires a very bumpy drive to get there. Really good cell phone service (Verizon - I got 3-4 bars of 4G, which got me 75+ mb/s download speed)

Stayed 3 nights. Easy access to/from town, recently graded road as of this writing, and (kind of) level sites. Quiet during the winter season at least and plenty of wildlife. Like most dispersed camping, kooks leave trash everywhere.

First time dispersed camping with our 21’ pull-behind and had a great experience. Gravel road leading to the area is well kept and our truck had no issues getting to the area. Awesome views when we setup camp with plenty of space.

So thankful for this desert and the solitude it brought. The further off carefree you get, the more solitude you’ll find. It’s been pretty windy (25-30mph gusts) which causes a lot of dust but it’s gorgeous and warm during the day, even in January. Recommend black canyon city for laundry and hiked on the black canyon trail. Shell by this spot is pricey so make sure to get some stuff at Walmart in Anthem or somewhere else, however the shell is super convenient when in a pickle. Tons of stuff within 15-20 minutes such as groceries, shooting ranges, hiking, trails for the ATV/offroaders. I’d definitely visit again and recommend it. Also, great AT&T service, was able to work off hotspot from Tues-Friday with no incidence.

This area is inundated with squatters There was only one spot available and there is a LOT of trash. It’s too bad because otherwise this is a very nice place! Excellent trees, and excellent scenery. Make sure that when you choose a dispersed camping location that you choose one that is far from nearest town/city.

Probably one of the closest places to camp on the east valley of the Phoenix area. This place is most used by OHVs so it can get noisy on the weekends. I’ve also seen spots that people use for shooting. This area is just for dispersed camping, no services, cell phone coverage is good with Verizon.