Best Dispersed Camping near Clay Springs, AZ

This is BLM land, so it is free to camp here. There are picnic tables with covers, and cement pads at some sites. If you camp close to the permanent resident on the other side of the fence she will grouch and swear at you so there is that. The smell of cow poo is strong at times. But if you're going to the Petrified Forest this is THE place to stay, as it is close and conveniently located. Can't beat free either. I've stated here twice now and my kids love it. Big pieces of petrified wood on site you can touch and sit on even.

This is my favorite site! Free, beautiful dispersed camping! I have been up every other weekend and am obsessed!

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Numbered free camp sites. First come first served. Beautiful cool high country with many overlooks over the rim. There is a lake near by for fishing, has a small store and you can rent kyaks and small boats.

Camp sites are not near each other, but within sight. Campfires allowed when conditions permit. We stayed 3 nights while on our way home with our new R-Pod 192 Hood River Edition. We will definately go back again. The guy who came buy later to check us in was super nice and very informative.

Right outside the South Gate of the Petrified Forest National Park. They offer free camping with no hookups for self contained rigs. Water is available at city hall if needed. They even have a dumpster so getting rid of trash is easy.

There are two gift shops with camping areas here. The Petrified Forest Gift Shop on the left heading into the park, has 10 sites with 30amp electricity and a picnic table. $15.98/night. The Crystal Forest Museum on the right has free RV camping. Each site has a picnic table. The owner of the Petrified Forest Gift Shop just purchased the Crystal Forest Museum (which is still closed) and is still allowing free camping on that property. Fires are not allowed in either campground.

Along with this site, there are many dispersed camping sites right on the side of the rim with great views that you can see miles out. Great for tent camping but also big enough for campers and RVs

We stayed here for a few days while we explored the park and rested up for more travel. Something to note, if you get there after dark, the free camping is at the museum on the right. There's some camping on the left too but I think those sites cost money. We parked on the paid side at first but they were fine with us moving in the morning.

Visited in May on a Friday afternoon, there were no spots available. All of the sites are also close together, I wouldn't consider it dispersed camping. Drove down the dirt road 20min each way and had to find somewhere else

I’ve camped here twice and not only it’s great spot for the kids to roam around, it’s also nice having the lake close by. I don’t recommend staying too close to the restrooms because you’ll get a lot of cars pass by and it can get a bit noisy when people are walking to the restroom at night. Since this is a free camping area, people can be a bit noisy but that’s the reason you go camping.

All along Rim Road there are tons of dispersed camping sites that offer sweeping views of the forest below. Knoll Lake, Bear Canyon Lake, Woods Canyon Lake, and Willow Springs Lake are all right along that ridge and pretty easy to get to. Check the weather...closes in winter.

Dispersed camping off dirt roads. Highly Used but still space for privacy. Fire restrictions in the summer. No cell service. Some groups were loud and some vehicle traffic throughout the night. Sites are not numbered, just camp near the road. Check out Woods Canyon Lake on the way in!

These spots are not secret anymore. Tried to find a spot this weekend and it was completely full. Wasted day. Limit is 14 day stay. Some of the spots looked like the residents were there far longer. This is the danger with dispersed camping. Really is a shame. Views are amazing.

There is a lot of room up there for dispersed camping. Was a nice area and it filled up quick! By Friday night, you couldn't find much open. Got there around lunch and we still had plenty of room. The lake was relaxing. Saturday saw many more people enjoying the water. Would go again!

I am just like everyone else, I LOVE a good FREE campsite and along the way I have learned about so many of them, but in two trips by this one I didn't know it existed then BOOM there it was and I suddenly questioned how I had passed by it and never known!

Sure like all good campsites which are free there are a few negatives, this one being that there are ZERO amenities. NONE!!! But when I had attempted to camp in the petrified forest there weren't any there either so no big deal.

So how did I miss it?? Well upon first glance it just looks like a picnic area with some covered tables next to a gift shop and there isn't a welcome wagon just rolling out to say "hey come stay here". it is one of those places you have to know is there to know it is there if that makes any sense.

A fellow traveler told me about it and when I glanced I noticed some boondockers there but then upon a more careful evaluation there were tent campers in the distance. SCORE!!

If you aren't able to camp without then this won't work or you at all, but if you are ready for an adventure then here you go, close to the park and perfect for getting in those early morning sunrise photos. We always wonder how they do it… well this campsite is a BIG reason some of the photographers are there for those amazing money shots.

TIPS:

• Come prepared, you won't have a store with all your extras until you get into Holbrook so be ready for anything.
• Don't get to close to the residents, they give you the stink face but you have every right to the land, if you don't believe me, do your research on the BLM website!
• Take your camera, you will want to make sure you get your late evening and early morning shots that are once in a lifetime.

Located just before south entrance. FREE ("Boondock") camping on East side. Electric (no water) for $15 on West side. We picked East as Solar gives us all the A/C we need! Gift shops to explore on both sides. SEVERAL abandoned cars in front of shops to "chum for patrons".... Great place to stage before a day of exploring. Not sure I'd stay more than 2 nites but a night before and nite after visiting the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert is perfect! Just make sure to spend some $ at the gift shop if you stay for free.

Campground is good for tent, campervan, RV, and trailers (limited parking for campers, RVs, and trailers). Typical dispersed campground. No services, pack in, pack out.

Once off the highway you follow a paved road (with plenty of potholes) about .5 miles. Turn right onto a dirt road, and the first right is the campground. At the interection of the dirt road and paved road there is a pullout area that I saw a trailer and RV parked. You could get an RV into the dispersed area, but only the first few spaces would really be suitable and may be difficult to turn around. Plenty of spaces in the dispersed area. First area has about 4 spaces with fire rings and a few without. If you continue up the road there are a lot more areas to park, the road gets a bit rough and narrow after the first area. I wouldn't recommend bringing a campervan or anything large up that area. Trees will scratch the side of your vehicle or trailer, and if the road is wet, you probably won't make it up.

Overall, great dispersed camping, quiet area. As you go further up the road you can hear noise from the highway, but very minimal.

What a wonderful place to stay for a few days and close to the Petrified Forest! Plus it is FREE! 

It's not much but if you are Boondocking for a few days or just wanna stay overnight, this is a great place to stay! I'd say get there before 5pm-ish as it starts to fill up due to people leaving the park. There a few spots that have covered picnic tables and the rest are out in the open. It's a gravel/dirt base for the most part and leveling is pretty easy!

FYI, there are NO hookups of any kind here. So be prepared ahead of time. The associated campground across the street has "electric only" for$15, if you need it.

The Larson Ridge Dispersed camping areas off FR237 don’t have a lot to offer, but it does have space. Plenty of room here to spread out. The further up the road you go, the less rocky the sites become. You are also further away from the vault toilet, if you camp up this far, I wouldn’t expect to use that toilet at all.

This spots are on the ridge, so be prepared for wind. Our last day we had a pop up awning get lifted up into tree branches and aluminum poles snap on an REI tent.

This area is also really dusty which can make you feel like your in a sand blaster when the wind kicks up.

Lots of FR to ride around on ATVs/ mini bikes. We had fun looking at wild flowers and playing bocci ball.

There were lots of pine but it was warm in the sun in the heat of the day. We were there in June though.

Triple check your fire pit before you leave. Make sure it is out

Great boondocking spot off the main road as you would be heading to knoll lake just past Woods Canyon Recreation area . Beautiful setting in the Forrest. No amenities, located near the Rim. Peaceful and quiet. open space. Numbered sites. The main road is a good well maintained dirt/gravel road. Once you turn off on fr 9350 Campground (which is marked) to go towards the sites it is a bit rough but we were able to make with our Class A, just slow going. Sites are far apart, large with 10 person max and 14 day limit.

I really loved these camping spots at the South gate of The Petrified Forest National Park.

There are two locations across the street from one another, one paid, one free. We stayed on the paid side, as it was evident to us they were well cared for.

Hosts were very nice. I hope to stay again in our way home. Gift shop has some lovely specimens of petrified wood.

We arrived midday Saturday and there were a lot of large groups there. Most of the campsites closer to the lake entrance were designed to have multiple tents. There was loud music and gunshots (even though there is no target shooting allowed) well past midnight. The camping spots closer to the lake did not have a whole lot of tree coverage but we're fairly well spaced out. If you go take an extra bag to pick up existing trash we found a lot of bottles, cans, forgotten pieces of tents, broken tools, Etc. The closest Camp spots to the lake are still about a quarter mile away. The dirt road will take you to the Canyons Edge but you have to hike down on a pretty rapid descent Trail. I watched three other groups come through and heard at least two people fall sliding on the dirt. Then again we went through with a dog and a toddler and none of us fell.

Rating this place was a little bit tricky. I can't really give it four stars because there are ZERO amenities here, BUT this place is completely free. Yep, you heard me, F R E E. Bear this in mind as you contemplate staying here.

We stayed here overnight before heading into Petrified Forest. The nearest official campground is the KOA in Holbrook, and they wanted to charge me an arm and a leg to camp there. Don't get me wrong, I don't have any problems with KOAs in general, I just wasn't that interested in paying 30 bucks to pitch my tent in an RV park, when there was another option that was closer to the park and, you know, not $30. Plus, I won't lie, there's a part of me that loves to discover little off the beaten path places (some of which may even earn the moniker "sketchy"), especially on road trips. So I figured, oh, what the heck, why not?

You really can't be any closer to Petrified Forest without being in the park, where you have to camp in the backcountry (which is totally, completely, 100% recommended by the way). Night time is a wee bit tricky as the restrooms are in the gift shop that closes at night (but both are owned by the same people??). But, whatever. We were prepared for that in advance. There's also no potable water, so prepare for that as well.

Other than that, this place really isn't that bad. It's quiet (almost eerily so), reasonably well kept, and abounding in quirkiness. If you're in an RV and can handle a night of essentially boondocking, stay here! There are covered picnic tables, cement tipis, very strange dinosaur sculptures, and a LOT of free petrified wood, which is totally fine to snag as it's outside of the park. This was a fun addition to our road trip, and I will definitely stay here again for the accessibility, the price, and the kitsch.

This is easily one of the better established campgrounds on the rim. Campgrounds are more dispersed here, leaving more room between you and any neighbors. Four star rating because I have had exceptionally loud neighbors here more than once.

There are camp sites that are located right on the edge of the rim. Please mind this if you have children, dogs, or are drinking at night. The drop off the rim is significant enough that I give it Jacobs survival rate of ZERO percent. So, please be careful.

Another tip of advice, weather on the rim can seemingly change without notice. The mountains themselves can affect weather patterns, but being this elevated in the Ponderosa Pines makes it nearly impossible to see weather coming from the east (of this campground ) I have personally been up here multiple times when it was blue skies and sunny, and within minutes was under serious downpour and even hail (twice). BSA motto; BE PREPARED!

besides that, Rim Road (FS 300) is very well maintained meaning most vehicles can drive the dirt road. the turn into this camp ground, and road within, is not as well maintained, but still manageable for most passenger vehicles.

There are numerous hiking trails up here, and a handful of lakes throughout this area where fishing and non motorized boats are allowed. chevelon lake is my favorite and most isolated, yet is a mile hike downhill to lake, which means 1 mile hike uphill to get back.

Overall, this is a fantastic spot with lots of possible activities for groups of all sizes and ages, as well as superiors views.