Best Tent Camping near Hereford, AZ

Cochise stronghold campground is a rugged campground in a deep canyon. The canyon was the refuge for the Chiricahua Apache leader, Cochise. This is a National Forest Service campground. There are Eleven campsites and two group campsites. All are shaded by scrub oaks and surrounded by towering rock formations. The sites have picnic tables and grills. There is no water available so bring your own. No electricity or other facilities. There is a bathroom with flush toilets. There are food storage lockers due to bear activities. It is dog friendly (on leash). This campground is a little hard to get to, with several water crossings. I would not recommend attempting to drive without a high clearance vehicle. Sites are first come first served. Limit 6 people per site. $8 per night.

What this campground lacks in amenities, it makes up for in its’ superb environment. Long grass, Mountain mahogany, pinion, oak,sycamore and juniper trees create a habitat for over 100 bird varieties and species. Deer roam around inside the campground perimeter and hiking trails lead directly out to miles of Mountain trails including to the top of 9427’ Mt. Wrightson.

There are only seven back in or curb side sites, and five walk in tent sites. All have water, picnic tables and fire rings. There is a building with pít toilets.

This is not a place for big rigs or glampers.

There is a lodgings nearby where an array of feeders attracts dozens of birds for Public viewing and where there is also a gift shop.

My husband, myself and our 2 small dogs live in Tucson, AZ. We recently acquired a roof top tent and we’ve been trying out various campgrounds across the Southwest.

Dog friendly hiking opportunities from this campground on the Cochise Trail. I recommend arriving during daylight hours. We left after work, and it was harder to navigate the primitive roads back to the campground in the dark. You do have to cross the stream several times to get the the site. When we crossed the water was 3-6” deep and a few crossing are over rocks (not pavement). We had no issues in our F250, but any vehicle with a normal amount of clearance should be fine. We saw several small SUVs/crossovers, small trailers, a dirt bike and a Prius.

It’s a popular place and we were lucky to get the last site available that night. There are also dispersed camp sites (also popular) along the W Hunt Rd loop.

The campground has pit toilets (with 2 stalls each). Each site has a picnic table, a nice fire ring and a tall BBQ grill. The sites are close together. No water, so bring your own.

We will definitely return to the Cochise Stronghold area.

Various Oaks and Alligator Junipers abound at this cute little National Forest campground tucked in the Dragoon Mountains, another of Arizona’s beautiful “Islands in the Sky.”  Named for the late Apache leader, Chief Cochise, this campground sits at the base of a few absolutely gorgeous hiking trails and rock climbing areas.

Each site has a good amount of space but oddly a small amount of space for tents and RV’s longer than 24 feet won’t fit in most of the sites.  There is no privacy in between sites, but each site has good tree coverage (almost too much for our solar suitcase on an extension cord). Each site has a huge cement picnic table, fire ring, and grill and there are a couple composting toilets.  There was no drinking water available at the campground (the website says there is water), but there is a creek you can pull water from for filtering, so come prepared.

Important note:  If there is rain in the forecast, be aware that you may get stuck in this campground for a couple of days, as you have to cross numerous washes on the road to/from the campground. We were there for 3 days before it was safe to pull a small camper across the “death wash” that grew to 6 feet high and 20 feet wide during a 24-hour rain event!

This small, cozy area is very clean and has several great amenities, and can provide private spots or more open areas for groups. Bike shop to repair bicycles and rent them. It is a 3 min ride on bike into town where anything is happening. There are 2 on-site showers. Fire pit to hang out. A kitchen available to all. The site is frequented by hikers and cyclists that tent camp there. There are no hookups, but it can accommodate 24 ft max trailers. The host Mary was wonderful and assisted us with all of our needs. We stayed there over the weekend of May 4th in a 22ft trailer. Weather was great, and we were close enough to do everything we wanted. Also, shout out to the winery queen of cups definitely one of the best tastings I have ever done.

I visited this place in early January, at this time there were hundreds of cranes I'm not sure when the prime viewing month is but you would not be disappointed in January. There is dispersed free camping in the parking loop. Just pull Up to one of the pipe enclosed picnic tables and set up. There is no drinkable water on the premises so B.Y.O.W There is an old pole barn just beyond the parking loop. It houses some Barn Owls. Turn to the right of the barn and walk toward the lake. It is quite a spectacular event to see and hear the cranes flying back to the lake to roost for the night. And leaving the lake in the early morning hours to feed in the fields. Lots of bird watchers and wildlife lovers come to witness this morning and evening.