Best Dispersed Camping near Kearny, AZ

Recent Dispersed Reviews in Kearny

132 Reviews of 33 Kearny Campgrounds

• E

  Emma A.

  Scout

  

  Nov. 26, 2024

  Cactus Forest Dispersed

  Great stay

  This was like being able to backcountry camp in Saguaro NP. We got in after dark & overshot the turn in, but looped back around. Our site was great - quiet & peaceful. We enjoyed waking up to the literal forest of cactus.

• D

  Daniel G.

  Scout

  

  Nov. 11, 2024

  Mount Bigelow Dispersed

  Cold night, frozen road

  We got to the parking area about 7:40 PM on November 10th. Started up the road to the campsite about 2 miles further up the mountain but at about 1/2 mile the road was so icy that we lost traction. Snow on the ground by the road, lots of deer tracks in the snow. Ended up backing down the road to spend the night in the parking lot, sleeping in the van.

• 

  Brian E.

  Scout

  

  Oct. 3, 2024

  Peralta Road Dispersed Camping

  No more camping

     The county has closed camping on Peralta road,  signs are up,  and trenches have been dug so no access is available.

• e

  edwin H.

  Scout

  

  Sep. 22, 2024

  Peralta Canyon / Gold Canyon Dispersed Camping - PERMANENTLY CLOSED

  Dispersed camping not allowed currently

  September 21, 2024: We’ve dispersed camped here many times in last three years, took a trip out there today and every dispersed access point is plowed up with very deep trenches not allowing vehicles or rigs to access. Sad affair with squatters taking advantage and leaving trash, there was not a soul in sight. Maybe they’ll reopen it later when it cools down.

• 

  Cas M.

  Traveler

  

  Aug. 31, 2024

  Tonto National Forest Dispersed Camping at Lake Roosevelt

  Coyotes!

  Beautiful desert camping, lots of birds and wildlife. I heard coyotes in the middle of the night that woke me up, and was glad for a rooftop tent.

• J

  Josh P.

  Scout

  

  Jul. 4, 2024

  Mount Bigelow Dispersed

  Well kept and secluded

  Awesome views, secluded spots. Just make sure you have 4wd and go all the way to the back

• 

  Jim A.

  Traveler

  

  Jun. 13, 2024

  Saguaro Cove

  Remote Camping

  Takes a little 4 wheeling to get there or you can access it from the water.  Basic dispersed camping but gets a little warm during the summer months.  Views are nice and its a nice pack it in, pack it out spot.

• D

  Dynamical Thunder D.

  Scout

  

  Jun. 1, 2024

  Mount Bigelow Dispersed

  Beautiful and friendly

  Very crowded on the weekend but the crowd is friendly and respectful. Great way to escape the summer heat of Tucson! Bring your hats and gloves!

• S

  Shane W.

  Ranger

  

  May. 22, 2024

  Picket Post

  Quick Night

  Good place to pull off in a pinch for free. You do hear road noise. Close to Arizona Trail, where it crosses 60 so you can hike both directions if you decide to, or take the trail up to the top of the mountain. Very beautiful area

• 

  Sarah E.

  Traveler

  

  May. 22, 2024

  White Canyon Wilderness Dispersed

  Shooting range

  If you can get past the shooting range, it’s very beautiful

• T

  Teri G.

  Guide

  

  May. 3, 2024

  Cactus Forest Dispersed

  Remote, Private, and free but accessible.

  Remote, private, and free but accessible. Not a standard RV parking lot campground but rather several campsites with ample space between them for privacy, along an unpaved sandy road, just off a quiet paved back road. About 20-30min from gas stations, water, food, etc. It has no facilities or even pit toilets. Exactly what I wanted. This campground is aptly named as it is quite literally in the middle of a Saguaro cactus forest 🌵 along with many other different cactus species and wildlife. This location is tranquil and wild. I couldn't think of a better way to immerse yourself in the middle of this national park than this campground. It's a tight drive in if you go past the 2-3 RV sites at the beginning of the east side. I have a 2015 Toyota Tacoma with a roof top tent pulling a 12x6 enclosed trailer with standard wheels. My trailer made it through without scratches and at no point did I even think about four-wheel drive. A larger camper I couldn't speak for. It is quite sandy and has some mogul sections where the water flows have washed some of the trail away but overall an easy drive.

  Disclosures and warnings:

  There are three sides to this campground. The east side, west side, and North end. The West side is the most trailer friendly and most visited as it is where the GPS leads you. However, it gets worse the deeper you go in after roughly 10-15 sites. The east side you could probably manage a trailer for the first 2-3 sites. After that there would be no where to turn around and it gets rough off-road quick, like deep dried up sandy river bed crossings (month of May) and is more exposed to the sun with slightly less cacti than the west side. The North end is the most private and remote of the other two and the quietest. However, it is nothing short of a four-wheel drive off-road trail. I would not recommend anything other than off road vehicles in the north end and the sites are small, just for tents or 1 vehicle.

  There are almost no rocks to worry about on the way in but the cacti here are more than capable of creating flat tires so take care to avoid pieces that have fallen onto the road. Especially the Jumping Cholla cacti! They are the worst things you will come across in this campground and are everywhere, easily the most dominant species of cactus in this area. They have evolved to break apart into spiny segments when they make contact with someone or something to propagate. Sometimes if the wind blows strong enough they cover the ground around their base with a mound of their spined segments. These segments often roll or blow into the roadways. The spines are hard as stone and sometimes over 2 in long. They have evolved special reversed barbs that you can't see with your eyes on every main spine. They go into anything except metal, including Kevlar reinforced tire sidewalls like a knife through hot butter and then hook in and don't come out unless you rip them out. I rode my adventure bike through the campground to explore, lost my footing in the sand and fell against one of these. I had 3-4 segments stuck to my arm. I spent 10 to 15 minutes ripping these segments out of my arm, pulling my skin away from my body about an inch before they will rip out. Don't make the same mistake as me.

  GUNS! In my opinion the biggest downside to this campground is the almost constant gunfire all day long as there is a public shooting area on the south west side of the campground. If you are in the west side and you are looking southwest, there is a tiny little mountain ridgeline about a half mile away. All around the base of that ridgeline people are allowed to pull up and shoot at targets on the hill side. The locals show up as the sun just comes over the trees around 5:00 a.m. and they don't stop until the sun sets almost everyday of the week. They do however, quit at night so you can sleep.

  If you camp here you are IN THE desert. During the day is fine. You will likely only run into swarms of flies. At night however, is a different story. ESPECIALLY If you decide to have a fire on a cold night or set up a lantern near the ground while making dinner. I stayed here for 9 days straight and I came across 6 rattlesnakes (mostly sidewinders), more camel spiders than I can count (at least 5+ per night), 3 brown recluse spiders, packs of coyotes rolling through at night and early morning (watch your pets), and 2 killer bee swarms in the trees. All within the campground boundaries, so just be ready for rugged camping.

• 

  Ericka C.

  Traveler

  

  Apr. 2, 2024

  Charouleau Gap Trailhead Camp

  Small site not far from amenities

  Great easy little spot that is highly used so make sure you plan ahead. Not all sites have fire circle and if you don’t have a toilet there are only a few bushes tall enough. Works for a quick one nighter.

• F

  Freddie F.

  Scout

  

  Mar. 21, 2024

  Hackamore Road Dispersed

  This area and the whole bulldog canyon are are closed for construction

  The whole are is closed

• S

  Sammy S.

  Scout

  

  Mar. 10, 2024

  Cottonwood Canyon Rd. Dispersed

  Enjoyed tent camping

  I’ve never been out here. Got a state land trust family pass for the area just in case we needed it. The cottonwood canyon rd is dirt/gravel and it is very flat and not washboarded. Cars can drive in. Just be aware that many of the pull offs from the road have dips or hills but there are also plenty of flat pull offs that lower ground clearance vehicles can pass. For tent camping finding a spot without a lot of sharp rocks and prickles from the various cacti can be a little challenging but it’s totally doable. Use caution when walking about between the cacti. Lots of prickles you can’t see well on the ground. Be extra careful if you have dogs. Probably want to have tweezers or pliers with you to remove the spines. We came out when it was covered in grass but I can imagine it might get pretty dusty if there isn’t any grass. There’s basically no shade to speak of but plenty of bushes/cacti etc for privacy. Very easy to find spots away from other campers on the weekend. There’s lots of gunfire and explosions in the distance during the day and at night. Many ATVs/OHVs driving up and down the main road at night. It got pretty much silent at about 11pm. There are probably a lot of places a decent way from the main road that may be quieter but there are no signs anywhere so you just kind of have to pull off and drive around. Camp was raided by quail early in the morning and we had some cows visit but they didn’t come too close. All in all pretty cool area will definitely come back

• S

  Sarah W.

  Scout

  

  Mar. 3, 2024

  Superstition Mountains -- Dispersed Sites along Hwy 88

  Beautiful but a lil more crowded than expected

  Busy during the weekend. Get there early to get a good spot.

  Great to go on hike or to lake after.

  Went a second time and took a 4x4 trail to get a more isolated spot

• C

  Cypress

  Traveler

  

  Mar. 2, 2024

  Schoolhouse Point Dispersed

  Free Lakeside camping

  Pretty, dispersed camping near schoolhouse Point in Roosevelt lake. On the road down to the state campground there are two dispersed camping areas on the left easily visible on the left side, (the gps point may not be accurate, I made it after I left) if you pass both there's an easy turn around at the boat ramp even for big rigs. Some dips coming off the paved road but very easy access overall, might be tight for really big rigs. Probably 20+ sites at each of the two pull offs, most have fire rings and decent shade. Couple minutes drive to the boat ramp at schoolhouse Point which has bathrooms, dumpsters, and both drive in and walk-in lake access. Currently (as of 3/24) no potable water even at the paid campground at the end of the road, you can either pump from the lake if you have a filter or Tonto national monument about 10min up the road has a water spigot before the pay gate. 14 day limit per usual for national forests but a really lovely spot to call home for a while! Lots of great hiking nearby as well as swimming and boating on the lake

• L

  Lea

  Scout

  

  Feb. 16, 2024

  Peralta Road Dispersed Camping

  Great dispersed

  Great site - a bit of a drive in

• L

  Lea

  Scout

  

  Feb. 16, 2024

  Dispersed Site Near Tonto National Forest

  Closed and Rough

  Now closed and monitored

• S

  Steve

  Scout

  

  Feb. 6, 2024

  Dispersed Site Near Tonto National Forest

  Area Closed now due to "homeless problems"

  I live in the area and the BLM finally closed this area along with other areas nearby due to junk, abandoned vehicles, vicious dogs etc. It will become the Apache Junction and Goldfield Recreation area. Closed completely for 2 yr for vegetation restoration and when it reopens it will provide residents with OHV and Horse trails along with Staging areas.

• 

  Scott K.

  Guide

  

  Jan. 30, 2024

  Peralta Canyon / Gold Canyon Dispersed Camping - PERMANENTLY CLOSED

  Really nice sites

  Really well maintained spots, great views, nice and quiet.

• 

  Danny T.

  Guide

  

  Jan. 26, 2024

  Cactus Forest Dispersed Site

  Very pretty. Little noisy

  January Rv 24 ft Cell service. Att 2 and o 3 bars. Able to stream

  This is a beautiful spot. The spots are a little close together.

  Not good for dogs really cus of cholla cactus everywhere. Watch where you walk and be sire to check shoes before entering your home for the night.

  There is an outdoor shooting range close enough to Hear semi auto’s all day and as late as 10:45 pm. They were at it again at 8 am. Not sure if it is some military training area or what. That gets a bit old. It’s a good distance away so it’s not real loud, just present Road is good to drive big rv or 5th wheel no lroblem

• J

  Jarred T.

  Traveler

  

  Jan. 9, 2024

  Apache Trail North Camp

  Superstition Dispersed

  There’s a hill north of this spot that we camped on. Some power lines in the way, but generally a great view. Not intense off reading or anything, but not suitable for trailers. Very exposed area so be ready for wind.

• 

  Jordan S.

  Traveler

  

  Jan. 6, 2024

  Hackamore Road Dispersed

  Love / Hate

  I have a love/hate relationship with this place. It’s got great views of the mountains, TONS of awesome trails to walk/ride love the access to the little ghost town nearby. The road in is just terrible & it’s very dirty (mostly on the main road) though, and people can be very noisy with their vehicles but that’s not too bad.

  Overall I love camping here. We were here for a week last year, came back as our first spot on the trip this year and it was awesome again.

• D

  Danielle

  Traveler

  

  Jan. 3, 2024

  Cactus Forest Dispersed

  Beautiful camping in the Saguaros

  For a girl born in the Midwest, this campground was amazing to wake up to. Saguaros everywhere! Plenty of sites big and small, decent road, fire rings, plenty of privacy.

• J

  John R.

  Legend

  

  Dec. 30, 2023

  Cactus Forest Dispersed

  Beauty and gunfire.

  Beautiful desert spot. Lots of gun fire during the day. Fantastic desert sunsets 🌇.

• H

  Heidi R.

  Scout

  

  Dec. 29, 2023

  Cactus Forest Dispersed - High Clearance

  Beautiful spot

  Just off of 1-10. Roads are smooth and woke up feeling like we were in the national park.

• 

  Harriet D.

  Traveler

  

  Dec. 16, 2023

  Superstition Mountains -- Dispersed Sites along Hwy 88

  Not great for tent campers!

  Beautiful area, but I would only recommend it for high clearance vehicles and people who are NOT tent camping. The ground is very rocky and we couldn't find a great place to get a tent staked down in the windy conditions, so we left. Minimal coverage from wind and sun or for bathroom use. 

  Keep in mind that AZ-88 is CLOSED to motor vehicles slightly after Tortilla Trailhead, so you cannot get to Roosevelt Lake easily from here. There are pit toilets at the road closure area and you can turn around easily there.