Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Payson, AZ

This is one of my personal favorite campsites in Arizona, for many reasons.  It's very clean, with drinking water and well maintained toilets/trash facilities. The camp hosts are very diligent about quiet hours so you can rest assured that the nights will be peaceful. This is also a short drive from Payson so easy access to supplies and at times, cell phone reception if needed.

This is one of the first campgrounds you will find when hitting the Mogollon Rim so it can get warmer due to lower elevation in the summer months. It is a great jumping off point though for exploring other regions of the area and a short drive from the Horton Creek Trail starting point.

This is a large campground and A loop is right by the road so will be very loud with trucks. D loop has the largest campsites and the most privacy between your neighboors.

We tried finding some dispersed camping near Payson though all of the sites we visited were full. We ended up 35 miles south of Flagstaff off FS 135. After having to leave Payson we arrived very late at night. At the base of the campsite there were a lot ofvRVs set up. This was technically the FS 135 dispersed site. However we continued in for about 3 miles to the Mahan Ranch site. We got lucky and found an empty site off FS135 and FS135B. We spent a ptetty quiet week there at the base of Hutch Mountain. The next morning we found quite a bit of trash around the site. We cleaned it up and packed everything out when we headed out. There are quite a few cows in the area so watch where you step. OHV traffic wasn't too bad, much quieter than our stay at Badger Flats in Colorado. Folks were friendly and passing on the narrow roads was easy. The entire campsite was pretty quiet, a couple of generators off in the distance. Pretty much the loudest part of the stay was tge cows, lol.

Where we setup there were maybe 5 sites along the 3 mile stretch of 135B. Plenty of RV sites closer to the highway. After our week there may have been about 50 or more larger RVs setup in the msin area near Lake Mary Rd. Sedona, Flagstaff, Cottonwood were the major cities webused for water and food. Each within an hour drive. The FS roads were fairly smooth, our Hyundai Santa Cruz had no issues. But DO watch out for small stumos near the edge of the roads and for Deer and Elk. For us cell service with ATT/Cricket was NONEXISTENT. We had to get up to about mile marker 315 on Lake Mary Rd or into Mormon Lake. Service heading into Sedona and Cottonwood along Stoneman Lake Road was unavailable until we got within a mile of I17. Of course cell services was decent in Flagstaff, Sedona and Cottonwood. Spotty coming diwn 89A from Flagstaff into Oak Creek.

I gee up in the area in the 80s, much has changed, Sedona is quite a bit larger with a ton of traffuc, prices are also very high. Lunch at McDonald's ran us $35 for two people and shopping at Bashas in Sedona put a big dent in our food Budget. Water in Flag, Sedona Nd Cottonwood was around 50 cents a gallon at automated machines. We found the General Store in Mormon Lake to be the best place to refill at 20 cents a gallon. They even have laundry and bathrooms at the Lodge. No trash servuce though, they ask you to oack it out, the dumpster was reserved for the paid sites at the lodge. Though the Lake Mary recreation area about 5 miles north had a large dumpster to use.

We are fairly new to camping in Arizona. We decided to go camping last minute this past weekend, so we had no reservations. We found this area randomly, and we were very pleased. It was easy to access, and dispersed campgrounds lined the road. Tons of space between sites. There were plenty of other campers near us, but it still felt fairly private. The fire pits were well maintained. Our site had a beautiful set up of stones surrounding the pit. The campsite was very clean. The area was pretty, but not spectacular. There is road noise from the highway, but that’s the price you pay for easy access. It didn’t bother us for a quick getaway.

This was just a stop along our route, and we were so bummed we only stayed here one night! Shady, lots of trees, pristine condition of all facilities including dog park, walking trail next to the creek, and large enough sites for our 42' rig. There was live music on night! Furthermore, they were generous and understanding of an emergency situation that happened on the day we needed to leave. The owner even brought my kids popsicles while we packed up! Ask him what he used to do for a living... he'll have a fun telling you about it. Beautiful campground I couldn't recommend more.