Best Campgrounds near Pinetop-Lakeside, AZ

This is basically a small RV park without the hookups. Very kind of the owners to allow so many spaces (20?) for free. Be sure to visit the museum and give them some business as a thank you.

We camped here in the off season so there wasn't a whole lot of activity around us, which was good.  We were there at the end of October and the weather was great.  We stayed in the Redhead Loop in site 9 and it was a really nice site.  We had a lot of space and decent privacy.  Site 10 would have been perfect since it sat right at the lake.  The showers were clean and good pressure.  They are very dog friendly and even have a little kiosk with some supplies for dogs that you can borrow as well as a jar of dog treats.  We bought firewood and it was harvested from dead trees in the park.  A little pricey but it burned longer than that gas station firewood does.  Show Low is a nice town and has everything you need.  It was near Halloween and they had some scary scarecrow competition going on.  We did not have a cell signal for some odd reason.  We have T Mobile and usually have good coverage.  Not sure what was going on with it.  The lake was very pretty but we didn't go out on it or anything. There is a nice trail to hike around the lake.  Dogs are allowed on it.  We didn't do a whole lot of activities while we were there.  Just a relaxing long weekend.

The entire Mallard loop has generous paved sites. There is a picnic table and nice fire pit. Plenty of paved space to set up. Pines surround each site and provide ample shade. Each site has easy access to the lake. The bathrooms have showers and were spotless.

Beautiful, huge site! Sites were well spaced. Very quiet campground. The camp host didn’t bother us at all. She was around, just not intrusive. Now the bad. I have been camping in primitive sites for the last 20 years or more. In all those years I have never come across pit toilets as bad as the ones at this campground. We arrived Sunday night. They were really bad, but it was the end of a weekend so I gave grace. On Tuesday the toilets were “cleaned “ out. It didn’t help because no one put chemicals in the pit. The smell of raw sewage was always present in our site.

Wonderful campground with flat sites, well spaced. Pit toilets and a shower. Dump on site! A bit expensive for dry camping but there in no dispersed camping in Greer and the neighboring apache res requires a $9 permit to dispersed camp. Three reservoirs nearby to hike to or fish at.

Very large CG with full hookups, level sites, flush toilets and showers. Casino and its restaurants next door. Wild horses venture through the camp in the evening! Spots are pretty close together, it is very full and mostly full timer/long term campers. Staff was helpful and courteous. We did not have a reservation until that morning. It is very busy so advance reservations are the norm. casino offers first timers a players pass with $6 for food and $5 casino credit.

We had a great site near the rear of the park with many shade trees and plenty of room. In general the sites are quite close together, but the folks were friendly and very helpful.....

Right along the highway on a big climb from both sides. Maybe when the b/w photo was taken it was cool with 10% of the traffic now? The road is crazy busy these days. I would not recommend this location.

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

It had been 28 years since we last camped at Rainbow. It is still a great place to escape the desert heat.  It was 115 when we left the big city. Five hours later we found ourselves camped at 9100 feet, enjoying the cool temps in the mid 60's and the passing rain showers.  Aspens, pines, and wildlife were all in abundance.  Big Lake is a good fishing lake too.  

The sites have plenty of space, shade, and privacy.  Roads are paved and in good shape. The restrooms were constantly cleaned by the very friendly and capable staff from recreation resource management which operates the campground for the forest service.

Firewood and ice are available (stage 2 fire restrictions were in effect so no campfires), water was convenient as was gray water disposal.  There is a centralized dump station, showers, and a small but educational visitor center.  Trash dumpsters are centralized and easy to access.  

If you don't fish there is still hiking to Mount Baldy, and short scenic drives to the very small towns of Greer and Alpine.  We enjoyed exploring the miles of scenic forest roads, and wildlife viewing.  We saw 4 Mexican gray wolves which was very special.  

This is a very popular campground that accommodates all types of rigs. They do have first come first serve sites available, but it is recommended to make reservations at least 4 days in advance.  Reservations can be made at recreation.gov.  It's always best practice to print a copy of your reservation.   There is no cell service in this area. 

We look forward to camping again at Rainbow.

Not much to it, just some picnic tables on slabs next to parking spots. But if u plan to go into the park in the morning it makes sense.

Always great fishing here. There is NO camping here. I repeat, NO CAMPING. But plenty of dispersed to be found up the road further all the way to Terry Flat. There are trails up the road and some OHV and a Jeep trail. There is housing when coming off the highway. Be respectful and don’t drive 45 down the road. Take your time and take it in.