Just next to the stream, perfectly secluded with decent bathrooms. However don’t recommend going in the winter, there was an unexpected snowstorm and our tent collapsed, our mistake!
This campground is beautiful. We checked in with the camp host, who was very kind and helpful, and set up. The creek running by the campsites is amazing. The campground also sells firewood if you happen to forget it. Vault toilets were very clean. We will definitely stay again.
If you want a shady site in a cooler location, this is it. The temperature was consistently 5 degrees below the towns of Camp Verde and Cottonwood. However, the trees that provide the shade also may block access to satellites.
The staff and volunteers are very friendly and helpful. If you pull a trailer there is room to unhook and drop it off at both ends of the village.
Social activities are scheduled, and there are several national monuments to explore nearby.
We got to drive straight up to the cliff-face and camp out for the night. We woke up to an amazing view and it was just a great view over Sedona and the beautiful landscape!
Went climbing out at the Pit in Flagstaff for the day, then we came and camped out not too far away! The site had plenty of trees for hammocks, as well as tent sites. It was easy to access for not just 4x4 vehicles and was a nice and quick drive from the main road.
Had a great night after backpacking 12 miles the first day. We found a perfect site right by the trail and were able to sleep under the stars in hammocks and even on just the ground without a tent. The area has so many trees to hammock from and provides plenty of wind-blocking so it doesn't get terribly chilly from the wind.
Campground Review:
Couple things to say about this campground… it's dispersed but in numbered lots and unless you have a high clearance 4x4 you must enter from West (89A). The road continues through to I-17 but crosses a few washes that would be rough for anything shorter than a stock 4runner. (Mine has a 3 inch lift). No big rocks to climb; just big tire swallowing ruts.
Product Review:
First time owning or using a neck gaiter. I'm on the bigger side so is not likely I'll wear it when I'm not actually using it. When I was using it for dust control it was great. Out on the trails I get passed by side-by-sides all the time. My 4runner can go almost anywhere but on the slower side. So I'm frequently sucking side-by-side dust. I'm not upset enough by it to roll up my windows. (Can't miss out on the smell of the mountains.) The neck gaiter helped me cut down on the dust I inhaled while still enjoying the crisp air.
We had a great experience in Cave Springs. Beautiful sites with privacy, great amenities, helpful staff, and proximity to everything Sedona. Protect food from Skunks. Bring a hammock. Lots of trees to hammock camp here.
Tried control road after some extensive research. It wasn’t as good as expected. This site was too close to the 260 so traffic noise was loud. There was not too much shade as the area for camping was very leveled. The road in is paved for about 3 miles. Then turns to dirt. Some of the areas are tougher than others. Went down a ways to try to find a new spot but all the “nice” ones were taken and others were way too close to the road. Overall won’t be trying control road again
Decided to do a second review of aspen because this time seems a bit different than past times. Only 1 loop of the campground was open but it sure was much louder than usual. A good amount of the campers enjoyed very music that could be heard from many campsites away so this was unfortunate. Other than that the hosts were kind as always and the site was very nice and open.
The river was beautiful! The camp spots were close to the river with nice big fire rings. Just like a lot of low desert camping in Arizona it’s dusty and dry with lots of prickly plans. But the trail and the trees near the river were lush. My biggest complaint about the spot was all the garbage everywhere. Come on people, burn your trash or take it home! There’s no need to trip over piles of water bottles & beer cans, cigarette butts, McDonald’s wrappers and plastic bags.
I just spent two nights here with my family and I left telling my wife that we’ll return again. When we checked in the staff helped us pick the site we wanted by touring us around in a golf cart. We got space 1A which is somewhat close to the bathrooms, the pond, and a nice chair swing. At night the sound of the creek provided nice white noise to fall asleep with.
Our site had a 30 amp hookup, water, and sewer.
This is a great campground for families as there’s lot to do on site. From the pool, the playground, the creek, and the nightly skunk viewing, this place keeps young ones entertained.
If there was one down side I’d have to point out it’s that there is absolutely zero cell service on site and I had trouble even getting radio stations in my camper. That said, that isn’t a bad thing when you’re trying to get away and camp. There is wifi near the office if you really needed it.
Great place easy access large campsites with a big fire pit grill already built in forest is 30ft away and your walking in the wilderness there are a lot of ATVs around on the weekends so it will be loud and lots of traffic is the only downside but on the weekdays it’s empty and wide open we hiked about two miles into the woods and got to follow a huge herd of ELK ! What a nice surprise for the kids I give five stars dogs kids and adults we all had a blast !
Zero cell service lots of hunters but very secluded only know of hunters by the shots every now and then lake knoll is beautiful lots of Fish !! Five stars but for experienced campers only bring 4wd and a spare tire lots of awesome 4x4 trails and hiking this is camping at its best
Perfect campsite for last minute camping trips. I always stop here before heading to flagstaff for snowboarding. Great campsite to see. Make sure you take out your trash and don’t leave it on the ground. Other then that a beautiful campsite with tons of the trees.
Where to begin? Bring your bicycles, kids, horses, and a great attitude and you and have nothing but fun here very clean very well maintained nice helpful people.. it's close to anything you want to go to Jerome the ruins the casino Sedona it has all the amenities that you would want to take care of you your family or any gifts that you have with you..
Really nice facility. Great bathrooms and showers. There's an area to take the little ones down to river where they play in the water safely,. Dogs are welcome and the playground has a really fun mini zip line. The place is well-maintained, especially the restrooms. Camp hosts were welcoming and knowledgeable about hiking. Fun place to hike.
Cannot get enough of this place! Beautiful campground hidden amongst tall pine trees and nestled between a mountain and A creek. The pit toilets are the cleanest I ever seen, very well vented so no smells. The camp sites are not very spacious so u will hv to choose them carefully if u are bringing an RV. All back in parking no pull thrus. The hosts and rangers are very friendly and informative.
Staff is friendly, informative and the grounds are meticulous. Not to mention the obvious of the soul of Sedona! Bubbling creek, fishing and wonders of nature. Love to visit again.
This is a family favorite. We stayed in a new spot this time and will definitely be staying in this one again. Wouldn’t advise a trailer longer than 28 feet and no motor homes. We tried fishing but weren’t successful. Bathrooms and watet spigot is right across the street. You are able to fill up fresh water at camp host spot or the dump station has a spot for fresh water fill up. Verizon cell service is really spotty to no service at all.
We drove up to Payson spontaneously hoping we would be able to find a campsite and we went to 4 full ones before stumbling on this one. This one luckily had room and we were thrilled about that. It was $25 for the one night. The site was very accommodating too, they sell firewood at their for $8. The owners of the site also helped us get a fire going when we had trouble. The bathrooms were also clean which was nice. Overall a great campsite!
Stayed here with my 2 year old granddaughter. Plenty of other kids to play with. A combination of tents and RV's.
Beautiful area, playground and swimming pool, right on the creek which is accessible for swimming.
Restrooms were very clean. Did see some small trash on the campground and would have expected that to be cleaned up. The pool area needs repairs and updating, but nothing that would stop me from swimming.
Lots of dogs and did see dog waste that the owners didn't pick up :(
Overall a great stay for families. Would not recommend during the summer or weekends if you don't want to be around kids.
We love camping here, its so close to home and it's dispersed! We usually camp right on the water. It can get really packed but we have never had bad neighbors. Seems to be kept pretty clean and there are restrooms.
We really liked this camp ground, we just didn't like the experience. The spaces are spread apart and there is plenty of room. But you can have up to 10 people, 2 car and ONLY 2 tents. So be prepared to sleep in groups I guess, we weren't. Also the camp host was nice but seemed to cater to the people she knew, she drives by A LOT and checked up on us almost every hour, we go to camp to get away, not be bothered. She really did not make us feel welcomed but we really did like where the camp site was so we're just hoping a new host is there if we ever go back.
Really enjoyed a two-night stay at this campsite, ended up in sites 001 and 002 on the A loop. 002 was more spacious but less shady, 001 smaller but more secluded.
The restrooms were clean and the camp host offered firewood right from her cart, extremely convenient!
The only reason for four stars was the parallel-to-camp parking spots and the overall slant of the site itself—rain erosion needs to be addressed and the spots need some TLC with a backhoe to get back to level.
We love this campground. It has everything you would need to camp in the woods. There is water to fill up if needed but showers available for a fee also. There are spots you can reserve 6 months in advance on the website. Amazing that there is a dump station available. We always drive to Ashurst Lake for fishing.
Nice campground overall. I enjoyed the easy access off the 260 and also the paved roads. We had a great campsite with tons of space D08 but it was also close to the bathroom. 2 issues were the flys and the bees. It was overload. They actually had bee and fly catchers up before we even got there and they still were an issue. Overall not bad but probably won’t come back.
Stopped here on our way back to California from Colorado. It was the middle of August so we were looking for somewhere with some water and shade and we found both. It is definitely a popular campground with lots of families but if you can get a spot it is an amazing little retreat. We were tent camping and had plenty of shade and only a short walk to the creek (it is a creek not a river but still nice to put your feet in and cool down). Put toilets but they were well maintained for how crowded the campground was. Despite the crowds, a lot of the campgrounds are decent size and even if not secluded give you some space. Not my favorite destination but for the area and price it was amazing.
Beautiful swimming and hiking. Now permits are required but it is really a unique spot. They have been getting tighter on restrictions. If people keep leaving trash then I’m sure they’ll completely close it someday. Pack in/pack out. I lost all of the pictures from this trip but the water is comparable to Grand Canyon/Havasupai, just on a much smaller scale. The high mineral content “fossilizes” the sticks and leaves that sit in the water.
Big open spots with lots to do nearby. There are multiple places to pull of of this road and camp. This is a pack in/pack out site with trees and fresh air. It is part of Tonto National forest so fire restrictions and usually in place through the summer. Tall pines are everywhere with junipers here and there. You can get some amazing views of the Mogollon Rim depending where you stop.
Forest Lakes and the rim lakes are close by. They are great for kayaking, fishing and camping. The fish hatchery is a fun stop for kids but the hours are pretty specific.
Campground Review: This is dispersed camping in Coconino National Forest. There is camping throughout this area and it is all dispersed. Some spots are better than others but everything is pretty awesome. Tall pines all around, lots of exploring room for kids. The camping areas are all pretty open and there are plenty of spots to park a trailer or RV. This is just open forest so there is nothing for resources or amenities. There are spots higher on the ridge and also a few amazing places to camp right in pivot canyon. It has been an especially dry year but the canyon is shaded and was very green.
There is some great hiking especially through the canyon. If you follow the canyon about one mile from the road, then go down and right onto a cow trail, you can get to Pivot Rock Spring. We weren’t able to make it that far because we had so many little kids with us this time. This is also very close to Strawberry and Pine which have a perfect small town feel. You can stop at the lavender farm, buy local honey, and they have little festivals pretty often.
Something to note is that Tonto National Forest is usually fire restricted this time of year but Coconino is not. This site is barely into Coconino. It is still very dry so be careful with it!
Product Review: Grub Stick As a Dyrt Ranger I get to try out awesome new gear from outdoor companies. This trip we cooked with our new Grub Stick set. I love cooking over a campfire, and that is what Grub Stick is all about. The kids also had fun roasting. Definitely be aware that these are hot sharp pieces of metal so of course we had a close eye on them. Like any roasting get your fire going for a while until you have a nice bed of coals, that will cook better and cleaner than big flames and smoke. The handles are heavy duty and extendable and the different heads are easy to exchange, even when hot. Grub Stick really planned well on giving you what is needed in the moment. The hot pad, and grabber were very useful. We started out with grilled cheese sandwiches in the Grubcage and Burgcage. They worked great and you can see I was even about to prop a few up on the rocks whichever I got the next batch ready. For dessert we did s’mores. Roasting the whole s’more got the chocolate all melted and toasted the crackers too. I was a little doubtful that the marshmallow would roast enough but it did well. If you’re into perfect browned marshmallows, I would roast them separately. Next we used the Grubpocket, which is the short metal cylinder. Now I was really excited for this one. My wife’s family has always made “woofems” which are made from wrapping crescent roll dough around a dowel on metal rod. You roast it and then fill it with pudding, berries and whipped cream. So with the Grubpocket, they cook much faster and the best part is that the interior cooks too. We’ve always had the problem of a doughy middle. I filled mine with chocolate pudding and bananas. It was amazing. I did butter the stick first and I would suggest that or else the dough can get stuck. There were a few other tools that we are looking forward to using next time including the bacon clip and the Grub Tube. I love the simplicity of the product. It makes campfire cooking easier and pretty fast. I saw the recipes on the site and some of them seem a little over the top. I like that the tools simplify the process for me. I also love the durable carrying case that easily fits everything.