My girlfriend and I decided to take the dog and head north for a couple of days of dispersed camping on the eastern part of the Mogollon Rim, past Strawberry just like you're headed to Happy Jack. When we started down FR300 we couldn't have imagined the diamond in the rough we'd soon find at the end of our little off-road trek.
After following the well maintained and winding FR300 for quite some time (approx. 20 min), we took a right at the fork and continued onto Milk Ranch Point Road, another fairly well maintained forest service road. After about another 15 minutes down Milk Ranch Rd., we came to our last turnoff point on our right, Forest Service Road 9385N and from this point on, it was slow going in 4LO for almost the entire rest of our drive into the camp spot; 4LO and high clearance is recommended for a couple of fun spots on this non-maintained FSR.
Finally, after about 50 minutes of both fun, easy and more challenging off-road terrain, we turned the corner to find the most gorgeous dispersed camp site we'd ever come across. From the never-ending view of the rim and the town of Pine below, to the standing tree swing, hand-crafted bench from a downed log and stack stones, and the cathedral-like, semi-circle fire pit made of stack stones over 3ft high, we knew we'd made the right decision to drive the extra distance down a not so accessible road. For the 2 nights and 3rd morning we were there, we didn't encounter another vehicle or person.
Definitely a bit chilly with some intense winds rolling through at night, but that was to be expected and didn't cause us any issue.
