FS 609 - Dispersed Camping

Perfect for me and my camping partner! We wanted a quick weekend getaway and this was perfect. Just 15 min from the fossil creek hikes. The road comes up quick but you don’t have to drive far from the town or far into the road to find the campsites. The roads are rough but my Subaru cross trek took it like a champ. First night we didn’t go far in and it was beautiful, good for star gazing. Went early august and there were 2 other campers. Super quiet. The second night we drove in further and had an amazing view. Would come back, would recommend.

This spot is beautiful. Only 15 min from Strawberry and right off the highway. I really wish the road was not so rough because there are some really great spots further in but I was not willing to drive my RV down further so we made the loop our adventure hike.

If you do go down further there is a horse coral. Even beyond that if you stay to the left at the first fork there are some amazing, much flatter spots closer to the canyon look outs.

True dispersed camping- very quiet. Sites are spread out and have fire rings. As others said, road is very rough but I made it with a high clearance 2WD just fine. Worth the effort for one of the cliff side spots on the loop.

Very much agree with all previous reviews, would recommend reading all of them. The road can be hard to find without GPS, no signage. A vehicle with clearance is a MUST for this road, especially if you plan to go farther than the first couple of sites. 

The sites themselves are well maintained with fire rings and many have plenty of room for big rigs and campers. Depending how far in you go, you will hear the road at night amongst other forest dwellers. Lots of wildlife when we visited, we had a recurring group of curious cattle since we were right next to their water hole. PLEASE PLEASE clean up after yourselves and be mindful of the wildlife that live here.

Lastly, the location is perfect with it being a 15-20 minutes drive to Strawberry/Pine. Also about 30 minutes from Clear Creek trailhead. Would highly recommend if you plan to stay here and like a beautiful (Steep) hike.

Pulled in after 10:30 pm and could tell right away the area was quiet, likely because there’s no highway signage, making it a not-so-obvious place to camp.

Didn’t make it to the canyon overlook due to the road being a bit rutted out by water. The road is perfectly described by other reviewers. Wouldn’t recommend for super long wheel-bases that don’t have added ground clearance. Our Ford 350 Transit Extended van could handle the roughness of the road, however the long wheelbase nearly high centered us on the humps and dips a few times.

We ended up pulling a few hundred yards from the highway in and found multiple spots to sleep with no one else around. We were surprised how quiet it was for nearly being a Saturday in mid-May and being so close to Phoenix. And it’s true what they say about the elk, take it easy if you’re driving the highway after dark.

Could slightly hear cars drive by on the highway, but the wind blowing thru the ponderosas downed that out pretty well. Slept great!

This spot was so special, I took the advice of a previous reviewer and took the first left and followed to road down a little ways. There was the most amazing canyon view perfect for watching the sunset. There were no other people there and it felt magical. definitely want a high clearance vehicle!

We pulled into our stop as the sun was setting. Drove back about a quarter mile ona 4wd road. Had a few gun shots and elks during the night.

Hard to find if just looking for signs. Great scenery

The roads are very rough from the beginning. Lots of spots to pull off and camp. Better to drive in during the daylight.

Really beautiful, convenient camping area off the side of the highway. (Lots of elk by the road, so keep your eye out for that on the drive.) Lots of campers in tents and with fires. Would have been perfect but I was in my Prius and the road was very uneven. I've taken my Prius on dirt roads a lot, but this one was just way too uneven for a low-clearance vehicle. Def dinged up the bottom of my car a little bit.

I was very skeptical about visiting this campsite at first, because I felt the information that I could find online was minimal. After visiting, however, I would definitely recommend this campsite to anyone. It was spacious enough to spread out from other campers. It was lovely to be right in the middle of the forest. I'd recommend driving further in to be away from the noise of the highway. I saw some reviews saying the gate was closed, but it was open when we were there in July 2022. Important things to note: This campground is located in the Coconino National Forest, please follow their rules and fire restrictions. No reservations are necessary for this campground. We found service to be a little spotty, but not impossible. Dogs are allowed. The turn in was pretty subtle, so definitely keep an eye out for it and use Google Maps over Apple Maps, because Apple Maps has no idea where this site is! All in all, I would visit again!

Looks like a cool spot, but there's currently a gate across the road. 2/3/2022

Cool little place right off the highway. Road keeps going back with more and more areas to disperse camp. If you plan on going deep, definitely recommend a 4x4 as the road gets really rough.

Car camped with the dog. The area was nice and the spots had fire rings. Maybe a little rocky for tent camping so bring a rake. The dirt road was too uneven for a sedan, would recommend some clearance. I have T-Mobile and had full bars of 5g.

I was very surprised of how easy it is to get here. Just right off the highway. The road is overall pretty easy to drive. There are some spots that I would only go over with a truck or higher clearance vehicle. We have a traverse and it did just fine. Lots of places to camp!

Camped out here for a night. Very easy road to drive on and there are plenty of options to pitch a tent! Surprisingly not crowded at all. I would go back!