Upper Scorpion Campground

Stayed here for a couple nights in the beginning of September 2023. Weather was upper 80’s during the day and mid 50’s during the night. This site is free and provides a vault toilet (which was clean), water, a fire ring and picnic table. There were about 6-8 sites. I lucked out and ended up getting the last one. The sites were pretty close together but spread out enough. I was able to walk right to the entrance of the cliff dwellings trail from this site in about 5 minutes. I could also walk across street and woods to the river, wasn’t much water though. From silver city on 15, it took me about 90 minutes to reach the campsite. It’s a paved road but gets pretty twisty in spots. I stocked up on food and everything I needed at wal mart in silver city. There was no cell service from silver city to the campground. There is a store, Docs, that will let you use their Wi-Fi. The store has a few things but nothing impressive. It was also difficult finding wood in the immediate area, so either bring wood or stock up along 15 when you’re in the pines. There is also no trash pickup anywhere in the area, so prepare to pack out all trash. The only downside of this site is being able to get a spot. There is also the lower scorpion campsite, plus a few others along the way. There are also plenty of dispersed sites along 15.

The Gila cliff dwellings are awesome. Well worth the 1.5 hour drive in from Silver City. The Upper Scorpion campground is really a parking lot with nearby tent sites. Campers park in the lot. With that said I was the only occupant of the campground. It was very quiet with a spectacular night sky. The Lower Scorpion campground is the same. The host was very friendly and helpful. No services except pit toilets.

The rangers came by to let us know info about the water table and answered all our questions about attractions nearby.

This campground is really nice for being free. There is a very clean bathroom with vault toilets and there are a couple sm water spigots. Some sites have picnic tables and all have some sort of fire pit. It's good to have a trash bag handy to pack out your trash, as there is no trash service up there. Some spots are a little awkward as you might have to walk through someone else's site to get to/from your car. It is within walking distance of several trailheads in the national forest and the cliff dwellings, so that is super convenient. If you want firewood, there is a little store a few miles back down the road run by some very friendly folks.

free, first come first serve, camp host at lower Scorpion.

This campsite is perfect. There’s about 6-8 spots at this particular site. It’s first come first serve so, get there early because it fills up fast. There are toilets in the parking lot and they are constantly stocked with toilet paper. Each campsite has a fire pit in the middle and some have picnic tables. Most of the sites are close to the parking lot so you don’t have haul your stuff very far. Also, it’s the site closest to the Cliff Dwellings Monument (about 1/4 mile away). We’ve camped here twice and every time it is perfect. Nights in the spring do get a bit chilly so bring warm clothes.