Best Tent Camping: Arizona. Kirstin Olmon Phillips
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46. It’s small, but has a complete screen of junipers and a deeply shaded tent spot.
Ravens keep a close eye on you in camp, and if you turn your back, the swoosh of big, black wings will signal the disappearance of anything that looks like food. Given enough time, a Grand Canyon raven will even unzip a backpack and rifle through it. For your sake and theirs, keep a tidy camp kitchen and store your food well.
Large RVs are encouraged to stay at Trailer Village, but smaller RVs, often rentals, are everywhere. The park has set longer quiet hours than you’ll find in many campgrounds: generator use is limited to 8 a.m.–8 p.m., and loud music is prohibited at all times. Your fellow campers may come from all over the globe, so say hi and enjoy meeting someone new and different.
The best way to enjoy your visit to the Grand Canyon is to plan ahead. Peruse the National Park Service website and call the information centers. Study up, especially if you intend to enter the canyon itself. Below the rim, the canyon is a uniquely rewarding and uniquely dangerous place to hike. You descend while you’re fresh and rested, and only when you’re already tired do you face the reality of climbing back up. Throw in the dry, desert climate and the 20°–40° difference between rim and canyon temperatures, and you have a recipe for hundreds of rescues and several deaths every year.
With a little extra planning and effort, you might have a campsite with a view of the canyon all to yourself. You must have a permit to camp outside of designated campgrounds, but backcountry camping can be found both above and below the rim. If you’re up for a backpack experience, but don’t want to challenge the canyon itself, try Cape Solitude. At-large camping is permitted almost anywhere along the 15.6-mile hike. To explore other possibilities, stop in at the backcountry office, and the rangers will help you plan your ideal trip. Dispersed camping is also available at no cost in Kaibab National Forest, south of the park border.
Don’t ignore the most popular parts of the park—the park service has worked hard to make visiting an enjoyable experience, and the lodges and shops at the village have history and charms of their own to explore. A nice way to see the busiest part of the canyon is from the partially paved Rim Trail, which stretches from Hermit’s Rest in the west to Yaki Point. You can park at one of the viewpoints, walk all or a portion of the trail, and catch the shuttle bus back to your car. The free, alternative-fuel shuttles don’t come as far as Desert View, but if you’ve come to the canyon via the Grand Canyon Railway (for more details see profile 10, White Horse Lake), there is taxi service from the village.
GETTING THERE
From Flagstaff to the east entrance station, take US 89 north 65 miles to AZ 64. Turn left and drive west 50 miles to Grand Canyon National Park’s East Entrance. Turn right into the campground.
From Flagstaff to Grand Canyon Village, take US 180 west 51 miles to AZ 64. Turn right and drive north 31 miles to Grand Canyon National Park’s South Rim Entrance.
GPS COORDINATES N36° 02.458' W111° 49.583'
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Forked Pine Campground
Beauty
KEY INFORMATION
CONTACT: 928-526-0866, tinyurl.com/forkedpine
OPEN: Year-round when roads are open; full services mid-May–October 1
SITES: 24
EACH SITE HAS: Picnic table, fire ring with grill
ASSIGNMENT: First-come, first-served; no reservations
REGISTRATION: With camp host
AMENITIES: Vault toilets, firewood, boat ramp, campground host, day-use area
PARKING: At campsites
FEE: $18/night, $8/additional vehicle, $8 day use
ELEVATION: 7,132'
RESTRICTIONS:
PETS: On leash only
FIRES: In fire rings only
ALCOHOL: Permitted
VEHICLES: 35-foot length limit; 1 vehicle/site; motorbikes restricted to entering and exiting campsite
QUIET HOURS: 10 p.m.–6 a.m.
OTHER: 14-day stay limit; 8-person limit/site; 10-horsepower boat-motor size limit; horses prohibited
If you intend to fish or would like to wake up to the sun rising over the lake, there’s no need to go any farther.
The San Francisco Peaks peek above the horizon across Ashurst Lake.
As the temperatures in the desert valleys creep up into the triple digits, people start flocking to Arizona’s high country. The Mormon Lake area is a popular summer retreat, with many small lakes and several good campgrounds along scenic Lake Mary Road south from Flagstaff toward Payson. Our favorite of these is Ashurst Lake, a little gem in the pinyon–juniper grasslands. If you intend to fish or would like to wake up to the sun rising over the lake, no need to go any farther.
The route from Flagstaff takes you past Upper Lake Mary, a popular spot for boating, waterskiing, fishing, and bird-watching. Past Lakeview Campground at the intersection with Pine Grove Campground, turn east onto Forest Road 82E, a well-graded dirt road that carries you onto higher ground, passing through large, grassy meadows speckled with ponderosa pines and a few oaks. Look northwest to see the San Francisco Peaks rising over the trees in the distance. This good grazing land borders the Anderson Mesa Wildlife Protection Area, so keep an eye out for elk, mule deer, and pronghorn antelope, as well as cattle.
As you pull up to Ashurst Lake, take a left at the fork in the road and drive around the lake to Forked Pine Campground. Here you will find 24 sites in three loops, with views of the lake and the San Francisco Peaks in the background. All sites contain a picnic table and a steel fire ring with a grill, and most have a cleared, leveled tent area. In loop A, the campground hosts who live here from mid-May through the end of September take site number 6. Of the eight sites here, check out open sites 7 and 8, nearest to the lake, or site 3, tucked in between the shelter of junipers but with less of a lake view. If you prefer more privacy, we recommend heading on to loop B’s four sites, where sites 12 and 13 sit near the water’s edge for convenient kayak access. There is no toilet facility in this loop, so you will have to take the short walk to loop C to answer the call of nature. Loop C is the largest loop with 12 sites, several with convenient access to the lake for fishing and water play. If the wind is blowing, try small but sheltered site 18; for sunshine and a wide-open feeling, look at lakeside sites 22 and 23. You are also close to the bouldery boat ramp here, near site 20.
Man-made Ashurst Lake was dammed in 1954 to provide water for recreational fishing. The 230-acre lake is frequently stocked with trout, bass, and channel catfish,