Campground Camping Areas

• Douglas Ranger District
  

  Dragoons, Chiricahuas, Cochise, names that hark back to the Old West. All are associated with the lands that now make up the Douglas Ranger District. Located in southeastern corner of Arizona; southwestern corner of New Mexico, the district includes the Chiricahua, Dragoon, and Peloncillo mountain ranges.  Visitors can enjoy hiking trails, the Chiricahua wilderness, several campgrounds, and Cave Creek Canyon, a world-famous birdwatching area.

  Ranger	Phone	Address
  Douglas "Doug" Ruppel (District Ranger)	(520) 364-3468 FAX: (520) 364-6667	1192 W. Saddleview Rd. Douglas, AZ 85607

• Chiricahua Mountains

  Part of the Douglas Ranger District.

• Camp Rucker
• Cave Creek Canyon
• Herb Martyr Campground
• Idlewilde Campground
• Rustler Park Campground
• Stewart Campground
• Sunny Flat Campground
• Sycamore Campground
• Dragoon Mountains

  Part of the Douglas Ranger District

• Cochise Stronghold Campground
• Nogales Ranger District
  

  The Santa Ritas are topped by 9.453 foot Mt. Wrightson, which is surrounded by the 25,260 acre Wilderness area of the same name.  Madera Canyon in the Santa Ritas is famous among birdwatchers the world over.  A number of Forest roads, including the Madera Canyon Road, provide access to campgrounds, picnic areas, boating and dozens of forest trails.

  Pena Blanca Lake, at the edge of the Atascosas, offers developed campgrounds, picnic areas and fishing for stocked and resident species.

  The Pajaritos are home to scenic Sycamore Canyon, the 7,420 acre Pajarita Wilderness and a history of mining boomtowns and hardy pioneers.

  Ranger	Phone	Address
  Marlon Avantyr (District Ranger)	(520) 281-2296 FAX: (520) 281-2396	303 Old Tucson Rd. Nogales, AZ 85621

• Santa Rita Mountains

  Northernmost mountain range within the Nogales Ranger District. Includes the popular Madera Canyon.

• Bog Springs Campground
• Tumacacori Mountains

  Mountain range within the Nogales Ranger District which lies just west of Interstate 19 and extends southward to the International border.

• White Rock Campground
• Safford Ranger District
  

  This recreation area is the home of the Coronado's most extensive mountain range, the Pinaleños, and topped by the highest peak in southern Arizona, 10,720 foot Mt. Graham.  A scenic road named the Swift Trail (Hwy 366) leads into these unique mountains and provides access to campgrounds, Forest trails, and fishing at Riggs Lake.

  The Safford Recreation Area is also home to the Galiuro Mountains and the Santa Teresa Range.  The 76,317 acre Galiuro Wilderness is steeped in history and contains an extensive trail network.

  The Santa Teresas are rugged and remote, with a variety of primitive trails leading into a 26,780 acre Wilderness (area is unavailable).

  Ranger	Phone	Address
  Detailed District Ranger (District Ranger)	(928) 428-4150 FAX: (928) 428-2393	711 14th Avenue, Suite D Safford, AZ 85546

• Pinaleño Mountains

  The Pinaleño Mountains, capped by 10,720-ft. Mount Graham, are the tallest of southeastern Arizona’s sky island mountain ranges. State Route 366, also known as the Swift Trail Parkway, offers easy access into this beautiful mountain range. The route climbs more than 7,000 feet over 35 miles and offers incredible views of the surrounding landscape. The first 22 miles are paved; the last 13 miles are dirt and require a high-clearance vehicle.

   

  The Pinaleños rise like a forested island out of a sea of desert. Ascending this mountain is the ecological equivalent of traveling from Mexico to Canada in just a few short hours. Varied biotic communities, layered in life zones, provide ideal habitat for a diverse array of plants and animals, including endemic species found nowhere else in the world. The uppermost life zone is home to relic species from the last ice age, including the southernmost stand of Englemann spuce in the United States. High elevation meadows, cool forests, groves of aspen, perennial streams, and an alpine lake make for an enchanting escape from the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts below.

   

  Numerous picnic areas, campgrounds, and hiking trails are accessed along the Swift Trail Parkway. Scroll down for a list of recreation opportunities.

• Arcadia Campground
• Columbine Corrals Campground
• Cunningham Campground
• Hospital Flat Campground
• Noon Creek Campground and Picnic Area
• Riggs Flat Campground
• Shannon Campground
• Soldier Creek Campground
• Stockton Pass Campground
• Santa Catalina Ranger District
  

  Located adjacent to Tucson, the Santa Catalina Ranger District is the most heavily visited part of the Coronado National Forest. The Catalina Highway (Sky Island Scenic Byway) winds nearly to the top of 9,157 foot Mt. Lemmon, providing paved access to trailheads, campgrounds, picnic areas and a ski area. The Santa Catalinas are also home to Sabino Canyon and the 56,933 acre Pusch Ridge Wilderness area.

  For information about road conditions on Mount Lemmon Highway call 520-547-7510.

  For information about the Sabino Canyon Shuttle: Sabino Canyon Crawler

  For information about concession-operated campgrounds:

  • Spencer Canyon Campground 520-576-1492. 
  • Rose Canyon Lake Campground 520-576-1325 
  • Whitetail Campground 520-576-9198. 
  • Showers Point Campground 520-314-0069.

  You can reserve campsite and/or group areas at these sites at Recreation.gov. Please note that InterAgency and Coronado National Forest passes are not valid at these sites.

  For information on guided nature walks, hikes, children's programs, family activities, and school field trips: go to Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists.

  Ranger	Phone	Address
  Don DelMastro (District Ranger)	(520) 749-8700 FAX: (520) 749-7723	5700 N. Sabino Canyon Rd. Tucson, AZ 85750

• Santa Catalina Mountains

  Welcome to the Santa Catalina Mountains, one of the premier natural areas in southeastern Arizona. The elevation ranges from 2,724 ft. in Sabino Canyon to 9,157 ft. at the top of Mt. Lemmon.The lowland desert as well as the high pine forest offers settings for a variety of recreation opportunities including hiking, biking, rock climbing, skiing, and camping

  Outstanding scenery  features steep rock cliffs and foothills covered with unique desert vegetation adjacent to riparian corridors.

• General Hitchcock Campground
• Gordon Hirabayashi Campground
• Molino Basin Campground
• Peppersauce Campground
• Rose Canyon Campground
• Spencer Canyon Campground
• Sierra Vista Ranger District
  

  The Sierra Vista Ranger District includes several mountain ranges which are separated by rolling hill county and some of the Southwest’s most extensive grasslands. The area includes the Huachuca, Patagonia and Whetstone mountains and the Canelo Hills. These areas were once the focus of extensive mining activity and their canyons and ridges are rich in the history of those colorful days. An extensive network of trails provides access to the Huachuca Mountains and to the 20,190 acre Miller Peak Wilderness. In Ramsey Canyon, where miners once sluiced, blasted and tunneled for gold and silver, birdwatchers have found a gentler bonanza. A number of scenic drives cross the area;s broad grasslands and anglers find their reward in Parker Canyon Lake, where stocked trout, as well as other species, challenge fishermen.

  Ranger	Phone	Address
  Celeste “Daisy” Kinsey (District Ranger)	(520) 378-0311 FAX: (520) 378-0519	4070 S. Avenida Saracino Hereford, AZ 85615

• Parker Canyon Lake

   

  

   

  This medium-sized 130 acre lake is located in the Canelo Hills west of the Huachuca Mountains.

  It offers a number of recreational possibilities for those willing to drive the long, paved roads that lead to it. For those who like to fish, Parker Canyon Lake offers both cold and warm water species, including rainbow trout, longmouth bass, sunfish, and channel catfish. There is a fishing pier and a paved boat ramp at the lake, as well as a lakeside paved area and a graveled path along some of the best catfishing shoreline. There is also a concessionaire-operated country store at the lakeshore where you can pick up some last minute supplies, buy a fishing license, or rent a boat. Bird watchers and just plain nature lovers will also find much to enjoy at Parker Canyon Lake. A five mile trail leads around the shoreline never getting more than a few steps from the water. The Parker Lakeshore Trail offers excellent vantage points from which to enjoy the ducks and other waterfowl that are invariably bobbing on the lake’s clear waters. Some of those points even have benches and interpretive signs. Bald eagles and osprey are regularly sighted in this area, as are spring warblers and hummingbirds in season. Coues whitetail deer can frequently be seen browsing among the oaks and grasses that surround the lake and in the two campgrounds near its shores. Coatimundi, javelina, and roadrunners, three animals that are about as southwestern as you can get, make occasional appearances as well. Parking for vehicles, motor homes, boat trailers.

  Accessible by passenger car. Fish available include trout, bass, catfish, and panfish. You can fish from a boat or a fishing pier. Boat ramp available.

  Download the Parker Canyon Lake Visitor Guide in English.

  Descarga la guía del visitante en español a Parker Canyon Lake.

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• Lakeview Campground
• Huachuca Mountains

  The Huachuca Mountains are the third highest of the Sky Island mountain ranges in southeastern Arizona and they rise almost 4,500 feet above the desert floor. The mountain range is oriented in a northwestern direction giving it more north-facing slopes and perhaps a somewhat cooler climate than some of the other Sky Island mountain ranges with similar elevation. The highest elevations support mixed conifer forests on north-facing slopes and pine forests on south-facing slopes. Lower elevations have extensive oak and oak-pine woodlands. Management of this mountain range is divided mostly between the U.S Forest Service and Department of Defense (Fort Huachuca). Fort Huachuca occupies roughly the northeastern quarter of the range; the Forest Service manages the northwestern quarter and southern half. A small part of the southern end of the range is managed by the National Park Service as Coronado National Memorial.

  Special Places:

  East Side Canyons: Spring-fed streams, northeast orientation, and high canyon walls provide the canyons on the east side of the Huachuca Mountains with a moist cool environment unusual in the desert southwest. Water-loving trees like sycamores and maples grow along the streams often within a few feet of cacti, yucca, and agaves. The principal canyons accessible to visitors are Huachuca Canyon and Garden Canyon on Fort Huachuca; Ramsey Canyon, which is a private preserve managed by The Nature Conservancy; and Carr Canyon on the Coronado National Forest.

  Miller Peak Wilderness: This wilderness of 20,190 acres occupies much of the high country at the southern end of the mountain range. It has an extensive trail system.

  Coronado National Memorial: Francisco Vásquez de Coronado led the first major European expedition into the American Southwest in 1540 in search of the mythical Seven Cities of Cíbola. This park on the Mexican border was established to honor that quest. The park occupies the lower elevations at the southern end of the mountain range. It has excellent grasslands and evergreen oak woodlands.

   

• Carr Canyon Road #368 Scenic Drive

  If you look up at the Huachuca Mountains from the town of Sierra Vista, a band of sheer cliffs bends and curves across the face of the mountain range. The relatively flat area above is called the Carr Reef. In this case, however, the word “reef” doesn’t refer to coral and oceans. It harks back to an earlier time when it also meant a thick layer of exposed rock. While you’re looking at the Reef, you may also notice a tree-covered break in that impressive barrier, just south of a deep canyon. Look even closer and you should see a barely visible set of switchbacks climbing that slope. That is the Carr Canyon Road, the only road into the upper reaches of the Huachuca Range. This narrow, winding road was built at the turn of the century to open up the Carr Reef to gold and silver mining. It was reconstructed in the late 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The mines have come and gone, but the road persists with little change. The people who travel it, however, have changed considerably. Where hardy prospectors once searched for their pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, outdoor recreationists and history buffs now travel the Carr Canyon Road to enjoy splendid scenery and seek the flavor of the past. For them, the Carr Canyon Road provides the reward of extraordinary views of Sierra Vista, the San Pedro Valley, and a number of surrounding mountain ranges as it winds its way up the mountain. Since the road is so narrow, we recommend for safety that you use one of the pullouts along the road if you want to stop and enjoy the view. A forest recreation area stands in an area once occupied by the mining outpost of Reef. Here, you’ll find the Reef Townsite Loop Trail and two scenic forest campgrounds. From the Reef, the Carr Peak Trail #107 and Comfort Springs Trail #109 connect to an extensive network of trails that lead throughout the Huachuca Range.

  Download the Carr Canyon Visitor Guide in English.

  Descarga la guía del visitante en español a Carr Canyon.

• Carr House
• Ramsey Vista Campground
• Reef Townsite Campground