Established campgrounds that welcome vehicle-based travelers, from public campgrounds on the way to somewhere to private camps worth a stay of their own.
We’re working on adding the latest campgrounds in Arizona here.
In the meantime, BLM campgrounds are already on the public land map, with the fees and stay limits the agency publishes and a link to each one.
Our build of the Recreation.gov database finds 167 federal campgrounds a vehicle can reach in Arizona: 131 Forest Service, 20 National Park Service and 16 BLM, with 116 bookable ahead. Everything else is dispersed. Most BLM land allows it, free, for 14 days in a 28-day period before a move.
The refuges differ. Kofa lets you pick your own site within 100 feet of a designated road, for 14 days in any 12 months. Cabeza Prieta allows dispersed camping but encourages its established primitive campgrounds. Parashant has no designated campsites at all.
Developed campgrounds have numbered sites, toilets, often water, usually a fee and sometimes reservations. They are the easy night on the way to somewhere.
Dispersed camping means no facilities and no fee. It is allowed on much Bureau of Land Management and National Forest land, within local rules on where you can pull off, how long you can stay and whether you can have a fire.
Private campgrounds and ranch stays add showers, laundry and hookups: the reset day in the middle of a long trip.
How to find a good one
The managing agency's own page is the only source for current status.
01Check the agency page for closures, fire restrictions and water before you drive in.
02Check the stay limit. Many public lands use fourteen days within a set period, but it varies by office.
03Check vehicle length limits and the condition of the access road.
04Arrive before dark, and have a second option.
Camp so it stays open
Most closures of dispersed areas follow the same pattern of trash, new fire rings and driving off the track.
01Use sites that already exist rather than making new ones.
02Pack out everything, including human waste where it is required.
03Have fires only where and when they are allowed, and drown them.
04Leave gates as you found them.
Questions people ask
Is dispersed camping legal?
On much BLM and National Forest land, yes, within local rules on where you can pull off, how long you can stay and whether fires are allowed. Rules are set by the local office and change with conditions, so check before you go. The public land map shows who manages the ground.
How long can I stay?
Many public lands use a 14-day limit within a set period, but it varies by office and by area. The campground details on the public land map show the stay limit the BLM publishes for each site.
Do I need a reservation?
For popular developed campgrounds in season, often. Many public campgrounds are first come, first served. Recreation.gov handles reservations for most federal campgrounds that take them.
How high is Arizona?
From Yuma at 141 feet to Humphreys Peak at 12,633.
Altitude decides what your engine, your brakes and your lungs have to work with, and how late in the year the passes open.
02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,000
Feet above sea level
Towns
SpringervilleApache-Sitgreaves National Forests headquarters, in the White Mountains in the east of the state.6,966 ft
FlagstaffWhere I-40 meets I-17 below the San Francisco Peaks. Coconino National Forest headquarters, and the north end of Oak Creek Canyon and of Schnebly Hill Road.6,900 ft
PrescottPrescott National Forest headquarters. The USGS puts the geographic center of Arizona 55 miles east-southeast of here.5,371 ft
PaysonOn State Route 87 below the Mogollon Rim. The Forest Service describes the rim campgrounds looking down on the town from 2,000 feet up and 15 miles away.4,915 ft
FredoniaOn US 89A near the Utah line. The Sunshine Route to Tuweep leaves Arizona 389 eight miles west of town.4,675 ft
PageOn US 89 above Glen Canyon, at the eastern end of the Arizona Strip and the Vermilion Cliffs country.4,343 ft
SedonaIn Red Rock country on State Route 89A, at the Red Rock Ranger District. The Red Rocks and Sycamore Canyon loop and the lower end of Schnebly Hill Road start here.4,336 ft
GlobeOn US 60 at the southern edge of the Tonto National Forest. The forest’s Gila-Pinal Scenic Road runs west from here through Miami and Superior.3,511 ft
KingmanWhere I-40 meets US 93. BLM’s Kingman Field Office, in the Colorado River District.3,350 ft
SaffordOn US 70 in the Gila Valley. BLM’s Safford Field Office, and the foot of the Swift Trail Parkway up Mount Graham.2,917 ft
TucsonWhere I-10 meets I-19. Coronado National Forest headquarters and BLM’s Gila District. The Catalina Highway climbs from the northeast edge of the city.2,481 ft
AjoOn State Route 85 north of Organ Pipe Cactus. Darby Well Road, the eastern start of El Camino del Diablo, leaves 2.4 miles south of the plaza.1,756 ft
PhoenixState capital where I-10 meets I-17. BLM’s Arizona State Office and Phoenix District, and the Tonto National Forest supervisor’s office.1,088 ft
QuartzsiteOn I-10 where US 95 crosses. The four La Posa Long Term Visitor Areas begin about two miles south of town.879 ft
Lake Havasu CityOn the Colorado River. BLM’s Colorado River District office and its Lake Havasu Field Office. NOAA records the state high of 128°F here.739 ft
YumaOn I-8 at the Colorado River. BLM’s Yuma Field Office and the Kofa refuge headquarters. The western approaches to El Camino del Diablo leave I-8 to the east.141 ft
Passes, high roads and summits
Humphreys PeakThe highest point in Arizona, in Coconino County. No road to the top12,633 ft
Mount GrahamTop of the Pinaleños, the tallest of the southeastern sky islands. The Swift Trail climbs its flank10,720 ft
Top of the highwayCatalina Highway: Tanque Verde Road in Tucson to the upper Santa Catalina Mountains9,000 ft
Mount TrumbullThe high ground of Grand Canyon-Parashant, which the Park Service puts at over 8,000 feet8,019 ft
From the Desert to the Tall Pines Scenic BywayThe Pleasant Valley Ranger District of the Tonto National Forest7,600 ft
Vulcans ThroneThe cinder cone due west of Toroweap Overlook, and the high point of the Tuweep map5,102 ft
Pass, road and summit elevations are the figures published by the agency that manages them. Town elevations are the town’s or county’s own
figure where it publishes an exact one; the rest are from the U.S. Geological Survey (3D Elevation Program at the place’s official coordinates),
retrieved September 18, 2026. Every source is listed at the foot of the page.
