Location:  Western Arizona southeast of Kingman.

Access:  From Interstate 40 exit5 51 (at the east end of Kingman 35 miles east of the Arizona-California border), turn south onto Stockton Hill Road; proceed 1.9 miles south to where it becomes Hualapai Mountain Road; continue for another 11 miles to the park and the campgrounds.

Facilities:  81 campsites, including 11 with full hookups, in 3 loops; sites are small to medium-sized, with fair to good separation; parking pads are mostly dirt, small to medium-length straight-ins or pull-offs; many pads may require additional leveling; some fairly good-sized tent spots, though most are a bit sloped; barbecue grills or fire rings; firewood is usually for sale, or b-y-o; water at central faucets; central restrooms near the day use area, plus auxiliary vaults; some of the driveway is paved, most is gravel/dirt; adequate + supplies and services are available in Kingman.

Activities & Attractions:  Day use area with playground and sports field; hiking on 15 miles of trails, including the Hualapai Mountain trail which climbs almost 2000′ to Aspen Peak; some great views of the valleys and mountains to the east.

Natural Features:  Located on a forested mountainside near the north end of the Hualapai Mountains; some sites tucked into granite rock pockets on a steep slope; campground vegetation consists of tall pines, oaks, aspens, manzanita and grass; completely surrounded by semi-arid plains and desert; elevation 6200′.

Season, Fees & Phone:  Open all year; $6.00 14 day limit; park office (602) 757-3859

Camp Notes:  Campsites here vary considerably, but the best separation and nicest views are probably from the Pine Basin Area.  Hualapai Mountain Park’s roadways and structures were built in the 1930’s by the CCC.  Hualapai Mountain is often referred to as a “biological island” because of its striking contrast to the surrounding countryside.

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Location:  North-central Arizona north Grand Canyon National park.

Access:  From the junction U.S. Highway 89A & Arizona State Highway 67 in the hamlet of Jacob Lake (near milepost 579 on U.S. 89A, 30 miles southeast of Fredonia, 55 miles west of Marble Canyon), travel south on Highway 67 for 25 miles to milepost 605 + .2; turn west onto a gravel access road and proceed 0.2 mile to the campground.

Facilities:  20 campsites; sites are quite spacious, with generally good separation; parking pads are gravel, mostly long pull-throughs; many pads may require some additional leveling; tent areas are medium to large buy may be a bit sloped; fireplaces or fire rings; limited firewood is available for gathering in the vicinity, so gathering of firewood prior to arrival is suggested; water at central faucets; restrooms, plus rustic auxiliary vaults; gravel driveways; gas and camper supplies in Jacob Lake and at Grand Canyon North Rim.

Activities & Attractions:  West Side Road (gravel) and jeep trails lead west from here through Lookout Canyon (a backdoor access to Jacob Lake), and toward the spectacular, yet far less frequented, Grand Canyon viewpoints at Saddle Point and Crazy Jug Point; visitor central at North Rim.

Natural Features;  Located along the west edge of De Motte Park, a long, narrow meadow on the densely forested Kaibab Plateau; campground vegetation consists of very tall conifers, aspens, fairly dense underbrush and second growth timber; a unique species of big-eared. bush-tailed Kaibab squirrels frequent the campground; elevation 8000′.

Season, Fees & Phone:  May to November; $7.00; 14 day limit; North Kaibab Ranger District (602) 643-7395.

Camp Notes:  De Motte offers a smaller, relatively more peaceful alternative to the popular North Rim Campground in the national park, 17 miles south.  And, it’s within a short drive of some great views of one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

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Location:  North-central Arizona north of Grand Canyon national Park.

Access:  From U.S. Highway + 89A AT MILEPOST 579 + .6 in the hamlet of Jacob Lake (0.2 Mile north of the Junction of U.S. Highway 89 AND 67, 30 Miles southeast of Fredonia), turn east into the campground.

Facilities:  39 campsites; (group camping facilities are also available); sites are medium to large, with adequate to good separation; parking pads are gravel, mostly medium to long pull-throughs, plus some medium-length straight-ins; many pads may require additional leveling; large spots for tents on bare earth or a pine needle forest floor; fire rings; b=y=o firewood, or gather on national forest lands before arrival; water at several faucets; restrooms, plus auxiliary vaults; gravel driveways; gas and camper supplies across the highway; gas and groceries in Fredonia; nearest source of limited supplies and services is Kanab, Utah, 400 miles north.

Activities & Attractions:  Self-guided “Kai-Viv-We” Nature Trail; amphitheater for ranger=naturalist programs; small visitors center; North Rim of Grand Canyon, 50 miles south.

Season, Fees & Phone:  May to November $7.00; 7 day limit; North Kaibab ranger district (602) 643-7395.

Camp notes:  Jacob Lake Campground and the North Rim of Grand Canyon can be approached from 2 directions.  Access from the east is across the Colorado River and past the spectacular Vermillion Cliffs.  Access from the northwest is from Kanab, Utah across a vast sage plain and through the forested Fevre roads.  The sweeping view from eash one is more impressive that the other.  If you have the opportunity, try one way in and the other way out.

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Location:  North-central Arizona in northern Grand Canyon National Park.

Access; From the junction of U.S. Highway 89A & Arizona State highway 67 in the hamlet of Jacob Lake (near milepost 579 on U.S. 89A, 30 miles south east of Fredona, 55 miles west of Marble Canyon), travel South on Highway 67 for 31 miles to the national park entrance station; continue south for 11.3 miles (past the Park Services offices), then turn southwest (right); continue for 0.25 miles to the campground.

Facilities:  83 campsites; sites are small to medium-sized, with nominal separation; parking pads are paved, short to long, mostly pull-throughs; some pads may require minor additional leveling; large, mostly level, tent spots on a bare earth or pine needles forest floor; fireplaces; b-y-o firewood; water at several faucets; restrooms; holding tank disposal station; paved driveways; camper supplies, gas and showers nearby; nearest reliable source of limited supplies and services is Kanab, Utah, 75 miles north.

Activities & Attractions:  Viewing and photographing the Canyon from various points:  Bright Angel Point is nearest, and Point Imperial, Cape Royal, Walhalla Overlook, and Vista Encantadora are within a short drive, hiking.

Natural Features:  Located on the North Rim of Grand Canyon of the Colorado River; campground vegetation consists of medium to tall conifers over a mostly cleared forest floor; the mile deep gorge, within a few yards of some sites, presents awesome, colorful rock formations; elevation 8200′.

Season, Fees & Phone:  May to October; $10.00 for a site plus $10.00 for the park entrance fee; 7 day limit; reservations are “strongly recommended”, park information (602) 638-7888.

Camp Notes:  Nearby Bright Angel Point is a favorite vantage point for viewing phenomenal, brilliant canyon sunrises and sunsets.  Bring three; make that five, extra rolls of film.  It’s much quieter here than at South Rim.  North Rim isn’t the only established campground within the park on the north side of the river.  However, getting to the other camp will involve a little more than slipping a motor home into a pull-through pad or popping up a dome tent.  You’ve got to work a little to camp at Bright Angel, since it’s about a mile below North Rim.  This backpack campground is located in a side canyon along Bright Angel Creek just north of its confluence with the Colorado River.  The poetic name for the sparkling stream goes back to the first American expedition down the Colorado led by Major John Wesley Powell in 1869.  Many miles upriver of here in Utah, the expedition members had tried to get drinking water from a side stream.  But the tributary’s contents proved to be so foul-tasting that they pronounced it a “Dirty Devil” (now the Dirty Devil River) and moved on down the Colorado.  Reaching this confluence some days later, they found the crystal clear waters of this stream to be cool and fresh.  In contrast to the earlier incident, they named it “Bright Angel Creed”.

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Location:  Western Arizona northeast of Parker.

Access:  From Arizona State Highway 95 at milepost 154 + .8 (10 miles north of Parker, 4 miles south of the settlement of Buckskin, 28 miles south of Lake Havasu City), turn west onto a paved access road and proceed 0.1 mile west, then north into the campground.

Facilities:  83 campsites, including 48 sites with partial hookups, and 21 sites with electric-only hookups, in 5 sections; sites are small to medium-sized and closely spaced; sites 1 to 14 are roomiest, with some separation; parking pads are mostly level, paved, short to medium-length, straight-ins or parking lot spaces; designated, generally excellent, tent-pitching areas on sandy or grassy surfaces; the 21 electric sites have cabanas; barbecue grills; b-y-o firewood; water at faucets throughout; restrooms with showers; holding tank disposal station; paved driveways; gas and groceries at numerous places north and south of the park; adequate supplies and services are available in Parker.

Activities & Attractions:  Boating; boat launch; fishing; waterskiing; designated swimming areas; playground; volleyball court; hiking trails,  including Lightning Bolt Trail and Buckskin Mountain Scenic Trail, lead through the desert and past old prospecting claims; small visitor center.

Natural Features:  Located in the Mohave Desert on the east bank of the Colorado River; vegetation consists of scattered shade trees on watered grass; sandy beach; barren rock hills lie across the river to the west and north, the Buckskin Mountains rise to the east; elevation 450′.

Season, Fee & Phone:  Open all year; $7.00 for a standard site, $12.00 for an electric hookup site; $15.00 for a cabana with water and electric hookups; 14 day limit; park office4 (602) 667-3231 OR (602) 667-3387.

camp Notes:  There are some really nice campsites at Buckskin Point.  The Cabanas are upscale sun/wind ramadas that resemble clusters of car wash bays.  A number of sites have views of the incredibly blue river.  Views of the Colorado River Valley from the nearby overlook points are terrific.

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Location:  Western Arizona northeast of Parker

Access:  From Arizona State Highway 95 at milepost 156 + .1 (11 miles north of Parker, 2.5 miles south of the settlement of Buckskin, 27 miles south of Lake Havasu City), turn west onto a paved driveway and proceed 0.1 mile to the campground.

Facilities:  30 campsites, including 22 with water hookups; sites are small to small+, level, with very little separation; parking pads are paved, short to medium-length, straight-ins or pull-through; some very nice, medium-sized, grassy tent spots; barbecue grills; b-y-o firewood; water at faucets throughout; restrooms with showers; holding tank disposal station; paved driveways; gas and groceries at numerous spaces north and south of the park; adequate supplies and services are available in Parker.

Activities & Attractions:  Boating; boat launch; fishing for largemouth bass, channel cat, crappie and bluegill; waterskiing; Wedge Hill hiking trail.

Natural Features:  Located on a grassy bluff in the Mojave Desert overlooking the Colorado River; mown lawns throughout most of the camping area, plus scattered shade trees; jagged, barren rock formations east and north; elevation 450′

Season, Fees & Phone:  Open all year; $7.00; 14 day limit; park office (602) 667-3387.

Camp Notes:  There are some really pleasant little campsites here at the River Island Unit of Buckskin State Park.  This facility is smaller and less hectic than its larger cousin, Buckskin Point, is the south.  There are no electrical hookup sites here, so you’ll find that more small vehicle and/or tent campers favor this unit.  Another nearby camping area is in a BLM recreation site near milepost 159 + .4. Havasu Springs offers gravel access to a number of parking/camping spots overlooking the river.

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Location:  Western Arizona in Lake Havasu City.

Access:  From Arizona State Highway 95 (Lake Havasu City (1.4 miles north of London Bridge) turn southwest (i.e., left if you’ve arrived from the south and just passed London Bridge) onto Industrial Boulevard and proceed 0.5 mile to a fork; take the left fork on 0.15 mile, then turn west (right) to the park entrance station; take the first south (left) turn and continue for 0.7 mile to the campground. (a tip on finding the place; the far south end of the campground, i.e. the opposite end from the park entrance station, is directly behind the high-rise Holiday Inn).
                        
Facilities:  74 campsites; (a large group camp is also available, by reservation); sites are medium to large, essentially level, with fair to excellent separation; parking pads are gravel, medium to medium + straight-ins or long pull-offs or PUll-throughs; adequate space for large tents on a sand/gravel surface; fire rings; b-y-o firewood; water at several faucets; restrooms with showers; holding tank disposal station; paved driveways; complete supplies and services are available in Lake Havasu City.

Activities & Attractions:  Fishing; boating; boat launches; large, sandy swimming beach; day use area; Mojave Sunset Hiking Trail; famous relocated London Bridge in Lake Havasu City.

Natural Features:  Located on a flat along the west shore of Lake Havasu, a reservoir on the Colorado River, in the Mojave Desert; sites received minimal to ample shade/shelter from hardwoods and bushes; views of the lake and desert mountains from signs indicate that poisonous snakes and insects inhibit the area; total land area within the entire state park in 11,000 acres; elevation 500′.

Season, Fees & Phone:  Open all year; $7.00; 14 day limit; park office (602)855-7851.

Camp Notes:  The contrast between a contemporary desert community like Lake Havasu City and classic London Bridge is curiously appealing. As the story goes, Lake Havasu City’s principal real estate developer bought the historic viaduct when the City of London was about to scrap it and substitute a modern structure.  The bridge was meticulously dismantle and reassembled here in the Mojave Desert.  In keeping with the Britannic theme that pervades Lake Havasu City, Windsor Beach was named for England’s RoyalHouse of Windsor.

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Location:  Southeast California along the California-Arizona border east of Needles.

Access: From Interstate 40 at milepost 153 + .3 (1.3 miles west of the Arizona-California border, 11 miles east of Needles), take the Park Moabi Exit (the easternmost exit in California); turn north onto Park Moabi Road, and proceed 0.6 mile; turn left to north onto Park Moabi Road, and proceed 0.6 mile; turn left to the park entrance station and the campground.

Facilities:  664 campsites, including 31 partial or complete hookup sites; sites are all fairly level, and vary considerably in size and separation; from small to very large, from close to quite private; hookup sites are parking-lot style, on a gravel surface; tent spots are generally large and level; tenting not permitted on the grass on weekdays (because of automatic sprinkling); some sites lack table and/or fire facilities; barbecue grills in most sites; b-y-o firewood; water at several faucets; restrooms, some with showers; holding tank disposal station; gravel driveways; adequate supplies and services are available in Needles.

Activities & Attractions:  Boating; large boat launch area; marina nearby; fishing, small playground.

Natural Features:  Located along the west bank of the Colorado River; campground vegetation consists of some watered grass and short-to-medium height, bushy trees; sandy beach; surrounded by desert mountains; elevation 600′.

Season, Fees & Phone:  Open all year; $10.00 to $15.00; discount system for summer weekday camping and winter camping; 14 day limit; park office (619) 326-3831.

Camp Notes: Although it often gets pretty busy at this park, they’ve reportedly never had to turn anyone away.  Park Moabi’s campground may be handy for I-40 travelers, since the next nearest public camps along the Interstate in Arizona are 165 miles east of here in Williams.

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Location:  Western Arizona west of Kingman

Access:  From Arizona State Highway 95 at milepost 250 + .55 (at the north end of Bullhead City, 35 miles west of Kingman, 35 miles northeast of Needles, California), turn west onto a paved access road; proceed .25 mile to the park entrance station, then another 0.2 mile to the camp areas.

Facilities:  94 campsites with full hookups, plus space for dozens of tent campers along the riverbank; sites are small to medium-sized with minimal separation; parking pad for hookup sites are gravel, level, medium to long, parallel pull-through; parking spaces for the tent area are level, gravel/sand, and how-ever-you-can manage; adequate spaced for medium-sized tents on sand/bare earth along the beach; some beachside fire rings; b-y-o firewood; water throughout the hookup section, none on the beach; restrooms with showers near the hookup sites; vault facilities on the beach; holding tank disposal stations; paved driveway through the hookup section, gravel beach drive; adequate supplies and services are available in Bullhead City.

Activities & Attractions:  Boating; boat launch; fishing. (Nevada casinos in Laughlin, across the river, via the Davis Dam Causeway, or via shuttle.)

Natural Features:  Located along the east bank of the Colorado River just below Davis Dam; vegetation consists of a few small bushes along the beach, medium-tall trees between hookup sites, and parcel of watered and mown grass for the picnic area; barren, rocky-hills lie across the river to the west; elevation 700′

Season, Fees & Phone:  Open all year; $6.00 for a standard beach camp, $12.00 for a hookup site, weekly and monthly hookup rates available; 14 day limit on the beach; park office (602) 754-4606.

Camp Notes:  This is a great place for sun worshipers. It’s hot and dry in the summer and mild and dry in the winter.

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Location:  Northwest corner of Arizona south of St. George, Utah

Access:  Form Interstate 15 milepost 18 at the Cedar Pocket Rest Area (18 miles northeast of the Arizone-Nevada border, 20 miles southwest of St. George, Utah), proceed southeast for 0.2 miles to the recreastion area entrance; continue for 0.1 mile south to the east loop or 0.3 miles west (right and down) to the west loop

Facilities:  114 campsites in 2 loops; sites are mostly medium-sized with minimal separation; parking pads are paved/gravel, short to medium-length straight-ins or medium to long pull-throughs; many pads medium-sized tent spots, may be a bit rocky; a few sites have ramadas (sun shelters); barbeque grills; b-y-o firewood; wated at faucets; restrooms; paved driveways; adequate + supplies and services are available in St. George.

Activities & Attractions:  River access; Virgin River Gorge; SCENERY.

Natural Features:  Located along the bank of the Virgin River and on a bench above the river; sites in the east loop, perched on top of the rocky bench, have better views; west loop sites are situated closer to the river; campground vegetation consists of a few short to medium-height desert plants, including cholla cactus, Joshua trees, and sparse grass; and Black Rock Mountains border the canyon to the east; typically very warm during the summer months; evevation 1900′.

Season, Fees & Phone:  Open all year; $5.00; 14 day limit; BLM Shivwits Resource Area, St. George, (801)673-4654.

Camp Notes:  This Arizona Site is the only public campground with 15 miles of Interstate 15 along the 300-mile stretch of desert four-lane between St. George, Utah and Barstow, California. Virgin River Canyon Campground ius situated in a desert setting completely encircled by colorful canyon rock. Camping at this relatively low elevation is perhaps most enjoyable in the milder seasons of spring and autum. Named Rio Virgen (for the Virgin Mary) by Spanish missionaries, the Virgin River flows southwest from here for several more miles to its marriage with the Colorado River at what is now the north tip of Lake Mead. At the confluence of the two streams, scientist and Civil War veteran Major John Wesley Powell and his small band of river runners emerged from Grand Canyonk,and on August 30, 1869 ended their historic first exploration of the Colorado River system. 

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