Sweet Boondocking site found just a few minutes north of phoenix

phulishcat

So the wife and I decided last minute Saturday that we wanted to go camp. I remembered a place up in Sunflower we used to go to when I was a kid so up the beeline we headed. The location we used to camp in is closed now due to roads moving and the like (hope its open soon because that area is supper cool with lots of swimming holes). But we found a super cool location. large enough to hold a very large group without crowding at all if your the type who likes google earth the gps coordinates are : 33°47'53.1"N 111°29'15.6"W. this location is about 10-20 degrees cooler than the phoenix metro. In fact the wife and I will be out there Saturday and Sunday March 19th-20th if any one wants to stop by. Full disclosure the roads into the location have ruts so if you have a low clearance car towing might be a little difficult however our standard T@G made it through just fine. pics to follow

phulishcat

Pictures of some of the road into the area follow

Nomad

Cool - That looks easily navigatable. A little bobbin-n-weaven but not too bad.

jkjenn

Nice!

phulishcat

There is one area no amount of bobbin or weaving will avoid some scrapeage on the underside of the trailer but it is minimal and as long as you go slow your good.

Tabaz

Great photos!  Also VERY helpful to see the road conditions leading to the camping areas.

phulishcat

OutbackAZ, you could just go full speed with your T@B its got plenty of clearance

cbarnhill

Great site. Thx for Sharing-you guys take the best pics. I can't make it these dates (camping in the other direction). Keep me in the loop. 

cbarnhill

I can't tell-is your spare under your trailer? Mine is and I am wondering about the ruts. 

Tabaz

I actually drove out to this spot yesterday afternoon to check it out before taking the T@B.  Pros - only about 24 miles from the Beeline/Shea turnoff.  Nice creek running nearby. Several spaces where you can pull-through.  Cons - traffic noise from the freeway (probably not so bad in the evenings and at night).  Serious ruts, inclines, loose sand on the smaller roads leading out past the general area around the old water tank (visible from GoogleEarth).  Finally, the end of the pavement at the entrance has an abrupt drop - so take it REALLY slow when entering the area.  It was 75 degrees at 4:00 pm yesterday while there - a little cooler than central Phoenix.  Overall, a nice spot!

phulishcat

if anyone is planning on going out there this weekend please post here what time you'll be there. We may be going further north. the plan is to find more spots like this or similar all the way to Payson so we have choices until the rim warms above 60 degrees during the day and the snow melts.

Tabaz

Count me in for a higher elevation this weekend.  Let me know if you want to head out together on Saturday and bypass the Sunflower site entirely.

phulishcat

I think I found another nice docking site just north of payson az , just past star valley gps follows 34°16'49.4"N 111°07'58.8"W. Cooler temps 70s during the day and 40s at night. No fees as its off a forest rd, cant find any info saying the area is closed so should be good.  What time saturday morning did you want to meet and is the shea beeline intersection a good place?

Tabaz

Looks like a great spot! I can head up Friday and just meet you guys there.

phulishcat

Ok, see you there.

phulishcat

The wife might make me drive up there Friday night if she reads this. But when you get there if you camp far off the road and have signal let us know.

ChrisK

Keep us posted. With the difficulty getting reservations lately, boondocking may be the only way to camp on short notice.

DeeDee

ChrisK said:

Keep us posted. With the difficulty getting reservations lately, boondocking may be the only way to camp on short notice.

It's interesting you mention that. I am preparing to make a NP reservation for Sept and spoke to the reservation office. They confirmed that I could make my res 6mos prior and that the on-line window opened at 8AM (mt time). I've been checking daily in preparation because I want a specific spot. I thought it unusual that all the sites were booked at 8AM and ¾ of the sites gone by 6AM. Last night I checked availability at midnight and none were sold. Today, I woke up at 4AM and find half the park is sold. So much for 8AM. So it seems that the window opens between midnight and 4AM. Guess I'm setting my alarm for 1AM tomorrow. 

SweetlyHome

I'm not absolutely sure if this applies to a NP but it likely does and it explains the availability of sites. We deal with it in Florida state parks all the time.  Lets say you want to camp on April 1, 2017 and this day becomes available to reserve 6 months ahead.  You find few sites available when you log in Oct 1, 2016.  That is because a lot of people reserved sites during March 2017 for one two weeks in September 2016 taking your dates.  

Thanks for the reminder by the way.  I just reserved the weekend of February 17, 2017 in a Florida park this morning.  The site just became available, its 11 month availability, 2/3 of sites were already gone.

DeeDee

True, you are able to book for (I think it's 14) days beyond the first date available and sometimes you do miss out because of that. I just wish I knew what the real time was. The reservation system makes boondocking look better and better :-(

Photomom

SweetlyHome said:

I'm not absolutely sure if this applies to a NP but it likely does and it explains the availability of sites. We deal with it in Florida state parks all the time.  Lets say you want to camp on April 1, 2017 and this day becomes available to reserve 6 months ahead.  You find few sites available when you log in Oct 1, 2016.  That is because a lot of people reserved sites during March 2017 for one two weeks in September 2016 taking your dates.  

Thanks for the reminder by the way.  I just reserved the weekend of February 17, 2017 in a Florida park this morning.  The site just became available, its 11 month availability, 2/3 of sites were already gone.

Same thing happens here with NYSDEC campgrounds, except we can reserve 9 months ahead. I wish we had public land for boondocking.

SweetlyHome

Boondocking or anything close is really hard to find the further east you go, that is for sure.