Black Canyon Rim Campground (Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, AZ)
- Right now
- OpenInside the published season, our reading
- A night
- $20From, per site
- Sites
- 20All of them booked ahead
- Season
- April 29Opens April 29. No closing date published.
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 6 notices
In the agency’s own words
Black Canyon Rim Campground has 20 sites of varying sizes. All sites can accommodate tents and pop-up campers. Some sites are suitable for pull trailers, 5th-wheel trailers, and motorhomes up to 40 feet. Keep reading
Recreation
Fishing and boating (electric motors) are available on Black Canyon Lake, approximately 2.5 miles northeast of the campground. The historic grave site of Stott, Scott, and Wilson, three young men lynched during the Pleasant Valley War is located within walking distance. This campground is a favorite stopping place for those traveling on the General Crook National Recreation Trail.
Facilities
Each campsite offers a campfire ring with grill and picnic table. Additional amenities include accessible vault toilets, drinking water and trash service. Access is on both sand and gravel roads. A campground host is available at the site.
Natural Features
Black Canyon Rim Campground is sheltered among towering ponderosa pines and located in an area that is relatively flat and sandy. A herd of wild horses is often seen running through the area and stopping at Black Canyon Lake for water. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (928) 535-0181.
Nearby Attractions
Gas, phone, and groceries are available 8 miles west at Forest Lakes or 13 miles east at Heber.
What the agency tells you
One (1) vehicle is included with each campsite reservation. RVs and their tow vehicles, as well as vehicles towing camper trailers, are considered one vehicle when they arrive as a single unit. Vehicles beyond that would be subject to the additional vehicle fee ($12.00/night) collected at the campground upon arrival.
Don't Move Firewood: Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests by obtaining firewood near your destination and burning it on-site. For more information visit dontmovefirewood.org.
If this campground is full, several other facilities are in the area.
Everything else this campground posts · 3
This is a high elevation facility; please use caution when traveling from lower elevations.
Well behaved dogs on leashes or leads are welcome. Dogs must be attended at all times - do not leave unattended dogs in campsites. Visitors who bring aggressive or nuisance dogs may be asked to leave - no refund will be given.
Only quiet generators are permitted in campground.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 20 · 1 cabin
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 60 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…Additional amenities include accessible vault toilets, drinking water and trash service. Access is on…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…include accessible vault toilets, drinking water and trash service. Access is on both sand and…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake
- Night sky · 54th darkest of 262 in AZ
- Bortle 2
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 14
What you actually pay
“Vehicles beyond that would be subject to the additional vehicle fee ($12.00/night) collected at the campground upon arrival.” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $20 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 6
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
20 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 20 mapped sitesAll 20 sites
Measured shade is NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC) read at the site’s own coordinate, 27% canopy or more, and only for the sites the agency gave no Shade value. It never changes the agency’s own shaded count beside it.
| BLACK CANYON RIM CAMPGROUND | 01 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | 187 ft | 4,410 ft |
| BLACK CANYON RIM CAMPGROUND | 02 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 67 ft | 4,340 ft |
| BLACK CANYON RIM CAMPGROUND | 03 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 109 ft | 4,336 ft |
| BLACK CANYON RIM CAMPGROUND | 04 | shelter nonelectric | 60 ft | 109 ft | 4,338 ft |
| BLACK CANYON RIM CAMPGROUND | 05 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 84 ft | 4,165 ft |
| BLACK CANYON RIM CAMPGROUND | 06 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | 69 ft | 4,134 ft |
| BLACK CANYON RIM CAMPGROUND | 07 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 79 ft | 4,093 ft |
| BLACK CANYON RIM CAMPGROUND | 08 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 69 ft | 4,067 ft |
| BLACK CANYON RIM CAMPGROUND | 09 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 84 ft | 4,083 ft |
| BLACK CANYON RIM CAMPGROUND | 10 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 157 ft | 4,134 ft |
| BLACK CANYON RIM CAMPGROUND | 11 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 111 ft | 4,235 ft |
| BLACK CANYON RIM CAMPGROUND | 12 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 67 ft | 4,274 ft |
| BLACK CANYON RIM CAMPGROUND | 13 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 170 ft | 4,208 ft |
| BLACK CANYON RIM CAMPGROUND | 14 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 109 ft | 3,999 ft |
| BLACK CANYON RIM CAMPGROUND | 15 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 109 ft | 3,962 ft |
| BLACK CANYON RIM CAMPGROUND | 16 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 92 ft | 4,090 ft |
| BLACK CANYON RIM CAMPGROUND | 17 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 83 ft | 4,122 ft |
| BLACK CANYON RIM CAMPGROUND | 18 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 83 ft | 4,193 ft |
| BLACK CANYON RIM CAMPGROUND | 19 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 116 ft | 4,303 ft |
| BLACK CANYON RIM CAMPGROUND | 20 | standard nonelectric | 162 ft | 4,464 ft |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Canyon PointSitgreaves National Forest · 4.8 miValentine Ridge Dispersed Camping AreaTonto National Forest · 5.1 miFr 171 CampgroundSitgreaves National Forest · 7.1 mi
Sinkhole CampgroundSitgreaves National Forest · 8.0 miCamp Shadow Pines Organization SiteSitgreaves National Forest · 9.4 miLocated 13 miles west of Heber, Arizona.
From Forest Lakes, travel east on Highway 260 for approximately 1 mile. Turn south on Rim Road and travel approximately 2.4 miles. The campground is located at the intersection of Rim Road and Black Canyon Road.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Forest Lakes, AZ
Typical weather
Typical April night 32°F, day 62°F.
Coldest night of the open season: typical April night 32°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or moreOutside the published season
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
Roadless country, and what’s coming for it
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Black Canyon Rim Campground (Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, AZ) is in Arizona’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, Eli Crane (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →