Bonito Campground (AZ)
- Right now
- ClosedThe agency’s own sentence, quoted below
- A night
- $34When it reopens, per site
- Sites
- 44In the agency’s record
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 2 notices
In the agency’s own words
Bonito Campground is located 18 miles northeast of Flagstaff, near Sunset Crater/Wupatki National Monument. Elevation is 6,900 feet. Bonito Campground is named for the Bonito Lava Flow which oozed across this high desert plain some 900 years ago. That river of liquid rock, now frozen forever, is just one of the many remnants of volcanic activity which lend an otherwordly appearance to this starkly beautiful place. Keep reading
Recreation
Hiking, sightseeing, wildlife viewing are popular activities.
Facilities
The campground has 44 single campsites with 1 ADA accessible site. 22 sites are reservable and 22 sites are dedicated as first-come-first-served sites. Each site has provided picnic tables, fire rings and cooking grills. The campground has paved roads and spurs, drinking water and flush toilets. Bonito campground is pet friendly. Pets must always be restrained or on a leash.
Natural Features
Beautiful tall Ponderosa pines are abundant throughout the campground and across nearby ravines and hillsides. Bonito is a restful place to simply relax and enjoy nature. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (928) 774-9671.
Nearby Attractions
Also nearby is Wupatki National Monument. The centerpiece of this area is a four story masterpiece of Native American stone masonry. Construction of that stone-age condominium began in about 1120 A.D. At one time it contained as many as 100 rooms and housed as many as 125 people. Both Sunset Crater and Wupatki have visitor centers and feature self-guided as well as interpreter guided. The entrance to Sunset Crater National Park is adjacent to the campground. The Visitor's Center provides much information on the geological history of the area. You can enjoy learning about the Native Americans who populated the area as you wander through the nearby Walnut Canyon National Monument. The historic downtown section in nearby Flagstaff will provide a glimpse into the early days of the city's past.
What the agency tells you
Please Note that this campground will be closing early this season due to roadwork that is scheduled to begin on Monday, 9/21/2026.
No utility hookups. No horses allowed in the campground. Two vehicles per campsite. A fee of $10 per night will be collected at the campground for the second vehicle. Discount cards are not accepted for second vehicle fees. Firewood for sale $10.00 per bundle. Ice for sale $5.00/bag Maximum two tents per site
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 44
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 42 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- “…roads and spurs, drinking water and flush toilets. Bonito campground is pet friendly. Pets must…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…campground has paved roads and spurs, drinking water and flush toilets. Bonito campground is pet…”
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
Around the campground
- On the water
- River
- Hiking
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 116th darkest of 262 in AZ
- Bortle 3
- Fall color · reported 10 days ago, 16 km away
- Peak color
Nothing to book until it reopens
Please Note that this campground will be closing early this season due to roadwork that is scheduled to begin on Monday, 9/21/2026.
The closure above is the reading. We hold no availability snapshot for this campground, so there’s no thirty-night strip to draw under it.
Tell me when it reopens
Watch for it to come back
One email when the agency reopens it, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check the agency’s own record once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time it stops saying closed.
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.
Every line of the receipt · 11
What you actually pay
“A fee of $10 per night will be collected at the campground for the second vehicle.” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
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 · 5
What the agency said · 1
Please Note that this campground will be closing early this season due to roadwork that is scheduled to begin on Monday, 9/21/2026.
U.S. Forest Service · posted Sep 9, 2026
Filed as construction from the agency’s own words “roadwork”. That reading is ours.
Open within 60 miles · 2
The agency’s own word that these are open, not our reading of a season.
- Chavez CrossingCoconino National Forest · 39 mi · 3 sites
- Clints Well CampgroundCoconino National Forest · 58 mi · walk-up
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
44 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 43 mapped sitesAll 44 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 43 of the 44 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
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.
| Bonito | 1 | standard nonelectric | 188 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 | |
| Bonito | 10 | standard nonelectric | 51 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 | |
| Bonito | 11 | standard nonelectric | 65 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 | |
| Bonito | 12 | standard nonelectric | 65 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 | |
| Bonito | 13 | standard nonelectric | 53 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 | |
| Bonito | 14 | standard nonelectric | 53 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 | |
| Bonito | 15 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 | |
| Bonito | 16 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 | |
| Bonito | 17 | standard nonelectric | 85 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 | |
| Bonito | 18 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 | |
| Bonito | 19 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 | |
| Bonito | 2 | type not stated | ||||
| Bonito | 20 | standard nonelectric | 66 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 | |
| Bonito | 21 | standard nonelectric | 66 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 | |
| Bonito | 22 | standard nonelectric | 132 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 | |
| Bonito | 23 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 60 ft | 3.1 mi | $34 |
| Bonito | 24 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 60 ft | 3.1 mi | $34 |
| Bonito | 25 | standard nonelectric | 38 ft | 93 ft | 3.1 mi | $34 |
| Bonito | 26 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 64 ft | 3.1 mi | $34 |
| Bonito | 27 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 64 ft | 3.1 mi | $34 |
| Bonito | 28 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 70 ft | 3.1 mi | $34 |
| Bonito | 29 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 70 ft | 3.1 mi | $34 |
| Bonito | 3 | standard nonelectric | 107 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 | |
| Bonito | 30 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 84 ft | 3.1 mi | $34 |
| Bonito | 31 | standard nonelectric | 33 ft | 90 ft | 3.1 mi | $34 |
| Bonito | 32 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 95 ft | 3.1 mi | $34 |
| Bonito | 33 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 92 ft | 3.1 mi | $34 |
| Bonito | 34 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 92 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 |
| Bonito | 35 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 133 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 |
| Bonito | 36 | standard nonelectric | 29 ft | 58 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 |
| Bonito | 37 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 58 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 |
| Bonito | 38 | standard nonelectric | 42 ft | 59 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 |
| Bonito | 39 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 59 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 |
| Bonito | 4 | standard nonelectric | 87 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 | |
| Bonito | 40 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 64 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 |
| Bonito | 41 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 52 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 |
| Bonito | 42 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 52 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 |
| Bonito | 43 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 35 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 |
| Bonito | 44 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 35 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 |
| Bonito | 5 | standard nonelectric | 80 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 | |
| Bonito | 6 | standard nonelectric | 67 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 | |
| Bonito | 7 | standard nonelectric | 67 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 | |
| Bonito | 8 | standard nonelectric | 77 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 | |
| Bonito | 9 | standard nonelectric | 51 ft | 3.0 mi | $34 |
25 of 44 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
O'Leary Group CampgroundCoconino National Forest · 0.2 mi
Oleary Group SiteSunset Crater Volcano National Monument · 0.8 mi
Lockett Meadow CampgroundCoconino National Forest · 4.4 mi
Little Elden Springs HorsecampCoconino National Forest · 6.4 mi
Kendrick CabinCoconino National Forest · 12 mi
Canyon VistaCoconino National Forest · 17 miDrive 12 miles northeast of Flagstaff on US 89. Turn east (right) on FR 545 (toward Sunset Crater) and drive 2 miles to Bonito Campground. Campground entrance is just before the entrance station of Sunset Crater National Monument
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Timberline-Fernwood, AZ
Typical weather
Typical October night 28°F, day 65°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 12°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 more
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
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Bonito Campground (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 →