Brookchar
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $26From, per site
- Sites
- 1312 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 10 notices
In the agency’s own words
Brookchar Campground is tucked on the banks of Big Lake in the White Mountains of eastern Arizona. The campground is a small, tent-only facility comprised entirely of walk-in sites. Of the lake's five campgrounds, Brookchar is nearest to the water. The stocked lake draws anglers, and boat rentals and a boat ramp make it easy for campers to enjoy the lake's blue waters. Keep reading
Recreation
Big Lake is one of Arizona's top trout fishing lakes, with rainbow, cutthroat, brook and Apache trout being the most sought-after species. The recreation area is also popular for hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, birding and wildlife viewing.
Facilities
The facility is small, with 12 tent-only, walk-to campsites. Campfire rings and restrooms are provided. A campground host resides on-site for visitor assistance. A dump station, store, firewood, gas, food and boat rentals are located a short, half-mile drive away, and showers are just 1 mile away.
Natural Features
The campground sits in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest at an elevation of 9,100 feet. The area is scenic, forested with ponderosa pine, fir, spruce and aspen, interspersed with high elevation meadows. Summer temperatures are pleasant and cool, a nice respite from the heat of lower deserts. Visitors should come prepared for afternoon thunderstorms and cool nighttime temperatures. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (928) 537-8888.
Nearby Attractions
Several other lakes can be found in the surrounding area. Visitors can also explore endless vistas and take part in many outdoor activities in the surrounding Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, which encompasses 2 million acres of magnificent mountain country in east-central Arizona and New Mexico.
What the agency tells you
TENT CAMPING ONLY, no RVs or trailers permitted. Guests must walk to their site.
Standard Single Family sites: Recreation Use Fee allows ONE camping unit ONLY.
Extra Vehicles: Cannot be paid for in advance - upon arrival coordinate with the host for payment and where to park.
Everything else this campground posts · 7
Late Arrivals: campers are not considered a "no-show" until 24 hours after arrival date check in time. Our policy is that your site will not be released before that.
FIRST COME FIRST SERVE sites must be booked in person. DO NOT call to determine availability, as they are only available on-site.
Opening and closing dates are weather permitting, please call 928-537-8888 for more information.
Bears frequent the area; please obey all food storage rules and regulations. Check with your host for details.
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.
Click here for more information on the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest
This is a high elevation facility, use caution when traveling from lower elevations.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 13 · 12 walk-in
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Yes, the record doesn't say what kind
- “Campfire rings and restrooms are provided.”
- Dump station
- Yes
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Firewood
- Mentioned
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Meadow
- Boating
- Fishing
- Fall color · reported 12 days ago, 5.2 km away
- Peak color
Nothing on the booking system for the next 30 nightsread 15:52 UTC
recreation.gov lists 12 of the 13 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
Every one of the next thirty nights is in recreation.gov’s record and not one site is being offered on any of them. That’s a campground closed or not yet released for booking, not a sold-out one.
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 · 12
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $26 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 · 5
recreation.gov availability, read 15:52 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
13 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 12 mapped sitesAll 13 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 13 of the 13 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 13 of the 13 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| BROO | 002 | walk to | 73 ft | 344 ft | 440 ft | $26 |
| BROO | 003 | walk to | 73 ft | 411 ft | 438 ft | $26 |
| BROO | 004 | walk to | 82 ft | 428 ft | 380 ft | $26 |
| BROO | 005 | walk to | 103 ft | 523 ft | 503 ft | $26 |
| BROO | 006 | walk to | 103 ft | 602 ft | 558 ft | $26 |
| BROO | 007 | walk to | 51 ft | 451 ft | 392 ft | $26 |
| BROO | 008 | walk to | 51 ft | 443 ft | 407 ft | $26 |
| BROO | 009 | walk to | 61 ft | 383 ft | 437 ft | $26 |
| BROO | 010 | walk to | 55 ft | 359 ft | 495 ft | $26 |
| BROO | 011 | walk to | 44 ft | 305 ft | 517 ft | $26 |
| BROO | 012 | walk to | 44 ft | 261 ft | 528 ft | $26 |
| BROO | 013 | walk to | 72 ft | 304 ft | 588 ft | $26 |
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 001 | type not stated | 331 ft | 292 ft | $32 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
GraylingApache National Forest · 0.2 mi
CutthroatApache National Forest · 0.4 mi
Apache Trout CampgroundApache National Forest · 0.5 mi
Rainbow (AZ)Apache National Forest · 0.5 miBuffalo Crossing CampgroundApache National Forest · 6.6 miHorse Springs CampgroundApache National Forest · 7.1 miFrom Pinetop, Arizona, take Highway 260 east 25 miles to Highway 273 south. Follow Highway 273 south 19 miles to Forest Road 8115 (Big Lake Entrance). Turn right and travel 2 miles.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Greer, AZ
Typical weather
Typical October night 30°F, day 61°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 14°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
Brookchar 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 →