Crescent Moon Ranch Cabin
We don’t think it should be. Every campground should hold some sites for whoever drives up.Tell your representative →
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 26 of the next 30 nights read 15:18 UTC
- Sites
- 1All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 12 notices
In the agency’s own words
Crescent Moon Ranch is an exceptional year-round place to stay in beautiful Sedona. The central Arizona facility is a rustic, historic ranch house adjacent to Oak Creek and near the base of the towering Cathedral Rock, one of the most photographed scenes in the Southwest. Guests can enjoy hiking, photography or simply relaxing and taking in the breathtaking views. The cabin can accommodate up to 10 people for overnight use. It can be accessed by vehicle. Guests are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and must bring several of their own amenities. Keep reading
Recreation
Guests can picnic at the adjacent day use area and fish, swim and wade in the crystal clear waters of Oak Creek. Flora, fauna and rock formations in the surrounding area provide excellent subjects for photography. Within a few minutes, visitors can access hiking, biking and scenic driving through Oak Creek Canyon, to view majestic red-hued cliffs, buttes and canyons. The site is also convenient to Sedona, a resort town with shopping, dining, golfing and other attractions.
Facilities
With three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a large living room, two kitchens and an enclosed sun porch, Crescent Moon offers plenty opportunities and views.The charming bedrooms offer a queen, 2 full, twin over full bunkbed, and 3 roll away beds. Electricity and running water are provided, and the house has heating and air conditioning, providing a comfortable stay any time of the year. Please be mindful of reducing energy use by not leaving windows open with central heating/cooling system on. The house is fully furnished, including a dining room table and chairs, sectional couch, screened in sun porch. The large kitchen has a sink, electric stovetop range, dishwasher, refrigerator, coffee maker, toaster, and microwave. There is a limited supply of plates, pots and pans, and silverware. The smaller kitchen has a sink, cupboard storage and extra counter space. A grill and picnic table sit outside for outdoor cooking (click here for more cabin details). Guests must bring their own bedding and pillows, flashlights, towels, food, dishtowels, extra cooking utensils/ dish preferences, bedding and linens are NOT provided. Guests must clean the cabin, close and lock windows and doors. Please pack out trash (no trash service provided at this location). General cleaning supplies, garbage bags, toilet paper and paper towels provided. Additional weekly cleaning and maintenance by US Forest Service Volunteers.
Natural Features
Placed beside a tree-lined creek with Sedona's famous red rock cliffs in the background, Crescent Moon's location offers a serene natural setting. The site lies in the high desert at the base of the Mogollon Rim, a 200-mile slope that ranges between 5,000 and 7,000 feet in elevation. Cresent Moon sits at an elevation of 4,000 feet and was built by ranchers of the original homestead. The cabin was later made available for public use by the U.S. Forest Service. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (928) 203-7535.
Nearby Attractions
The nearby towns of Sedona and Oak Creek offer plenty of lodging, camping, shopping and dining. A variety of hiking and swimming destinations are within a short drive, including the well-known Slide Rock State Park and Red Rock/Secret Mountain Wilderness area.
What the agency tells you
Pets are not permitted at the cabin
Cell phone service can be limited in the area
A cabin manual is located inside of the cabin to answer visitor questions and provide guests with area information
Everything else this campground posts · 9
This is a very old and historic ranch house; please treat the facility carefully to prevent further wear
Click here to learn more about Coconino National Forest
Cabin reservations may be made up to 180 days in advance on-line through Recreation.gov to learn more or by calling their toll-free number: 877-444-6777.
For additional information go to: http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/coconino/recreation/camping-cabins/recarea/?recid=72113&actid=101
For other cabin related inquiries: (928) 203-7535.
No fire pit provided. Propane fire pits permitted. Don't Move Firewood: Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests. For more information visit dontmovefirewood.org.
Cabin is cleaned weekly by volunteers. Renters are expected to self clean cabin to original condition.
Enjoy the family oriented experience with quiet time from 10pm-6am
Any occupancy exceeding 10 people must be approved by management at (928)203-7535.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 cabin
- Hookups
- 1 electric, 1 water
- Longest rig
- 20 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Showers
- Yes, the record doesn’t say what kind
- Shower/Bath Type states a shower on all 1 of this campground's campsite records
- Stay limit
- 4 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Creek
- Biking
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Hunting
- Swimming
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 171st darkest of 262 in AZ
- Bortle 4
Full this Saturdayread 15:18 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
OpenBookedClosed
The one site on offer is taken this Saturday, and on three midweek nights after it as well. read 15:18 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t
Watch for a cancellation
Watch this campground
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.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 12
What you actually pay
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 15:18 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
1 sites · the site map
All 1 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 1 of the 1 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. 1 of the 1 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| CRESCENT MOON RANCH | 001 | cabin electric | 20 ft | 285 ft | 1,489 ft | $200 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Crescent Moon RamadaCoconino National Forest · 0.3 miChavez CrossingCoconino National Forest · 1.9 mi
Manzanita CampgroundCoconino National Forest · 8.0 mi
Manzanita.Coconino National Forest · 8.7 mi
Cave SpringCoconino National Forest · 12 mi
Pine Flat Campground WestCoconino National Forest · 13 miFrom Phoenix, travel north on Interstate 17 and take the Sedona exit (exit 298) onto Highway 179 north. Go through the Village of Oak Creek, to Sedona. Turn left onto State Highway 89A and proceed west through Sedona to Upper Red Rock Loop Road. Turn left and continue to Chavez Ranch Road and turn left again. At the stop sign, continue straight. At the top of the hill again continue straight bearing to the right towards the gravel road and go through the locked gate (which has a "Road Closed" sign). Turn left at the end of the road. The Crescent Moon Ranch house is the last house on the right, with a garage. Both road gate and house have same combination for entry.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Sedona, AZ
Typical weather
Typical October night 51°F, day 79°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 33°F. Bring the bag rated for it.
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 · a letter you can send
Who answers for this land
Crescent Moon Ranch Cabin 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 →
Who can change it · 3
Two offices, two different asks. The draft to the agency asks it to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up. The draft to Congress asks why that share is zero and presses for a published minimum at the campgrounds it funds.
- The member who votes the moneyElijah CraneU.S. Representative · Arizona’s 2nd district
- Your senator, on the same appropriationMark KellyU.S. Senator · Arizona
- Your senator, on the same appropriationRuben GallegoU.S. Senator · Arizona
No contact form we could verify, so that link is their own site. Contact is inside it. Washington office: 202-224-4521.
Read the draft, or change the wording
For the camper who turned up, or tried to book, and couldn’t get in. Every draft is written from this campground’s own record (its agency, its unit, its site count and its own weekend) and the buttons above copy whichever wording is selected here.
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Crescent Moon Ranch Cabin, Coconino National Forest, Arizona
Dear Elijah Crane, I’m a constituent in Arizona’s 2nd district. I tried to camp at Crescent Moon Ranch Cabin, Coconino National Forest, Arizona, and couldn’t. All 1 sites at Crescent Moon Ranch Cabin are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, the one site recreation.gov was offering there was already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Crescent Moon Ranch Cabin keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Crescent Moon Ranch Cabin. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Crescent Moon Ranch Cabin (Coconino National Forest, Arizona) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Crescent Moon Ranch Cabin, Coconino National Forest, Arizona
Dear Mark Kelly, I’m a constituent in Arizona. I tried to camp at Crescent Moon Ranch Cabin, Coconino National Forest, Arizona, and couldn’t. All 1 sites at Crescent Moon Ranch Cabin are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, the one site recreation.gov was offering there was already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Crescent Moon Ranch Cabin keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Crescent Moon Ranch Cabin. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Crescent Moon Ranch Cabin (Coconino National Forest, Arizona) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Crescent Moon Ranch Cabin, Coconino National Forest, Arizona
Dear Ruben Gallego, I’m a constituent in Arizona. I tried to camp at Crescent Moon Ranch Cabin, Coconino National Forest, Arizona, and couldn’t. All 1 sites at Crescent Moon Ranch Cabin are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, the one site recreation.gov was offering there was already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Crescent Moon Ranch Cabin keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Crescent Moon Ranch Cabin. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Crescent Moon Ranch Cabin (Coconino National Forest, Arizona) via campanac.com