Crook Campground
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- Sites
- 2All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 6 notices
In the agency’s own words
This group campground is situated in a tall ponderosa pine forest, just down the road from the popular Woods Canyon Lake in north central Arizona. The shaded campground is a nice hideaway for large groups with opportunities for boaters, anglers, hikers, families and photographers. Keep reading
Recreation
Popular activities include trout fishing, hiking, boating, cycling, horseback riding, and photography. Woods Canyon Lake is the most popular of four lakes in the Rim Lakes Recreation Area. Woods Canyon Lake only allows electric boat motors. The paved Meadow Trail borders Crook Campground and will bring you about 1 mile north to Woods Canyon Lake or one quarter mile south to the The Rim Lakes Vista and Rim Trail is just a quarter mile from the campground and leads to spectacular views of the Mogollon Rim and surrounding area.
Facilities
The campground is arranged in two loops in a cul-de-sac design. Each has a group area that can host up to 110 campers and 26 vehicles (parallel parking only). The sites can accommodate both RVs and tents, though some areas are less suited for tent camping. A picnic shelter is located in the middle of the group use area. Groceries are available at the Woods Canyon Store, and a dump station is located near the park. Firewood is available for sale at the store and onsite.
Natural Features
The campground is situated a ponderosa pine forest at an elevation of 7,500 feet. Wildlife viewing includes birds, squirrels, deer and elk. Hikers who venture onto nearby trails are afforded expansive views of the land beneath the Mogollon Rim. The Mogollon Rim, pronounced by locals as "muggy-own," is a 200-mile long escarpment in northern Arizona that ranges between 5,000 and 7,000 ft. in elevation and serves as the geographical divide between the cool high country above and the hot, dry desert below. Summer temperatures can be very pleasant because of the elevation. However, the rainy season often brings afternoon thunderstorms from late June through August. Visitors should come prepared for rain and cool nighttime temperatures. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (928) 535-0181.
Nearby Attractions
Gas, food, and groceries are available in Forest Lakes 9 miles east. The nearest full service community is Payson, Arizona, 34 miles west on Highway 260. Visitors can 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
Overflow parking will be charged an additional fee per vehicle at check-in.
Walk-in season dates (mid-Apr. to mid-May; mid-Sept. to mid-Nov.) are weather permitting only.
Click here for more information on the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest
Everything else this campground posts · 3
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.
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
- 2 · 2 group
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 30 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Dump station
- Yes
- Firewood
- Sold here
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Meadow
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Picnicking
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 79th 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 · 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
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
2 sites · the site map
All 2 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 2 of the 2 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. 2 of the 2 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Aspen (AZ)Sitgreaves National Forest · 0.7 mi
Woods Canyon Lake GroupSitgreaves National Forest · 0.9 mi
Mogollon CampgroundSitgreaves National Forest · 0.9 mi
Spillway (AZ)Sitgreaves National Forest · 1.1 miSpillway Group CampgroundSitgreaves National Forest · 1.1 miFrom Heber: Travel 25 miles west on State Highway 260. Turn right onto Forest Road 300 which is located directly across from the Rim Visitor Information Station. Travel about 4 miles north of State Highway 260 toward Woods Canyon Lake. Turn right onto Forest Road 105 toward Woods Canyon Lake. Watch for signs for Crook Campground.
From Payson: Travel approximately 30 miles east on State Highway 260. When you top out on the rim, take the first left onto Forest Road 300 directly across the highway from the Rim Visitor Information Station. Travel about 4 miles north. Turn right onto Forest Road 105 toward Woods Canyon Lake. Watch for signs for Crook Campground.
The weather
the next four days
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Christopher Creek, AZ
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
Crook Campground 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 →