Grayling
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $34From, per site
- Sites
- 2321 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 9 notices
In the agency’s own words
Grayling Campground offers perhaps the most secluded sites in the Big Lake Recreation Area in eastern Arizona. It sits on the shoreline of the lake in a mixed conifer and aspen forest and affords visitors many recreational opportunities in a quiet, scenic setting. Popular activities include trout fishing and hiking. Keep reading
Recreation
The campground is adjacent to 450-acre Big Lake, one of Arizona's top fishing lakes. The lake is known for its trout fishing, with rainbow, cutthroat, brook and Apache being the most sought-after species. The recreation area is also popular for hiking, mountain biking, birding and wildlife viewing. Curious campers can attend educational programs at the recreation area's visitor center.
Facilities
All 23 campsites in this small facility are located along one loop. Some sites have a view of the lake, though none are directly on the waterfront. Flush toilets are a comfort of home, and showers can be found one mile away. A dump station for RV campers is one mile away. A store is also nearby with gas, food, boat rentals and firewood for sale.
Natural Features
Grayling sits in the White Mountains at an elevation of 9,000 feet. It is a very scenic area, forested with ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, spruce and aspen trees, which provide ample shade. Summer temperatures are pleasant and cool, a nice respite from the heat of lower deserts. Visitors should come prepared for cool nighttime temperatures and occasional summer rain storms. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (928) 537-8888.
Nearby Attractions
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. Springerville, Arizona is the closest town to the campground.
What the agency tells you
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.
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.
Everything else this campground posts · 6
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
- 23
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 45 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- “…none are directly on the waterfront. Flush toilets are a comfort of home, and showers can be found one…”
- Dump station
- Yes
- Firewood
- Sold here
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Beach
- Biking
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Ranger programs
- Picnicking
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 29th darkest of 262 in AZ
- Bortle 2
- Fall color · reported 12 days ago, 5.1 km away
- Peak color
Nothing on the booking system for the next 30 nightsread 15:52 UTC
recreation.gov lists 21 of the 23 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, $34 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
24 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 21 mapped sitesAll 24 records
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 23 of the 24 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. 23 of the 24 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.
| GRAY | 002 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 55 ft | 883 ft | 657 ft | $34 |
| GRAY | 003 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 55 ft | 936 ft | 657 ft | $34 |
| GRAY | 004 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 79 ft | 835 ft | 285 ft | $34 |
| GRAY | 005 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 37 ft | 759 ft | 308 ft | $34 |
| GRAY | 006 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 37 ft | 766 ft | 278 ft | $34 |
| GRAY | 007 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 70 ft | 752 ft | 246 ft | $34 |
| GRAY | 008 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 64 ft | 713 ft | 277 ft | $34 |
| GRAY | 009 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 64 ft | 732 ft | 266 ft | $34 |
| GRAY | 010 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 105 ft | 811 ft | 230 ft | $34 |
| GRAY | 011 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 114 ft | 923 ft | 146 ft | $34 |
| GRAY | 012 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 126 ft | 952 ft | 172 ft | $34 |
| GRAY | 014 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 67 ft | 1,046 ft | 213 ft | $34 |
| GRAY | 015 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 67 ft | 1,111 ft | 229 ft | $34 |
| GRAY | 016 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 75 ft | 1,187 ft | 207 ft | $34 |
| GRAY | 017 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 75 ft | 1,193 ft | 276 ft | $34 |
| GRAY | 018 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 75 ft | 1,297 ft | 326 ft | $34 |
| GRAY | 019 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 75 ft | 1,281 ft | 338 ft | $34 |
| GRAY | 020 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 99 ft | 1,206 ft | 311 ft | $34 |
| GRAY | 021 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 68 ft | 1,043 ft | 177 ft | $34 |
| GRAY | 022 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 68 ft | 1,034 ft | 237 ft | $34 |
| GRAY | 023 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 172 ft | 951 ft | 394 ft | $34 |
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 001 | type not stated | 1,020 ft | 806 ft | $33.97 | ||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 013 | type not stated | 1,034 ft | 125 ft | $33.97 | ||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX | unnamed record | 35 ft | $33.97 |
The agency files 1 more record here that isn’t a site for the night. It types it MANAGEMENT rather than a campsite. It’s in the table above, marked for what it is, and it isn’t counted as a site.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions
Where it is
BrookcharApache National Forest · 0.2 mi
CutthroatApache National Forest · 0.3 mi
Apache Trout CampgroundApache National Forest · 0.4 mi
Rainbow (AZ)Apache National Forest · 0.6 miBuffalo Crossing CampgroundApache National Forest · 6.5 miHorse Springs CampgroundApache National Forest · 7.0 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. Grayling is on the left.
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
Grayling 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 →