CAMPANAC.Powered by public lands intelligenceMore Than Just Parks

U.S. Forest Service · Tonto National Forest · AZ

Houston Mesa

ClosedHouston Mesa Area Clean-Up & Restoration Project Temporary Closure Order.

Why it’s closed, and what’s open near here Tell me when it comes back

Right now: ClosedThe agency’s own sentence, quoted below
A night: $22–$29When it reopens, per site
Sites: 116In the agency’s record

Photos · Conservation Legacy

99 ftLongest rig

5,060 ftElevation

1.2 miWater · an unnamed pond

In townPayson, AZ

26%Tree cover

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 7 notices

In the agency’s own words

Houston Mesa Campground is located in the forested northern section of Tonto National Forest, just north of Payson, Arizona and less than two hours from Phoenix. With family, equestrian and tent-only campsites, this campground can accommodate a range of visitors and offers plenty of ways to enjoy the outdoors, including miles of non-motorized trails nearby. Easy access to the Town of Payson amenities makes this campground ideal! As one of the largest forest in the United States, the Tonto National Forest is one of the most-visited "urban" forests in the United States (approximately 5.8 million visitors annually). Its boundaries are Phoenix to the south, the Mogollon Rim to the north and the San Carlos and Fort Apache Indian reservations to the east. Keep reading

Recreation

Many visitors come to Payson to ride, hike, camp and picnic. Houston Mesa Campground is centrally located for access to Rim Country's best trails. Check out the National Recreation Highline Trail from its many access points along the control road (beginning or ending at Pine TH or 260 TH) or travel a short distance to the Pine trailhead to access over 20 miles of non motorized trails in the Pine Strawberry area.

Facilities

Houston Mesa has 102 campsites, including 46 standard sites, 27 equestrian sites for campers with horses or mules, and 29 tent-only sites for those who want a quieter experience. There are several amenities to make campers feel at home, including flush toilets. The horse camping section (Mule Deer Loop) is across the street from the main campground and features 27 individual sites with tables and grills. Corrals are also available. Campers who reserve sites 7 - 18 must have horses or mules.

Natural Features

The campground is located at an elevation of 5,200 ft. in a mixed forest and shrub area, with spacious campsites offering both sun and shade. Winters are pleasant and cool with cold nighttime temperatures, while summers are warm and sunny, providing a nice getaway from the hotter deserts around Phoenix. Elk, javelina, skunk and coyote live in the area and can be seen in the campground. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (928) 474-7900.

Nearby Attractions

Campers who make the quick trip to the town of Payson, one mile south, will find restaurants, shopping and other conveniences. Scenic driving and outdoor recreation abound in the surrounding Tonto National Forest, which embraces almost 3 million acres of rugged and spectacularly beautiful country, ranging from saguaro cactus-studded desert to pine-forested mountains beneath the Mogollon Rim. If you are an avid mountain biker or hiker please check out the National Recreation Highline Trail-which spans 63 miles below the Mogollon Rim.

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

What the agency tells you

Rule

Second (extra) vehicle charge of $8 per night is required. An RV towing a car counts as one vehicle and a vehicle pulling a trailer counts as one vehicle. Fee can be bundled with online reservation or purchased on-site at fee machine. No more than 2 vehicles per site.

Rule

No firewood sales available at campground. Plan to purchase ahead of time.

Rule

Check in time is 2:00pm and check out time is 11:00am. Quiet Hours are from 10:00pm to 6:00am.

Everything else this campground posts · 4

Rule

Fireworks are always prohibited on National Forest Land.

Rule

For first come first serve sites, you must physically arrive at the campground to see if the campsite is available. There is no guarantee this site will be available to purchase upon your arrival.

Rule

Campers who reserve sites 7 - 18 in Mule Loop are required to have horse or mule.

Rule

Maximum stay limit is 14 days within 30 consecutive days on the Tonto National Forest including dispersed areas.

Read them on the agency’s own page →

Source: recreation.gov facility notices, quoted verbatim · Sep 9, 2026

Tents and rigs

Sites: 116 · 26 tent-only, 1 group, 29 equestrian
Hookups: 1 electric
Longest rig: 99 ft
Paved pads: 44 of 116
Accessible sites: 3
Pets: Allowed
Campfires: Allowed, barring fire bans
Shade: Every site

Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Toilets: Flush Toilets; FLUSH TOILETS on 90 of 119 campsite records, ACCESSIBLE FLUSH TOILETS on 90 of 119 campsite records
Drinking water: Yes; DRINKING WATER (HAND PUMP) on 90 of 119 campsite records, WATER SPIGOT on 86 of 119 campsite records

Source: counted from this campground’s own campsite records, shown above · Sep 12, 2026

Around the campground

Biking; Hiking; Horse Camping; Horseback riding; Picnicking
Night sky · 202nd darkest of 262 in AZ: Bortle 4

Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026

Night sky: VIIRS Day/Night Band annual cloud-free composite, VNL V2 2024 (Earth Observation Group, Colorado School of Mines), read at the published coordinate · Sep 8, 2026

Nothing to book until it reopensread 14:49 UTC

Houston Mesa Area Clean-Up & Restoration Project Temporary Closure Order.

OpenBooked

A night, when it reopens$22–$29plus $8 to reserve, once per bookingthe agency’s rate schedule

If plans change$10 to cancel$10 to change a reservationrecreation.gov’s schedule

Runs itU.S. Forest ServiceBooked through recreation.govthe agency’s record

What’s open near here

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.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.

Every line of the receipt · 13

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service

A night, when it reopens$22–$29

Equestrian Nonelectric$22

Standard Nonelectric$29

Tent Only Nonelectric$29

Group areas, a night$130–$170

Rates for the season the campground is in now, Jan 1, 2026 to Dec 31, 2026.

The booking feerecreation.gov

Reservation fee, booked online$8

One fee per reservation, however many nights you book, and it’s non-refundable. $9 if you book by phone, $3 in person.

Pass discounts only apply to the recreation (or use) fee for the facility. Other charges such as electricity or water hookups, reservation or other fees are not eligible for a discount.

If your plans changerecreation.gov

Change fee, moving to dates outside your booking$10

Cancellation fee$10

Cancelling the day before, or the day of$10 + your first night

No-show$20 + your first night

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 · 4

Sign price: recreation.gov facility rate schedule, quoted as the agency publishes it · Sep 10, 2026

Booking fee, change fee, cancellation fee, no-show: Rules and Reservation Policies, Recreation.gov, the published fee schedule, curated by hand into lib/reservation-fee-schedule.json (9 rows, each carrying its own verbatim sentence). The publisher states these policies were last updated September 2019. · Sep 9, 2026

Who keeps the booking fee: Recreation.gov facility policy text, Dead Swede Campground (facility 234221) · Not on the national policy page. This is agency policy text recreation.gov publishes on individual campground pages; this site holds it verbatim on 45 active campgrounds (campground_rules.cancellation_description, scripts/load-facility-rules.mjs). · Sep 9, 2026

The contract: Reservation Gods: Who Stole Our Campsites and Sold Them Back to Us, More Than Just Parks, April 2025 · Apr 1, 2025

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

What the agency said · 1

Houston Mesa Area Clean-Up & Restoration Project Temporary Closure Order. Temporary Closure Order For Public Health and Safety of the Houston Mesa area.
U.S. Forest Service · posted Sep 1, 2026

Closure: USFS Tonto National Forest alert, quoted verbatim · Oct 17, 2026

Filed as emergency from the agency’s own words “Public Health and Safety”. That reading is ours.

Open within 60 miles · 4

The agency’s own word that these are open, not our reading of a season.

Houston Mesa Campground and Equestrian SitesTonto National Forest · 0.0 mi
Kehl Springs CampgroundCoconino National Forest · 11 mi
Ponderosa Campground and Group SitesTonto National Forest · 12 mi
Lower Tonto CreekTonto National Forest · 13 mi · 13 sites

Open near here: Agency-published status, in the CAMPANAC campground index · Oct 17, 2026

recreation.gov availability, read 14:49 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

126 records · which ones have room · the site map

The sites, ranked

from 75 mapped sites

109 ftbetween you and the next site, typically

Most roomLoop BEAR 041 199 ftLoop MULE 014 168 ftLoop MULE 015 168 ftLoop MULE 019 166 ftLoop MULE 029 159 ft

Least roomLoop BEAR 051 42 ftLoop BEAR 052 42 ftLoop ELK 005 51 ft

Source: Derived by CAMPANAC from recreation.gov per-site coordinates (nearest-neighbor distance) · Oct 12, 2026

All 126 records

104 of 126 records located

Standard29Tent only17Equestrian29Type not stated29

041 042 043 044 045 046 047 048 049 050 051 052 053 055 056 057 002 003 005 006 007 009 013 014 018 020 021 022 023 024 004 0082 0102 0112 0122 0152 0162 0172 0192 026 005 007 013 014 018 025 0272 009 028 029 058 059 060 061 063 064 065 066 067 068 069 070 071 072 077 078 002 003 004 005 006 007 008 009 010 011 012 013 014 015 016 017 018 019 020 021 022 023 024 025 026 027 028 029 030

Aerial · Esri World Imagery

Sites: recreation.gov (RIDB), coordinates as published · Aug 23, 2026

Imagery: Esri World Imagery

SleepsTakes aUp to

The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 116 of the 126 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.


BEAR	032	tent only nonelectric					$29
BEAR	033	tent only nonelectric					$29
BEAR	034	tent only nonelectric					$29
BEAR	035	tent only nonelectric					$29
BEAR	036	tent only nonelectric					$29
BEAR	037	tent only nonelectric					$29
BEAR	038	tent only nonelectric					$29
BEAR	039	tent only nonelectric					$29
BEAR	040	tent only nonelectric					$29
BEAR	041	tent only nonelectric			199 ft	1.2 miHorton Tank	$29
BEAR	042	tent only nonelectric			77 ft	1.2 miHorton Tank	$29
BEAR	043	tent only nonelectric			77 ft	1.1 miHorton Tank	$29
BEAR	044	tent only nonelectric			147 ft	1.2 miHorton Tank	$29
BEAR	045	tent only nonelectric			96 ft	1.2 miHorton Tank	$29
BEAR	046	tent only nonelectric		yes	96 ft	1.2 miHorton Tank	$29
BEAR	047	tent only nonelectric			96 ft	1.3 miHorton Tank	$29
BEAR	048	tent only nonelectric			109 ft	1.3 miHorton Tank	$29
BEAR	049	tent only nonelectric			93 ft	1.3 miHorton Tank	$29
BEAR	050	tent only nonelectric			91 ft	1.2 miHorton Tank	$29
BEAR	051	tent only nonelectric			42 ft	1.3 miHorton Tank	$29
BEAR	052	tent only nonelectric			42 ft	1.2 miHorton Tank	$29
BEAR	053	tent only nonelectric			87 ft	1.2 miHorton Tank	$29
BEAR	055	tent only nonelectric			87 ft	1.2 miHorton Tank	$29
BEAR	056	tent only nonelectric			105 ft	1.2 miHorton Tank	$29
BEAR	057	tent only nonelectric			110 ft	1.2 miHorton Tank	$29
ELK	002	standard nonelectric	40 ft		98 ft	1.1 miHorton Tank	$29
ELK	003	standard nonelectric	35 ft		98 ft	1.1 miHorton Tank	$29
ELK	005	standard nonelectric	35 ft		51 ft	1.1 miHorton Tank	$29
ELK	006	standard nonelectric	99 ft		51 ft	1.1 miHorton Tank	$29
ELK	007	standard nonelectric	40 ft		74 ft	1.1 miHorton Tank	$29
ELK	009	standard nonelectric	99 ft		145 ft	1.1 miHorton Tank	$29
ELK	013	standard nonelectric	20 ft		84 ft	1.1 miHorton Tank	$29
ELK	014	standard nonelectric	99 ft		84 ft	1.1 miHorton Tank	$29
ELK	018	standard nonelectric	45 ft	yes	122 ft	1.2 miHorton Tank	$29
ELK	020	standard nonelectric	45 ft		87 ft	1.2 miHorton Tank	$29
ELK	021	standard nonelectric	30 ft		87 ft	1.2 miHorton Tank	$29
ELK	022	standard nonelectric	99 ft		98 ft	1.2 miHorton Tank	$29
ELK	023	standard nonelectric	60 ft		72 ft	1.2 miHorton Tank	$29
ELK	024	standard nonelectric	35 ft		72 ft	1.2 miHorton Tank	$29
ELK	027	standard nonelectric		yes			$29
Fox	Group Site 1	type not stated	70 ft				$29
Fox	Group Site 2	group standard electric	70 ft				$170
MANAGEMENT SITES 1	004	type not stated				1.1 miHorton Tank	$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 1	008	type not stated				1.3 mi	$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 1	010	type not stated				1.3 mi	$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 1	011	type not stated				1.3 mi	$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 1	012	type not stated				1.3 mi	$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 1	015	type not stated				1.4 mi	$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 1	016	type not stated				1.2 mi	$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 1	017	type not stated				1.3 miHorton Tank	$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 1	019	type not stated				1.3 miHorton Tank	$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 1	026	type not stated				1.2 miHorton Tank	$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 1	XXX	unnamed record		yes			$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 1	XXX1	unnamed record					$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 1	XXX2	unnamed record					$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 1	XXX3	unnamed record					$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 1	XXX4	unnamed record					$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 1	XXX5	unnamed record					$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 1	XXX6	unnamed record					$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 1	XXX7	unnamed record					$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 2	005	type not stated				1.1 miHorton Tank	$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 2	007	type not stated				1.1 miHorton Tank	$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 2	012	type not stated				1.3 mi	$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 2	013	type not stated				1.1 miHorton Tank	$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 2	014	type not stated				1.1 miHorton Tank	$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 2	015	type not stated				1.4 mi	$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 2	016	type not stated				1.2 mi	$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 2	017	type not stated				1.3 miHorton Tank	$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 2	018	type not stated				1.3 miHorton Tank	$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 2	019	type not stated				1.3 miHorton Tank	$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 2	025	type not stated				1.3 miHorton Tank	$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 2	027	type not stated				1.1 mi	$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 2	XXX	unnamed record	99 ft				$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 3	008	type not stated				1.3 mi	$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 3	009	type not stated				1.1 miHorton Tank	$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 3	010	type not stated				1.3 mi	$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 3	011	type not stated				1.3 mi	$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 3	027	type not stated				1.1 mi	$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 3	028	type not stated				1.2 mi	$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 3	029	type not stated				1.2 mi	$29
MANAGEMENT SITES 3	XXX	unnamed record	99 ft				$29
MOUN	058	standard nonelectric	40 ft		111 ft	1.3 miHorton Tank	$29
MOUN	059	standard nonelectric	54 ft		111 ft	1.3 miHorton Tank	$29
MOUN	060	standard nonelectric	75 ft		144 ft	1.4 miHorton Tank	$29
MOUN	061	standard nonelectric	75 ft		150 ft	1.4 miHorton Tank	$29
MOUN	063	standard nonelectric	45 ft		124 ft	1.3 mi	$29
MOUN	064	tent only nonelectric			136 ft	1.3 mi	$29
MOUN	065	standard nonelectric	50 ft		123 ft	1.3 mi	$29
MOUN	066	standard nonelectric	99 ft		147 ft	1.3 mi	$29
MOUN	067	standard nonelectric	20 ft		147 ft	1.3 mi	$29
MOUN	068	standard nonelectric	35 ft		155 ft	1.3 mi	$29
MOUN	069	standard nonelectric	45 ft		129 ft	1.3 mi	$29
MOUN	070	standard nonelectric	60 ft		151 ft	1.4 mi	$29
MOUN	071	standard nonelectric	35 ft		111 ft	1.4 mi	$29
MOUN	072	standard nonelectric	35 ft		111 ft	1.4 mi	$29
MOUN	077	standard nonelectric	30 ft		58 ft	1.4 miHorton Tank	$29
MOUN	078	standard nonelectric	30 ft		58 ft	1.3 miHorton Tank	$29
MULE	002	equestrian nonelectric	40 ft		135 ft	1.2 mi	$22
MULE	003	equestrian nonelectric	40 ft		125 ft	1.2 mi	$22
MULE	004	equestrian nonelectric	40 ft		125 ft	1.2 mi	$22
MULE	005	equestrian nonelectric	99 ft		117 ft	1.1 mi	$22
MULE	006	equestrian nonelectric	40 ft		99 ft	1.1 mi	$22
MULE	007	equestrian nonelectric	40 ft		135 ft	1.1 mi	$22
MULE	008	equestrian nonelectric	40 ft		135 ft	1.1 mi	$22
MULE	009	equestrian nonelectric	45 ft		135 ft	1.1 mi	$22
MULE	010	equestrian nonelectric	45 ft		111 ft	1.1 mi	$22
MULE	011	equestrian nonelectric	45 ft		111 ft	1.1 mi	$22
MULE	012	equestrian nonelectric	99 ft		109 ft	1.1 mi	$22
MULE	013	equestrian nonelectric	60 ft		109 ft	1.1 mi	$22
MULE	014	equestrian nonelectric	30 ft		168 ft	1.1 mi	$22
MULE	015	equestrian nonelectric	60 ft		168 ft	1.2 mi	$22
MULE	016	equestrian nonelectric	50 ft		104 ft	1.2 mi	$22
MULE	017	equestrian nonelectric	30 ft		104 ft	1.2 mi	$22
MULE	018	equestrian nonelectric	60 ft		114 ft	1.2 mi	$22
MULE	019	equestrian nonelectric	30 ft		166 ft	1.3 mi	$22
MULE	020	equestrian nonelectric	40 ft		106 ft	1.3 mi	$22
MULE	021	equestrian nonelectric	35 ft		106 ft	1.3 mi	$22
MULE	022	equestrian nonelectric	60 ft		105 ft	1.2 mi	$22
MULE	023	equestrian nonelectric	40 ft		105 ft	1.2 mi	$22
MULE	024	equestrian nonelectric	60 ft		137 ft	1.2 mi	$22
MULE	025	equestrian nonelectric	45 ft		149 ft	1.3 mi	$22
MULE	026	equestrian nonelectric	60 ft		99 ft	1.1 mi	$22
MULE	027	equestrian nonelectric	60 ft		99 ft	1.1 mi	$22
MULE	028	equestrian nonelectric	60 ft		137 ft	1.2 mi	$22
MULE	029	equestrian nonelectric	60 ft		159 ft	1.2 mi	$22
MULE	030	equestrian nonelectric	60 ft		159 ft	1.2 mi	$22

The agency files 10 more records here that aren’t sites for the night. It types every one of them MANAGEMENT rather than a campsite. They’re in the table above, marked for what they are, and none of them is counted as a site.

The records with no site name: Derived by CAMPANAC from the agency’s own campsite records: recreation.gov files some overnight records with no site name, only a row of X characters. A block is read as the campground’s own sites, filed without names, only where the agency types those records as campsites rather than MANAGEMENT, gives each one a coordinate, and their numbering continues the campground’s own numbered sites with no gap. Everything else is left uncounted, and where the evidence doesn’t decide the record is counted as no kind of site rather than guessed at · Sep 12, 2026

Price: Derived by CAMPANAC: each site takes the per-night rate this campground publishes for the site’s own site type (recreation.gov rate schedule). recreation.gov publishes no per-campsite fee, and a site whose type carries no published rate is left blank rather than called free · Sep 11, 2026

25 of 126 listed

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

Getting there

the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number

Coordinate34.27000, -111.31417

The mapSee it on the map

The driveDirections ↗

The phone928-468-7135

The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

Also near hereHouston Mesa Campground and Equestrian SitesTonto National Forest · 0.0 mi Kehl Springs CampgroundCoconino National Forest · 11 mi

Ponderosa (AZ)Tonto National Forest · 12 mi Ponderosa Campground and Group SitesTonto National Forest · 12 mi

Lower Tonto CreekTonto National Forest · 13 mi

Upper Tonto CreekTonto National Forest · 14 mi

Getting there

From Payson, Arizona, go north for 1 mile to the junction of Highway 87 (Beeline Highway) and Forest Road 199 (Houston Mesa Road). Turn right (east) onto Forest Road 199 for .10 miles. The campground is on the north side of Houston Mesa Road.

Directions: Driving directions as the agency wrote them · Sep 9, 2026

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Today65°Partly Sunny then Chance Rain Showers26% rain

Tonight47°Chance Rain Showers42% rain

Sunday64°Chance Rain Showers37% rain

Sunday Night50°Chance Showers And Thunderstorms36% rain

NWS forecast for Payson, AZ

Source: National Weather Service, FGZ forecast office · Oct 17, 2026

Typical weather

Typical October night 41°F, day 76°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical December night 26°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.

100°32°20°

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.

Measured at: PAYSON, AZ (USW00093139), 3 miles away and 210 ft lower

Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, monthly normals · Sep 8, 2026

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

Roadless country, and what’s coming for it

Roadless

Hellsgate6,171 acres · 10 mi · inventoried roadless area

You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.

Source: USFS Inventoried Roadless Areas via MTJP Roadless Map · Jul 29, 2026

Who answers for this land

Houston Mesa 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 →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

Source: U.S. Census district boundaries and the MTJP Congressional Public Lands Score

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from

Right now: U.S. Forest Service’s own notice puts it in the closed position. Its sentence is quoted below.

Sites on recreation.gov: recreation.gov’s own month availability payload for this facility, asked for October 2026, November 2026 and July 2027. It names 86 of the 116 campsites the agency files here, and every one of them carries an answer either way. A campground nobody has read carries no answer at all, never a no. · Oct 11, 2026

Elevation: USGS 3DEP elevation point query at this campground’s coordinate · Sep 7, 2026

Tree cover: NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC), one 30 m cell at this coordinate, taken as the median across the 104 campsites here that carry a reading · Sep 9, 2026

Water: USGS National Hydrography Dataset, nearest perennial lake, reservoir, river or stream to this campground’s coordinate · Sep 8, 2026

Night sky: VIIRS Day/Night Band annual cloud-free composite, VNL V2 2024 (Earth Observation Group, Colorado School of Mines), read at the published coordinate: 0.45 mcd/m² of artificial all-sky glow, ranked against the 262 rated federal campgrounds in Arizona · Sep 8, 2026

Sky-glow model: Duriscoe, Anderson, Luginbuhl and Baugh (2018), a simplified model of all-sky artificial sky glow derived from VIIRS Day/Night band data, the National Park Service sky-glow model

Cell signal: the Forest Service’s own campground description, read as text by CAMPANAC. None of this is a measurement. It’s what the land manager published about the place, and phones, carriers and weather all disagree with each other; treat it as a warning, not a promise.

Nearest town: U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line 2024 places, measured by CAMPANAC to the town boundary; population is the ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimate · Sep 9, 2026