Little Elden Springs Horsecamp
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $34From, per site
- Sites
- 15All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 12 notices
In the agency’s own words
Little Elden Springs Horse Camp is a campground that was created for those who love horses and enjoy riding in a beautiful landscape. Located in the Coconino National Forest of northern Arizona, the campground offers opportunities for horseback riding, hiking and wildlife viewing. The facility is very accommodating to campers and their horses and including hitching posts, plenty of space for horse trailers and access to over 30 miles of trails. Keep reading
Recreation
Campers can access the Kachina Peaks Wilderness at the Weatherford Trail near Schultz Tank just up the road from the campground. The Mount Elden/Dry Lake Hills Trail System is also accessible right from camp and is comprised of over 30 miles of trails for all levels of horseback riding, hiking and mountain biking. Some of the nearby trails offer amazing views of the peaks, especially during the changing of the leaves in the fall when the aspens turn from green to gold.
Facilities
This campground is only available to campers with horses, and has been designed for the particular needs of equestrian campers. All 15 campsites allow easy access for vehicles pulling horse trailers and are equipped with horse-friendly accommodations. Two hitching posts are provided per site, and extra parking is available. Manure removal is the responsibility of the owners. The restroom is accessible, though there are no accessible sites. Stalls or corrals are not provided.
Natural Features
The campground lies near the base of Mount Elden in a lush ponderosa pine and gamble oak forest and has a view of the 12,000-ft. San Francisco Peaks. Fall foliage can be outstanding and very inviting for photography. There is a healthy population of mule deer and elk in the area that can be fun to watch and photograph when sighted. Summers are very pleasant with sunny skies, high temperatures in the 60s to 80s and occasional afternoon thunderstorms. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (928) 774-9671.
Nearby Attractions
The nearby town of Flagstaff, Arizona, has shopping, restaurants and other conveniences. Visitors can also make a quick trip down the road to the must-see Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument and Wupatki National Monument .
What the agency tells you
This campground is designated for equestrian campers only
Check-in time 2 p.m.; Check-out time 11 a.m.
Tents are allowed on the sites
Everything else this campground posts · 9
All manure must be cleaned from the site before departure; trash receptacles can be used for manure disposal
Two vehicles per campsite. A fee of $10 per night will be collected at the campground for the second vehicle. Discount cards are not accepted for second vehicle fees.
Gray water and sewage from holdings must be transported to a dump station off national forest lands
No amplified music or public address systems allowed
Click here for more information on Coconino National Forest
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.
This is wildlife country. As always, please follow safety precautions when out on the trails and be mindful of your surroundings. Please report any mountain lion or bear sightings to the Camp Host.
Firewood available for sale from Camp Host at $10.00/bundle.
“Sites 7 &9 can accommodate large rigs exceeding 40 ft. Sites 8 & 10 can accommodate up to 40ft. “
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 15 · 15 equestrian
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 40 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake
- Hiking
- Horseback riding
- Picnicking
- Night sky · 175th darkest of 262 in AZ
- Bortle 4
- Fall color · reported 3 days ago, 14 km away
- Patchy color
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 · 13
What you actually pay
“A fee of $10 per night will be collected at the campground for the second vehicle.” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
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 · 6
rules read Oct 1, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
15 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 15 mapped sitesAll 15 sites
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.
| LITT | 001 | equestrian nonelectric | 40 ft | 600 ft | 1.2 mi |
| LITT | 002 | equestrian nonelectric | 40 ft | 600 ft | 1.1 mi |
| LITT | 003 | equestrian nonelectric | 40 ft | 745 ft | 1.0 mi |
| LITT | 004 | equestrian nonelectric | 40 ft | 489 ft | 4,743 ft |
| LITT | 005 | equestrian nonelectric | 40 ft | 489 ft | 4,343 ft |
| LITT | 006 | equestrian nonelectric | 40 ft | 427 ft | 4,966 ft |
| LITT | 007 | equestrian nonelectric | 40 ft | 547 ft | 1.0 mi |
| LITT | 008 | equestrian nonelectric | 40 ft | 427 ft | 5,245 ft |
| LITT | 009 | equestrian nonelectric | 40 ft | 425 ft | 1.2 mi |
| LITT | 010 | equestrian nonelectric | 40 ft | 425 ft | 1.2 mi |
| LITT | 011 | equestrian nonelectric | 40 ft | 451 ft | 1.3 mi |
| LITT | 012 | equestrian nonelectric | 40 ft | 376 ft | 1.3 mi |
| LITT | 013 | equestrian nonelectric | 40 ft | 376 ft | 1.4 mi |
| LITT | 014 | equestrian nonelectric | 40 ft | 498 ft | 1.4 mi |
| LITT | 015 | equestrian nonelectric | 40 ft | 590 ft | 1.4 mi |
OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions
Where it is
Lockett Meadow CampgroundCoconino National Forest · 5.9 mi
Oleary Group SiteSunset Crater Volcano National Monument · 6.1 mi
Bonito Campground (AZ)Coconino National Forest · 6.4 mi
O'Leary Group CampgroundCoconino National Forest · 6.6 mi
Canyon VistaCoconino National Forest · 11 mi
Kendrick CabinCoconino National Forest · 13 miFrom I-40 near Flagstaff, Arizona, take exit 201, and turn left to the Page exit (Highway 89). Proceed north on Highway 89 for 6 miles to Forest Road 556 (Elden Springs Road). Turn left, proceed for 1.5 miles to the campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Doney Park, AZ
Typical weather
Typical October night 28°F, day 65°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 12°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
Little Elden Springs Horsecamp 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 →