Lynx Campground
- Right now
- Closedrecreation.gov lists every site closed this weekend, read 16:33 UTC
- A night
- $18–$36When it reopens, per site
- Sites
- 35In the agency’s record
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 14 notices
In the agency’s own words
Lynx Campground is located in the Lynx Lake Recreation Area at 5,600 feet in elevation. Within 1/4 mile of the popular Lynx Lake, the campground is situated along the lake's west shoreline. The facility is about seven miles southeast of the city of Prescott, Arizona. To make reservations click on the availability button to the right to book on this site or call 1 (877) 444-6777. For general campground questions contact the Bradshaw Ranger District at 1 (928) 443-8000. Keep reading
Recreation
Several trail systems trails are within the Lynx Lake Recreation Area. Most trails allow for multiple modes of travel. The exceptions are Lynx Creek Ruin Trail #301 and Loop Trail #311 that allows hiking only. Wildlife viewing is a grand event when a bald eagle, osprey, or great blue heron has been seen flying effortlessly above Lynx Lake or skimming the water surface. Recreational panning is allowed on the Prescott National Forest, as long as any natural feature is not harmed and no motorized or mechanical equipment or mining aids are used. Lynx Lake is one of the most popular recreation spots in central Arizona and attracts more than 90,000 visitors each year. The lake offers a boat ramp and allows for boats with 10 HP motors or less. Oar, paddle, or sail-powered boats are also permitted. Horseback riders, mountain bikers, and hikers can be found on most trails. Forest Service Day-Use Facilities in the Prescott Basin are accessible at no additional fee. See the Volunteer Host for a complimentary pass validated for your length of stay. Visiting a Day-Use facility requires a pass visibly displayed on the vehicle's dashboard, driver's side.
Facilities
Each of the 35 campsites in Lynx Campground has a picnic table, steel fire ring, and either an established tent pad or an area with room for one to two tents. Two campsites also have a lantern hanger. A steel ramada is present on select campsites. Campsite driveways are either parallel, pull-through, or back-in and all have asphalt surfacing. Some campsite driveways allow a camp unit and an extra vehicle quite easily while others may be snug. A few campsites are a short walk-in. Four vault toilets, two flush toilets, six trash dumpsters, and eight water faucets service the campground. There are no RV hook-ups or dump station in the campground. Campsites 10-19, 22-23, and 28-34 have steps. Campsites 20, 21, and 35 are fully accessible to persons with disabilities.
Natural Features
Lynx Campground offers visitors pleasant summer temperatures and cool breezes. The campground is situated in a ponderosa pine ecosystem mixed with alligator juniper, oak species, and a variety of forbs and native grasses. The 55-acre Lynx Lake skirts the campground's east boundary. Several species of colorful wildflowers bloom in the spring and during the summer monsoon seasons. Day-time and overnight temperatures are pleasant and afternoon thunderstorms are likely from late June through mid-September. The forest is home to a wide variety of wildlife. Visitors may see deer, osprey, great blue heron, bald eagle, mountain lion, bobcat, coyote, fox, skunk, rabbit, and several species of snakes, lizards, and birds.
Nearby Attractions
The Highlands Center for Natural History, in partnership with the Prescott National Forest, is only a few minutes from Lynx Campground. A learning center, trail system on 80 acres, and scheduled interpretive programs are but a few of the exciting activities the Center offers through the spring, summer, and fall. Lynx Lake Cafe near North Shore Day-Use Area offers a full service restaurant serving breakfast 8-11 and lunch 11-2 Thrusday through Sunday. Dinner is served Thursday thru Saturday 4-8 pm. The City of Prescott is a few minutes drive from Lynx Campground. Many activities including arts, crafts, and music festivals are scheduled throughout the summer. Watson Lake, islocated within a 20-minute drive from Lynx Campground, is managed by the City of Prescott. The City of Prescott recreation pass and day-use fee should not be confused with the Prescott National Forest Day-use Passes or Day-Use fee. Fain Lake, in Prescott Valley, is a private enterprise and a short 20-minute drive from Lynx Campground. Fishing and picnicking can be found there.
What the agency tells you
Maximum stay limit is 14 days within 30 consecutive days in Prescott National Forest including stays at dispersed sites.
No RV hook-ups or dump stations are available.
Quiet hours between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m
Everything else this campground posts · 11
Pets are welcome but must be on a 6 foot leash or in a cage and never unattended.
Three designated handicap accessible campsites are found in the campground (campsites 20, 21, and 35).
At least one person must occupy a campsite during the first night after camping equipment is set up. Camping equipment may not be left unattended for more than 24 hours.
All guests with an extra vehicle must pay with exact change using the self-pay kiosk upon arrival.
Boats with motors are allowed on Lynx Lake and are restricted to 10 HP or less.
Campfires in developed fire pits only
Discharging any weapon is prohibited at all times in the Lynx Lake Recreation Area
Fireworks, including sparklers, are prohibited at all times on National Forest Lands.
Fire restrictions may be imposed due to dry conditions, at which time smoking, wood and charcoal fires may be prohibited.
OHV/ATV use prohibited in the campground
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.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 35
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 35 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- 3
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets · Vault Toilets
- “…few campsites are a short walk-in. Four vault toilets, two flush toilets, six trash dumpsters, and eight…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…toilets, six trash dumpsters, and eight water faucets service the campground. There are no RV hook-ups or…”
- Dump station
- Yes
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Creek, Beach
- Biking
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Historic site
- Horseback riding
- Hotel/Lodge/Resort Privately Owned
- Ranger programs
- Visitor center
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 230th darkest of 262 in AZ
- Bortle 4
- Fall color · reported 3 days ago, 7.4 km away
- Patchy color
Nothing to book until it reopensread 16:33 UTC
recreation.gov lists every site closed this weekend
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.
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.
Every line of the receipt · 12
What you actually pay
“Single Site: First Vehicle Free, Second Vehicle Fee is $5 Double Site: First and Second Vehicle Free, Third Vehicle - $5, Fourth Vehicle - $5” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own fee record
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
Why this page can’t say why
recreation.gov lists every site at Lynx Campground closed this Friday and Saturday night. The U.S. Forest Service has published no closure notice we hold, so this page can’t say why, and it won’t fill the gap with a guess. A closed night isn’t a sold-out one: the reservations its record still carries were taken before the sites were closed.
There’s no notice to quote and no reason to argue with, so this page offers you the watch and the list below, and no letter.
Open within 60 miles · 4
The agency’s own word that these are open, not our reading of a season.
- White Spar CampgroundPrescott National Forest · 5.0 mi · 56 sites
- Powell Springs CampgroundPrescott National Forest · 19 mi · walk-up
- Chavez CrossingCoconino National Forest · 42 mi · 3 sites
- Cave Creek Group SiteTonto National Forest · 48 mi · 1 site
recreation.gov availability, read 16:33 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
35 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 35 mapped sitesAll 35 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 35 of the 35 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.
| A | 01 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 119 ft | 1,132 ft | $18–$36 | |
| A | 02 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 80 ft | 1,114 ft | $18–$36 | |
| A | 03 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 80 ft | 1,035 ft | $18–$36 | |
| B | 04 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 163 ft | 962 ft | $18–$36 | |
| B | 05 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 94 ft | 1,013 ft | $18–$36 | |
| B | 06 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 56 ft | 1,041 ft | $18–$36 | |
| B | 07 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 56 ft | 986 ft | $18–$36 | |
| B | 08 | standard nonelectric | 22 ft | 134 ft | 1,026 ft | $18–$36 | |
| B | 09 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 134 ft | 966 ft | $18–$36 | |
| C | 10 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 96 ft | 432 ft | $18–$36 | |
| C | 11 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 79 ft | 463 ft | $18–$36 | |
| C | 12 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 79 ft | 384 ft | $18–$36 | |
| C | 13 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 63 ft | 554 ft | $18–$36 | |
| C | 14 | standard nonelectric | 22 ft | 63 ft | 616 ft | $18–$36 | |
| D | 15 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 154 ft | 763 ft | $18–$36 | |
| D | 16 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 49 ft | 638 ft | $18–$36 | |
| D | 17 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 49 ft | 598 ft | $18–$36 | |
| D | 18 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 101 ft | 556 ft | $18–$36 | |
| D | 19 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 93 ft | 677 ft | $18–$36 | |
| D | 20 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 93 ft | 701 ft | $18–$36 |
| E | 21 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 120 ft | 682 ft | $18–$36 |
| E | 22 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 156 ft | 500 ft | $18–$36 | |
| E | 23 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 120 ft | 592 ft | $18–$36 | |
| F | 24 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 125 ft | 676 ft | $18–$36 | |
| F | 25 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 84 ft | 570 ft | $18–$36 | |
| F | 26 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 84 ft | 598 ft | $18–$36 | |
| F | 27 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 116 ft | 454 ft | $18–$36 | |
| G | 28 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 129 ft | 633 ft | $18–$36 | |
| G | 29 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 72 ft | 424 ft | $18–$36 | |
| G | 30 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 72 ft | 442 ft | $18–$36 | |
| G | 31 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 116 ft | 540 ft | $18–$36 | |
| H | 32 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 57 ft | 923 ft | $18–$36 | |
| H | 33 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 155 ft | 788 ft | $18–$36 | |
| H | 34 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 57 ft | 946 ft | $18–$36 | |
| H | 35 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | yes | 60 ft | 1,005 ft | $18–$36 |
25 of 35 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Eagle Ridge Group CampgroundPrescott National Forest · 0.5 mi
Hilltop Campground (AZ)Prescott National Forest · 0.8 mi
Groom Creek SchoolhousePrescott National Forest · 4.1 mi
Groom Creek Horse CampPrescott National Forest · 4.6 mi
White Spar CampgroundPrescott National Forest · 5.0 mi
Upper Wolf Creek GroupPrescott National Forest · 5.6 miFrom Phoenix, Arizona: Traveling Northbound on I-17 take Exit 262 onto Hwy 69 North to Prescott and cointnue on Hwy 69 for 30 miles to S Walker Rd. Turn left and proceed South on S. Walker Rd. (by Costco, Petsmart, and AM/PM gas station). Drive about 3 miles and then turn East (left) into Lynx Campground.
Alternate route from Flagstaff, Arizona: Traveling Southbound on I-17 take Exit 278 onto Westbound Highway 169 and continue for 15 Miles until reaching the junction of Hwy 69, turn right onto Northbound Hwy 69 and continue for 12 miles to S. Walker Rd. Turn left and proceed South on S. Walker Road (by Costco, Petsmart, and AM/PM gas station). Drive about 3 miles and then turn East (left) into Lynx Campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Prescott, AZ
Typical weather
Typical October night 40°F, day 73°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 24°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
Lynx 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 →