Pine Flat Campground West
We don’t think it should be. Every campground should hold some sites for whoever drives up.Tell your representative →
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 9 of the next 9 nights read 16:11 UTC
- A night
- $30–$45Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 5954 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 15 notices
In the agency’s own words
Pine Flat Campground is a popular camping spot in scenic Oak Creek Canyon in Arizona's Coconino National Forest. The campground is nestled in a forested canyon near the well-known town of Sedona, Arizona, and its red rock cliffs. The scenery is unmatched, the stream is stocked with trout, and swimming, hiking and birding spots can be accessed from the facility. Keep reading
Recreation
There are several hiking trails in the vicinity, with some leading up the canyon slopes to offer sweeping views of the surrounding scenery. The creek is bordered with paths that lead along its picturesque course, offering excellent birding and abundant fishing.
Facilities
There are 59 single unit sites at Pine Flat Campground, including two accessible sites. Picnic tables, campfire rings and cooking grills, as well as vault restrooms and drinking water, are provided. No hookups or showers are available.
Natural Features
The area is a heavily wooded, lush riparian zone. Campsites are located in a shady stand of ponderosa pines in the upper reaches of the canyon. Many of the campsites are located right on the banks of Oak Creek. The creek has crystal clear, cool water that is refreshing on hot summer days. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (928) 203-0624.
Nearby Attractions
The nearest town is Sedona, popular for its red rock vistas, resorts and shopping. One of Arizona's best swimming spots, Slide Rock State Park, is down the road. Campers can also explore the 1.8-million acre Coconino National Forest, which boasts a spectacular variety of scenery and outdoor activities.
What the agency tells you
Oak Creek is very crowded, especially on weekends; to get a campsite, it is best to come on a weekday and arrive early
An additional fee will be collected on-site for second vehicles
No radios or amplified devices allowed
Everything else this campground posts · 12
The facility cannot accommodate wide-body motor-homes
No hookups available
No horses allowed in the campground
Motorbikes may only be used for entering or leaving campsite
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.
No portable showers or toilets allowed in the campground
No cutting, splitting, chopping wood
Campsites must be occupied first night of reservation
Campsite cannot be unattended more than 24 hours
Fishing access
The camping stay limit in Red Rock District is limited to 7 days
Please note when making a reservation that the length of campsite parking spur includes both RV and tow vehicle!
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 59
- Hookups
- 3 electric
- Longest rig
- 36 ft
- Accessible sites
- 39
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- VAULT TOILETS on 60 of 60 campsite records
- Showers
- None at this campground
- “No hookups or showers are available.”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- DRINKING WATER on 60 of 60 campsite records
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Creek
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Stargazing
- Swimming
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 140th darkest of 262 in AZ
- Bortle 3
- Fall color · reported 2 days ago, 34 km away
- Patchy color
Full this Saturdayread 16:11 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
OpenBooked
Every one of the 36 sites on offer is taken this Friday and Saturday. 22 are free on Tue, Oct 20. read 16:11 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t
Watch for a cancellation
Watch this campground
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
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $30–$45 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 16:11 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
60 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 54 mapped sitesAll 60 records
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 59 of the 60 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. 59 of the 60 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| PINE | 001 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 67 ft | 259 ft | 69 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 002 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | yes | 53 ft | 218 ft | 90 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 003 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 20 ft | 58 ft | 214 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 004 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | yes | 20 ft | 78 ft | 198 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 005 | standard nonelectric | 23 ft | yes | 68 ft | 74 ft | 257 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 006 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 53 ft | 172 ft | 122 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 007 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 73 ft | 256 ft | 195 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 008 | standard nonelectric | 29 ft | yes | 30 ft | 242 ft | 238 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 009 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 30 ft | 214 ft | 239 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 010 | standard nonelectric | 29 ft | yes | 59 ft | 53 ft | 219 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 011 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 54 ft | 56 ft | 162 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 012 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | yes | 67 ft | 120 ft | 212 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 013 | standard nonelectric | 29 ft | yes | 54 ft | 44 ft | 122 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 014 | type not stated | 25 ft | 139 ft | 168 ft | $30 | |||
| PINE | 015 | standard nonelectric | 29 ft | yes | 85 ft | 129 ft | 89 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 016 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 67 ft | 152 ft | 115 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 017 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 67 ft | 134 ft | 174 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 018 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | yes | 77 ft | 171 ft | 250 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 019 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 94 ft | 133 ft | 317 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 020 | type not stated | 25 ft | Vault Toilets listed | $30 | ||||
| PINE | 021 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 80 ft | 160 ft | 47 ft | $30 | ||
| PINE | 022 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 79 ft | 103 ft | 127 ft | $30 | ||
| PINE | 023 | rv electric | 35 ft | 30 amp | 78 ft | 97 ft | 191 ft | $45 | |
| PINE | 024 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 38 ft | 103 ft | 264 ft | $30 | ||
| PINE | 025 | rv electric | 36 ft | 30 amp | 82 ft | 197 ft | 269 ft | $45 | |
| PINE | 026 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 38 ft | 116 ft | 284 ft | $30 | ||
| PINE | 027 | rv electric | 35 ft | 30 amp | yes | 67 ft | 163 ft | 129 ft | $45 |
| PINE | 028 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 90 ft | 88 ft | 197 ft | $30 | ||
| PINE | 029 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 67 ft | 186 ft | 68 ft | $30 | ||
| PINE | 030 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 81 ft | 107 ft | 80 ft | $30 | ||
| PINE | 031 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 67 ft | 90 ft | 99 ft | $30 | ||
| PINE | 032 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 77 ft | 209 ft | 78 ft | $30 | ||
| PINE | 033 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 67 ft | 116 ft | 136 ft | $30 | ||
| PINE | 034 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 73 ft | 123 ft | 204 ft | $30 | ||
| PINE | 035 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 77 ft | 210 ft | 148 ft | $30 | ||
| PINE | 036 | standard nonelectric | 22 ft | 83 ft | 143 ft | 281 ft | $30 | ||
| PINE | 037 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 70 ft | 229 ft | 245 ft | $30 | ||
| PINE | 038 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 70 ft | 254 ft | 313 ft | $30 | ||
| PINE | 039 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 79 ft | 444 ft | 248 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 040 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 80 ft | 545 ft | 351 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 041 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 77 ft | 467 ft | 290 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 042 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 77 ft | 460 ft | 320 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 043 | type not stated | 35 ft | yes | 474 ft | 362 ft | $30 | ||
| PINE | 044 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 89 ft | 459 ft | 386 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 045 | type not stated | 35 ft | yes | 560 ft | 460 ft | $30 | ||
| PINE | 046 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 89 ft | 468 ft | 361 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 047 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 99 ft | 567 ft | 446 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 048 HOST | host pad | 35 ft | yes | 575 ft | 423 ft | $30 | ||
| PINE | 049 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 132 ft | 456 ft | 295 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 050 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 140 ft | 555 ft | 404 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 051 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 73 ft | 485 ft | 313 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 052 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 73 ft | 506 ft | 367 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 053 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 86 ft | 422 ft | 316 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 054 | type not stated | 30 ft | 425 ft | 325 ft | $30 | |||
| PINE | 055 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 116 ft | 521 ft | 409 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 056 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 112 ft | 416 ft | 298 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 057 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 97 ft | 401 ft | 324 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 058 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 97 ft | 350 ft | 236 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 059 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 97 ft | 305 ft | 224 ft | $30 | |
| PINE | 060 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 97 ft | 348 ft | 325 ft | $30 |
The agency files 1 more record here that isn’t a site for the night. It names it a host pad. It’s in the table above, marked for what it is, and it isn’t counted as a site.
25 of 60 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Cave SpringCoconino National Forest · 1.1 mi
Manzanita.Coconino National Forest · 4.9 mi
Manzanita CampgroundCoconino National Forest · 5.9 mi
Fernow CabinCoconino National Forest · 6.3 mi
Canyon VistaCoconino National Forest · 11 miChavez CrossingCoconino National Forest · 12 miFrom Phoenix, take I-17 north to Highway 179 toward Sedona. Turn north on Highway 89A and continue for 12 miles into Oak Creek Canyon. From Flagstaff take I-17 to highway 89A South. Follow 89A for 17 miles to Oak Creek Caynon
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Oak Creek Canyon, AZ
Typical weather
Typical October night 31°F, day 66°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 16°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 · a letter you can send
Who answers for this land
Pine Flat Campground West 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 →
Who can change it · 3
Two offices, two different asks. The draft to the agency asks it to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up. The draft to Congress asks why that share is zero and presses for a published minimum at the campgrounds it funds.
- The member who votes the moneyElijah CraneU.S. Representative · Arizona’s 2nd district
- Your senator, on the same appropriationMark KellyU.S. Senator · Arizona
- Your senator, on the same appropriationRuben GallegoU.S. Senator · Arizona
No contact form we could verify, so that link is their own site. Contact is inside it. Washington office: 202-224-4521.
Read the draft, or change the wording
For the camper who turned up, or tried to book, and couldn’t get in. Every draft is written from this campground’s own record (its agency, its unit, its site count and its own weekend) and the buttons above copy whichever wording is selected here.
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Pine Flat Campground West, Coconino National Forest, Arizona
Dear Elijah Crane, I’m a constituent in Arizona’s 2nd district. I tried to camp at Pine Flat Campground West, Coconino National Forest, Arizona, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 54 of the 59 campsites the agency files at Pine Flat Campground West, and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 36 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Pine Flat Campground West keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Pine Flat Campground West. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Pine Flat Campground West (Coconino National Forest, Arizona) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Pine Flat Campground West, Coconino National Forest, Arizona
Dear Mark Kelly, I’m a constituent in Arizona. I tried to camp at Pine Flat Campground West, Coconino National Forest, Arizona, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 54 of the 59 campsites the agency files at Pine Flat Campground West, and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 36 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Pine Flat Campground West keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Pine Flat Campground West. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Pine Flat Campground West (Coconino National Forest, Arizona) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Pine Flat Campground West, Coconino National Forest, Arizona
Dear Ruben Gallego, I’m a constituent in Arizona. I tried to camp at Pine Flat Campground West, Coconino National Forest, Arizona, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 54 of the 59 campsites the agency files at Pine Flat Campground West, and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 36 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Pine Flat Campground West keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Pine Flat Campground West. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Pine Flat Campground West (Coconino National Forest, Arizona) via campanac.com