Spillway (AZ)
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $36From, per site
- Sites
- 2724 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 8 notices
In the agency’s own words
Spillway Campground is on the shores of popular Woods Canyon Lake near the town of Heber in north central Arizona. Situated in a pine forest with plenty of shade, the campground has individual campsites as well as one group campsite for small gatherings. Given its proximity to the lake, hiking trails and scenic areas, Spillway is a convenient getaway for anglers, boaters, hikers, families and photographers. Keep reading
Recreation
Woods Canyon Lake is one of seven lakes in the Rim Lakes Recreation Area, and one of the most visited. Trout fishing (both lake and stream) is a favorite pastime. Woods Canyon Lake only allows electric boat motors. Two other lakes are within a short drive. The Rim Lakes Vista Trail, less than a mile from the campground, and others in the area lead to spectacular views of the Mogollon Rim. An easy hiking trail meanders around the lake, and the paved roads in the recreation area make for great afternoon bike rides. Families might also enjoy attending educational programs given by Forest Service rangers on the weekends.
Facilities
The campground is a relatively small facility with 26 individual campsites and one group site that can accommodate up to 25 people. Tents, trailers and small motorhomes are allowed - please read information on each individual spur size to determine if your RV will fit in the site. The main campground loop road has a fairly tight turning radius hedged by trees so no RV/trailer over 32' is recommended. Each shaded campsite offers a leveled spur, picnic table, fire ring, and charcoal grill. All campsites, loop road, vault restrooms, and water hydrants are compliant with the Architectural Barriers Act for accessibility. Some sites are directly on the lakeshore with a view of the water. Restrooms are provided. Boat rentals and basic camping supplies are available at the Woods Canyon Store, while the nearest showers are at Canyon Point Campground 10 miles away.
Natural Features
Spillway is located in a thick forest of ponderosa pine, oak and Douglas fir at an elevation of 7,500 ft. The campground is situated on the lakeshore overlooking the calm blue waters of 52-acre Woods Canyon Lake, where visitors may see squirrels, deer, elk and a variety of birds. Nearby hiking trails offer views of the Mogollon Rim, a 200-mile long cliff in northern Arizona that ranges between 5,000 and 7,000 feet in elevation and serves as the geographical dividing line between the cool high country above and the hot, dry desert below. Summer temperatures can be very pleasant because of the elevation. However, the rainy season often brings afternoon thunderstorms from late June through August. Visitors should come prepared for rain and cool nighttime temperatures. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (928) 535-0181.
Nearby Attractions
Gas, phone and groceries are available 10 miles east at Forest Lakes. The nearest full service community is Payson, Arizona, 35 miles west on Highway 260. 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.
What the agency tells you
Maximum one camping unit and two vehicles per site. Fee includes one camping unit and one vehicle. Payment for a second vehicle will be collected at check-in ($12.00)
Walk-in season dates (end-Apr. to mid-May) are weather permitting only.
This is a high elevation facility; please use caution when traveling from lower elevations
Everything else this campground posts · 5
Click here for more information on the Apache-Sitgreaves 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.
Weddings/Events can be held at here, the rate per event/day is $125.00. Please contact the district manager for more information at 928-535-0181.
Well behaved dogs on leashes or leads are welcome. Dogs must be attended at all times - do not leave unattended dogs in campsites. Visitors who bring aggressive or nuisance dogs may be asked to leave - no refund will be given.
Only quiet generators are permitted in campground.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 27 · 1 group
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 45 ft
- Accessible sites
- 22
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…grill. All campsites, loop road, vault restrooms, and water hydrants are compliant with the…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- DRINKING WATER on 1 of 28 campsite records
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Creek
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Picnicking
- Night sky · 72nd darkest of 262 in AZ
- Bortle 2
Nothing on the booking system for the next 30 nightsread 15:56 UTC
recreation.gov lists 24 of the 27 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 · 14
What you actually pay
“Payment for a second vehicle will be collected at check-in ($12.00)” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $36 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
recreation.gov availability, read 15:56 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
28 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 24 mapped sitesAll 28 records
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 27 of the 28 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. 27 of the 28 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.
| GRP | 1 | group standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 323 ft | 174 ftWoods Canyon Lake | 122 ft | $190 | |
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 001 | type not stated | 174 ftWoods Canyon Lake | 122 ft | $36 | |||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 002 | type not stated | 345 ft | 181 ft | $36 | |||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 026 | type not stated | 237 ft | 171 ft | $36 | |||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX | unnamed record | 13 ft | $36 | ||||
| SPIL | 003 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | yes | 43 ft | 353 ft | 220 ft | $36 |
| SPIL | 004 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 43 ft | 354 ft | 261 ft | $36 |
| SPIL | 005 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 44 ft | 361 ft | 303 ft | $36 | |
| SPIL | 006 | standard nonelectric | 42 ft | yes | 65 ft | 411 ft | 238 ft | $36 |
| SPIL | 007 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | yes | 53 ft | 397 ft | 180 ft | $36 |
| SPIL | 008 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | yes | 42 ft | 396 ft | 132 ft | $36 |
| SPIL | 009 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | yes | 42 ft | 438 ft | 151 ft | $36 |
| SPIL | 010 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | yes | 41 ft | 365 ft | 32 ft | $36 |
| SPIL | 011 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | yes | 41 ft | 405 ft | 67 ft | $36 |
| SPIL | 012 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | yes | 56 ft | 335 ft | 30 ft | $36 |
| SPIL | 013 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | yes | 74 ft | 341 ft | 104 ft | $36 |
| SPIL | 014 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | yes | 134 ft | 147 ft | 219 ft | $36 |
| SPIL | 015 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | yes | 62 ft | 130 ft | 216 ft | $36 |
| SPIL | 016 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | yes | 62 ft | 189 ft | 169 ft | $36 |
| SPIL | 017 | standard nonelectric | 22 ft | yes | 50 ft | 238 ft | 179 ft | $36 |
| SPIL | 018 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | yes | 50 ft | 262 ft | 208 ft | $36 |
| SPIL | 019 | standard nonelectric | 22 ft | yes | 50 ft | 232 ft | 287 ft | $36 |
| SPIL | 020 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | yes | 50 ft | 264 ft | 273 ft | $36 |
| SPIL | 021 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | yes | 42 ft | 193 ft | 336 ft | $36 |
| SPIL | 022 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | yes | 50 ft | 233 ft | 313 ft | $36 |
| SPIL | 023 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | yes | 42 ft | 185 ft | 294 ft | $36 |
| SPIL | 024 | standard nonelectric | 19 ft | yes | 40 ft | 193 ft | 251 ft | $36 |
| SPIL | 025 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | yes | 40 ft | 214 ft | 212 ft | $36 |
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.
25 of 28 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Woods Canyon Lake GroupSitgreaves National Forest · 0.3 mi
Aspen (AZ)Sitgreaves National Forest · 0.7 miAspen CampgroundSitgreaves National Forest · 0.7 mi
Crook CampgroundSitgreaves National Forest · 1.1 mi
Mogollon CampgroundSitgreaves National Forest · 1.4 miFrom Payson, Arizona, take Highway 260 northeast toward Heber. Turn left (west) onto Forest Road 300 directly across from the Rim Visitor Information Station and follow for 5 miles. Turn right at Woods Canyon Lake Road. Spillway is on the right, another 0.75 miles further.
The weather
the next four days
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Christopher Creek, AZ
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
Roadless country, and what’s coming for it
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Spillway (AZ) 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 →