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Forest Road 405A Dispersed Camping
Tonto National Forest
Write a Review NF-405A Payson, AZ 85541 602-225-5200 Official WebsiteGPS: 34.2892, -111.1156
Overview of Forest Road 405A Dispersed Camping
Accessibility is not guaranteed, always scout ahead before driving down dirt roads. Learn more: Boondocking 101
Last Price Paid: $0
Reported by roadtrippers-staciesstuff on 10/5/2024
Longest RV Reported: 40 feet (Class A)
Reported by Lou on 12/31/2019
Pad Type dirt
Elevation 5,610 ft / 1,709 m
Max Stay 14
Tent Camping Yes
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Q&A - Ask the Community about Forest Road 405A Dispersed Camping
To ask questions of the owner or manager please contact the campground directly. 602-225-5200
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Reviews of Forest Road 405A Dispersed Camping 17 people have reviewed this location.
Cell Phone Coverage
Confirmed by 8 Users
Last reported 4/27/2023
Confirmed by 2 Users
Last reported 11/8/2019
Confirmed by 5 Users
Last reported 11/14/2023
“Lovely Area”
Reviewed 10/5/2024
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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| Days stayed: | 4 |
Overall Rating
Beautiful and easy to access. The weather in Phoenix is 107° but up here it’s in the 70s. Will come here again.
roadtrippers-staciesstuff would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Logging in area so no camping for now”
Reviewed 3/30/2024
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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| Days stayed: | 0 |
| Site Number: | 0 |
Overall Rating
Logging activity when we checked in March 2024. They are clearing the area nicely and more sites may be accessible when they are done
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AT&T
Verizon
Loving Every Mile would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Quiet and remote”
Reviewed 11/14/2023
| Days stayed: | 1 |
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| Site Number: | 0 |
| RV Length: | 30' (Class A) |
Overall Rating
My second time staying here. Found the same spot! Not many spots for a 30' class A. Poor signal but was able to watch a movie with lots of pauses. Only stayed here because previous campground was closed and it was late in the day.
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Verizon
T-Mobile 4G
Sangfroid would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Very Quiet!”
Reviewed 4/27/2023
| Days stayed: | 3 |
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Overall Rating
We have a 37ft trailer and found an amazing spot but pickings were slim for big trailers. This place is great for tent camping and smaller trailers as there are many smaller spots. The road in and out was relatively smooth and wide. A few potholes and water crossings. Small vehicles might have an issue. We thoroughly enjoyed our s... more
We have a 37ft trailer and found an amazing spot but pickings were slim for big trailers. This place is great for tent camping and smaller trailers as there are many smaller spots. The road in and out was relatively smooth and wide. A few potholes and water crossings. Small vehicles might have an issue. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay tho as it was extremely quiet.
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Verizon 5G
Erin would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Great boondocking area!”
Reviewed 10/25/2021
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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| Days stayed: | 3 |
| Site Number: | N/A |
Overall Rating
We stayed 3 days/2 nights in our pop up trailer in late October. Beautiful days, chilly nights. Our daughter and son-in-law told us about this free camping area. We were very pleased with the area. As other reviews have mentioned, there was a fair amount of garbage left by inconsiderate campers but not everywhere. There is quite a bit ... more
We stayed 3 days/2 nights in our pop up trailer in late October. Beautiful days, chilly nights. Our daughter and son-in-law told us about this free camping area. We were very pleased with the area. As other reviews have mentioned, there was a fair amount of garbage left by inconsiderate campers but not everywhere. There is quite a bit of space between sites. Our spot was along the creek, about a mile in off of Hwy 260, with plenty of room to maneuver or truck and trailer in and out. A little highway noise at night but not horrible.
We will definitely stay here again!
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T-Mobile 4G
AZDad110 would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Great spot ”
Reviewed 4/11/2021
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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| Days stayed: | 1 |
Overall Rating
Private. Fairly silent amongst tall pines. A little dusty.
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Verizon 4G
mattd would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Good for a night or two”
Reviewed 4/9/2021
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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| Days stayed: | 1 |
| Site Number: | NA |
| RV Length: | 15' (Travel Trailer) |
Overall Rating
When you exit the highway Drive South. Do not follow the road that parallels the highway. After about 500m you will begin to see people camping along NF-405A. Drive further and you will find better sites about 3/4 mile in. My advice is to camp as far from the forest road as possible to avoid the dust kicked up by rude knuckleheads driv... more
When you exit the highway Drive South. Do not follow the road that parallels the highway. After about 500m you will begin to see people camping along NF-405A. Drive further and you will find better sites about 3/4 mile in. My advice is to camp as far from the forest road as possible to avoid the dust kicked up by rude knuckleheads driving too fast.
Lecture Time: Dang it, if you are going to s#@t in the woods clean up or burry your shame. OR you could buy a porta potty you lazy so and so!
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Verizon 4G
T-Mobile 4G
Sandor Quackenbush would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Views and Perfect Dispersed Sites”
Reviewed 5/18/2020
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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| Days stayed: | 5 |
| RV Length: | 24' (Travel Trailer) |
Overall Rating
Really loved being at this location. We found a spot with a fantastic view of the Mogollon Rim. Night sky was full of satellites and planets. Tremendous amount of birds and butterflies. Great roads for bicycles and running. Take a 3 mile drive down to Bear Flats and visit Tonto Creek, amazingly beautiful. Only problem was ATV's c... more
Really loved being at this location. We found a spot with a fantastic view of the Mogollon Rim. Night sky was full of satellites and planets. Tremendous amount of birds and butterflies. Great roads for bicycles and running. Take a 3 mile drive down to Bear Flats and visit Tonto Creek, amazingly beautiful. Only problem was ATV's continually driving by. Very dusty. We were right across from a private pasture that was raising dairy cattle. We really enjoyed watching this. Our last night we heard an Elk looking for love....Great time, we added this to our favorites. Best Access is the Thompson Draw exit, not the Ponderosa Camp Ground.
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T-Mobile
Rod and Christne Badgley would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Beautiful spot in the pines!”
Reviewed 5/17/2020
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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| Days stayed: | 4 |
| RV Length: | 26' (Travel Trailer) |
Overall Rating
If you go 15 miles north on the 260 and make a right into the Ponderosa Pines campground, but just keep going past that until it dead ends at a T. There’s one big spot on the left and if you go right, there are about 14 dispersed campsites . Most of them are on the North side, but there are 3 on the south side. Most of the south side b... more
If you go 15 miles north on the 260 and make a right into the Ponderosa Pines campground, but just keep going past that until it dead ends at a T. There’s one big spot on the left and if you go right, there are about 14 dispersed campsites . Most of them are on the North side, but there are 3 on the south side. Most of the south side belongs to that farm. You’ll see cows along the fence line. There are also many tent sites if you have a good 4x4. There were at least 14 RV’s and about 6 tents there this weekend. Most of the RV spots were easy to get in and out of, we saw large motor homes, and toy haulers, all sizes.
We walked all up and down this area, and there was only one place on the side of the road that was really trashy. Someone must have come and picked up the trash.
The great thing is, if all the sites are full, you could always get back on the 260 at the end of the road. We stayed about 1 mile in, right next to a small creek. We saw the big site this review talks about, and there was a nice sized travel trailer there. At our site, you could put your feet in and get wet, but that’s about it. The shade was beautiful and you could hike in various trails in the area. It’s within walking distance from Hell’s Gate and probably 5 miles from Bear Flat. You also could walk to Ponderosa Pines campground. Our exact spot was 34.2811151, -111.1312905
Most of the spots are large and could accommodate multiple RV’s if you had a group gathering. Not much cell service, 2 bars with T Mobile and Verizon, but it was enough to receive texts/calls and checking in our beers on the app Untappd. All the sites had man made fire rings too, but there are no fires allowed now. It got cold overnight, and warmed up to 80 degrees.
As I mentioned, there were some irresponsible campers, who left trash, but for the most part it was ok. We cleaned up any trash we found to try to keep it nice for the next campers. It was great to get out of the house and we had a perfect weekend!
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Verizon 4G
T-Mobile 4G
Beer Goddess would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Great place, convenient, and close.”
Reviewed 3/30/2020
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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| Days stayed: | 2 |
Overall Rating
We stayed here over the weekend. We expected it to be busier than it was but we were able to find a site without a problem. Most of the sites were ill-kept. We found lots of trash and poorly cared for fire pits. In fact while leaving we noticed some other campers have left their site with a fire still smoldering. Over all we enjoyed th... more
We stayed here over the weekend. We expected it to be busier than it was but we were able to find a site without a problem. Most of the sites were ill-kept. We found lots of trash and poorly cared for fire pits. In fact while leaving we noticed some other campers have left their site with a fire still smoldering. Over all we enjoyed the area. It was some what close to the road and there was quite a bit of traffic. We would camp here again just wish other people would respect these free sites so that we can keep them free.
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Verizon 4G
ksilar would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
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283 reviews
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Amenities
Hookups
- dry camping
- Dispersed Camping
Recreation
- OHV
- recreation trail
Pets
- pets
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