Bonita Canyon Campground

We were in an 18-foot van so we didn’t experience the size issues others have encountered. The restrooms were pretty run down and didn’t seem very clean, but we’re still nicer than pit toilets. Go for a spot on the outside of the loop especially if you’re I tent camping. For the location, it can’t be beat. We saw several coatis too, and there’s excellent hiking in the park!

As other reviewers have noted, there is a huge variety in site size and levelness here. Even with an RV under the 24 foot guideline (limit?), many sites won’t work due to obstacles or unlevel ground.

The day we left, I informally surveyed every site in the campground to see which would work well for different kinds of rigs. Here’s what I found.

BEST SITES FOR LARGER RVs (but anything longer than 24 feet is still going to be touch & go in many of these sites ):

Site 8 (ADA site), Site 9, Site 11 (paved), Site 12 (large but unlevel)

SITES THAT *SHOULD* WORK WITH MOST RVs UNDER 24 ft:

Site 2 (narrows at back, unlevel), Site 4, Site 6, Site 14 (unlevel), Site 18 (sloped), Site 20 (levelish, wide)

SITES THAT *MAY* WORK, BUT WILL TEST YOUR PATIENCE (these sites all have different challenges with obstacles, unlevelness, and/or tow vehicle parking):

Site 1, Site 3, Site 10, Site 13, Site 14, Site 15, Site 23, Site 24, Site 25

NO EFFIN' WAY(absolutely do not reserve these sites if you have any kind of RV. They really only work for tents.):

Site 5, Site 7, Site 21, Site 22

CAMP HOST SITES (at least when I was there; some of these may be available to campers at other times. Most are good for a small to medium RV):

Site 16, Site 17, Site 19

DISCLAIMER: Many of my assessments above are judgment calls. You may be able to shoehorn your rig into a smaller site than I'd be comfortable with, or you may find some of the ones I've recommended too unlevel or narrow for your comfort. But I'm hoping this list is useful to others considering this campground in the future

I stayed 3 nights April 21-23, 2023. Paid $10 per night with senior NP pass. This is dry camping but with flush toilets/running water in sinks. The bathrooms are aged but fairly clean if you don’t mind spiders. This campground is mainly for tents and very small RVs. Some documents said under 24 feet, others said under 20 feet…..both are correct depending on the site. There is a deep dip to enter the campground and another deep dip to leave the campground, so DO NOT go there with anything bigger than 24 feet. I was in a 20 foot Campervan and I had difficulty fitting into site 15 because the depth was very short so I could not back in or pull in, I basically had to park sideways across the site as if it were a pull through, but it was impossible to pull through due to the trees. It was not fun trying to park and get level there. Site 15 would be great for a tent camper because it has a nice view with no one across from you and no one on one side of you, so somewhat private. On the 3rd night I was able to switch to site 19 which was much deeper and sufficiently wide.

All sites are very shady, so don’t count on use of solar while there. I have portable solar and chased the sun but was still only able to get part sun for a few hours a day. There is no cell signal even with booster but if you drive up the mountain to any of the view sites you can get a good signal from the parking lots. I hiked up Signal Mountain to the lookout tower and had 4 bars on Verizon connecting to a tower in New Mexico! I was there on a weekend and it got busy on Saturday so get to the view parking lots by 9am on Saturdays. On Friday and Sunday it was not too busy.

There is a camp host in the campground (site 17 when I was there) and there is a visitor center/gift shop within easy walking distance from the campground via a picturesque trail. The same easy trail goes to other historic sites and crosses a small creek that still had water when I was there (low water/easy crossing). The Rangers were helpful with advice about the hiking trails and there is lots of helpful signage and maps. The gift shop does not have any food or camping supplies, just a few small, very over priced snacks.

If you want to leave your rig parked at the campground and don’t have a tow vehicle, there is a shuttle van that will pick you up at the campground or the visitor center and take you up the mountain to the hiking trails, then you have to hike all the way back down, which I believe was about a 7 mile hike. I drove up to the Signal Mountain parking lot on Saturday and when all the other lots were full, it still had plenty of parking. I highly recommend the Signal Mountain (Sugarloaf) trail which is 1.8 miles round trip with a 170 foot gain in elevation. At the top you have a 360 degree view of all the mountain ranges in Southeast AZ and Southwest NM. Most of the hikes were moderate ability.

As far as weather goes, probably the best months to go here are March and April, but February thru May would be OK and probably Oct/Nov would be nice. It is about 10 degrees cooler than Tucson, so Dec/Jan might be a bit cold and it might be too hot by June and it might be flooded during Monsoon (July-Sep)….those entrance/exit dips carry the water through.

There were some pesky flies around everywhere, so bring some bug repellent. They were only a minor annoyance, not too many to ruin the fun. Get gas in Wilcox, it was a full $1 cheaper than in Tucson.

The maximum published length of 29 ft is a stretch. No one mentioned the low water crossing. Most sites are oriented the wrong way for backing a trailer. The camp host directed us the wrong direction on the one loop to get in or out. The big negative is too much shade for solar. We had to fire up the generator to close the slide.

Otherwise it a beautiful campground

If you have a chance to go to this park, GO! This park is amazing with incredible wildlife. and great hiking trails. That being said, the campsites are small and manuveuring around the campground is tight if you are in anything bigger than our 25 foot Winnebago View. This campground is really just for small RV's, small trailers and tents. And if you want to go to some of the higher trailheads, only vehicles shorter than 24 feet are allowed, but the park service has a shuttle you can sign up for that takes hikers to the highest peak at 9am. We took advantage of this free service and hiked the 4.6 miles back to camp. We saw lots of deer, turkeys, coatimundis, bluejays, woodpeckers and even a tarantula. We had never heard of this national monument but were lucky to get a mid-week reservation a few days a head of time. There is water available in the campground, but no electric. Flush toilets were available and were clean. Just be warned, others reported one bar of Verizon, but I could not get any service.

My wife and I stayed two nights at campsite #3 in our 16-foot travel trailer. It was a perfect fit. I wouldn’t recommend bringing anything longer than 15 -20 feet in here. You’d have a hard time maneuvering through the park and leveling it.
We were here the first weekend of June and summer conditions prevailed: mid 80s during the day, upper 60s at night. Translation: no AC or heater was needed. Good thing, since there are no hookups here. We didn’t hear one generator over the weekend and we didn’t mind.
Note: there is a dump station icon on the map as you pull into the campground, however upon closer inspection, it is only for gray water. No human waste may be dumped at this campground.
There are plenty of fresh water spigots around but not the type you can connect a hose to.
Tip: bring a jug and a funnel if you plan to add water to your RV’s tank.
We had every intent to hike about 12 miles over the weekend but it was so relaxing just chilling in the campground, that was mainly all we did, except for a drive up Bonita Canyon with stops at each of the pullouts and trailheads to get pics.
I took a drive up to Massai Point to watch the sunset out first night there and had the place to myself. The views were stunning. In the campground, we saw plenty of beautiful birds, one turkey and a coatimundi. Thankfully no bears, although there are bear warning signs and bear proof containers all over the place.
The weekend we were here there was a strict no fire rule in effect and I’d say about half of the sites were not available for camping due to their proximity to the (dry) creekbed and related flood risk.
Only saw the campground host a couple times. She wasn’t particularly friendly but wasn’t cranky either. What she did well was good make sure people were where they were (or weren’t) supposed to be.
Regarding cell phone coverage, I was able to get one bar only in a few spots using T-Mobile.

Overall a great stay and we’d definitely come back.

Camped in Bonita Canyon February 9-11, 2022. I like astrophotography and here I shot stars one night right from the campground and another night from Sugarloaf Mountain, where I was alone with no light pollution. So peaceful.

For some history, we hiked an easy flat trail to an old ranch house and an old cabin. We also did the Echo Canyon loop with massive hoodoos & rock formations, with the trail taking you down to the canyon floor and then back up.

This is an amazing park with endless fantastic landscapes. The campground is quiet and well-spaced. Bathrooms were warm and clean.

Our campground host was very helpful and staff at the visitor center were very friendly.

This was a 5-star experience.

We were nervous about bringing in our 22 ft trailer, but the trip from Willcox was easy and with strategic wiggling dodging rocks we maneuvered it into the site. Early November weather was perfect; the shade meant our solar did not get much boost but we got by fine for a couple of days. Don't miss the Echo Canyon hike! Zero AT&T service but some minimal wifi at the visitor center.

Access: 4/5 An easy drive. I-10 heading east from Tucson has some hard pulls, with potential crosswinds, through a couple of canyons. The road from Wilcox to the park was smooth with little traffic. Cattle ranches and wild flowers dotted the two lane highway from Wilcox to the park. Along the way, dozens of dust devils stretched up across the dry lake bed, coming and going, like spirits of the wild west. I couldn't decide if I was in a western movie or a Loony Toons cartoon.

The main road into the park was easy to drive without any hairy switchbacks or big grades from park entrance to campground. But then, continuing on to the campground itself was a tight squeeze throughout. We barely fit and did not scrape our tail on the creek bed, but it was not without stress getting in and out of the campground.

The drive up and down the main park road was a narrow two lane, freshly paved, canyon road at 25 mph. We enjoyed the scenic canyon drive that offered something new past each turn.

Location: 5/5 SE of Wilcox. Stop in Wilcox for lunch at La Unica for some really tasty Mexican food. There’s a KOA in Wilcox with propane. If you fuel up in Wilcox you will have plenty of gas to do a round trip to the park and cruise the canyon. They do not offer ice or any food/drink at the Chiricahua National Monument store, just some price gouging novelty candy. Be prepared to drive 40 minutes back to Wilcox when your ice melts. I'm on the verge of upgrading to a better cooler since our ice was reduced to chilled water by the 4th morning in 90 degree temperatures. We made it through or 3 night stay but it was close due to ice chest issues.

Cleanliness: 4/5 Overall it’s clean. The flush toilet bathroom could use a professional scouring. The restrooms on the visitor center are new and clean.

Site Quality: 3/5 Poorly designed, old fashioned layout needs an update to satisfy my travel trailer taste. If you're a tent flyer this campground will fly. Site #14 fit our rig snuggly and was not easy to back into. Site 13 was lined up with ours which made it even more difficult to get into. My neighbor and I had to do the truck tango, moving our vehicles, to get around each other when backing in and out.

The land is so parched right now that the dust and leaves got to be a problem. Baking soda was required to scrub out the black dirt out of our flip flop and sandal wearing feet. The oak trees in the camp ground had lost about 80% of their leaves due to the drought. I really wish we would have brought our pop up canopy because we were in need of shade.

We had a large area for the kids to play in. I felt safe here but kept an eye out for possible bear or cougar activity. I liked the fences to give my kids boundaries but it was also kind of awkward in the park as a whole. I wish they would have spent the money on other improvements for the campground such as moving boulders and trees for better access.

Noise: 5/5 So peaceful. The fire ban meant it was a lot quieter at night and made it easier to breathe. It was a bonus that my hair only smelled like sweaty hiker and not campfire funk. We stayed Monday-Thursday and it was only about 1/3 full in early June. It was very mellow and we made new friends that were camped nearby.

Pad Type: 3/5 Dirt, unlevel. Narrow with lots of crash hazards. Water spigot. No hookups.

Notes: Morning and evening were excellent times to be active and take a walk. The highs were in the low 90's for a few hours each day. Humidity was low. If you come prepared for an improvised camp shower you will be pretty comfy afterwards. Because of the canyon walls there was a long and leisurely dawn and twilight. My kids did an evening hike to the Faraway house without complaint. They also handled the Massai Point Loop from 10-11:30am and it was in the low 80’s up top with a comfortable breeze.

No mosquitos, but had biting gnat type insects/flies. We saw a lot of wildlife.

Excellent opportunities to learn about history, geology, and wildlife.

Chiricahua is a hidden gem and well worth the effort if you're not the crybaby type. My kids can't wait to return. Now, that's the mark of a good campsite!