Forest Road 688 Dispersed Camping

We decided to give this area a try on our outbound trip to the mid-west. Couldn't have been better. We got in on a Saturday afternoon and only saw a few other campers within a quarter to a half mile away. Very secluded and quiet spot with occasional faint road noise from the highway about a half mile away. Only traffic was a few vehicles going by on the road near us and the occasional cow herd in the near distance. Will be coming here again as it's only two hours from home!

As others have said, a good place to boondock some 10 miles south of the Grand Canyon. Relatively quiet with some distant noise from the well used highway and periodic squadrons of flight-seeing departures from the nearby airport overflying the area. Neither really detract from the location's benefits. Be aware, cattle roam the forests and grasslands and their associated flies come with them. Verizon cellular is patchy at best and won't load detailed web pages. Phone and texts work fine.

We arrived in the dark and parked at the first available opening. When the sun rose the next day, we couldn't believe where we parked. It was so peaceful. We could barely see anyone in the distance. We were able to charge our solar panels. I would recommend this place to those that have been a little hesitant on camping like this. Just make sure your black tanks are empty and your filled up with water.

Beautiful Pine Forest, lots of firewood, quiet except for occasional tour flights overhead. Main road is in good condition with lots of spurs and camping spots for sun & shade. Plenty of spots spread out all along the FR for all size rigs, & areas that can accommodate groups of 3-4 rigs. Can get windy sometimes and has cows grazing. Cell service is spotty depending on where you park. Please help keep this place clean!

Dump & water at RV park in Tusayan $13 or fill jugs of free water at Mather CG in GCNP.
Note: do not try and take a rig over 30' to the RV dump in GCNP!
$5 Showers & Laundry room at Mather CG.

Fire Road 688 is approximately 10 miles from Grand Canyon Village on the south rim of the canyon. It is easily accessible off AZ-64 heading north toward the park. Look for the small sign and take a right. Campsites are obvious and are almost immediately available after turning on to the road, although the road continues for several miles.

I visited in early April and found plenty of available sites. The weather was perfect with highs in the 70's and lows in the 40's. Keep in mind that you are at about 7,000' elevation. You could encounter snow at this location in the winter and early spring. There had been rain or snow before I arrived, which caused some ruts in the entrances to the campsites, but it had largely dried out.

The sites are large and well dispersed. Most are established with a circle around a fire ring, so that you don't have to back in. The sites have plenty of room for any size RV, or even multiple RVs. They were relatively level, although I did have to level a few inches in each direction at my site. The ground is dirt, so they is plenty of dust. There could be mud depending on the weather. The area is a beautiful pine forest, but the sites have open space if you need solar exposure. I was able to point my roof-top solar toward the south and got plenty of sunlight to charge my batteries.

The road is about 4 miles from Tusayan, which has numerous services including gas, groceries, visitor center, lodging, restaurants and casinos. The Grand Canyon Camper Village RV park is in Tusayan, and you can dump and fill there for about $15. You can also fill your propane tank there.

It is about 10 miles to the Grand Canyon Village on the south rim from Fire Road 688. This makes an easy trip to all of the attractions and amenities of the National Park. There are also campgrounds inside the park that allow you to dump and fill if you so desire.

This was a very pleasant place to boondock close to the canyon. The access road was in decent shape, there was plenty of space between sites, it was quiet at night and the environment is beautiful.

FR688
Tusayan, AZ
35.9252565, -112.1247050

Ponderosa Pines in Kaibab National Forest.
Saw at least a dozen bigger rigs with better backing skills than us tucked away from the road.
Lovely to see trees after 2 months of desert. Had cows fairly close, deer in the distance. Lots of birds.

Verizon 1-2 bars, ATT showed 1 bar but was unusable. This was fairly close to the entrance with no booster.

Grounds reasonably clean, I've seen worse. 2 grocery bags over 14 days of broken glass, nails, plastic, used foil, beer caps, shell casings etc on my walks.
Several spots have nice firepits.
There is some road noise, but not bad.

Close to GCNP & free. If you have a pass, use the left lane for quicker entry.

Restaurants & groceries in the area are at tourist prices, bring what you need or be prepared for sticker shock.

Propane is available at the RV park just past the general store.
We refilled water jugs inside the park at their Spring Water stations each time we went. Laundry at Mather Campground.

Definitely do Desert View Drive while in the area. Gorgeous views & able to get away from the masses at Grand Canyon Village.
Would stay again if in the area.

If coming in late for longer than 1-2nts. Take the 1st spot you can fit into & scout out the next morning. Lots of car/van campers were just here for the night, and there are many easy spaces tucked back from the road that are hard to see from the road when towing. We parked just off the road near the entrance and grabbed a great spot 48hrs later when some neighbors left.