Kaibab Lake Campground

This was kind of a last minute one nighter as we passed through the area. We now wish it were another night or two. Sites are very clean, paved, many pull through for larger rigs. Some appear to be kind of unlevel, but maintained just the same. Easy off the interstate. A wonderful lake and views and really bummed that there is no swimming. This is a really popular fishing like it seems. We’d definitely stay here again and would recommend. Group camps also available. No recycling…a thumbs down. Firewood was for sale when we were here. Oh, and great cellular coverage.

Stayed here in the middle of a heat advisory in Phoenix so 85 degrees here was immensely better than the 115 in Phoenix! No hookups at all but generators are allowed outside of quiet hours and there were many running this weekend, although the forest is pretty dense here so lots of sounds are muffled. Every single site was taken in early July and there were lots of people fishing here and a few kayakers and anglers boating on the lake too. We kayaked a few days also and fished from lots of spots but nothing bit. The camp hosts told me that AZDFG was just here and said that the temperature was too high for successful fishing and the lake hadn't been stocked since May - no surprise that we didn't catch anything then.

Bathrooms were clean enough but we did get the occasional whiff of toilet at our site but it wasn't often. Our site backed up to the forest and we pitched three additional tents for kids and adults, two hammocks, and a slack line. I like this place even though it was busy, and Williams is a short drive away for anything you might be needing. My site easily fit my 31' TT, along with my truck, plus another minivan, with room to spare, but the camp hosts did come by to let us know it was an extra $10 for an additional vehicle parked at the camp site. He told us to park the extra vehicle at the day use area to avoid the charge, but just paid the extra anyway. We were loud at night, with four total families at three different sites, but we didn't hear anyone else's campsites so I'm thinking that the forest did a great job of absorbing a lot of the sounds.

Lots of day use folks here too, so the fishing pier and shoreline fill up with fisher-people. Nice spot to beat the Phoenix heat, and I will definitely be returning in the future!

I arrived with no reservations on a Tuesday and there were sites available for one night, but I scored site number 11 for two nights. It had a lake view. I did not stay in an RV so did not need electrical hook ups. But this campground has camp hosts with firewood available for eight dollars a bundle, Picnic tables, barbecues and fire rings. There are clean pit toilets as well as potable water by each pit toilet. The lake is mostly used for fishing or kayaking but swimming is not allowed. I have Verizon and cell service ranged from two bars during the day, down to one bar at night. There are trash receptacles spread out throughout the campground. I am a single female, traveling alone, and so I felt very safe here. Plus, they allow half off for seniors who have an annual pass. I will definitely come back here again! Next time with my kayak!

Stayed in A loop. A and B loops have spacious sites mostly with pull thru parking. Nice flat area in the Ponderosa pines. Double sites are $40 and are posted with signs saying "no discount". I guess you don't get half off with a senior pass, not sure. We had a single site for $28 with half off for senior discount. A second camper in the single site costs an additional $10. C, D, and E loops are on a more hilly area and not spaced out as much. The town of Williams is conveniently only 3 or 4 miles away. Pit toilets, trash receptacles, no dump station. Water was available only from portable tanks placed at the host site.

We stayed just one night at Kaibab Lake and really wanted to stay longer. However, we were racing a spring storm and it was either leave quickly or be stuck for a week during a windstorm with possible snow in the forecast. We did enjoy our brief stay. The lake looked it would be great fun to kayak and after weeks in the desert the smell of the pine forest was wonderful. Lots of tall trees and large open spaces, although be aware the grassy areas are full of volcanic rocks which are tough on the pups and trip hazards. Ask me how I know. Lol.

The sites are large and adequately spaced. We had a huge pull-through site (#29) with a view of the lake. Each site had a picnic table and firepit. The entire campground was first come/first served until May 5th, after that it is a mix of reservable and FC/FS. During our stay the water was turned off, but the camp hosts had large containers for drinking water. The recycling containers were also screwed shut which did not make me happy. No dump station, although you are just a few miles from Williams and there are places to dump and fill water tanks in town.

Senior National Park pass gives you a 50% discount.

We had 2 bars of Verizon 4G.

Stayed here for the last 4 years. We like it or we wouldn't return but like most things in life, not a perfect experience.

If you happen to stay near a vault toilet (we did) prepare for some bad smells when the wind blows a certain way. A common problem of course. If you have Verizon and like to use data, you'll be driving 3 miles away to Williams. Although you can talk and text at the campground, there isn't any data. Except, for some weird reason, in the middle of the night and early morning. The lake has been getting smaller over the last few years, due to the long term drought hitting the Southwest. If this continues there may not be much of a lake there in the next few years. There is noticeable noise from I-40 at night, but it's not too bad.

If you look carefully at the trees just before reaching the campground you'll notice the bottom section of the trees look dead. That's because 2 or 3 years ago, the forest service goofed up when they did their preventative burning. They had meant to just burn the debris on the ground but it was dryer and windier than they thought it would be, and wound up burning the bottom sections of the trees. The damage appears to end just exactly where the campground starts though. It rained every day on our last trip here but that's not a problem for us, being from the Phoenix area.

The hosts seem nice and every time we've been there, it's been a quiet experience, except for the road noise mentioned above. Any generator noise has been minimal. The roads and sites are all asphalt. There are lots of Ponderosa trees around and plenty of space between the sites. The Grand Canyon is a one hour drive North on 64 so it's convenient to make a trip there from here.

We enjoy going into Williams for the restaurants and shops and there's a Safeway if you run low on food.