Old Rim Road Designated Dispersed Camping

We enjoyed our camping trip. We are "beginner travel trailer campers". The spot we stayed at had easy access to where we parked. We arrived the Tuesday before Labor Day Weekend and left on Sunday. It was very quiet. The sites started filling up on Thursday and Friday. But, we were far enough back to not be majorly affected by the ATV noise and activity. The camp host was very friendly. We will definitely go back.
We did have cell service for calls, but, didn't have internet coverage. (Verizon)

We went up on a Thursday evening and had several choices for a site. Thursday it was beautiful. Cool, quiet, serene. I even told the Camp Host, Joyce, a very nice lady, how quiet and calm that it was.
Friday was a totally different story. Quads, side x sides and motorcycles started showing up and running up and down the road. The sites are supposed to be limited to 10 people, we were unfortunate, to have a group of 16 pull into the site next to us, set up thier big lights, crank up the music and party until 1 am. not to mention using the National Forest as their bathroom. We saw other sites with 20 or more people.
Besides the lack of etiquette exhibited by other campers, the campground is really nice with areas to hike and bike ride. We saw wild horses, deer and other wildlife.I think that by Saturday, the Park Rangers had slowed down the traffic, which helped.
We would stay there again, but never on a weekend.

We went up there Monday before the 4th of July holiday. It was our second time up there in just a few weeks. The first time we stayed at site 12.

Site 8 was close to the rim but still on the other side of the road. There was plenty of space for my girls to roam. We saw deer, geckos, Wild horses, and several different types of bugs.

We were only a 5-10 minute drive from willow springs where we swam one day and kayaked the next.

It was nice and quiet at the beginning if the week. It got busier as we got later in the week.

Jim comes to check in when you get there to collect names, number of people in the party, and to give information about the area. He said this is because they keep trying to shut this camping area down.

It’s a great spot. I’m sure we will be back up there in a few weeks.

FR 171 camping area has 40+ numbered sites, many of which are big rig friendly. We have a 37’ 5er, class A motor home and my 25’ TT on a single site with room for more. It is early May and sites become occupied beginning Thursday and pretty much empty out on Monday. The dirt road is in good shape, it is dusty and some vehicles kick it up without consideration.
I have ground deployed solar and chase the sun because of the shade from ponderosa pines. 30 miles to Payson which has a Walmart. Ample hiking, biking and boating opportunities nearby.

It’s March, all campgrounds are closed. Saw this area and decided to check it out.

Rim Road (AKA 171 Caming Area) was closed. And for good reason. It’s a nice dirt road at the moment, but there are patches of snow, standing water and the road is muddy. If someone drove on it, it would be a muddy mess.

So we checked out spots along the Young Highway first, all areas were too wet. There are several places to turn around along the road within the first 3 miles. This highway is paved for the first 3 miles or so and the turns into a graded gravel road.

We ended up camping outside the closed gate to the Rim Road off of Young’s Highway. Others had camped here and had left trash laying around. It’s all picked up for the next user of this site! This particular spot had road noise from Young’s Highway, not sure where people were going. We saw utility trucks, all kinds of vehicles and a semi truck with a short trailer! Weird.

We walked the Rim road all the way to the closed Visitor Center on the other end. There are about 50 sites along this approximately 2 mile stretch of road. They are numbered and have a “camp here” sign. You are to camp within 50 feet of the sign. Some “sites” are better than others, some even had picnic tables. Sites closer to the Visitor Center were closer to the Mogollon Rim. You can hear the faint sound of the highway along this area. If the area were full it might feel like a campground with no rules, maybe. We wonder if the Rim Road might become dusty when it’s dry.

This whole area is beautiful! There are lakes and trails nearby. We hiked the Rim trail from the trailhead across the highway from the Visitor Center and road our mountain bikes. We plan to return to this area.