Stockton Pass Dispersed Camping

We enjoyed our time at Stockton Pass. There are about 4-5 sites outside the established (Paid Stockton Pass) campground where you can camp for free. They are fairly level, some have some shade trees. You are close enough to the road to hear the road noise but it is really not that bad and almost no road noise at night.

Free Dump Station (Safford Water Reclamation Plant)
32.841897,-109.722176

Free Potable Water
32.788781,-109.702451

Cell/Internet Speeds
Verizon and TMobile VERY LIMITED TO NONE

Starlink (residential with roaming)
Strong Speeds with few obstructions

We also did a video review of this campsite as well as several of the others in the area. You will find it on the Videos Tabe here on Campendium

There are 3 large dirt loops which you can camp at outside the campground. I would say that you could fit 4 large trailers with lots of space between them, or 10 if you wanted to cram them in like an RV park.

There is a hiking trail that starts in this area and goes to the top of mountains to the east. The trail is 9 miles long and around 2,500 ft up. The first half of the trail is through very tall grass, and after 2 or 3 miles, you get to tall trees and forest. The views go away, but you now get shade and green.

There is someone who drives back daily to check on the vault toilet and trash cans of the campground, even during winter. The trash cans specifically say for camper use only so we did not use them. This is a decent spot during the middle of Winter when you are forced into lower altitudes and away from snow.

No Verizon, 4 bars of ATT 4G.

After we had to change our weekend plans to camp at Chiricahua National Monument due to a wildfire in the area (The Pinery Fire), we looked for an alternate spot. Stockton Pass Campground is about the same distance north of Willcox, AZ as Chiricahua is south, and at about the same elevation. We decided to give it a try.

We camped there for three nights in our 26' classic GMC class-A motorhome (actually just outside of the "campground" in a clear area). The campground it's self is geared more toward tent camping, although there are a few spots to park a small RV or trailer there. It is equipped with tables, fire rings, and a pit toilet, along with a couple rows of trash cans. The Shake trail leaves from the campground and continues into the Pinaleno mountains and is about 5.1 miles long with an elevation gain of 3,000+ feet. We hiked almost halfway up and enjoyed some beautiful scenery.

In the middle of May, the temps were in the low 50s at night and the mid 80s in the afternoon. We parked near a nice Juniper tree that provided afternoon shade, but allowed plenty of sun on our solar panels most of the day. There was one other person at the campground the first night, no one but us the second night, then a well behaved group the third night, but we were far enough away that we barely noticed they were there.

Overall it was a great weekend get away from Tucson and was very isolated, quiet and dark at night. The location is fairly close to Willcox and Safford, AZ and has plenty of opportunities for daytime activities. Cell service (Verizon) was sketchy even with a signal booster, which allowed us to really get away from it all.