US Forest Service
Learn about camping and boondocking in national forests and grasslands.
Surprise Designated Camping Area, Sedona, AZ
Surprise Designated Camping Area is one of the eight (8) official campgrounds created by Coconino National Forest for campers who want to stay close to Sedona. All camping close to the town of Sedona is restricted to one of these eight designated dispersed camping areas as a result of Forest Order 03-04-06-22-25. These eight designated camping areas are small, accommodating anywhere from 4 to 12 campsites. There are no reservations, it’s first come, first serve.
Paiute Yellow Post Campsites
These are a series of two yellow post campsites located along North Fork Lytle Creek along the north side of Paiute Road. High clearance 4WD vehicles are highly recommended to reach these sites due to soft sand and rocky conditions. Site #12 is heavily shaded, while Site #11 is partially shaded.
Fall Camp Yellow Post Site
Fall Camp, also known as "Yellow Post Site #10", is located along North Fork Lytle Creek, or Paiute Road. It's well-shaded site and you can easily miss it if you're not watching carefully. 4WD with high clearance is highly recommended due to soft sand and rocky conditions.
Stockton Flats Yellow Post Campsites
This is a series of seven (7) campsites, each marked by a yellow post, and numbered 3 through 9. Each site comes with a fire ring and that's about it. Sites 3 through 8 are all bunched together along a loop in the road, while site 9, also dubbed "Big Horn Camp" is about another 1,000 feet down the road.
Lone Camp, Lytle Creek, CA
This is a single "yellow post" campsite located along the creek side of Lytle Creek Road lies about 500 further up the road from Cold Camp. The campsite is long enough for full sized motorhomes and fifth-wheel trailers to get into, and is much easier to back into based on the way it is angled from the road.
Cold Camp, Lytle Creek, CA
This is a single "yellow post" campsite located along the north side of Lytle Creek Road right at the fork with Cold Water Canyon. The campsite is long enough for full sized motorhomes and fifth-wheel trailers to get into, albeit with some skill backing into the 90-degree turn from the road.
Kelly’s Pond Campground
This is officially a "tent only" campground, where campers must utilize the adjacent parking area and walk into the camping units. However, many vehicle-campers use the adjacent parking area, which provides a wide area, to set up camp. The area is primitive with no potable water or electricity. The official campground has eight (8) campsites with picnic tables, fire rings and lantern posts.
Shell Oil Road Hunters Camp
One of the more popular hunters camps in Sam Houston National Forest, this campground comes with a porta-potty and a trash can, although ironically, it has more trash on the ground than those that do not come with trash cans. It's also one of the smaller hunters camps in the forest.
Forest Road 217A Hunters Camp
This hunters camp is open for anyone to camp in, even though it was originally intentioned for game hunters. It has no amenities, not even trash cans. It's also a popular place for local horseback riders, so expect to see horse droppings on the ground. During hunting season, this campground gets packed.
Bouton Lake Campground
This small campground offers seven (7) primitive campsites with picnic tables, fire rings, and lantern post at each site. There is also a vault toilet. While this campground is located on US Forest Service land, the west half of Bouton Lake is on private property, and the property owner will let you know when they are displeased.
