Bonita Canyon Campground

We had to reserve our spot here well in advance as the campground is small and very popular. They say they can accommodate up to 28 feet but if so, there is only a few spots that would work. We had a challenge backing into ours and we're 24 feet. But this is a beautiful place in an amazing National Monument and well worth it!!

All the sites are nestled in among the trees and almost make me feel like I am in a northern forest. There are no hookups, no water to fill your tanks nor a dump station, so go prepared. There is no cell service or wifi that I know of, either. The restrooms are clean, but there are no showers. We camped in a 23 foot Airstream, and just fit in the site. Though a little larger RVs are allowed, I am not really sure how well they would fit. Our site was not at all level and we weren't able to actually get level. Despite all that, we have camped twice at Bonita Canyon and it remains one of our favorite places. The park offers a hikers shuttle that allows guests to do some nice one way hikes back to the visitor center/campground. Sign up early-it is first come, first serve!

The campground roads, sites, and area are a tight fit. They say the max length is 29' and they mean it. There are also two giant washes you have to drive through and we were barely scraping our back bumper with our 27FB Airstream.

The sites are spaced out pretty well with nice tent pads and lots of trees! TREES! It is beautiful. Bathrooms are clean and well maintained and our camp host was awesome in assisting us to drive the loop the wrong way in order to back in to our site and out again.

Definitely drive up to the Massai overlook, and even better take the shuttle to the top and hike down. Our kids (9, 7, 4) and us did 11 miles from the Echo Canyon down to the visitor center via the Hailstone, Mushroom Rock, Big Balanced Rock, and Sarah Deming trails. The Heart of Rocks Loop is definitely worth it as well.

Overall this place is just magical!!

We did manage to eek out 2 or 3 bars of 4G with a Wifi Directional Antenna and a Wilson booster. That was just icing on the cake!

We left the 25 foot trailer at home and enjoyed roughing it in the tent next to our friends' site #21. These two sites are cozy but they were perfect if you know and like your neighbors. :) There really are only a few sites big enough for trailers, and there are some deep dips through washes you need to drive though that definitely would have scraped our bumper so we were happy to "rough it" in the tent for a few nights. Showers would have been nice, but we were there just three nights.

The campground is very pretty and the surrounding canyon walls make a perfect backdrop. Never has the view walking back from the restroom been so impressive! Most of the sites (with the exception of 23-25) are far from the road, but the road isn't very heavily traveled so maybe it wouldn't matter. There are plenty of shade trees and the surrounding shrubbery provides nice privacy at most sites, and the fences to protect the trees also do a good job of setting boundaries. :)

The restrooms have running water, soap, hand dryers, and flush toilets, but they never seemed to be cleaned during our Fri-Mon trip. Thankfully, our fellow campers were considerate and clean folks. Water spigots are nicely spaced throughout the campground, and the gray water dump bins were perfect for dishwater. Very handy!

Wildlife is abundant and pretty bold. When we arrived I said, "Look at that pretty blue bird, kids!" but that soon turned into, "Get out of here you stupid bird!" The Mexican jays are well-fed yet come out every single time you're ready for a meal or snack. The wild turkeys are a bit noisy in the early morning, but we giggled at their silly sounds. One evening after dinner, a skunk got to our trash before we could take it to the trashcan. He feasted and wandered away. Then we got rid of the trash.

There are plenty of trails for everyone in Chiricahua. Our families (with 4 kids combined, ages 12, 11, 9, and 9) did the Echo Canyon Loop which was 3.1 miles--Echo Canyon, Hailstone, Ed Riggs. It's a moderate hike, but pretty sunny on the way up and out. Start by 8 or 9:00 and you'll be okay. We also did the flat and mostly shady Silver Spur Trail right from the campground to Faraway Ranch, and that was about 2.8 miles round-trip. We saw about a dozen deer on the way there.The tour at the ranch was an interesting and informative history about the area. We recommend. The visitors center is an easy half-mile hike from the campground, too. We did that as the kids needed to do some research for their Junior Ranger badges. If you hike 5-miles in Chiricahua, you also earn a hiking pin. Love it! On our next trip, we hope to hit the Heart of Rocks Loop. The rock formations we saw were very impressive though! Don't miss Massai Point, and try to go at different times of day as the light changes the view. It's only 8 miles up the mountain from the campground.

It's very easy to get to, but it really is in the middle of nowhere. We had no cell service from the time we arrived to the time we drove back through Willcox, but that is part of the reason we go on these kinds of camping trips. :) It was a peaceful weekend in a hidden gem. I can't believe more people--even Arizonans--don't know about this place.

Bonita Canyon is a teeny tiny campground in Chiricahua National Monument. The monument is a must see, and the campground is the perfect place to stay to experience all that Chiricahua has to offer.

Bonita Canyon now works on a reservation system, and because the campground is so small they often sell out. Don't bank on showing up and getting a campsite (we tried, and had to backtrack 30 minutes to spend a night at Indian Bread Loaves BLM, then lucked out the second night with a spot at Bonita Canyon).

The campground can accomodate rigs up to 30 feet. Sites are clean and well maintained. Generators allowed between 8AM and 8PM. Clean bathrooms and fresh water, but no other amenities (no dump station, or water fill for RV's). Camp host was fantastic.

Sporadic 1 bar of Verizon 3G.

We lucked out and snagged site #6 because as others have mentioned there are two large washes that you have to drive through if you want a spot other than 1-6. We might have been fine but didn't want to risk it. We actually had snow when we were there in December which of course only made the monument even more spectacular. Site #6 did have quite a bit of tree cover which made solar a bit of a challenge but doable. The access to hiking was the best park of the campground for us. They even have a bus that runs once per day that will take you to the top of the mountain and so you can take your time and hike all the way back down to the campground. We opted to drive to the top and trekked "the big loop" which is a 9ish mile RT hike through the best of Chiricahua's rock formations. Also closeby is the old mining town of Bisbee, AZ. Make sure to grab a beer at Bisbee BrewCo! More suggestions on our blog post.

Bonita Canyon Campground offered many scenic views of the canyon and shady sites. We noticed a number of sites that would be able to accommodate a 29' trailer and tow vehicle. Access to the campground though may be a bit dicey depending on the size, wheelbase and height of your stabilizer jacks. There is a pretty steep dip entering the campground and another one to exit. We disconnected our toad and drove in prepared to use some "lumber" as a ramp to prevent our Class C from bottoming out.

As we walked around Bonita Canyon Campground loop, we did notice that most sites were pretty level and easy to back in. A few sites on the dry creek bed, sloped down to the creek, so leveling out you rig would take some help. Fires allowed only in the standing grills. All sites were very clean...in fact the entire campground and restrooms were immaculate. During our stay we had a wonderful host, Gary, that ensured all campers were well informed about the area, hikes and sights...and he loved his park and was the nicest gentleman.

From the campground you have trails to the visitor center and along side the creek to Faraway Ranch. If you are planning on hiking the entire loop up Bonita Canyon and back down to the Visitor Center, we highly recommend you use the free shuttle service to each trailhead. The trails offer stunning views and many loops to choose from. We highly recommend a visit and or stay to Chiricahua National Monument. With a National Park Senior Pass, our site was 50% at only $6.00 per night.

A couple points others have mostly overlooked:

1. There is a free shuttle from the visitors center and Campground to the top of the Chiracahua's that you can take just by signing up. From the drop off point you can either take a 4.3 mile walk known as Echo Canyon or a 7.3 mile hike known as Masi Point.

2. There IS guest wifi 24/7 outside the visitor's center.

3. This is an excellent place to see Coati's as there are troops of them and they're fairly observable - we watched 16 of them for hours over 3 days.

Really nice campground with clean bathrooms and good water throughout the site. One of the nicest places I've stayed lately and the rest of Chiricahua is spectacular. Great hiking trails with amazing views...Beautiful. Only two small complaints... 1... There are four different kinds of skunks in the park and from time to time you would smell them. 2...The sites are nice and large but unfortunately they have large rocks placed so that you can't get right in with your vehicle. They state that all sites will accommodate two vehicle, No Way. We booked one site based on that information. We had one regular pick up with a camper and one small pickup with a canopy, the regular truck and camper took the entire parking spot with just enough room to walk around it and not hang out onto the road. Of course the place was booked so there was no other spots available. The host clearly felt bad and allowed us to park the small truck sort of in the ditch off of the pavement right next to the site. Not ideal but got the job done. Some sites were longer and knowing now what we know we would book a 30'+ site to get both in. Had the big rocks not been there we would have easily slipped the small truck in. Just be aware...
Still loved it and would go again. Cell reception with verizon was spotty at best, sometimes a text would pop up and sometimes I could reply, sometimes not...

I stayed in late November. I would have stayed a week, but I could only get a reservation for 1 night. I'll be back next year! I got 50% off the nightly rate with my NPS senior pass, so I only paid $6. The campground road is narrow, and the sites are mostly short and at right angles to the road, so most sites will be difficult to get into, but I happened to get site 11, the easiest to back into! My site was away from the road and backed onto a wash, which had the advantage of space and privacy, but the site was very unlevel longwise and laterally. However, I would still choose it over any other site. The campground was beautiful and spotlessly clean. There were no hookups, but water spigots were close by, and each site had bear-proof storage for those that needed it. It is in a canyon, so there was no cell service.