Coconino Rim Road Dispersed Camping

Forest Service Road 310/ Coconino Rim Road is about 13 miles east of Grand Canyon Village off Desert View Dr, AZ Highway 64. The first part of the road is National Park and not open to dispersed camping. Camping is permitted after the cattle guard, about 1/2 mile down the road. Look for previously used sites on the right hand, or western side of the road. The road is dirt and a bit washboardy, but we had no problem in our 27' Class C.

There are probably about 10 sites that are big rig friendly, and tons more available if you are car camping or have a high clearance vehicle. We went as far as the Grandview Lookout Tower, about 1.3 miles in, but the road goes on for miles.

Just across from the Lookout Tower is grouping of campsites, most of which could accommodate big rigs, and it would be a fun place to go with a group of folks. One site even had a picnic table. Just past the Lookout Tower is a trailhead for the Arizona Trail, which runs north to south across the whole state.

There are dumpsters at the intersection with Desert View Dr, and free dumpstation and potable water at Mather Campground, near Grand Canyon Village. Next to the dump is Camper Services, with pay showers and laundry facilities.

There were a few other rigs there in mid-April, but it was mostly silent. It did get very cold every night, and snowed once, so be prepared for weather well into the spring!

We read the reviews and followed the tips exactly. Road 310, past the cattle crossing, and in another mile. We parked by the Lookout tower. We weren't sure how far we could go and we felt this was good enough for our 40 ft rig and 21 ft trailer. We walked up the tower to get a little cell service. We walked around and found various campers.

Trailer Village and Mather were completely full so we wandered down to this gem thanks to Campendium. We only saw a few other campers while we were there. It's close to the Arizona Trail and about 3 miles from the Grandview lookout.

A couple of dead elk or deer. I think the area is used for hunting during season. I didn't get too close to find out but our dog brought us some bones. Otherwise, we found the sites to be clean and large.

No cell service at all for both our Verizon and AT&T. Super easy to access in our trailer. Mostly level sites for backcountry.

We will probably always camp here when at the South Rim, because why pay to be surrounded by a bunch of people?!

This area is accessible before you enter the park - or after you've entered the park. I can't speak to the roads from outside of the park, but entering from inside the park (you cross over on a dirt road entering back into the national forest) is pretty easy. Watch your GPS though, as the road is not labeled and you may not have service.

Pros:
- Plenty of room to camp and set up shop, plenty of privacy, camping areas are fairly easy to find. (As the review below says, you'll reach a fire lookout tower, and the area to camp is directly across from it)

- Some fire rings put together already

- Plenty of starter dead wood lying around for gathering

- Stars are beautiful from here!

- Although the top shack is locked, you can climb to the top of the lookout tower for views of the Grand Canyon and national forest

Cons:
- In the winter months, this would be hard to access without a 4x4. Even though there was no snow on the ground, there was a ton of melt the week prior - and the soil is extremely deceiving (feels solid to walk on, but very weak if you sink into it). Several people got stuck, and while everyone was able to dig out, this was no easy feat. There are several areas right off the road with hard pack that you should stay on if you're doubting the soil at all.

The instructions to Grandview Lookout were spot on from Google Maps. We have a 33 foot motorhome pulling a Subaru Outback and had no problem finding a site to camp. The first half mile in were rough but better after that. Very quiet and amazing star gazing! Views from the lookout were spectacular. Verizon 4G LTE is excellent!!

Nice and spread out spots in the Kaibab National Forest right off the main road once in Grand Canyon National Park. 10-15 minutes from the main Visitors Center. Road is pretty wash boarded in spots 4wd recommended when wet.

When you turn on the Coconino road, you can't camp right there, you must continue past a cattle guard when it becomes the National Forest, about 1 mile from the main road.

You can clearly see there's a few spots to camp. The road can be rough, but totally accessible for almost any rigs. We had a Class A as our neighbour.
Just watch out for the trees! And you will need to level a bit.

We stayed here for a week while visiting the Grand Canyon's South Rim and absolutely loved it. Very peaceful and clean location only 14-minutes from the Grand Canyon visitors center. There is a cell tower 1/4 mile from our site near the overlook tower / Arizona trail, which provided blazing fast data service. Everyone loved camping in the Kaibab National Forest and by the end of our week no one wanted to leave.

Note: When you first pull off the road into the woods there is a no camping sign because you are technically still in the Grand Canyon NPS. Continue past the sign and once you cross a cattle gate you're free to camp anywhere in the Kaibab National Forest. However, I would recommend taking the road a bit further until you see the overlook tower / Arizona trail entrance for larger sites. We had no issue with our 38-foot fifth wheel.

Verizon: 70/20 Mbps
T-Mobile: 30/10 Mbps

Also know as the FR310, these sites lie just outside the national park boundary in national forest land. Plenty of spots tucked in the pine forest. Perfect!

Just past the cattle guard we already saw campers setup, and they continued everywhere after that. Despite all the other folks camping it still felt private, and like we had our own space. We stayed two nights, traveling farther in the first night due to arriving later in the day.

Our 1977 21' dodge tradesman made it down without any hassle. It's a bit bumpy but in no way a hindrance. Its easy access to Grand canyon National Park. And the rocks are some of the prettiest we've seen yet.

There was a fire restriction when we were here, but that didn't take anything away from how great it was. The road goes on forever and if our rig had been in better shape we definitely would've explored further past the viewing station.