Spider Rock Campground

Want to stay here evening of June 20th, 2013

On our recent 2 week Southwest camping trip, our last campground was where we could see Canyon de Chelly as close as possible.
Unsure of the demand in early March I called Spider Rock and was told to secure a campsite that I needed to send in a check for $14, which I did about a month beforehand. Sure enough when we arrived our name and designated campsite was on a board at the entry.
Howard the owner/ operator came up well after we set up to meet and greet us. Very nice fellow. Tho we left early in the morning I hear that he often plays a flute at sunrise, giving a mystical aura to the area.
I was extra curious to see this place because I had read reviews that ranged from either “Great” or “terrible”.
It was certainly “funky”. It is minimal in terms of amenities. Port a potties for bathrooms. No showers, No running water, just tanks of available water in the back of a pick up truck. The sites themselves were well spaced with plenty of juniper trees for cover and ambiance. There are some traditional hogans for rent. Even tho they are simple with dirt floors, they were neat and tidy.
There is only one public hiking trail at Canyon de Chelly, so the additional 3 mile trail from the campsite was a welcome addition for us hikers.
The previous night we had paid $31 at an RV park in Holbrook, which was like a huge parking lot right near the Interstate. The bathrooms were uninviting, the hosts were unfriendly, it had all of the hook-ups
, showers and even free stale muffns but the place had the ambiance of on old shoe. It was a striking contrast to Spider Rock.
Spider Rock is basic, a bit rough but in a wonderfully isolated location. Much closer to “ real camping”
This is a place to remember. For me it was “great”

Most I paid in a month and a half for camping. Really nice caretaker, but place is a dump.

Drove by, very junky. A few miles back, there’s a nice well kept campground (Cottonwood). Stay there instead.

The monsoons introduced themselves the day of our arrival! Yes, the path to the canyon at Spider Rock was a mess but we did it anyway. Very cool. We loved the rain hitting the roof of our teardrop throughout the night. The next day the rain had stopped and we went on a tour of the Canyon with Howard. Howard kidded my husband saying he did the entire tour in Navajo. He didn’t. The tour was fabulous! Howard pointed out the various pictographs and petroglyphs throughout the canyon. We would have missed all this if we had only done a driving tour. This was a great experience for us and we would recommend it to those that are looking for an adventure.

This is a dry camping site. I only saw dirt spots and several folks were using the hogans instead of tent camping. The bathroom was a port-a-potty, very clean and the toilet flushed. We have no complaints and as long as you know what you're getting into this is a great spot. I would also state that of the two RV parks, they were very similar.

Our spot was nicely shaded for afternoon sun but open to morning sun. There was plenty of room to re position the RV. We enjoyed watching the pinon jays and listening to horses in the distance.

Note - bring coffee that does not require power to make a pot.

Tour guide came right to our spot and picked me up.

Dog friendly and plenty of area to walk to dog.

Think dry camping or Boondocking and you won’t be disappointed. The forest is a typical beautiful AZ juniper and piñon pine and you will be parked on dirt. The fact that you have a sewer hookup ( only ) is a bonus. Fresh water is available from a tank so u need a water container. I didn’t use the outhouse. I did peek inside the hogans that are available and they were interesting if you wanted the authentic experience. It was cold when we were there so we used a generator at night- Howard said it was ok.

The BEST part of the stay was meeting Howard- omg! He’s a great tour guide and you need a local Navajo to take you into the canyon- amazing adventure and history- ask him for pricing.

We pulled in with a 31' MH during a light rain and there was no one at the office so we drove in to find a site. It is muddy with large puddles in the rain and there is a maze of little site loops suitable only for tents or small campers. We had to back out of some where we could not make the turn radius without scraping trees, and finally found our way back to the entrance, where we found the "RV" site area right off the entrance. If you have a total vehicle length more than 24', it would be risky to go in beyond the RV area, which we eventually found to be limited to the strip right off the highway where you would pull into the entrance and immediately turn left onto the only somewhat gravel area. Other than that, the owner was great and we only stayed overnight so we didn't take advantage of any canyon tour options. We had someone with us requiring a high wattage oxygen machine, and the owner had no problem with us running the generator overnight.

I stayed here 2 nights when I saw the only other campground around was completely closed due to covid. This is about 15mins. south of Chinle proper, and a beautiful drive with pull offs for photo ops. The campground itself is old and tired with zero attempts to maintain it. No toilets or showers available due to covid. The “roads” in the campground are about 6”-10” of churned up red dirt. Massive holes here and there, some deep, hidden ruts, and sites that will never see “level.” Pray it doesn’t rain, because even 4WD may not get you out. If you need water, it’s trucked up in a big tank in the back of a pick up. I have no idea as to it’s source or origin. Dump station is a PVC pipe sticking up out of the ground. I paid for 3 nights but only stayed 2 because this campground depressed the heck out of me. Stray dogs make regular appearances looking for food. Minimal interaction with owner, so no comment in regards to that. The location is great, and just a little bit of care could turn this into a great campground.

I recommend this place but only if you're prepared for the primitive facilities. It's an excellent experience to be this close to Canyon de Chelley and to stay in a Navaho-owned campground. But the bathrooms are make-shift port-a-potties, there aren't any showers, and the campsites were very dusty (the wind blew really hard when were there). Definitely book the campground owner for a tour of the canyon even if you don't stay in the campground. It was one of the highlights of our cross-country trip.