A-1 Mountain Road

This is National Forest boondocking handy to Flagstaff. Exit 190 from I-40. There are several forks off A-1 Mountain Road (the unpaved portion of which is well maintained), and forks from those forks, with established campsites. Some are among the trees, some are in meadows. Some can easily handle large rigs. Some spots have litter left by knuckleheads. Elk might visit. There's a bit of distant low level noise from the Interstate and railroad. Cell reception can vary greatly depending on the site.

I was surprised by the amount of people here. Biking, running, hiking. Lots of placea to choose from. Our rv is 34 ft and fit just fine. Woke up to cows and crows. Excellent view and peaceful setting.

Spent a handful of nights here in the national forest while we visited Flagstaff. Flagstaff is about a 10 minute drive from the entrance of the park. Asphalt road off the highway, followed by a fairly well maintained gravel road. Plenty of big rig friendly sites, both with the options of in the trees or out in the open. Great mountain views from certain spots.

This was our first real Boondocking experience. Though it seems almost unfair because of its close proximity to Flagstaff. We were considering locations both east of Flagstaff near Walnut Cyn and west off road A-1. We're glad we chose here, the forested option. As previous reviews point out this is a frequently used area. There was even a wedding in the woods during our stay. But we were able to find a private campsite complete with fire ring and log seats and a nice turn around loop. There are no facilities which is what we expected. We only saw a bike, a forest service truck and car during our stay.

The access road was paved initially past a rural housing development. Then gravel with ruts in spots that finally turned us around. On the way out early in the morning we saw herds of both deer and elk. We definitely would stay here again.

Have a 34' RV and a Truck. Took the truck in to scout out a site, it was packed up on the mountain and just a few tenters and pull behinds down below. Decided to pull in a good distance away from some tenters down below in the only spot we could find. Immediately approached by a lady who asked me if we planned on camping here, to which I replied "yes, just for one night". She huffed and said that there were a bunch of tenters coming in tomorrow and they were going to fill up the place" I said "that should be fine as we will only be here one night". She was obviously upset because she kept huffing and sighing. She asked if I had any dogs, I said no, only kids and she then yelled to her dog in her truck 100' away "oh you have to stay in the truck". At this point my husband came out of the RV to speak with this lady and she told him she was just checking us out because there are a lot of sketchy people around here. My husband asked her if he really looked like a sketchy person, she replied yes. He laughed. She then said "well just so you know, (pointing to tenters) she has a weapon, he has a weapon, and I have a weapon." At this point she jut stands there and doesn't leave.. I whispered to my husband that I was going to go check out a different campground (which turned out to be 100% better) and I left wit my kids in the truck to do so. What an absolutely horrible experience. Never ever going back to this place.

This is an area very close to Flagstaff, though you wouldn't know it. There are several options off A1 Mountain road, naturally there were more people camped closer to the main road, but if you drive back a little bit on the road, there are more private areas.

I stayed here for about a week. Pretty easy access and most of the roads are maintained, some areas are rutted and can be difficult maneuvering. I found a nice pull thru spot that was pretty level and pretty clean. Extremely quiet and peaceful. I am heading up again soon.

We decided to escape the heat of Phoenix and came up here because of the Campendium website. It is 2.4 miles from interstate 40 exit 190. We were close to the main forest road and there were a few other RV's camped near us but it was still private and quiet. The pine trees are tall and beautiful. Verizon service was ok in the morning and late evening but sketchy through out the day, thought still usable. Lots of places to camp and lots of people camping. We loved it! We were in a 34 foot motorhome.

Pros:
Beautiful scenery
Easy access to Flagstaff.. such a quick drive to town and amenities.
Verizon cell service made it easy for me to work at home
Large spaces between us and other campers

Cons:
The people can be sketchy. Our first neighbors (across the street from us) blared music from their car and screamed at each other until 2:30AM and started again at 7:30AM. They then decided to fight each other with nunchucks in the street directly in front of us. Really can't make this stuff up. Needless to say, we had to move asap.

The next 3 nights were fairly quiet. Overall, great free spot if you'd like to explore Flagstaff.

Pros:
Beautiful scenery
Easy access to Flagstaff.. such a quick drive to town and amenities.
Verizon cell service made it easy for me to work at home
Large spaces between us and other campers

Cons:
The people can be sketchy. Our first neighbors (across the street from us) blared music from their car and screamed at each other until 2:30AM and started again at 7:30AM. They then decided to fight each other with nunchucks in the street directly in front of us. Really can't make this stuff up. Needless to say, we had to move asap lol.

The next 3 nights were fairly quiet. Overall, great free spot if you'd like to explore Flagstaff.