Ponderosa Campground

First the good: we've never seen a National Forest Campground with campsites as large as these! Individual sites are very large, and very spread out; even if you are near a group campsite, you still don't feel crowded. Lots of trees and un-developed forest between the sites. Tall, mature Ponderosa pines throughout, interspersed with manzanita, juniper and oak. Fire rings with grates, picnic tables, and raised BBQ grills on every site. This is bear country, so all sites have steel storage boxes for food. Very nicely suited campground for tent campers; in fact, during our stay our trailer was one of but a half-dozen trailers or RVs among the 40+ occupied sites. Plentiful pit toilets and water spigots throughout the campground.

And, the not-so-good: Maybe because it was a middle-of-June weekend, and the CG was full, but the campground hosts did not seem up to the task. They had a hard time keeping the toilet buildings clean and stocked, and didn't seem particularly keen on enforcing standard, National Forest CG rules: Campers were using spigots for washing; the maximum 10-person site next to us had at least 16 campers; campers were shooting in the forest nearby (during a period of no-shooting fire restrictions).

Be aware that the recreation.gov website for reservations does not show the locations of the pit toilets, so it is hard to pick a site that is relatively close, but not too close... especially during a busy summer weekend, if you know what I mean!

While the location and setting are nice, it can be quite warm here in the summer, at only 5,600 ft. Look for one of the CGs further up the Rim, for cooler temps, or come in the spring or fall.

I have been here twice with my 35' fifth wheel. I chose sites with the longest drive set to fit 35'. I am an experienced driver and can back up almost anywhere so far! That being said both spots were extremely painful to back into. The drives are narrow with trees everywhere. By the time I get trailer backing in the truck was coming off road in front. Trees rubbing camper. I did get it in both spots but will not be returning. They won't fix the drives or trim trees it appears!

5 families split between 3 sites (B2, C1, and C2). In total we had 6 adults and 13 kids.

The sites were closer than they had appeared on the map, which was good for us with all the kids roaming to/from each site. This also made having meals together easier.

Sites like B2 with pull through parking are big enough to accommodate 3 cars and easily fit 3 tents up to the 10 person/site max. Sites like C1 and C2 could also fit 3 tents but only 2 cars in their pull in parking spots.

The site hosts were fantastic. Very friendly and helpful. They put on a great presentation on bears and how to be a good camper. My 8 yr old and 2 yr old enjoyed it!

Campground is well maintained. Clean bathrooms with plenty of toilet paper, a water spicket near each bathroom, and easily accessible trash dumpsters. Roads are entirely paved which keeps the dust to a minimum. Well worth the $18/night fee.

Campground is easily accessible from 260 and close enough to Payson for any needed supplies and access to hiking and fishing spots.

Cell and data service was better than expected. A little spotty but otherwise reliable.

Most sites are large and not too close together, so its nice to not be on top of your neighbors. Some of the back in spaces are hard to get into with RVs or they aren't level. We started at A16 and moved to B2, a pull through. But the trees on this site were low, so we had to back it up to get out. Some pull throughs have plenty of tree clearance. A sites are closest to the road and 260 is quite noisy. You can hear the traffic all night. Your best bet is to pick a D site.

Lots of trees around for shade and during monsoon season, it was nice and cool. We were able to wrap long dog leashes around for our dogs to have plenty of space for them to hang out.

There are plenty of pit toilets around all the sites that were well stocked. Firewood for sale for $7. Camphosts were nice, friendly and helped us back out. Cell phone reception can be spotty, but it works most of the time.

Really conveniently located. Clean and well maintained. Family friendly, all ages welcome, even for family members.
I was impressed with the layout of the campground and the available resources.
Picnic tables, bbq pit, fire pit, bear proof containers for food, clean bathrooms, clean water, firewood to purchase.
I highly recommend this campground to anyone looking to camp.

Nice campground in the Pines. The sites are on the small side, so they can easily fit a small Class C 24 footer.....The bigger rigs may not work well at this place. Site are mostly on dirt, so plan to level. They have vault toilets and based on how busy they are will determine how clean they are. They do have a dump and potable water. There are nice trails out the back of the campground for great dog walks. Stay away from A loop as it is close to highway road noise and lights from camp host. Less noise at back of campground. Check to see if there are burn bans if it is too dry, that means no campfires.

Good: Host, Quiet, Clean, Shaded
Bad: Bees, AT&T signal, no hookups
Discovered as we were leaving that there is a $10 dump station so we used it rather than pay someone in town.

This campground is very easy to get to right off AZ 260 and only about ten miles east of Payson. It's a five-minute drive from the Horton Spring Trailhead, and that hike was on our to-do list so it worked out well. There's also a fish hatchery beyond the trailhead if you'd like to check that out. We didn't.

The campground is very well-maintained, and the restrooms were clean. We were there in mid-October, so the nights were in the mid-40s and the daytime highs were in the 70s. Perfect weather! Most sites are nicely shaded as there are a ton of pines. This place would probably be very warm in the summer though, despite the shade, so I'd look for a campground above the rim for June-Sept. Each site has a fire pit, bear box (and they really recommend you use it rather than store food and toiletries in your car, but no bears had been seen this season), and picnic table. Sites are very spread out, and trees provide a nice privacy barrier.

Even though recreation.gov says there is an extra car fee, you are allowed two vehicles and two tents per site. Four moms and 8 kids shared two sites, and we felt completely comfortable and safe the whole time. So safe that some of our teens slept outside in hammocks. Our site was neatly raked and groomed upon our arrival. Sites C-7 and C-10 are fantastic side-by-side sites for those camping together.

Firewood is available for $7 a bundle, but you're also allowed to gather wood so we just did that.

I'd stay here again. No doubt. It was convenient, easy to make a reservation, the hosts were helpful and friendly. The only trouble we encountered were some bees when we brought the food out, but smoke from the fire helped. Also, we ate breakfast early and dinner after the sun went down, so if you eat when the bees are sleeping it's fine. The road isn't far away, but as long as you're in Loops C or D you won't hear the cars. We heard some trucks and coyotes at night but it wasn't bothersome.

We came as a first come first service. Huge campground with spacious campsites,. You cant see your neighbor but you can hear them at night when they are boozing it up with loud music until the wee hours. Noise went on way past midnight, camp host didn't enforce the 10pm noise rule. Lots of kids riding bikes and people driving through the campground very fast. Camp host needs to be more vigilant.

We liked the campgrounds and campsites but not all night the noise. We will give this campground another try and stay here again.

Only stayed one night on way to Phoenix from Greer and required a through site. B04 was quite short with broken pavement, but was able to position to get 24ft RV pretty level with small trailer carrying Smart Car behind. A few bugs at certain times but otherwise peaceful and very dark at night. Was even able to see the Milky Way through the pines.
Even though highway is close by, it was very quiet at night.