Forest Road 525C Dispersed Camping

We picked a spot where 525C meets 9549. The drive out 525C was pretty smooth with some washboard areas interspersed. We have a 4 x 4 pickup and a tiny camper so it was no trouble. Not sure how larger rigs would do. Our site was relatively level and had a nice juniper tree that provided shade for us and our dogs in the afternoon. It was a beautiful spot with views of the red cliffs in Sedona to the east. Lots of great walking and hiking along the dirt roads. The sunset and sunrise were beautiful and the coyotes yipped and sung after dark.

Our only complaint is that this seems to be a main thoroughfare for the jeep tours that originate in Sedona. We were there on a weekend which I'm sure is a much higher-traffic time for tours than during the week. At one point a couple of the jeeps pulled into our camp site - we figured it must be one of their regular stops.

The jeeps certainly wouldn't stop us from going back or checking out other camp sites in the area.

A big thank you to Campendium. This was our first boondocking spot, and we found it here.

Stayed for 14 nights in April. Go west on 525, a.k.a. Loy Butte Road, from 89A. Plenty of spots along 525, but continue to the 2nd cattle guard and take a left to get to 525c. Our 31' 5th wheel had no issue with the roads, nor did we need 4WD. Our spot was secluded, with big views of the cliffs in front of us.

Yes, the jeep and ATV tours travel on this road. We saw a few groups every day, but it was not a bother to us. There is a water and dump station nearby at the Verde Valley fairgrounds for $5. Compared to staying at one of Sedona or Cottonwood parks for $25-$55 per night, I would definitely boondock here instead.

Many others stay on 525, and those spots are more heavily populated. We had no neighbors, and our dogs were off leash most of the time. This is a great area for solar users.

We had access to all Cottonwood, Sedona, and Jerome attractions with only a short drive. Although you can stay closer to 89A on this same road, we enjoyed the openness and seclusion of our spot.

We stayed just past the intersection of 525C and 9549M. There is plenty of hiking nearby. The spot we were in was far enough off the road so traffic wasn't annoying, but there is enough of it. Lots of cars, Jeep tours, and ATVs. We had ok cell service, but it wasn't consistent.
There are a number of spots large enough for multiple vehicles.

This is a great spot - the entire road is open for camping, so there are a lot of spots. We did see quite a few campers, but we just kept driving until we found a good and private spot. The views are incredible, there is hiking near by, and it's not that far from town. Probably my favorite free campsite yet.

A lot of tour jeeps do drive by (very fast), but it didn't bother me.

We spent New Years eve plus 2 more nights in this beautiful site. Sedona on one side and Jerome on the other. Got to watch the full moon rise and enjoy the open sky. Sites are big with fire pits and pretty flat. Sites are spread out so you feel like you are all alone. Lots of places to bike and hike. Road in is not paved but my 31 ft c class did just fine.

Stumbled upon this great site by accident. 525c is also called Sycamore Pass road. There are several spots large enough for 3-4 large RVs. Very quiet despite pretty consistent traffic

I found the other campers extremely friendly and willing to help others-even shared potluck and campfires, but folks are here for privacy. Not too far to Cottonwood or Sedona.

We found a spacious site about 3 miles down this road on the left next to a dry creek bed. It was beautiful and peaceful - nearest camper was probably a half mile away. Quite a few vehicles went past us but it didn’t really bother us. Mostly those pink Jeep tours. The night sky was incredible. We saw coyotes, even little baby ones! Also the cows that frequently crossed the main road were awesome. It’s a bit of a drive to Sedona but so pretty! There’s another town to the south that I can’t remmeber the name of but we preferred going there for groceries and such. Just north of Sedona is a FREE spring water spigot that we used to fill our aquatainers and the water is SO good. Loved this site other than all the red dust (our first time out west!). Oh and amazingly we had great LTE with Sprint!

In my never ending effort to rank and file everything, ensuring all beings, matter and nonsentient campsites are fully aware of their position in my world, I deem this road the best camping in the Sedona / Cottonwood Disneyplex.

While there seem to be less “spots” on this road, for vans and tenters, the spots available come with the perks of being a) overlooked, b) full of overlooks and c) still pushing cell service for the working man. Or if you just want to rent DuckTales from iTunes.

Bumpy on the way in, private while there, and close enough to Sedona to make pizza and beer runs a pleasure. Just don’t try and take the road to Flagstaff, it’s a 45 minute, 1.5 mike bottle neck on that side of town.

There’s not another person camping in sight! We drove 5 miles from the entrance off of hwy 89A on 525 until we found the left turn onto 525C. It was nerve jarring on a washboard dirt road. We passed several nice flat turnouts that were already occupied so we kept going until we found the gps coordinates as listed in the description.
Perfect spot with a fire ring and a beautiful view of the hillside.
All was peaceful and dark except when the random jeep drove by...apparently to a far distant home. Stars were abundant and so was the dust.
We had 2 bars of LTE Verizon all evening!

We found this place as advertised on Campendium. Once the road goes dirt it gets real bumpy, washout, washboard, we’re in a Class A so we just had to go real slow.

There’s campsites on either side of the road as you travel down. Many were taken up closer to the highway. We drove back about 2.5 miles and found a hard left that led to a couple sites no one saw.

It was the best camping we’d ever done.

There’s a 14 day max stay rule and a friend from our Fulltime RV Family Life group on Facebook said she go a ticket for $80 for staying 16 days. It doesn’t pay to break the rules.