Pinery Canyon Road

The monument campground was full when we arrived so we made our way down to Pinery Canyon. The road is right outside the park. You have to drive for a few miles to cross into the NF, and the road is very washboarded in several areas. But, if you can make it past that part you’ll be rewarded with lots of pretty, shady sites. Some are located by the creek on the right hand side of the road. We camped about 6-7 miles from the beginning of the road. There we’re lots of folks camping because it was a weekend, but we still found a site. Highly recommended!

We camped about .5 miles into the National forest on the righthand side on what appeared to be a seldom driven power line right of way, marked by a windmill. The road into the National Forest is washboarded but manageable. We drove to the end of the powerline right of way and had a quiet site right on a stream. We passed 1-2 additional sites on the way, where we saw a tent camper and a pickup truck with one of those camper shells. We could see the main forest service road from our campsite, but there wasn’t too much traffic and nothing that kept us up at night. We heard western screech owls at night and there was plenty of wood on the ground to have a campfire. Our xterra made it back to our site just fine but I wouldn’t recommend hauling a trailer back there. This site made day trips to Chiricahua National Monument easy.

Went on a Saturday night and once I got out to where the gps took me, it was only a couple more minutes to find a flat spot in the woods on the right side of the road . You would not want to do this if it has been raining or is expected to rain- the road could be deep mud in some spots and just plain slick as ice in others. The ~6 miles in from the pavement is pretty hellish washboard, some of the worst I’ve experienced. And while the camping area was peaceful and quiet, it wasn’t anything too special either. With no Verizon cell signal and at least a 30 minute drive to get back to one, I doubt I would drive out there again, unless I really wanted to go into the National Monument and their campground was full again. The area where I camped has tons of trees and has a stream if you drive back far enough. Except for the occasional truck or 4-wheeler or dirt bike, it was super quiet.

Not great. The road in was extremely washboarded, more than I’ve seen in recent history, and we boondock very often. Sites were very small, tough to navigate, and very uneven. We have a 24 footer... not a big rig by any means. Low crouching trees made it feel somewhat claustrophobic. Air was dusty and dank not nice, fresh, and fragrant. Who knows, perhaps we were just a little creeped out buy the tombs in our campsite...if you stay, give our regards to the Hand family, deceased for the last 70 years.

The big plus is that that Pinery Canyon is very convenient to Chiricahua National Monument, just 5 miles from the entrance. And the wild turkeys were pretty cool.

Pinery Canyon road starts just before the entrance to Chiricahua National Monument. Instead of turning left to go to Chiricahua, turn right. The paved road quickly ends. The first two miles or so of Pinery Canyon road is on private land and is NOT maintained by the County. Thus the washboards are severe but easily navigable at slow speeds. Once the road enters the Coronado National forest it is well maintained. Campsites abound on both sides of the road. Most were level and easy to navigate with my Jeep and 10 foot travel trailer. You could easily fit bigger trailers in here too. Firewood is plentiful. So is wildlife. I had to chase the turkeys from my site so I could set up!
Pinery Canyon road goes up over the mountain and down to Portal where it changes to pavement. It is a pleasant 90 minute drive and tons more dispersed camping is along the road. Several National Forest campgrounds, some with water and toilets, can be accessed along the road. Portal is a small town with a cafe, general store and library. Gas is 20 more miles or so down the road in New Mexico.
Cell coverage is non-existent along Pinery Canyon road and into Portal. The scenery is spectacular and there are many hiking trails. You can also use Pinery Canyon as a base camp to explore Chiricahua without having the hassle of camping at the tiny Bonita Canyon campground.
I felt safe camping along Pinery Canyon and will come back again. The nights are very dark and quiet. Millions of stars shone brightly and I slept peacefully.

Yes, most of the road is heavily washboarded and there are some pretty deep pits in sections as well. However if you take it slow (I usually went a max of 10 mph), it is navigable. It may technically be 15 minutes from Chiricahua, but it generally took me more like 30 minutes to get from my spot to the entrance just because of how slow I had to go due to road conditions. (I am in a Ford Transit extended body)

The parking spots are fairly obvious once you get down the road, and they are nice and quiet at night.

I did love how close it was to Chiricahua and how quiet it was generally. During the day there were people passing by, but by dark that number went down to pretty much 0.

Spend 6 days boondocking here in May, 2023. We had out 14' converted cargo trailer, and had no trouble with the roads, though they do get challenging a few miles up the road. You can find sites where you will have no close neighbors. video if anyone is interested in seeing the drive in, site, etc. https://youtu.be/aiQxw5rbl5Q

Quite a long way off the paved road.
Definitely not recommended for large rigs.