WHITEWATER DRAW McNeal AZ

WHITEWATER DRAW WILDLIFE AREA, McNeal, AZ

RUN BY:  Arizona Game and Fish 

LOCATION:  southwest of McNeal, AZ

UTILITIES:  NONE

COST:  NONE

DISCOUNTS:  N/A

OUR RATING (1-5):  Category III.  Rating  4

NOTES:  If you are a bird enthusiast or, like us, just want to experience the phenomena of the Sandhill Cranes, this is the place. You can stay three nights, and that’s what we did. 

Environment:   Open arid grasslands

Amenities:  NONE

Dump: NO

Public Water:  NO

Toilets: PIT

Showers: NO

Laundry:  NO

Phone Service:  Verizon 4G 2-3 bars

Nearest Propane:

Location:  From the traffic circle at the intersection of AZ 80 and AZ92 in Bisbee go 4.3 miles and turn left onto W Double Adobe Rd. Travel 8.0 miles and turn left onto N. Central Hwy. Go 6.2 miles and turn left again onto W Bagby Rd to N. Coffman Rd. which will take you to Whitewater Draw.  From the town of McNeal, AZ take W Davis Rd a short distance to N. Central Hwy and turn left.  Take the second right onto W. Lee Rd.  A short distance brings you to N Coffman Rd where you turn left which takes you to Whitewater Draw.

Proximity to shopping:  Gas and basics at McNeal Mercantile 5.5 miles away.

Camping Population:   Bird and wildlife enthusiasts.

Sites:   There are five picnic tables but, if everyone cooperates, more can get in. It is a circular parking area.  No assigned or designated sites.

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RATING KEY:    category - score 

Categories:  I - established campgrounds where one might spend a vacation or several days

                    II -  boondocking, dry camping where there are no designated sites and no amenities but

                               one might choose to stay for more than a night.

                    III - over-night areas 

You must remember that we are scoring 1 thru 5 according to things which are important to us: the environment, cost, amenities, location, safety, camping population, site, phone service 

* There are people who are not full-timers and van-dwellers by choice. We try hard not to be demeaning or assume that they are bad people but sadly, as you find in the poorer parts of a city, there seems to be more crime. Many call these people van-dwellers. That isn’t really accurate even though they do often live in vans. We know quite a few van-dwellers who have good incomes, are full-timers by choice and prefer a van to other types of vehicles. To try to show some respect for people who have a difficult lot in life, I’m calling them ‘residential campers’.  It is only when you get a high proportion of residential campers in an area that you find an increase in petty theft, etc.  

EL MORRO NAT’L MONUMENT, Ramah, NM

EL MORRO NAT’L MONUMENT, NM

RUN BY:  National Park Service

LOCATION:  Ramah, NM   (35.037101 -108.336303)

UTILITIES:  None

COST:  None

DISCOUNTS:  N/A

OUR RATING (1-5):  Category II.  Rating - 4

NOTES:  El Morro is an extremely small national monument next to the much larger El Malpais.  It is in beautiful country.  El Morro is free because the NPS found that keeping the personnel and equipment to take fees cost more than they made.  The campground is small but pretty.  Typical of the old NPS campgrounds, it is best for tents and truck campers. It was pretty and comfortable with a great view. The park is well worth visiting.

Environment:   High desert.  Juniper and pinyon pine with some ponderosa pine.

Amenities:  None

Dump:  No

Public Water:  Yes

Toilets:  Yes

Showers: No

Laundry:  No

Phone Service:  None

Nearest Propane:  unknown  - largest community is Grants, NM, 43 miles east.

Location:  Located on AZ-53 east of Ramah.  Coordinates to Park entrance:  35.043275  -108.338100

Proximity to shopping:  People working in the park seem to go to Grants, NM about 43 miles east.

Camping Population:  There were only three of us there in December 2017, but would expect it to be very diverse during high season.

Sites:  most were small and not particularly level.  Typical of NPS, made for tents. There is a 27 foot limit in the campground.

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RATING KEY:    category - score 

Categories:  I - established campgrounds where one might spend a vacation or several days

                    II -  boondocking, dry camping where there are no designated sites and no amenities but

                               one might choose to stay for more than a night.

                    III - over-night areas 

You must remember that we are scoring 1 thru 5 according to things which are important to us: the environment, cost, amenities, location, safety, camping population, site, phone service 

* There are people who are not full-timers and van-dwellers by choice. We try hard not to be demeaning or assume that they are bad people but sadly, as you find in the poorer parts of a city, there seems to be more crime. Many call these people van-dwellers. That isn’t really accurate even though they do often live in vans. We know quite a few van-dwellers who have good incomes, are full-timers by choice and prefer a van to other types of vehicles. To try to show some respect for people who have a difficult lot in life, I’m calling them ‘residential campers’.  It is only when you get a high proportion of residential campers in an area that you find an increase in petty theft, etc.   

INDIAN WELL CG, Lava Beds NM, Tulelake, CA

INDIAN WELL CAMPGROUND

RUN BY:   Lava Beds National Monument (NPS)

LOCATION:   Lava Beds NM, Tulelake, CA   (41.717384  -121.504147)

UTILITIES:  none

COST:  $12                

DISCOUNTS:  Senior Access, Interagency get 50% discount.

OUR RATING (1-5): Category I.  Rating – 3.

NOTES:  We had a great time at Lava Beds.  It is a very interesting area with lots of lava tube caves to explore and some interesting petroglyphs at the northeast corner of the park.  As the name indicates, the majority of the land is lava beds. There are a number of caves you can explore. You must get a permit from the visitor’s center. Caves range from walk through to requiring significant skill.  The campground is not shaded but is among juniper, which gives a sense of privacy. 

Environment:  In a very open area with few trees, but nothing around this areas has many trees. 

Amenities:  none

Dump: No

Public Water: Yes

Toilets: Yes  (flush)

Showers: No

Laundry: No

Phone Service:  None

Location:  From north: Take OR-39 south from Merrill to OR-161 at Hatfield. Turn right (west).  Follow 161 to Hill Road, a short distance west of Hatfield, and turn left (south).  Follow Hill Road south until it comes to a T-intersection. Turn right.  The park gate is just a short distance from the intersection.  Passing through the park gate and follow the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway (Rd 10) until you see the visitor’s center on your right. The left-hand turn into the campground is just beyond the turn into the visitor’s center. From the south: Go to Perez, CA on CA-139 and turn left on CA-97 to Tionesta, CA.  Here turn right (northwest) on Lava Beds Nat’l Monument Rd (which is also Hill Rd).  Follow this road for approximately 14 miles to the entrance to the campground on your right.  Coordinates for the campground are  41.717384  -121.504147. 

Proximity to shopping: Klamath Falls, CA is nearest for anything more than milk or gas. It is about 40 miles north.

Camping Population: varied.

Sites:   The sites were small.  Not many good for a unit as small as ours – 20ft.  We were parallel parked as we most of the other RVs. 

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RATING KEY:    category - score 

Categories:  I - established campgrounds where one might spend a vacation or several days

                    II -  boondocking, dry camping where there are no designated sites and no amenities but

                               one might choose to stay for more than a night.

                    III - over-night areas 

You must remember that we are scoring 1 thru 5 according to things which are important to us: the environment, cost, amenities, location, safety, camping population, site, phone service  

LAKE EUFAULA SP, Checotah, OK

LAKE EUFAULA STATE PARK

RUN BY:   State of Oklahoma

LOCATION: south of Checotah, OK   (35.3992  -95.5849)

UTILITIES:  Water and Electricity

COST:  $28

DISCOUNTS:  Senior ($2) and Disabled ($7)

OUR RATING (1-5): Category I.  Rating 4+

NOTES:  This is a lovely park in eastern Oklahoma. It is about half way between Checotah (north) and Eufaula (south), both communities of about 3,000 people. The lake is quite large.  There are several COE camping areas on the lake. None of them were open when we arrived on Dec 3^rd.  This campground is very wooded with large sites. Each site has a picnic table, fire pit and grill.   Most of the trees look like oak. I would imagine that it’s pretty shady here when leaves are on the trees. We weren’t concerned about our solar panels since it has pole power.  If you are able, sites 90 and 91 are considered the top two sites, although most of them on this loop (#85-92) are very good. We are on site 90 and are at a point on the lake (see picture) with the lake not 25 ft away and a marvelous unobstructed view.        

Environment:  A nice wooded campground on a large lake in eastern Oklahoma at an elevation of around 607 feet above sea level. The trees appear to be oaks.

Amenities:  The campground has water and electricity, toilets, trash, and a laundry at a nearby sister campground. 

Dump:  Yes.

Public Water:  Water at each site.

Toilets:  Yes.

Showers:  No

Laundry:  Yes  (at the Dogwood Campground just down 150 otherwise about 6-8 miles away in Texanna, OK there is a nice laundromat.)

Phone Service:  Verizon 4G 2-3 bars

Nearest Propane: (unknown at this writing.)

Location:  If you are approaching on I-40 from the west, exit on OK-150 south and go 5.2 miles to the road to the campground which will be on your left.  If you are approaching on I-40 from the east, exit on US-69 going south. Follow US-69 about 8.6 miles to the exit for OK-150.  At the bottom of the exit ramp, turn right on OK-150 and go about 3.4 miles. The turn to the campground will be on your right. 

The office, on highway 150, is at this corner.  35.399630  -95.605087.  During weekday business hours you register for a campsite there. After hours and on weekends you register with the camp host. Follow the signs about 1.2 miles and you will see the camp host on the right.

Proximity to shopping: If you drive south on OK-150 about 3.2 miles away you will start encountering various businesses. There is a very small community called Texanna and less than 6 miles further is Eufaula. 

Camping Population:  The most sites occupied during our time here were four sites. Three of the four of us were full-timers, but this is the season for people like us to be moving through; late fall and early winter. The campground host said that the campground is almost always full during the summer.  

Sites:   Sites are paved with easy access to the water and electricity. Most of them seem rather level. There are some pass-through. A few are short, but there are quite a high percentage of excellent sites with good views. Very roomy with picnic tables and fire pits.

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RATING KEY:    category - score 

Categories:  I - established campgrounds where one might spend a vacation or several days

                    II -  boondocking, dry camping where there are no designated sites and no amenities but

                               one might choose to stay for more than a night.

                    III - over-night areas 

You must remember that we are scoring 1 thru 5 according to things which are important to us: the environment, cost, amenities, location, safety, camping population, site, phone service 

* There are people who are not full-timers and van-dwellers by choice. We try hard not to be demeaning or assume that they are bad people but sadly, as you find in the poorer parts of a city, there seems to be more crime. Many call these people van-dwellers. That isn’t really accurate even though they do often live in vans. We know quite a few van-dwellers who have good incomes, are full-timers by choice and prefer a van to other types of vehicles. To try to show some respect for people who have a difficult lot in life, I’m calling them ‘residential campers’.  It is only when you get a high proportion of residential campers in an area that you find an increase in petty theft, etc.  

McCLELLAN CREEK NAT'L GRASSLANDS, TX

McCLELLAN CREEK NAT’L GRASSLANDS,  TX

RUN BY:   USDA Forest Service

LOCATION:   Gray County, TX.    (35.215144 -100.866271)

UTILITIES:  Water and Electricity

COST:  $10

DISCOUNTS:  Senior and Interagency passes (50%)

OUR RATING (1-5):  Category I.  Rating - 4

NOTES:  There is no way you can beat this for $5-10. (We’re seniors, so … wow!) There are two areas designated as campgrounds. We stayed in the McDowell Campground coordinates 35.215929  -100.866125.  We were directed here by the camp host as being one of the best areas in the park.  We were camped in a parallel spot right on the north end of the lake. The camp host said that there are a lot of ATV toward the southern end of the camping area.  It was a very pretty area and I’m sure it is filled with fishermen during the summer.  You are definitely out in the country but it is pretty and peaceful. 

Environment:   As the name says, you are in grasslands. The campground is on a lake in rolling grasslands. Elevation is around 2920.  We were there the first of December. The day was warm and the night was in the high 30s.

Amenities:  None

Dump:  Yes

Public Water:  N/A (water at sites)

Toilets:  Yes

Showers:  No

Laundry:  No

Phone Service:  Verizon 4G – 2 bars

Nearest Propane:  (unknown)

Location:   Exit I-40 at the  Farm-to-Market Rd 2477E exit. Coordinates for the exit are  35.181510                -100.847946.  The exit is 24 miles west of Alanreed, TX  and about 57 miles east of Amarillo, TX.  Follow the signs.  Go north on Farm-to-Market Rd 2477E for 4.2 miles to the entrance to the campground.  

Proximity to shopping:  We didn’t need any shopping but, having been there, I would suspect that Alanreed, about 28 miles east, is the closest shopping.

Camping Population:  We were there in early December. There was only one other person there.  

Sites:  Parallel, pull-through and back-in.  Big rigs should have no problems.

======================================================================

RATING KEY:    category - score 

Categories:  I - established campgrounds where one might spend a vacation or several days

                    II -  boondocking, dry camping where there are no designated sites and no amenities but

                               one might choose to stay for more than a night.

                    III - over-night areas 

You must remember that we are scoring 1 thru 5 according to things which are important to us: the environment, cost, amenities, location, safety, camping population, site, phone service 

* There are people who are not full-timers and van-dwellers by choice. We try hard not to be demeaning or assume that they are bad people but sadly, as you find in the poorer parts of a city, there seems to be more crime. Many call these people van-dwellers. That isn’t really accurate even though they do often live in vans. We know quite a few van-dwellers who have good incomes, are full-timers by choice and prefer a van to other types of vehicles. To try to show some respect for people who have a difficult lot in life, I’m calling them ‘residential campers’.  It is only when you get a high proportion of residential campers in an area that you find an increase in petty theft, etc.  

NORTH RIM CG, Grand Canyon, AZ

NORTH RIM CAMPGROUND

RUN BY: National Park Service

LOCATION:  Grand Canyon North Rim

UTILITIES: None

COST:  $18/night

DISCOUNTS:  Senior (50%) and other interagency passes.

OUR RATING (1-5):  Category I, Rating 3+

NOTES:  This campground is a reservation campground. We had already checked out some good BLM land just north of the park gate but decided to visit the campground not only so we could tell you about it but to see if they had any cancellations. We were lucky and got a site for one night.  We were across the driveway from the canyon rim.  The view of the canyon isn’t as spectacular as from the south rim, but this was very nice.  We were there just before they closed for the winter.  Lots of services, etc., during the regular season.

Environment:  High plateau. The campground is wooded. 

Amenities:  Laundry, gasoline and camp store (all closed by October) 

Dump:   Yes. 

Public Water:  Yes  (but closed by October)

Toilets:  Yes

Showers:   Yes  (but closed by October)

Laundry:   Yes  (but closed by October)

Phone Service:   No

Location:   Take US-89A to Jacob Lake, AZ and turn south onto AZ-67.  The campground will be 15-20 miles south of this turn. It is well marked. The coordinates for the turn into the campground are 36.213499 -112.058150

Proximity to shopping: There is a camp store and the lodge is about 3 miles away, the nearest shopping is Jacob Lake, and that is extremely limited.

Camping Population:  very diverse. 

Sites:  Typical of national parks, the sites are a bit tight for trailers. National Park campgrounds were originally designed for tents. They were nice sites. We were across the campground road from the actual canyon rim.

=====================================================================

RATING KEY:    category - score 

Categories:  I - established campgrounds where one might spend a vacation or several days

                    II -  boondocking, dry camping where there are no designated sites and no amenities but

                               one might choose to stay for more than a night.

                    III - over-night areas 

You must remember that we are scoring 1 thru 5 according to things which are important to us: the environment, cost, amenities, location, safety, camping population, site, phone service  

ARLIE MOORE, Bismarck, AR

ARLIE MOORE

RUN BY:  US Army Corp of Engineers

LOCATION:  Bismarck, AR    (34.271427  -93.203285)

UTILITIES:  Electricity

COST:  $14

DISCOUNTS:  50% for Sr and Interagency passes

OUR RATING (1-5):  Category I.

NOTES:  We were here in early December. Two of the three camping areas were closed.  The area we were in was right on De Gray Lake.  It is really quite pretty and there must be stripers in the lake because we encountered a government research unit studying the stripers.  There were a couple of RVs that appeared to be here for a long time, but there is a 14 day camping limit.  The couple next to us live about fifty miles away and spend time on the lake routinely throughout the year.  We stopped here to wait out a cold front. It got down into the high teens at night, so I’m sure that limited the campers.  There is at least one trail nearby although we did not hike it.

Environment:   Heavy growth of Oak and Loblolly pines on a lake. Elevation is about 430 ft.

Amenities:  None

Dump: Yes

Public Water:  Yes

Toilets:  Yes

Showers:   No

Laundry:   No

Phone Service:  Verizon very poor

Nearest Propane:  Southern LP Gas is at the intersection of Arlie Moore Rd and AR-7 just a couple of miles away from the campground. They were a bit pricy but quite convenient. 

Location:  We avoid interstates so we approached from the northwest and came down a small country road to intersect Arlie Moore Road (which is County Rd  254). The easiest way is to take AR-7 to Arlie Moore road (34.284138  -93.163258), turn west and follow the road to the campground.   Our site coordinates are  34.271427  -93.203285.

Proximity to shopping:

Camping Population:  Normal season population is unknown. COE campgrounds are usually quite diverse with a high percentage of locals because they’re not particularly easy to find and many people do not know about COE campgrounds.

Sites:   Some are not very level, but they are all paved and quite roomy.

=====================================================================

RATING KEY:    category - score 

Categories:  I - established campgrounds where one might spend a vacation or several days

                    II -  boondocking, dry camping where there are no designated sites and no amenities but

                               one might choose to stay for more than a night.

                    III - over-night areas 

You must remember that we are scoring 1 thru 5 according to things which are important to us: the environment, cost, amenities, location, safety, camping population, site, phone service 

* There are people who are not full-timers and van-dwellers by choice. We try hard not to be demeaning or assume that they are bad people but sadly, as you find in the poorer parts of a city, there seems to be more crime. Many call these people van-dwellers. That isn’t really accurate even though they do often live in vans. We know quite a few van-dwellers who have good incomes, are full-timers by choice and prefer a van to other types of vehicles. To try to show some respect for people who have a difficult lot in life, I’m calling them ‘residential campers’.  It is only when you get a high proportion of residential campers in an area that you find an increase in petty theft, etc.