Campground Overview:
Tall Ponderosa Pine Trees create a rustic “camping in the woods” experience and provide shade on hot summer days. Firewood and Ice are available for purchase at the campground. The campground is very busy on holiday weekends and during the County Fair. Nearby attractions are Flag Extreme Adventure Course, the New County Bike Park, Archery Range, Military Museum, Model Railroad Club, Fair Grounds, Equestrian Arena and Cross Country Course, and of the course the Pepsi Amphitheater where concerts are held regularly. Just a few miles away down Lake Mary Road you will find, fishing, water skiing and relaxing on the beach of Upper Lake Mary. The campground is open for reservations and drop-in use from May 5th through October 9th.
Campsites:
The Fort Tuthill County Park Campground is managed by Vista Recreation. Camping areas include RV and tent sites with picnic tables, fire rings, nearby portable toilets, and water spigots. With almost 100 sites and four Group Areas, we have room for most everyone. We do have eight RV sites with water and sewer hook-ups. Electricity and shower facilities are not available. Generators are allowed though with typical “Quiet Hours” being observed; Quiet at 10:00 pm and back on at 6:00 am.
Campground at a Glance
Level: |
Developed |
Season: |
May – October |
Nearby City: |
Flagstaff |
Fishing: |
None |
Campground Website: |
Fort Tuthill County Campground |
Campground Map: |
Click Here |
Reservations: |
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Location: |
Nearby Attractions and Activities:
The Coconino National Forest around Fort Tuthill County Campground includes numerous recreational opportunities, so vast, it’s difficult to list them all. Nearby landmarks include the beautiful San Francisco Peaks, Kachina Peaks and Kendrick Mountain Wildernesses, numerous trails, National and State Monuments, as well as the town of Flagstaff, Arizona.
The San Francisco Peaks have been memorizing visitors for thousands of years. In the 1500s, the Spanish Conquistadors explored the area searching for gold and came upon the peaks and named them “Sierra Sinagua” meaning Mountains Without Water. The name didn’t stick, because they left the area quickly in search of the Grand Canyon and other gold. In 1629, Franciscan Friars who were conducting missionary work with Natives of the area named the mountain “San Francisco Peak” in honor of Patron Saint Francis of Assisi. In 1898, U.S. President William McKinley established the San Francisco Mountain Forest Reserve, at the request of Gifford Pinchot, the head of the U.S. Division of Forestry. In 1908, the San Francisco Mountain Forest Reserve became a part of the new Coconino National Forest.
Pictures courtesy of the Coconino National Forest -Kachina Peaks Wilderness.
Today, the mountains are encompassed in the Kachina Peaks Wilderness. This 18,960 acre roadless area encompasses most of the upper reaches of the San Francisco Peaks including Humphreys Peak, Arizona’s highest point at 12,643 feet. The area is named for the Hopi dieties, or Kachinas, whom that culture’s mythology tells us live here for part of every year. In mid-summer these dieties fly from the top of the peaks to the Hopi mesas as clouds bringing the nourishing rains of the seasonal monsoons.
A number of trails offer access to this mountain which is a dormant volcano that last erupted roughly two million years ago. Some of those trails lead to the top of the several peaks which form the rim of the mountain’s inner basin, a huge caldera which was formed during the mountain’s most recent volcanic cataclysm. That once inhospitable crater now supports a thriving stand of white barked aspens and hardy mixed conifers. Other routes offer access to the forests and meadows which carpet the mountain’s lower slopes. Views from any of these trails are well worth the effort of a visit. Popular trails include: Kachina Trail No. 150, Humphreys Trail No. 151, and the Weatherford Trail No. 102.
If the trails and wilderness do not keep you busy, also located a few miles away, Sunset Crater Volcano and Walnut Canyon National Monuments, and Riordan Mansion State Historic Park, provide visitors a glance into the diverse past of the surrounding area. About 14 miles north of Flagstaff, Lava River Cave is mile-long lava tube cave was formed roughly 700,000 years ago by molten rock that erupted from a volcanic vent in nearby Hart Prairie. The cave is open year round and great way to spend an afternoon.
Flagstaff, Arizona became an incorporated town in 1894, but the modern history really dates back to 1876 when settlers passing through honored the nation’s centennial by raising an American flag up a pine tree. Their “flag staff” became a landmark for those who followed, and eventually became the town’s namesake. The western expansion of the railroad in the 1880s attracted merchants and saloonkeepers to set up shop for the railroad workers and lumbermen. Within a couple of years, Flagstaff was a thriving town of railroad, lumber and ranching industries. Early families such as the Riordans (lumber) and Babbitts (ranching) have descendants who still live and work in Flagstaff today. In the ensuing century since; the Normal School would become Northern Arizona University, Lowell Observatory was established, and the surrounding area became a vast National Forest. Today the Flagstaff downtown is a trendy area filled with small shops, local restaurants and bars.
Nearby Campgrounds:
Campground full or want to see what’s around? Try one of these campgrounds located nearby
