Pictures courtesy of the Coconino National Forest -San Francisco Peaks.
Campground Overview:
**ATTENTION** Camping area has been reported as being closed. Please research before heading out.
Freidlein Prairie Dispersed Camping area is nestled at the foot of the San Francisco Peaks in mixed conifer forest, this area is home to an abundance of wildlife. In the evening you may spot mule deer and elk grazing nearby. In the morning you may awake to the eerie cackling of coyotes. This is known habitat for the federally threatened Mexican Spotted Owl. In fact, some of the campsites are closed for part of the year to avoid disturbing a nesting pair.
The camping area is in close proximity to numerous recreational activities, including a variety of popular trails. Continue up Snowbowl Road to get to Humphreys Trail and Kachina Trail at Arizona Snowbowl. If you drive to the far end of Freidlein Prairie Road, you will get to a trailhead that connects with the lower ends of the Kachina and Weatherford Trails.
Campsites:
Camping is allowed throughout most of Coconino National Forest for no charge, but often the best spot you can find is a bumpy forest road pull off. Along Freidlein Prairie Road, the Forest Service has generously provided 14 cleared campsites complete with metal fire rings. All designated campsites along Freidlein Prairie (FR 522) are located on the south side of the road, with the exception of campsite #1 and #3. Signs have been placed along the road when entering and leaving the designated camping area.
The designated areas were created because camping became so popular around Flagstaff, they are designed to help prevent unacceptable resource damage, landscape erosion, disturbance to wildlife, and to help reduce fire risk. Please be prepared to pack in, pack out all gear and trash. No water is available. See the Dispersed Camping Guidelines for information and tips for dispersed camping.
From Flagstaff drive north on US 180 for about 7 miles to FR 516 (Snowbowl Road). Drive approximately 2.25 miles on this paved road to a dirt road, FR 522, and turn right. The Dispersed Camping area begins about a quarter mile from Snowbowl Road.
Campground at a Glance
Level: |
Dispersed |
Season: |
Year-Round |
Nearby City: |
Flagstaff |
Fishing: |
None |
Campground Website: |
Freidlein Prairie Dispersed Camping |
Campground Map: |
Click Here |
Reservations: |
First-come, first-served basis |
Location: |
Nearby Attractions and Activities:
The Coconino National Forest around Freidlein Prairie 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.
The San Francisco Peaks have considerable religious significance to thirteen local American Indian tribes (including the Havasupai, Navajo, Hopi, and Zuni.) In particular, the peaks form the Navajo sacred mountain of the west, called Dook’o’oosłííd. The peaks are associated with the color yellow, and they are said to contain abalone inside, to be secured to the ground with a sunbeam, and to be covered with yellow clouds and evening twilight.
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
