Pictures courtesy of the Coconino National Forest -Wing Mountain Dispersed Camping.
Campground Overview:
Wing Mountain Dispersed Camping area southwest of the San Francisco Peaks on the Coconino National Forest offers fantastic dispersed camping along Forest Roads (FRs) 222 and 171, suitable for tents, campers, and recreational vehicles.
Wing Mountain is a prominent cinder cone volcano located approximately six miles southwest of the San Francisco Peaks, rising to an elevation of 8,560 feet. The mountain is surrounded by ponderosa pine forest on fairly level terrain at approximately 7,600 feet.
FR 222 and FR 171: Easy to navigate, with fairly smooth, wide dirt roads offering areas where you may pull your vehicle and rig up to 300 feet off the road (refered to as “camping corridors” on the Motor Vehicle Use Map).
Western end of FR 222A (between FR 171 and FR 519): Easy to navigate and offers areas suitable for everything from tents to recreational vehicles. Warning: there is a section of FR 222A that requires high clearance and four wheel drive where it crosses a burned section of forest.
Northern end of FR 222A (near FR 222) and western end of FR 9001P (near FR 171): These roads are narrower and rougher, and more suited to tent or small trailer camping.
Campsites:
Wing Mountain Dispersed Camping areas can accomodate recreational vehicles: FRs 222, 171, and the western end of 222A are (generally) easy to navigate and have several established campsites with sufficient space for large vehicles and trailers. There are no designated campsites or facilities. No water or restrooms. Dispersed camping is camping out wild and free in the woods. Bring everything you need. Take everything you bring. No trash service available. Bring trash bags, and pack out all garbage you brought with you.
Campground at a Glance
Level: |
Dispersed |
Season: |
Year-Round |
Nearby City: |
Flagstaff |
Fishing: |
None |
Campground Website: |
Wing Mountain Dispersed Camping |
Campground Map: |
Click Here |
Reservations: |
First-come, first-served basis |
Location: |
Nearby Attractions and Activities:
The Coconino National Forest around Wing Mountain Dispersed Camping 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
