★ Field-verified · Dave's ownUSFS · dispersedFreeRoad season: open (MVUM)
Coconino National Forest
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · Coconino County, AZ · 35.16292, -111.69429
Ask an AI about this campsiteOpens Grok already loaded with this site. It reads the same records this page is built from, and links whatever it tells you.
Ask about this camp →Dave's been here. A spot from Dave's own travels on U.S. Forest Service land — free to camp. Conditions still change, so confirm access, stay limits and fire rules before you go.
Free dispersed camping area in Coconino National Forest a few short miles from downtown Flagstaff. The campsite itself is not too exciting but it is clean, and in a nice wilderness area with ample space for multiple vehicles. However, proximity to town is superb. An excellent place for overlanders or van-lifers visiting Flagstaff for a week or two. It's safe, and off of a well-traveled dirt road, so privacy isn't fantastic. A lot of elk. Cool temperatures due to higher elevation of region. Extremely recommended. Excellent cell service.
A night on record
Dave slept here on 17 May 2018. An earlier night here is in his diary without a usable date. No agency publishes a season for this site itself (the road season below is the road's), so that night is the only season evidence we have — what the site was then, not a forecast for this year.
Nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM — Coconino National Forest · Coconino National Forest · AZ
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 00532 (Tuthill Road), 110 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as crushed aggregate or gravel surface and maintenance level 3 – suitable for passenger cars.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 00532 (Tuthill Road), 110 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles year-round.
MVUM record for FR 00532 (Tuthill Road): “01/01-12/31” Read against the calendar on 2026-09-22; with JavaScript your browser re-checks it against today.
From the Forest Service's own Motor Vehicle Use Map roads layer (EDW, Clearinghouse refresh Aug 30, 2026), straight-line from the pin to the nearest mapped segment. The nearest segment is not necessarily the way in, a maintenance level is the agency's class and not a report on today, and a road's season is the road's — it is not a campground order. What the levels mean → What an MVUM is →
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Coconino National Forest
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 7,061 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Coconino National ForestNIFC · AirNow
Checking active fires & air quality…
Active wildfires from NIFC (within ~50 mi); air quality from AirNow. Always confirm current fire restrictions with the managing office before you go.
Everything you need — measured from Coconino National Forest · Coconino National Forest · AZ
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- GGrocery2 mi
- FFuel2 mi
- DDump2 mi
- MMechanic2 mi
- LLaundry2 mi
- @Mail2 mi
- EVEV fast charger2 mi
- RxPharmacy2 mi
- AAir-up2 mi
- +Urgent care2 mi
- HHardware2 mi
- WWater3 mi
- OOutfitter3 mi
- ShShower16 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is basically at camp, fuel & food sit about 2 mi out.
Not within 60 mi: Propane. Plan those before you head up.
One dot per need — the nearest of each kind, straight-line from camp. Places from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors); the EV fast charger from the US DOE station locator. Open in Google Maps ↗
The site — Coconino National Forest
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service · dispersed
Elevation
7,061 ft
Ground slope
5.3% · gentle
Nearest rail line
~2.1 mi · main line
Nearest highway
~1.0 mi · Interstate 17
County
Coconino County, AZ
Coordinates
35.16292, -111.69429
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Coconino National Forest · Coconino National Forest · AZ (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureSinclair Wash · ~0.2 mi · USGS: intermittent stream
- Nearest townFlagstaff · ~3.4 mi
- Nearest rail line~2.1 mi · main line
- Nearest highway~1.0 mi · Interstate 17
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~3.0 mi
- FuelChevron · ~1.8 mi
- Propane / LPGGiant · ~2.6 mi
- Dump station~1.8 mi
- GroceriesCircle K · ~1.7 mi
- PharmacyWalmart Pharmacy · ~1.9 mi
- Hospital / clinicPlanned Parenthood · ~1.9 mi
- HardwareAZ Royal Granite & Remodeling · ~2.4 mi
From the field — what Dave saw, in person
Cell service
Had a signal
Getting there
Any vehicle managed it
Fire ring
No
Toilet on site
No
Tent friendly
Yes
Verdict
Highly recommended
EV charging — from Coconino National Forest · Coconino National Forest · AZ — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger1.8 mi straight-line NE — Flagstaff, AZ (at a public site) · RIVIAN_ADVENTURE · CCS · 6 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach7 within 25 mi · 14 within 50 · 33 within 100 · 138 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)1.9 mi — Flagstaff, AZ - Tesla Supercharger, Flagstaff
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO5.1 mi — Walmart 4252 (Flagstaff, AZ), Flagstaff
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)1.5 mi — LIV COMMUNITIES SKY COTTAGES #2, Flagstaff, AZ · ChargePoint Network · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Pricing at the fast chargernot listed
- Power (kW)not listed by AFDC — “DC fast” spans roughly 24 to 350 kW, so ask the network.
- Read this honestlyStraight-line miles, like every distance on this site. Roads run longer than this, and you have to get back. We know where a charger is listed. We don’t know if it works today, how fast it is, or the road miles. Check the network before you commit.
Snapshot 2026-09-16 · AFDC record 391285 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Coconino National Forest · Coconino National Forest · AZ — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletGriffith Spring · ~3.4 mi S · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletCanyon Vista · ~6.0 mi SE · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletPeak View · ~7.0 mi N · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletLower Lake Mary · ~7.2 mi SE · USFS
Coming out here — Coconino National Forest · Coconino National Forest · AZ
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Sinclair Wash as an intermittent stream, ~0.2 mi from the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022). Mapped as intermittent — expect it dry for part of the year. Nobody has checked it for you. Filter or boil anything you drink.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 5.3% — gentle. Measured on USGS's 3DEP elevation model (1 m data here), sampled every 10 metres around the point. That is the hillside, not the ground under your wheels — a graded pullout or a bench a few metres across is too small to show up at that spacing, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- Rail line mapped ~2.1 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. The atlas also records Amtrak service on it. That is the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026), which records that a line is there and what class of track it is. Whether anything runs on it, how often, and at what hour, it does not say, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- Interstate 17 is mapped ~1.0 mi from the pin. Straight-line, from the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025) — the divided, limited-access highways, which is why a state expressway or a two-lane US route near this camp would not appear here.
- Assume no services at all. Most dispersed camping in a national forest has none: no tap, no power, no dump, often no toilet. Everything you need, you bring.
- Power: Dave carries his own — batteries or solar. A generator will run your rig and it is also the thing everybody camped near you can hear.
- Getting online: Dave recommends Starlink. He has had it since SpaceX introduced it, used it for four years living on the road, and it delivers as promised — several hundred nights out, and he can count on one hand the places he could not connect. The cable on his unit runs 150 feet, which is usually all it takes to find enough sky. Starlink → Referral link — Starlink pays Dave $100 in cash if you sign up through it, and that money funds this site and the next trip. It costs you nothing and does not change the recommendation.
Open Coconino National Forest elsewhere
Other camps near Coconino National Forest
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Coconino National Forest~0.3 mi
- Coconino National Forest~0.4 mi
- Canyon Vista Campground~6.0 mi
- Pumphouse Wash (FR 237) Dispersed Camping Area~7.6 mi
The unit that manages Coconino National Forest
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Coconino National Forest are set by Coconino National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Coconino National Forest
Source
Dave's own travels
Confidence
Researched — The record is detailed and internally consistent, and the coordinates land where the managing agency says this site is.
How it was placed
FIELD VERIFIED by Dave Lalande -- he has stood on this site. Coordinates are his own GPX track point, not a geocode. County and state confirmed against the FCC Census Block API (Coconino County, AZ). Everything under 'From the field' is a direct observation; nothing here is inferred from a land record.
A night on record
Dave's own GPS diary, 2017–2020: the date of the waypoint he saved here. The timestamp is UTC, so an entry saved in the evening carries the next morning's date. An observation of one night, never a forecast.
Nearest MVUM road
US Forest Service Motor Vehicle Use Map roads layer (EDW_MVUM_01, layer 1), Clearinghouse refresh Aug 30, 2026. Straight-line distance from the pin to the nearest mapped segment within 1 mi; surface type, maintenance level and open dates are the agency's own values for that segment, expanded from its codes and otherwise unedited. Nothing here says which road reaches the site.
EV chargers
US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center station locator, snapshot 2026-09-16. Straight-line miles to the nearest public, open, unrestricted station; restricted and planned units are shown but never counted.
Field check
Verified on the ground. Dave has stood on this one. He camped here on 17 May 2018. Conditions still change — confirm before you commit.
What we don’t know about Coconino National Forest
A land record can put you within a few meters of a spot. It cannot tell you any of this — so check it yourself, and treat anything below as the open question it is.
- Whether that MVUM road is the way in, and the last stretch beyond it
- Whether the site itself closes on its own schedule — only the road's season is on record
- How many rigs actually fit
- Current fire restrictions
- Whether any water here is drinkable
- Shade & wind exposure
- Noise and who else shows up
- Whether a listed EV charger works today, or the road miles to it
Before you go — Coconino National Forest
Finding water out here →What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →Picking a spot →All field notes →