Agency-listedUSFS · dispersedFreeRoad season: open (MVUM)
Mt. Bigelow Dispersed Camping
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · AZ · 32.41462, -110.72806
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 →U.S. Forest Service lists this site. On most of their ground you can camp away from developed sites pretty much anywhere — so treat this as a known-good spot, not the only one allowed. The unit sets stay limits and how far off road and water you must be. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.
Nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM — Mt. Bigelow Dispersed Camping · Coronado National Forest · AZ
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 15 (F A A), 60 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as native material surface and maintenance level 2 – high-clearance vehicles.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 15 (F A A), 60 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles Apr 1 – Nov 1. That season ends after Nov 1.
MVUM record for FR 15 (F A A): “04/01-11/01” 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 Mt. Bigelow Dispersed Camping
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 8,337 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Mt. Bigelow Dispersed CampingNIFC · 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 Mt. Bigelow Dispersed Camping · Coronado National Forest · AZ
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- WWater1 mi
- GGrocery3 mi
- @Mail3 mi
- ShShower9 mi
- FFuel10 mi
- RxPharmacy10 mi
- MMechanic10 mi
- HHardware12 mi
- EVEV fast charger12 mi
- LLaundry12 mi
- +Urgent care12 mi
- DDump14 mi
- AAir-up14 mi
- PPropane15 mi
- OOutfitter17 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is basically at camp, fuel & food sit about 3 mi out.
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 — Mt. Bigelow Dispersed Camping
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service · dispersed
Elevation
8,337 ft
Ground slope
47.3% · steep
State
AZ
Coordinates
32.41462, -110.72806
Cost
Free · dispersed public land, no fee in any source
Nearby & resupply — around Mt. Bigelow Dispersed Camping · Coronado National Forest · AZ (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featurePalisade Canyon (stream) · mapped within 1.6 mi
- USGS NHDno named surface water within 1 mi
- Nearest townSoldier Camp · ~1.1 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~0.9 mi
- Fuel7-Eleven · ~10.0 mi
- Propane / LPGPropane · ~12.2 mi
- Dump station~13.5 mi
- Groceries7-Eleven · ~10.0 mi
- PharmacyCVS Pharmacy · ~10.0 mi
- Hospital / clinicSierra Tucson · ~11.7 mi
- HardwareAce Hardware · ~13.7 mi
EV charging — from Mt. Bigelow Dispersed Camping · Coronado National Forest · AZ — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger12.2 mi straight-line NW — GPM INVESTMENTS 4613 DC2, Tucson, AZ · ChargePoint Network · CHAdeMO, CCS · 1 fast port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: Mon: 12:00am-11:59pm; Tue: 12:00am-11:59pm; Wed: 12:00am-11:59pm; Thu: 12:00am-11:59pm; Fri: 12:00am-11:59pm; Sat: 12:00am-11:59pm; Sun: 12:00am-11:59pm · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach31 within 25 mi · 35 within 50 · 94 within 100 · 157 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)13.3 mi — Tucson, AZ - E Skyline Dr - Tesla Supercharger, Tucson
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)9.3 mi — Loews Ventana Canyon, Tucson, AZ · Blink 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 387111 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Mt. Bigelow Dispersed Camping · Coronado National Forest · AZ — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletWhitetail Group · ~0.3 mi SW · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletShowers Point · ~0.6 mi SE · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletSpencer Canyon · ~0.7 mi W · USFS
- Flush restroomPalisades Ranger Cabin · ~0.8 mi SE · USFS
Coming out here — Mt. Bigelow Dispersed Camping · Coronado National Forest · AZ
- Surface water mapped nearby: Palisade Canyon (stream). That is wash water at best, and nobody has checked it for you — a creek can be dry and a tank can be mud. Filter or boil anything you drink. USGS maps no named surface water within 1 mi of the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022).
- Ground slope around the pin: about 47.3% — steep. 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.
- No rail line and no interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin. Checked against the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026) and the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). Both are national files and both are maps of what is built, not counts of what moves on it.
- 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 Mt. Bigelow Dispersed Camping elsewhere
Other camps near Mt. Bigelow Dispersed Camping
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Whitetail Group~0.3 mi · fee
- Showers Point Group Campground~0.6 mi · fee
- Bigelow/Bear Wallow~0.7 mi
- Spencer Canyon Campground~0.7 mi
The unit that manages Mt. Bigelow Dispersed Camping
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Mt. Bigelow Dispersed Camping are set by Coronado National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Mt. Bigelow Dispersed Camping
Source
OpenStreetMap contributors
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
auto: drive (road/trail right there)
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
On the agency's books. The land manager inventoried this site, so its existence is not in question — current conditions are. Nobody from here has camped it recently.
What we don’t know about Mt. Bigelow Dispersed Camping
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
- Cell coverage by carrier
- 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 — Mt. Bigelow Dispersed Camping
When the high country opens →Finding water out here →What “dispersed” means here →First-night troubleshooting →All field notes →