Agency-listedUSFSFreeRoad season: open (MVUM)
Rucker Forest Camp
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · AZ · 31.78465, -109.30361
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 — Rucker Forest Camp · Coronado National Forest · AZ
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 74 E (Rucker Canyon), 50 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 74 E (Rucker Canyon), 50 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles year-round.
MVUM record for FR 74 E (Rucker Canyon): “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 Rucker Forest Camp
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 6,125 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Rucker Forest CampNIFC · 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 Rucker Forest Camp · 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
- WWater4 mi
- FFuel9 mi
- LLaundry9 mi
- @Mail13 mi
- GGrocery13 mi
- DDump16 mi
- HHardware31 mi
- +Urgent care31 mi
- MMechanic33 mi
- AAir-up34 mi
- RxPharmacy34 mi
- EVEV fast charger46 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is basically at camp, fuel & food sit about 9 mi out, the nearest EV fast charger is a 46-mi run (and back).
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 — Rucker Forest Camp
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
6,125 ft
Ground slope
8.9% · noticeable
State
AZ
Coordinates
31.78465, -109.30361
Cost
Free · dispersed public land, no fee in any source
Nearby & resupply — around Rucker Forest Camp · Coronado National Forest · AZ (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureRucker Lake · ~0.3 mi · USGS: intermittent lake or pond
- Nearest townParadise · ~11.5 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~4.5 mi
- FuelFuel · ~8.9 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~15.9 mi
- GroceriesMustang mall · ~24.0 mi
EV charging — from Rucker Forest Camp · Coronado National Forest · AZ — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger45.7 mi straight-line NW — Willcox, AZ Rechargery Relay - W Rex Allen Dr · IONNA · CCS, NACS (Tesla) · 10 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reachnone within 25 mi · 2 within 50 · 35 within 100 · 59 within 150
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO57.0 mi — COCHISE COUNTY SIERRA VISTA L3, Sierra Vista
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)36.3 mi — Tirrito Farm, Willcox, AZ · AMPUP · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2023-12-13 · hours: Contact site for information
- Also listed, not counted aboveNACS-only Level 2 — The Chiricahua Desert Museum - Tesla Destination, Rodeo, 16.9 mi · NACS (Tesla) · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to Teslas only. · AFDC lists it “Free”
- 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 390392 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Rucker Forest Camp · Coronado National Forest · AZ — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletHerb Martyr · ~7.3 mi NE · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletRustler Park · ~8.5 mi N · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletStewart · ~10.8 mi NE · USFS
- Flush restroomCave Creek Visitor Center · ~11.4 mi NE · USFS
Coming out here — Rucker Forest Camp · Coronado National Forest · AZ
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Rucker Lake as an intermittent lake or pond, ~0.3 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 8.9% — noticeable. 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.
- 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 Rucker Forest Camp elsewhere
Other camps near Rucker Forest Camp
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Cypress Park Campground~0.9 mi
- Camp Rucker Group Site~3.9 mi · fee
- Walnut Grove Campground~4.3 mi · fee
- Morse Canyon Campground~5.0 mi
The unit that manages Rucker Forest Camp
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Rucker Forest Camp are set by Coronado National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Rucker Forest Camp
Source
OpenStreetMap contributors
Confidence
Likely — The record is good enough to put a pin on, but thin in places. Treat the details as a starting point, not gospel.
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 Rucker Forest Camp
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 — Rucker Forest Camp
Finding water out here →What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →Getting unstuck →All field notes →