★ Field-verified · Dave's ownPublic land · dispersedFree
Yavapai County
Drive-up · public land · Yavapai County, AZ · 34.49859, -112.54031
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 public land — free to camp. Conditions still change, so confirm access, stay limits and fire rules before you go.
A designated free dispersed camping area only a few miles from downtown Prescott, Arizona. Wooded area at the side of a well-traveled forest road. Good cell service and enough room for a few vehicles. Primitive fire rings but no other amenities. You will likely encounter other boondockers as this is the closest spot to town. A little bit of trash. Somewhat recommended due to convenience.
A night on record
Dave slept here on 21 November 2018. No agency publishes a season for this site, so that night is the only season evidence we have — what the site was then, not a forecast for this year.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Yavapai County
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 6,607 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Yavapai CountyNIFC · 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 Yavapai County · Prescott 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
- MMechanic4 mi
- GGrocery4 mi
- OOutfitter5 mi
- FFuel5 mi
- RxPharmacy5 mi
- +Urgent care5 mi
- @Mail5 mi
- HHardware5 mi
- LLaundry5 mi
- EVEV fast charger6 mi
- DDump34 mi
- ShShower34 mi
- AAir-up42 mi
- PPropane60 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is basically at camp, fuel & food sit about 4 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 — Yavapai County
Access
Drive-up
Land
public land · dispersed
Elevation
6,607 ft
Ground slope
7.4% · gentle
Nearest rail line
~8.2 mi · main line
County
Yavapai County, AZ
Coordinates
34.49859, -112.54031
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Yavapai County · Prescott National Forest · AZ (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureAspen Creek · under 0.1 mi · USGS: intermittent stream
- Nearest townWilhoit · ~7.6 mi
- Nearest rail line~8.2 mi · main line
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waterWater · ~3.7 mi
- FuelShell · ~4.9 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- GroceriesGrocery · ~4.2 mi
- PharmacyCVS Pharmacy · ~4.9 mi
- Hospital / clinicPolara Health Integrated Care Clinic · ~4.9 mi
- HardwarePrescott True Value Hardware · ~5.2 mi
From the field — what Dave saw, in person
Cell service
Had a signal
Getting there
Any vehicle managed it
Fire ring
Yes
Toilet on site
No
Tent friendly
Yes
Verdict
Recommended
EV charging — from Yavapai County · Prescott National Forest · AZ — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger5.8 mi straight-line NE — APS - Prescott (Prescott, AZ) · Electrify America · CCS · 4 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach6 within 25 mi · 18 within 50 · 119 within 100 · 167 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)8.3 mi — Prescott, AZ - Tesla Supercharger, Prescott
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO48.7 mi — Walmart 5329 (Anthem, AZ), Anthem
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)5.1 mi — Hilton Garden Inn - Prescott · 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 253937 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Yavapai County · Prescott National Forest · AZ — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletWhite Spar Campground · ~3.7 mi E · USFS
- Flush restroomThumb Butte Picnic Ground · ~3.9 mi N · USFS
- Flush restroomThumb Butte Group Reservation Picnic Ground · ~3.9 mi N · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletLower Wolf Creek Campground · ~5.5 mi SE · USFS
Coming out here — Yavapai County · Prescott National Forest · AZ
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Aspen Creek as an intermittent stream, under 0.1 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 7.4% — 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 ~8.2 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. 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.
- No interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin in the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). That file holds the divided, limited-access highways only — a state expressway or a two-lane US route near this camp would not be in 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 Yavapai County elsewhere
Other camps near Yavapai County
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- C64 Copper Basin Designated Disp.~1.4 mi
- Fdr 51 Potts Creek Rd Designated Disp.~2.0 mi
- Indian Creek Campground~2.7 mi
- Fdr373-Thumb Butte Loop Designated Disp.~3.1 mi
The unit that manages Yavapai County
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Yavapai County are set by Prescott National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Yavapai County
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 (Yavapai 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.
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 21 November 2018. Conditions still change — confirm before you commit.
What we don’t know about Yavapai County
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.
- How many rigs actually fit
- Seasonal & winter access
- 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