★ Field-verified · Dave's ownPublic land · dispersedFree
Yavapai County
Drive-up · public land · Yavapai County, AZ · 34.84558, -111.91366
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.
Roughly five miles from downtown Sedona to the west, there is this free dispersed camping area. This is a popular, easy-access camping area for people who are visiting Sedona and looking for a free place to sleep, so finding a private location can be challenging during peak times. Primitive. Along side of a dusty dirt road. It is peaceful here, despite the other campers and RVs. Alot of desert roads to explore, and many roadside camping options. Recommended due largely to convenience. Excellent cell service.
A night on record
Dave slept here, but his diary does not date the night: this entry carries only a timestamp it shares with 50 other entries in eight states, all written within the same three seconds — a file being saved, not a night. So it says nothing about season.
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 4,172 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 · 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
- LLaundry3 mi
- FFuel6 mi
- GGrocery6 mi
- OOutfitter6 mi
- RxPharmacy7 mi
- HHardware7 mi
- MMechanic7 mi
- +Urgent care7 mi
- WWater8 mi
- ShShower8 mi
- EVEV fast charger8 mi
- DDump9 mi
- @Mail9 mi
- AAir-up15 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 6 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 — Yavapai County
Access
Drive-up
Land
public land · dispersed
Elevation
4,172 ft
Ground slope
4.3% · gentle
Nearest rail line
~8.1 mi · main line
County
Yavapai County, AZ
Coordinates
34.84558, -111.91366
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Yavapai County · Coconino National Forest · AZ (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureJuniper Tank · ~0.4 mi · USGS: intermittent lake or pond
- Nearest townRed Rock · ~5.7 mi
- Nearest rail line~8.1 mi · main line
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~7.5 mi
- FuelSpeedway · ~5.9 mi
- Propane / LPGGiant · ~27.7 mi
- Dump station~8.6 mi
- GroceriesSpeedway · ~5.9 mi
- PharmacyPharmacy · ~9.6 mi
- Hospital / clinicVerde Valley Medical Center - Sedona Campus · ~5.2 mi
- HardwareAZ Royal Granite & Remodeling · ~27.5 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
Recommended
EV charging — from Yavapai County · Coconino National Forest · AZ — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger7.5 mi straight-line E — APS - Sedona (Sedona, 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 reach5 within 25 mi · 21 within 50 · 81 within 100 · 149 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)9.8 mi — Sedona, AZ, Sedona
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO29.7 mi — Walmart 4252 (Flagstaff, AZ), Flagstaff
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)5.8 mi — SEDONA - APS CITY HALL 2 · ChargePoint Network · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Also listed, not counted aboveLevel 2, restricted access — Southwest Inn at Sedona, Sedona, 5.6 mi · J1772 · hours: 24 hours daily; for guests 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 238497 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Yavapai County · Coconino National Forest · AZ — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletDeer Pass · ~2.3 mi S · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletDoe Mountain · ~4.3 mi NE · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletPalatki · ~4.9 mi N · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletFay Canyon · ~5.0 mi NE · USFS
Coming out here — Yavapai County · Coconino National Forest · AZ
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Juniper Tank as an intermittent lake or pond, ~0.4 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 4.3% — 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 ~8.1 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.
- Yavapai County~1.0 mi
- Surprise Dispersed Camping Area~1.6 mi
- Cockscomb Dispersed Camping Area~1.7 mi
- Greasy Spoon Dispersed Camping Area~2.2 mi
The unit that manages Yavapai County
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Yavapai County are set by Coconino 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. His diary does not date the night. 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
Before you go — Yavapai County
Finding water out here →Reading a forest MVUM →Hot-weather camping →Gear & rig loadout →All field notes →