Tonto Creek Bed Camping

We arrived after dark and it was hard to see where to go, but the owner is in the process of putting up signs and solar lights. Very private and pretty. We were just a little family of three with one tent; a larger party would have to be more adventurous going off road to find a larger clearing. Couldn't beat it for the price though! Close to a cute, friendly country store and not far from Payson.

Found this site "Hipcamp" & thought we would give it a try since the site was extremely user friendly. The camp we chose had great pics & we received lots of friendly auto response texts from the host. When we arrived we had a very difficult time finding the location. We tried calling the host several times & had no service even though you have to drive through a neighborhood to get to the "campsite". When we finally arrived we were very dissapointed... apparently this time of year (Oct 5th) the water in the creek is very low & does not move...it was green, swampy & smelly. The mosquitoes & ants along with lack of shade & horrible smell left us with no choice but to turn around & drive 30 minutes north to Payson & we found a last minute camp site in upper Tonto creek. We are out $30 .....never again Hipcamp.

Response from Roman, the Host, on October 10th, 2019

I'm terribly sorry about the creek levels, as the creek is fed from rain and snowfall it is hard to predict it's level; I had been up last week and the river was great. Also the lack of cell phone coverage if your not with Verizon can be disappointing and I will make sure to mention that in the posting. Please enjoy the refund I provided and again I apologise about the inconveniences.

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Remove vote :(

We didn't stay. It was right next to a bunch of houses that were a bit on the shady side.I didn't trust leaving my vehicle there to camp where it was decent. I ended up just driving an hour further too the mountains and camping at the national Park for free.

Yards from public land. All roads even in “town” are dirt and gravel. No one in this village (of 530 ) that we asked has ever heard of this person, Roman, or the road he said the site was on. He never showed up, and one old guy said it’s a scam. If we hadn’t had a 4x4 truck we couldn’t have navigated the road to what looked like the site. His photos are aerial, and don’t show the abandoned house nearby. Didn’t feel safe. Very fishy.

Was unable to get to the campsite due to a creek running across the road into the campsite. This may not have been an issue in a car/truck or on an adventure style motorcycle, which we were not riding. The local town folks were very helpful and friendly and showed us where we could set up camp less than half a mile away on BLM land. Gorgeous area of Arizona, and enjoyed the ride to the area.

We went in mid April- the land was beautiful- To to creek was amazing. The listed campsite was a strange fire ring covered in weird weeds- no way could we safely camp there-but we went up some ATV roads up to the left and found an amazing spot by the river. I dont think it was on the listed property- but not sure- wasn't very clear. My Car is 4 wd so we found a workable spot. My car sustained several scratches tho.
The creek was amazing. We had a lot of fun catching toads, crawfish and swimming in the cool water. Az is seasonal for creeks and water- and it is obvious that the area floods during winter rains and monsoon season- so be careful. I also would not camp here during dry season, bit spring was awesome.
Take away: camp site was iffy - but the area was awesome and worth exploring! To to creek is beautiful