Mt Graham {Arizona}...

[Desert_Captain]

With another week of triple digit temps under way my bride and I elected to get the hell out of the Old Pueblo and up into the mountains. One of the closest to our home north of Tucson is also one of the highest, Mt Graham. At 10,717' is a classic "Sky Island". It sits southwest of Safford about 3 hours from home.

There is only one road on the mountain and about half a dozen campgrounds. Coming north towards Safford on 191 from I-10 you turn left onto highway 366 and start climbing... The road ends at Riggs Lake {campground} after 29 miles of the twistiest 2 lane mountain road you have ever seen. Vehicles 40' or larger are specially prohibited and after the second warning sign early on there is a truck turnaround. The speed limit is 25 and for a number of very good reasons.



The pavement ends about 18 miles in at which point you are now well above 9,500'. We elected not to continue after a mile or so of deteriorating dirt road and headed back down to the Arcadia campground at 7,700'. With just 22 sites, vault toilets but no fresh water it is tucked into the east face of the mountain and is definitely more for the tent camping crowd.

We found a great site that was fine for our 24' Class C but only a couple of the sites were large enough.



Any rig larger than ours would be hard pressed to squeeze into any of the other sites. Most of our time there it was just us and the camp hosts who do a marvelous job. We just spent 3 days and two nights at $10 a night with our Geezer cards. There are no stores or services available on the mountain so If you go make sure to bring everything you will need as while the drive up is spectacular beyond words it is a treacherous road that will demand 110 percent of your focus. It would be about 50 miles round trip to drive down into Safford and back up to camp.

Temps were in the mid 80's with a nice breeze and we even got a little bit of rain last night. If nearby and you want to get away from the heat of the flatlands Mt Graham offers some options. In cooler weather a stay at Roper Lake SP {at the foot of the mountain just off of 191} would be the perfect launching point for a day trip up the mountain, just leave the rig and take your toad or TV. Breathtaking just does not do this ride justice.

:C

[MNRon]

Spent Memorial Day weekend at the top of Mt Graham camping in the back of a Subaru in the late 1980’s. It was a harrowing drive, but we seemed to have the mountain to our own...and had snow too 🙂

[ItsyRV]

Shhhhhhhhhhhhh. You're giving away all the resident secrets! That's what happened to Pioneer Pass; we use to use that as a hidden cool getaway from the heat until people discovered it. Now you go there and packed minivan day users are parked in the campsites. 😞

But, yeah those MT Graham campgrounds are an escape from the heat and fortunately, due to the switchbacks and tight maneuvering, it keeps many RVers from going up to the upper campgrounds. I went to Riggs Flat in July and the place was empty. If you can, push up higher to one of the other campgrounds (the roads are normally well maintained up to the telescope) and maintained up to the lake. It may appear scary but it's worth the trip. Again, no huge RV's to worry about except those stuck in a ditch or against the trees because they ignored the size rule. 🙂

[azwildcat]

Brings back memories. Spent the summer of 59 on the mountain working for the USFS while a student at the U of A. Thanks for posting.

[pnichols]

Thanks DC ... a nice mini-trip report. That's my kind of camping!