Camping near Clifton, Arizona

Camping near Clifton at a glance

Public campgrounds

9 (8 National Forest, 1 BLM)

Getting a site

9 first-come

Cost

4 free; lowest posted fee at Owl Creek Campground: "$5/night (two vehicles); $2 per additional vehicle; 50% off with Senior or Access pass"

Distance from Clifton

4.6 miles (Owl Creek Campground) to 36 miles (Strayhorse Campground) in a straight line; 5 within 15 miles

Elevation

3,443 ft (Owl Creek Campground) to 7,780 ft (Strayhorse Campground), 9 of 9 on record

Season

2 open all year

Campsites

46 across the 6 campgrounds that state a count

RVs

3 take RVs; no hookups on record; longest stated RV length 16 ft (Granville Campground)

Distances are straight-line miles from Clifton's point in the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2025), not driving distances. Every other fact comes from each campground's own sourced record, linked from its page.

More campgrounds within 30 miles of Clifton

• Riverview Campground, 15 miles from Clifton in a straight line , BLM , first-come ($5/night (two vehicles); $2 per additional vehicle; 50% off with Senior or Access pass); listed under camping near Safford.

Things to do near Clifton

Public land and water within 30 miles of Clifton, the public land its campgrounds sit in, and landmarks at those campgrounds, nearest first.

• Gila Box Riparian National Conservation Area, Owl Creek Campground (4.6 miles from Clifton) sits inside this BLM unit; publiclandsdb.com has its camping rule, field office, and boundary.
• Old Safford Bridge and the Gila River, at Owl Creek Campground (4.6 miles from Clifton): A trail from the kiosk leads down to the Old Safford Bridge Picnic Area and the Gila River Boat Put-In, a quarter mile away, at the east end of the Black Hills Back Country Byway.
• Gillard Hot Springs, a hot spring whose mapped point is 5.5 miles from Clifton; soaking details on swimholesmap.com.
• Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests, 8 of the 9 campgrounds here sit inside this national forest, the nearest Black Jack Campground at 12 miles from Clifton; publiclandsdb.com has its dispersed-camping rule, ranger offices, and boundary.
• Eagle Creek, at Honeymoon Campground (33 miles from Clifton): The campground sits next to Eagle Creek, used for picnicking, stream fishing and wildlife viewing, shaded by sycamore and cottonwood trees.
• Highline Trail 47 and Raspberry Trail 35, at Strayhorse Campground (36 miles from Clifton): Strayhorse is the trailhead for two pack trails. Highline Trail 47 runs west along the base of the Mogollon Rim; Raspberry Trail 35 follows Raspberry Creek to the Blue River in the Blue Range Primitive Area.

Supplies and emergencies near Clifton

Nearest emergency room: Mt. Graham Regional Medical Center, 1600 S 20th Ave, Safford, AZ, 30 miles from Clifton , (928) 348-4000. Next nearest: Gila Regional Medical Center, 1313 E 32nd St, Silver City, NM, 62 miles, (575) 538-4100. Both report emergency services in the CMS Hospital General Information dataset (accessed 2026-09-26) . In an emergency, call 911.

Groceries

• Bashas' supermarket · 2.9 miles
• The Stage Stop convenience store · 24 miles

Fuel

• Circle K fuel station · 2.2 miles
• Marathon fuel station · 2.7 miles

Not mapped in OpenStreetMap within 25 miles of Clifton: propane, RV dump station, potable water fill, pharmacy, laundromat, and ice. Stores, fuel, propane, dump stations, water fill, laundromats, and pharmacies are the nearest few mapped within 25 miles, straight-line, © OpenStreetMap contributors (data as of 2026-09-29; this extract under the ODbL). Hours are as mapped; call ahead.

Common questions