Camping Near Cherry | Prescott National Forest

In the Prescott National Forest between Prescott Valley and Camp Verde there are a decent amount of free camping opportunities! There are numerous forest roads that are open to dispersed camping near Cherry, as well as a free forest service campground – Powell Springs Campground.

Powell Springs Campground is a free primitive campground with vault toilets, picnic tables and fire rings among some unexpected, pretty, tall pines. There are 11 designated spots, some of which can accommodate tents and some can accommodate RV’s or trailers. We were in the area in mid April (2020) during the COVID-19 outbreak so with the whole social distancing going on we decided to stick with dispersed camping near Cherry which is what we’re used to anyways. Find out more about the details and conditions for dispersed camping near Cherry.

free forest service campground near cherry

Quick Info: Camping Near Cherry

Cost: Free

Ownership: Forest Service; 14 day limit

Directions: From Prescott Valley, turn left onto AZ-69 S/E State Rte 69 for 6.4 miles. Turn left onto the AZ-169 N for 9.6 miles. Then turn left onto W Cherry Creek Rd/Forest 372 Route. Follow the forest road for about 1 mile and turn right onto the dirt Forest Road 96. There are several spots within a mile or so.

Solar: Excellent

Miles From Town: About 15 miles.

Water: None, bring it with you.

Road Conditions: Forest Road 372 is paved up to Powell Springs Campground. But once you turn off of FR 372 onto FR 96 the roads are dirt. There are some ruts but many spots can be accessed with no problems.

Cell Service: Yes

Our Experience Camping Near Cherry

After spending an awesome two weeks boondocking near Mayer, the weather still hadn’t warmed up enough to head up closer to Flagstaff. So we looked for camping in the Prescott National Forest and found some dispersed camping near Cherry. We turned onto the road leading up to Powell Springs Campground and checked out the first few dirt roads. There were several accessible dispersed pull outs and unfortunately some trash and couches dumped. We found a nice private turn out with a vast view, good solar and cell service so we could get some work done.

We explored further down our road and found that there were only three spots (right at the beginning) that were suitable for dispersed camping. There are more dirt roads in the area though where dispersed camping is allowed. The road across the paved road from us had a couple spots as well.

As far as traffic while camping near Cherry, we did notice that several of the spots across the road from us did get frequented regularly. But the majority of the through traffic was on the paved road that led to Cherry and Powell Springs Campground. We also noticed that there was more traffic on weekends as well as more OHV’s and gunshots in the distance.

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Our spot provided us with privacy and the area was pretty peaceful. But as far as our total boondocking experience goes, this spot was much more uneventful than most. We usually try to explore around our spot and almost always find stuff to see and do, no matter how simple. This spot didn’t have much going on in that aspect. One thing worth mentioning though – we went on a run down the road across the street that I mentioned earlier. At the major curve in the road there is a wash so we decided to run down the wash. And it did get kinda cool in there. We found a little stream and some sections had walls a bit taller than us on both sides. It wasn’t much but it was something 🙂 On another occasion, I spotted a javelina on a long morning walk.

full moon and scenery overlooking the national forest

All in all, dispersed camping near Cherry was a nice quiet place that had cell service and plenty of good solar so we could get a lot of computer work done. And since there wasn’t much by way of adventure in the immediate area, we did venture out further to get some exploring in. Within an hour from our spot, we found a few places that ended up being even better than we thought!

Adventures Within An Hour Radius

If you’re in the area and looking for a cool adventure there are quite a few to choose from within an hour drive.

jumping into a waterfall on black canyon trail

And then it was time to move on!

Thanks for keeping up with The Lost Longboarder! If you’d like to see some of our more adventurous boondocking experiences, check out the articles below:

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