Williams, AZ Spots?

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mydciii

mydciii

Joined
Feb 22, 2014
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Location
Phoenix, Arizona
I'll be near the Williams, AZ area this weekend. I've never been, can anyone recommend any good spots to camp out overnight? Cheers!


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It has been a few years since I had been to Sycamore Point but that was a beautiful camp, you need to visit either way. Whitehorse lake is ok if you don't mind camping away from the water. Kiabab lake is nice but crowded, well so is Whitehorse for that matter. If you are trying to just cool off and look at the trees you can head up to Bull Basin on Kendrik Peak. The Basin is private property and fenced but there is a nice meadow just before it that has several spots worthy of a camp. That and you are at 8,000 feet. Nice and cool...
 
Kendrick peak for the lowest temperature. White horse if you want to be near water.
 
Dogtown lake is not bad either. Whitehorse had low water levels this year and not sure if they stocked it or not.
 
Motleyone said:
Dogtown lake is not bad either. Whitehorse had low water levels this year and not sure if they stocked it or not.
Click to expand...


The last time I was at Dog Town was a few years ago. The gate was all locked up and said closed for repairs. Did they make it all fancy like Whitehorse, or is it still fairly primitive camping there? John
 
Not fancy like Whitehorse its still more primitive. Way back in the 1990's Whitehorse was the place to catch trout and camp. They ruined it when they made it fancy. Same with Big Lake in the White Mountains. When you can drive your yuppie BMW to the camp spot without leaving the black top it has a tendency to ruin a place. :censor:
 
hey, that is not BMW's fault
 
I was at Whitehorse last year. The lake was low and no fish to be had. My son did have a great time catching frogs and snakes though:bounce2:
The second night we probably managed to grab up 30+ frogs. The "thinking" was we could let them all go on the boat ramp and watch a frog race. Well they all just jumped out of the box and froze, no joy:doh:
 
Dogtown Water Shed is Williams water supply or at least part of it. With the drought and since they pull water out it may be low. I remember reading Williams was having water issues. There is a campground but I would check first to see if it is open. I would also make sure you get a Coconino National Forest travel map. Only roads shown on the map for travel are open everything else is closed to motorize vehicles. I remember looking at the travel map and it seemed the whole Kendrick Peak area was closed to motorize vehicles. I use to use a short cut from just after Pumpkin Center to the road to Bull Basin. Then another road past the fence that went up the mountain. Not sure if it's shown on any of the current forest service maps but on the private property was a airstrip. I use to deer hunt up on top and hiking around you could see the airstrip down in a valley. The area had a fence and I never ventured past the fence. Not to far from Kendrick Peak is the lave tubes. If nothing else it is always cool in the caves. This is more for a younger crowd, I doubt I would want to squeeze into the entrance which is pretty narrow.
 
Motleyone said:
Not fancy like Whitehorse its still more primitive. Way back in the 1990's Whitehorse was the place to catch trout and camp. They ruined it when they made it fancy. Same with Big Lake in the White Mountains. When you can drive your yuppie BMW to the camp spot without leaving the black top it has a tendency to ruin a place. :censor:
Click to expand...

So true, went there as a kid and had a wholly better experience.
 
Living in the Past said:
Dogtown Water Shed is Williams water supply or at least part of it. With the drought and since they pull water out it may be low. I remember reading Williams was having water issues. There is a campground but I would check first to see if it is open. I would also make sure you get a Coconino National Forest travel map. Only roads shown on the map for travel are open everything else is closed to motorize vehicles. I remember looking at the travel map and it seemed the whole Kendrick Peak area was closed to motorize vehicles. I use to use a short cut from just after Pumpkin Center to the road to Bull Basin. Then another road past the fence that went up the mountain. Not sure if it's shown on any of the current forest service maps but on the private property was a airstrip. I use to deer hunt up on top and hiking around you could see the airstrip down in a valley. The area had a fence and I never ventured past the fence. Not to far from Kendrick Peak is the lave tubes. If nothing else it is always cool in the caves. This is more for a younger crowd, I doubt I would want to squeeze into the entrance which is pretty narrow.
Click to expand...

Back in the late 70s I used to hunt the area before the previous owner sold it. It had a small line shack, about 120 square feet on it. Spent one deer hunt camping out of it. I can remember sitting up on the ridge to the east (actually the rim of the caldera) and looking into the basin in early to mid September watching, and listening, to the large heard of elk that used to congregate there. I don't believe there is another animals sound, well perhaps a wolf's howl, that evicts more emotion than an elk's bugle echoing off the mountains on a crisp and cool autumn morning. Just awesome...
 
Motleyone said:
Dogtown lake is not bad either. Whitehorse had low water levels this year and not sure if they stocked it or not.
Click to expand...

Almost forgot, thre is a road to the top of Bill Williams mountain, just west of Dogtown. Great views from the fire tower, and great exercise if you have the time to hike the trail all the way from Dogtown to the top. John
 
x2 on the drive up to the Fire Tower on Bill Williams. Another Fire Tower can be seen at Round Mtn just south of Williams on the Perkinsville Rd. Closer to town, Summit Mtn just off of Perkinsville Rd offers some great south and west facing vistas, along with a view of several radio towers (meh). Sycamore Pt is great, or for a more remote view, head south of Sycamore to the very end of FR 127. This is a long way out there, 4hi kinda territory for the most part. You will likely have it to yourself and the view is spectacular.
 
enterconnect said:
Hi mydciii,

I saw your LC on Friday at dogtown lake.
Click to expand...
Hello mate, I saw a red FJ40. Was that you? I was scouting for some potential good camping spots. Found a couple in that area. I enjoyed running the trails. The ground was a little soft but there was a lot of mud so I was happy.


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I have a black 100 series. I just parked and saw you drive around the day use area. The guy with the red 40 series was excited to see another LC, he threw me a wave.
 
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