After leaving Nevada to begin our travels back north for the summer, we decided to stop for a couple weeks at Grand Canyon National Park. We camped south of the park a couple years ago and returned to the same area this time as well.
On our first visit to the Grand Canyon in the fall of 2019 was at the beginning of our first full winter of full time RVing. We didn’t know what to expect then, but this time around we knew we wanted to camp in the same area. So we headed to Forest Road 305 in Kaibab National Forest to check out the camping spots there.
To our surprise, there were no other campers to be found and we were able to snag the first (and largest!) spot close to the entrance off the highway.
How to get there
Forest Road 305 is 44 miles north of Williams, AZ and about 9 miles south of Tusayan, AZ along County Rd 64/US Highway 180. If you are coming north from I-40 or west from US Highway 180, Forest Road 305 will be a right hand turn off the highway. There is a small parking area at the entrance and there are a handful of campsites along the north (left) side of the road as you drive in.
Amenities
This is dry camping, so you will not find any water, RV dump, or trash facilities. If you need water or sanitation, the RV Dump near Mather Campground in the national park is your best bet. You could also try the RV Dump at the Loves station in Williams or any of the campgrounds along the highway. There are trash facilities within the national park and we found those to be the easiest and most accessible.
One note on the RV dump near Mather Campground: the campground itself was built to accommodate RVs up to 30′ and the dump station is pretty tight. We only took our truck through there and if you have a longer trailer or RV you may want to consider this before heading into the park.
For propane, we found the best price for it at the 76 station next to Safeway in Williams, AZ. Otherwise the Loves station also sells propane. The laundromat in Williams was adequate and we did all of our grocery shopping at Safeway.
What to do
The most popular attraction here is definitely Grand Canyon National Park. There is plenty to do there between the sightseeing and hiking and shuttle bus riding to keep anyone busy for days.
If you are up for a short drive, we also stumbled across the old Grand Canyon Airways Red Butte airfield. You can find it off of Forest Road 305, a couple miles in from the highway.
We really enjoyed our time camping here. The weather was fair, if a bit windy at times. Everything we needed was close enough and the area stayed fairly quiet during the two weeks we stayed there. Since we were there during National Parks Week and the Earth Day celebration, we also took some time to pick up as much trash as we could from the surrounding area. It’s amazing what kind of trash people leave behind.
Have you camped in the forest south of the Grand Canyon? What was your favorite place to explore? We’d love to hear about it! Please leave us a comment below, find us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest @simplejoyfuljourney, or email me at alicia@simplejoyfuljourney.com. And don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter at the bottom of the page before you go. Have a great week!
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