Bonus: Adventures in Car-camping

 Assorted videos of happenings during the Early Times...

...like the typical morning at Cherry Creek campground...

...on the Trail of the Mountain Spirits... 

...hear a little rolling thunder at Iron Creek...

...make sure you're stocked up and keep an eye on the weather...

...because it snows on the Continental Divide...

...be prepared for the monsoon season....

...and be careful when you visit town!

 Some sight-seeing dashcam videos:

 

Mogollon

Dry Gallinas Canyon

 

Iron Creek
 

Various scenes from the Gila

 

 

Sapillo campground

 Sapillo campground, 39.8 miles, US180E to SH152, to SH35, improved (toilets, tables, trash, fire rings) and dispersed sites

Google Maps view

Sapillo Creek is a large, spacious (albeit typical tourist) campground with both a crowded improved area full of buses, and a more open, dispersed-type area with trees and fire rings. After I became domesticated a while back, a bunch of friends got together and stayed a couple of nights. Once the Ranger shut down all the shooting, it was quite pleasant.

We were spread out even with two RVs, a trailer,, and two tents

a trail among the tall pines

bring what you need 'cuz this is it

SH35 will continue further to two paid campgrounds near Lake Roberts, plus cabins and a general store (open intermittently) before terminating into SH15) left to Silver, right to the cliff dwellings. Note: two additional improved campgrounds are located just before the cliff dwellings: Lower Scorpion and the larger Upper Scorpion, both a bit cramped for my liking, but still.

Google Maps view

Dispersed camping in the Gila

Within the Gila are many unmarked primitive campsites with no tables, no toilets, maybe a home-made stone fire ring, maybe shade, maybe not.

 

Shade and seclusion

 The majority of dispersed sites I stayed at were along SH15 as they were more abundant and offered a variety of scenery, from the deep woods to a bare hilltop.

 Making do with what the spirits provide

 

good windbreak, stone fire ring, great view

oh, the view

can't see this from the campgrounds

a bit close to the edge, but out of sight

Many of these boondocking sites are suitable for smaller vehicles (read: towing a camper might be a chore), but 5.4 miles past McMillan is Pine Flats, a large old growth spacious cleared-out expanse suitable for just about anything. NFS does stockpile rod rock here, so just sayin'. My first stay was during the Early Times, when no one came out..spooky at night, having it all to myself...but I found my hatchet there, so check your camp sites for stuff others leave behind.

Grapevine and Forks campgrounds

Grapevine campground, 37.9 miles, SH15, semi-improved (toilet, fire rings); Forks campground is a half-mile further, and has tables

Google Maps view

Right on the Gila River, Grapevine is a fair-sized site, spread out along the river with nothing but trees. Fire rings exist, tables are sorely missed, and can be quite crowded when the tourists arrive.

campsites right on the Gila

 

Gila River at Grapevine
 

3/31/2021: still vacant, all mine

Forks campground is spacious, with tables, and is probably better suited for trailers than Grapevine. It also fills quickly due to the change in the river's personality...

 

Forks campground

 

Forks campground

 

Gila River near Forks

looking downstream from SH15 bridge

 

Note: SH 15 gets pretty twistie once you get past Piños Altos, both sideways and up & down. It seems to take forever to make that 38 mile drive, but it's a pretty drive. Big rigs don't seem to have a problem, though.

 

 

following an RV on The Snake

Bill Evans Lake Wildlife Area

 Bill Evans Lake, 32 miles, US180W, semi-improved (toilet, boat ramp)

Bill Evans Lake

Owned by a local mining company and leased to the state of New Mexico, Bill Evans Lake offers fishing, swimming, boating, and camping (14 day limit, no marked sites). I stayed here during the Early times and had it all to myself; a friend stayed here a couple of months ago and said traffic was constant throughout the night, in to the very back of the campground (where toilet is located) and back out.

 

the "corner lot"

Cherry Creek/McMillan campgrounds

Cherry Creek campground, 22 miles, SH15N, improved site (toilets, trash, tables, fire rings); McMillan campground is one mile further up the road; Cherry Creek crosses both campground entrances

Google Maps view

Cherry Creek is one of the more (if not most) popular campgrounds in the Gila, with a dozen tables, two toilets, and trails heading both directions out of camp. McMillan has only three tables and a trail near the toilet. The creek runs alongside SH15, though both sites, and can change very suddenly from dry rock bed to trapping you inside the campgrounds. Smaller trailers can get in and out of Cherry Creek pretty good, but the creek crossing at McMillan has a sign advising trailers not enter.

9/1/2021, Cherry Creek entrance

 

McMillan entrance
 

Cherry Creek, settled down

Breakfast at Cherry Creek

Lunch at McMillan

On the trail of the mountain spirits

 

These campgrounds are in a canyon, and it takes some time for the sun to get high enough to warm up during cooler weather. Site #1, closest to the first toilet, has two tables, but they're not very level. The party sites are at the back of the campground near a second toilet.

 

trail south from Cherry Creek

trail from McMillan  

former pirated campsite at south trail, now closed off for good

Cottonwood campground

 Cottonwood campground (Apache NF), 87.3 miles, improved (toilets, tables, fire rings)

Google Maps view

Cottonwood campground is in the Apache NF (according to the road sign), but is listed in the Gila NF site. Regardless, it's a nice, quiet little (three table) site, next to Cottonwood Creek, and a forest service road for exploring.

 

Cottonwood Creek
 

view entering campground

one more site behind this, but not quiet as level

 

The entrance to Cottonwood makes a loop around the toilet; I was standing beneath a huge tree near the toilet when I took this pic. This same tree, I watched with great amusement, reached out and snatched the awning off a camper trailer some fella brought in to turn around. Just sayin'.

Pueblo Park campground

 Pueblo Park campground, 94.6 miles, US180W, improved (toilet, tables, fire rings)

Google Maps view

Here is a campground off the beaten path, 6 miles down a fairly decent dirt road to the middle of old growth pines. Spacious, and recently cleared out of brush and undergrowth, with Pueblo Creek running through the middle. 

 

Kudos to the NFS for their clean-up work

Pueblo Creek

Peaceful, starry night

Tables are spread out far enough so they don't feel crowded, although I preferred to be under the trees than in the open area. NFS was kind enough to leave plenty of firewood behind, too (pics taken 10/3/2023).