Camping at Bull Dog banned for first 1 to 2 miles from entrances

[WILL E 417]

Sometime in the past month they put up signs banning camping in certain areas of Bull Dog Canyon. 

 

From the Bush entrance there is no camping for the first 2 miles.   At the entrance there is a 'no camping for first 2 miles' sign.Basically almost all the way to the power lines where the trail drops into the wash. There are lots of 'no camping' signage in what was the typical camping spots.      Also, camping is no longer allowed in the parking area.   I talked to a couple of the rangers who were there on Saturday, my wife and I entered 10 on the Bush side.  They said the Usary Pass entrance has no camping for the first mile, basically to the first 'obstacle'  that I call 'rental car rock'.  They also explained the 1 mile rule applied to the other entrances as well. 

 

So basically it impacts people who have larger RV's and trailers from being able to camp in the Bull Dog area because getting a larger RV/Trailer past the restricted areas will be troublesome. 

 

They must have cleared everyone out because there were no campers in any of the 'no camping' areas on 10.   Bull Dog had become rather popular in the past couple of years for RV and 'longer time frame' camping.   Technically there was a 14 day limit but I frequent the trail often enough to confirm that the limit was being ignored by some.   Unfortunately the increased camping translated to increased trash, it was getting pretty bad and not uncommon to see a pile of crap left behind (plus the occasional home furnishing).   

 

I never camped in the area, although a buddy and i kicked the idea of rolling his RV out and hanging around for a night.     Probably still plenty of places at lower Sycamore (which has turned into a dump). 

 

So I am a bit bummed but certainly won't miss the trash that was too often left behind.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Curly 946]

Same thing happened up here near Sedona.  FR 525 was very popular for dispersed camping. Forest service shut down dispersed camping and opened several (I forget how many) First come- camping areas. 

[gearhead 437]

Noticed lots of travel trailers in the area around Dugas last weekend.  Used to be nobody out there.  Getting more and more difficult to get away from people, even in the 'wide open spaces'.

Edited April 10 by gearhead

[Curly 946]

6 hours ago, gearhead said:

Noticec lots of travel trailers in the area around Dugas last weekend.  Used to be nobody out there.  Getting more and more difficult to get away from people, even in the 'wide open spaces'.

2 reasons for that, at least in my opinion. 1) More people are moving here all the time and they are looking for places to camp  2) Camping is more popular than ever. My nephew sells RV's in Yuma.  He says that business is great, even in the summer, when places like Yuma usually slow down.