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| Rustler Park Campground, AZ | |
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| | Rustler Park Campground, AZ | | | |
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Rustler Park Campground, AZ
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| no partners | | This triplog is to give you a report of my impressions of the Rustler Park Campground. It was closed for 3 years following the Horseshoe II fire of 2011. I went up there a couple of times during the closure to look around, and finally camped there this summer. I was quite frankly disappointed. For as long as it was closed, I thought the final product would have been better. I realize there was a lot of restoration to be done, but in all honesty what I experienced was an incomplete job. The campground remains pretty true to its original layout and the shelters erected at many of the sites are a nice addition (to make up for the loss of the great tree cover it once had). But two things make it less than ideal. First, because of all the alteration of the ground from the fire and subsequent tree removal, walking around in the campground is a bit treacherous. Uneven and soft ground to walk on makes it real easy to twist an ankle in depressions left where trees once were. Also, it seems like the pathway to many of the sites from where you must park your vehicle(s) is not clearly defined for ease of access.
But for me, as a dedicated tent camper, the lack of tent pads at the sites is unacceptable, especially since the terrain is uneven. The torn up ground from all the post fire activity makes finding a decent spot very tough at the majority of sites. I am very particular about this. Wherever I camp, I want nice level spots to pitch the tent. For as long as this one was closed, they made a critical error in not providing one, maybe two pads per site here. Aside from that, it remains a very important place with regard to a base camp or launch point for activities in the higher elevations of the range (hiking, backpacking). Perhaps the work is not finished there; if so this oversite may be corrected. But as it is now, it's incomplete in my opinion. The Chiricahua Mountains is a beautiful range and I have had a lot of great adventures there, fire or no fire, tent pads or no tent pads.  |
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