El Porvenir Campground

We just returned from 5 beautiful nights at El Porvenir Campground. We arrived on a Wednesday around dusk at the end of September and there were plenty of available campsites for tents though we had a camping trailer and felt there were 3 spots that were available and doable for us. A Sprinter camping van was also joining us the following day. In total, 7 of us thoroughly enjoyed the warm days, cold nights with a campfire (and there's even a sanctioned area to collect firewood from, up the road accessible from camp), fall colors, quick creek showers (no soap, of course), and the hiking right from camp. The Beaver Creek trail was simply beautiful and the Hermit Peak trail long and a challenge. Pit toilets were clean & stocked well.

One of the best trails I have been on.

I went camping here for a weekend in July, it was a beautiful campground, and the restrooms and campsites were well maintained and nice. There were trash bins at almost every site, but no water. We got there at 3pm on a Friday and got one of the last spots available. But it looked like you would have no problem getting a spot during the week as most people left on Sunday. It was pretty noisy the nights we were there, which may have just been bad luck, there was a pretty big group in one of the spots. You can hike right from the campground up Hermit's Peak which is beautiful, as well as an easier hiking option with some cool bridges and views of the canyon.

I showed up at 9:30pm on a Saturday, but still got a spot! I think reservations require at least 4 days notice, but it worked out fine. The toilets (hole in the ground with a toilet seat latrines) aren't being maintained due to lack of funding, and the road in has large potholes, but the campsite was clean and I got to sleep under the stars for the first time in a long time. I'd love to come back.

Nice place. Typical Forest Service campground. Setting is beautiful.