About this place
Bear Canyon Lake is narrow and canyon-bound, and you can only reach it on foot.
It is one of a series of fishing lakes built by the Arizona Game and Fish Department.
It is several miles down a dirt road and there is little laid on, but plenty of people still come.
The campground is only part developed. It sits among mixed conifer, oak and aspen, and the facilities are limited.
Nobody collects trash here, so take everything home with you. Leave the place better than you found it.
For fire restrictions this campground counts as undeveloped. No fires are allowed when restrictions are in effect for the Apache-Sitgreaves Forest.
The lake sits at 7,560 feet. It covers 60 surface acres and runs 50 feet deep at most, and because it is deep the water quality holds up.
The Arizona Department of Game and Fish stocks it with catchable rainbow trout about six times a year.
Arizona fishing rules apply. The current year’s fishing regulations brochure covers licensing requirements, daily bag limits and the rest.
Only electric boat motors are allowed.
The facts
- Cost
- Free to camp
- Roads around it
- Several miles of dirt road, and the lake itself is reached on foot only
- Drinking water
- No, bring your own
- Toilet
- Yes
- Type
- Specific campsite
- Managed by
- Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest
The roads around this place are not maintained for a regular car. That comes from the US Forest Service, who grade every road by the kind of vehicle it is looked after for. Those records cover the roads nearby. They do not cover the last stretch in to the campsite, and nobody has checked that part. Treat this as a warning. We are not promising what you will find when you get there. If you have driven it, tell us what it was like and we will say so here.
Rules and restrictions
Nobody collects trash here. Everything you bring in has to come out with you again.
No fires at all at Bear Canyon once the forest is under fire restrictions.
Getting there
Coordinates 34.405385, -111.004483
Open in Google Maps Agency page
What is near here
This is a good base for somewhere people travel a long way to see.
- Black Canyon Lake Directions
- Tonto Natural Bridge State Park Directions
- Meteor Crater Directions
Every distance on this page is the driving distance. A short distance can still take a long time. The road may be closed for the season, covered in snow, or washed out. Many of these roads are dirt. Plan your route before you leave home. Out here there is often no phone signal to look it up on the way.
Nearest town and supplies
- Christopher Creek, AZ Directions
- Star Valley, AZ Directions
Star Valley is big enough that you’d normally expect fuel and somewhere to buy food. Nobody from here has been to check, so don’t count on it if you’re running low.
Have you been here?
Fees and access change, and the records do not always keep up. If you have been, tell us what you found.
Thank you, that is recorded. It helps the next person.
Add road notes for this site
The thing we cannot get from any government record is what the drive in is actually like. If you have done it, this is the most useful thing you can leave behind. We read everything before it appears, and we print a first name with it if you give one.
Thank you. A person will read it before it goes on the page.
Where this information comes from
The description on this page is ours. The facts in it, and the fee and facility details below it, come from the Forest Service’s own records, read in August 2026.