The Oak Creek flood closed all four campgrounds the Sedona camping ban exempts, with no reopening date

If you were planning to camp in Oak Creek Canyon this month, the only Forest Service campgrounds where camping is allowed there are all closed. The Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon camping ban exempts exactly four campgrounds, and the flood closure the Coconino National Forest posted on November 2 lists all four. We read both on November 6, 2026.

How the two orders fit together

Forest Order 03-04-06-23-03 prohibits “Camping” on National Forest land in its described area on the Red Rock Ranger District. It runs from January 24, 2023 through January 24, 2033. Its exemptions cover “Persons within the developed campgrounds identified in Exhibit A (Pine Flat Campground, Cave Springs Campground, Manzanita Campground, and Chavez Group Campground).” Unless you hold a special Forest Service permit, those four are the only places the order lets you camp.

The forest’s flood alert, last updated November 5, says many recreation sites “are closed as a matter of employee and public safety.” Its list of affected sites includes Pine Flat, Manzanita, Cave Springs and Chavez Crossing Group Campground. It also names Clear Creek and Clear Creek Group campgrounds, Grasshopper Point, Call of the Canyon, Crescent Moon, Midgley Bridge and others, 18 entries in all. (The order calls the group site Chavez Group Campground; the alert calls it Chavez Crossing Group Campground.)

The November 4 release is blunt about timing: “There is no estimate as to when area roads, trails and sites will re-open.” It adds that more closures may follow.

What we could not confirm

We could not read the Exhibit A map, so we can’t tell you exactly where the camping ban’s boundary runs. The alert page describes it only as “the Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon areas.” If you are not sure whether a spot is inside it, ask the district before you stop. A separate order, 03-04-06-26-04, restricts camping west of Sedona to designated camping areas, per the alerts page. We did not read that order’s site list this time, so we are not naming any of those sites as open.

We also did not verify the status of State Route 89A through the canyon. ADOT, not the Forest Service, owns that answer.

The catch

A closed campground does not make the ground next to it fair game. The ban is still in force, and the forest asks visitors to avoid cutting locks or moving barriers. It also asks you to stay out of storm-damaged areas “that may not be formally closed.” The posted sign and the ranger district’s current word beat any website, ours included.

The whole forest also runs on a 14-days-in-30 limit, which we covered in the Coconino stay limit piece. The West Fork closure, a separate order, now runs to February 27, 2027.

What to do

• Call before you drive. Red Rock Ranger Visitor Center, (928) 203-2900. Ask whether your campground is open and where the closure ends.
• Check roads separately. The forest’s road status page, updated November 6, lists FR 121 (Lawrence Crossing), FR 215 (Bull Pen), FR 795 (Palatki), FR 80 (Rattlesnake Canyon) and FR 502 at FR 708 (Childs Road) as closed on the district.
• Plan the night somewhere else. If Sedona was a stop on a snowbird run, build the route so it does not depend on a canyon campground. Our Arizona free camping page covers the land managers around it.