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A beautiful, narrow, canyon-bound lake, accessible by foot trail only, Bear Canyon Lake is one of several in a series of fishing lakes built by Arizona Game and Fish Department. Despite being several miles down a dirt road and having few amenities, it draws many visitors. The partially developed campground which is set among the mixed conifer, oak and aspen, has only limited amenities. Bear Canyon Lake is a "Pack it in - Pack it out" area. There is NO GARBAGE SERVICE. Please be good stewards of the land and leave the area better than how you found it.
For purposes of fire restrictions, this campground is considered to be an 'undeveloped' campground. No fires will be permitted when fire restrictions are in effect for the Apache-Sitgreaves Forest.
At an elevation of 7,560, Bear Canyon Lake consists of 60 surface acres with a maximum depth of 50 feet. Because of its depth, this lake has no water quality problems. The Arizona Department of Game and Fish stocks it with catchable-sized rainbow trout about six times each year.
Arizona fishing regulations apply. Please refer to the current year fishing regulations brochure produced by the Arizona Game and Fish Department for further details on licensing requirements, daily bag limits, and other restrictions. Boat motors are restricted to electric motors only.
Just off Bear Canyon Lake, approximately 14 miles northwest of State Highway 260 on Forest Road 89. Forest Road 89 is accessed via Forest Road 300 which is located directly across from the Rim Visitor Information Station or 25 miles west of Heber, Arizona.
There is no fee to camp.
This is a first come first serve campground.
Beautiful camping area. We go there every Thanksgiving. Tall pines nice fire pits. Not much wood on the ground so bring in your own. Take a hike down to the lake. The views there are breath taking. If you plan to take your kayaks to the lake beware. Switch backs lead you to the lake and it’s very steep. Watch out for the large crows, they like to visit your campsite for scraps when your not there.
Not a swimming lake! This is far enough back it's not as crowded as some of the other lakes. But it is quite treacherous to get down to. There is not really one clear marked path down to the lakes edge. The loop around is marked though. Easy enough with a bit of fishing gear. But I would definitely not recommend bringing hard/heavy kayaks (like in the pictures) or paddle boards unless you are up for a serious work out hiking back up to the parking lot. If you are planning to bring one a light weight blowup type would be best. When we were there it was a bit windy. It is a canyon after all.
The camping is well dispersed and clean. Except the bathrooms are disgusting. 🤮
Went camping here this past weekend and the campsite is beautiful. Bathrooms are disgusting. Also, their was a lot going on. People were passing by my campsite with off roading atvs and quads and there was tons of dust everywhere. Shooting on all hours of day and night. Lake was beautiful and relaxing. I guess we just went on a wrong weekend.
Gorgeous location but there were many other campers nearby that were extremely disrespectful with their music late into the night. Normally we would just ignore it but each one decided to blast their music overly loud.
Super fun to take the family. Nice weather. 30 miles drive on the dirt road take us to Bear Canyon Lake. We camp the further you drive it will be the closes to the lake and bathrooms.
