Rucker Canyon is a beautiful area of the southern end of the Chiricahua Mountains. I highly suggest that you take the first "Forest Access" road on the north side of Rucker Canyon road itself if you come in from the west end. You'll need a high-clearance vehicle and preferably 4-wheel drive, however you'll find amazing campsites 1/2 mile to 1 mile in. You won't be able to pull any trailer in on this 4x4 road unless it is one of the short, high-clearance style camp trailers. We camped 100 yards from a dirt tank (man-made pond for livestock) that was secluded and offered incredible views of the canyon and cliffs. This forest access passes through private land at first, with lots of "No Camping" signs, but continue on and you will be hugely rewarded.

Very little traffic in March though the local forest service office said that summer is the busy time. The day temps were 60 - 68F and the night dipped down to 23F so bring your best cold weather gear. We saw 7 vehicles in 3 days.....

At 10,200 feet above sea level, this reservoir is pretty cold at night and in the morningm maybe even below freezing. Hard to fathom when Boulder and Escalante just a few more miles down the road are close to 100F in the day. Here, it barely got above 60F. Our visit was during the first week of June so the coolness was welcome.

The 4x4 road leading up to the reservoir is rugged and in several spots requires above-average skill. Think: loose, baseball-to-football-sized rocks scattered between humpties, big chunks sticking out of the trail. These humpties have plenty of deep scars and scrapes from the differentials and transfer cases of previous drivers getting smacked. Add a 30-40% grade and you have backslide if you're not skilled enough or your rig doesn't have enough clearance. We parked about 3/4 mile up the trail, just after the first serious 4x4 climb, in a beautiful meadow surrounded by aspens and fir trees. We made sure not to drive on any areas that didn't already show impact and when we left we scattered woody debris and downed branches across the area.

We rarely make cooking campfires, preferring to use our nice Coleman stove. The chance of causing a forest fire by burning wood is enough incentive for me to only have a campfire in absolutely perfect conditions. This place is special so please leave it that way. You'll also notice visitor's initials carved into some of the aspen tree's white bark with dates going back to the 1960's. Again, leave the trees alone and enjoy their majestry.

We hiked from our camp site to the Oak Creek Reservoir and saw some recent bear scat and some nice-sized bear prints in the soft dirt on some higher road sections. At the reservoir their were two fishermen who came in via ATV and two 4x4 pickup trucks camped along the water's edge. It's a peaceful place and because of the serious four-wheel drive sections, mostly likely will stay that way.