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White Horse Lake, Arizona

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  • White Horse Lake, Arizona

    Howdy,

    Most folks when they think of going to Williams, Arizona immediately begin to think that the place to camp is near the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park. Nope, not today. Today we are taking a little side trip South of Williams to a little lake called White Horse. Williams is west of Flagstaff, AZ about 100 miles and east of Kingman, AZ about 140 miles. From Hoover Dam it's just a three hour drive to Williams so as the crow flies, it isn't that far of a place to go for a long weekend or an extended stay of a week. We went there during the last week in September that it was opened. White Horse Lake, AZ is open from May 15th until October 1. And we like going there at the beginning or end only simply to avoid the crowds. May 15th, schools are still in session and at the end of September schools are back in session.

    White Horse Lake is located South of Williams from AZ state hwy 173 and the signposts to the lake are well marked. There are a couple of dirt roads for 13 miles that one must go, but the scenery is forrested and pleasant. There are also plenty of spaces to pull off the road and camp for free along the way and a lot of people do this whenever we go there. Most are RV with their tow packages of 4-wheeler buggies and dirt bikes. There are trails everywhere. White Horse Lake is in the northwestern edge of the Sycamore Canyon Wilderness. Wolfs and foxes are seen here as well as hearing them howl at night. We have seen short-tailed hawks, a couple of bald eagles, and I have seen scratchings and dung of black bears.

    White Horse Lake has no stream feeding it nor leaving it. It's water is only from snow melt and run-off of pervious seasons. Last winter there was plenty of snow and the forrest service tries to re-stock the lake every year with 11 different kinds of fish. So fisherman love it. It's not bad for fly fishing also. The lake is shaped like a boomerang and the area in which we kayak into is very weedy and the "plug" fishing is horrible but the fly fishing is excellent! And that is also where we see the most wildlife. Their is also a family of Great Blue Herons that stay there all summer as well. The horsepower on the lake is limited to 3 horse power. And paddlers are very welcomed.

    What makes White Horse Lake so appealling is many things. First and foremost it's at the altitude of 6800'. There are pines everywhere, the mornings and evenings are cool and the days during early spring or early autumn are pleasant. The second reason is the isolation, White Horse Lake is twenty-five miles southeast of Williams down some long well worn and traveled dirt roads. The biggest attraction for us, since we are tent jeep campers is that there is a section within the 180 site area that is designed only for tenters. One never has to listen to the hum of gas powered electric generators if one doesn't want to. For tent campers the area only has 8 sites that are just for them and this area is the closest to the lake and is so close that if you have a small boat you can park it on the beach that is only 50 yards from your site. White Horse Lake is listed also on the reservation web sites such as recreation.gov or reserve America and one can reserve a site up to six months in advance, however the tenting area only has two sites that can be reserved ahead of time and are on the first-come-first-serve basis. The best time of any week is to arrive on a Sunday afternoon and then stay for a few days. The maximum anyone can stay is fourteen days. There are no showers and if you need ice you have to drive into Williams and there you can find showers at a couple of places, including a Flying J Truckstop(which always has clean rest-rooms). The restrooms are compost toilets so they never have that bad smell and the toilets are the cleaniest ones my wife has ever seen. The hosting staff is very professional and wood is available for $4.95 (no-tax) a bundle.
    Get campin', Renodesertfox A canvas campateer
    Campin' Here Between Campouts! Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult
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