Fly in and Camp

[Jaypratt]

Johnson Creek and Cavanaugh Bay are two of the best fly in camping places, with showers, bunk houses, and vans /cars.

That said, I am looking for a place closer to Fort Worth. I know of 2 state parks in Texas with airports. Neither are very good fly in camp places.

Is there any in New Mexico? Colorado? I have never herd of one that has showers. Colorado has Marble, but no services, and not really RV friendly.

Oklahoma has some state parks with airports but I haven't wanted to camp there.
Arkansas has Pitie Jean,, nice camp on the airport, but you are stuck no transport.

Are there any private airstrips / resorts with camping in my area? TX NM, OK,CO, Arkansas.

[Steve]

The site for all things back country in Utah is:
http://www.utahbackcountrypilots.org/

[born2fly]

Marble isn't great for camping, but it's a spectacular place to go. Be sure to see the old marble quarries, they're amazing. I was there with my spunky Cherokee 235, and <watch out> for the density altitude. 8000' on a 75-80F day was just about all the old bird could put up with, even at low weight.

G.

[aerhed]

4000 ft redrock strip on private campground with restaurant/showers, etc. Located in needles district, Canyonlands National Park. Cool destination. Call ahead (Needles Campground).

[erich weaver]

Is this the Needles/Canyonlands airstrip you are referring to?

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour...39439&t=h&z=15

[Steve]

The strip is 40nm due south of Canyonlands (CNY) on the Denver chart. We flew our Tri-Pacers down there for lunch while attending a fly-in at CNY back in the 90's. I remember the strip as red rock dirt and somewhat bumpy. Not a prob for the sturdy ol' "milk stool".
The Outpost mostly serves as a restaurant and general supply store for the hiker and slickrock biker crowd. The non-pilot caretakers whipped up some killer burritos for us then we headed back to CNY.
I wouldn't take my "A" model in there and would definitely do some first person recon before taking a small tire TD in there, too. The strip is plenty long but surface conditions are the concern.

[LarryT]

Do you pilots who land at backcountry strips remove the wheel pants before you go "off-road"?

I am building a -7. It seems like the pressure recovery wheel pants would be pretty easy to remove and stow in the baggage compartment.

For example, one could fly into McCall, ID remove the wheel pants, then make the short hop to the ID back country strip of choice. I suppose one could replace the wheel pant with a little "bicycle fender" a la Cessna 310 to limit rock damage.

This would avoid the cruise speed penalty for most of the trip while preventing abuse of the wheel pants. I fly off a turf strip and the wheel pants on my Cherokee were a maintenance item. The nose wheel pant really got so blasted from the prop wash over time I thought about putting some of that clear mylar 3M tape over it.

Larry

[ReidVaitor]

I see the last review for Payson was over a decade ago, so update.
They have signs on taxi ways for each ramp including the camping parking. They offer a courtesy car that allows you to go local as well as Horton trail, a good 25 minute drive, or the national bridge, etc.. basically a car for the day. ( Be sure to call airport manager to reserve the car- basically they leave the keys in car for you.) The campground remains one of, if not the, best sites for camping with your plane near California area ( yes better than oceano, Columbia and kern valley) You park and walk to site 50 feet away, they offer free wood, chairs, short walk to restaurant ( be sure to leave room for their famous pies). Town is 5 minute drive for supermarkets, food, gas, etc. A flight to Sedona is about 20 minutes away.
We were there during Labor Day weekend, all camping and RV sites around area full, 3 planes had 9 people sharing the whole airport campsite. No loud music, just piece and the sounds of planes flying in and out in the morning.