A high-elevation Black River campground with CCC-era Adirondack shelters
Forest Road 276 (East Fork Black River), Alpine, AZ 85920
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Standard U.S. Forest Service campground fees; first-come, first-served sites.
Access
Limited Access
Forested campground at 7,890 feet elevation along the East Fork of the Black River; uneven ground
Equipment
Photos OK
Diamond Rock Campground is one of several U.S. Forest Service campgrounds along the East Fork of the Black River in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests of eastern Arizona, near the small community of Alpine. The campground sits at approximately 7,890 feet elevation in ponderosa pine and Engelmann spruce, with sites placed a short walk from the East Fork.
The campground has twelve sites total, three of which are Adirondack-style three-sided shelters constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Depression era. The shelters predate large recreational vehicle camping and remain in use today, offering a uniquely historic camping experience among Arizona's public-lands campgrounds.
Access to the East Fork is intentionally low-impact: sites sit a short distance back from the stream to protect the riparian zone, and access to the water is direct without significant trail-clearing. The campground is part of a cluster of East Fork sites operated by the Forest Service on a first-come, first-served basis. The campground is most heavily used in the summer trout-fishing season.
Sources
Local tradition collected in regional ghost-story compilations holds that during the late 1980s, when Diamond Rock served as a day-use area before its current campground configuration, local camp hosts gathered at the site at night for coffee and refreshments. One evening, a group photograph was taken of ten to twelve people in attendance. When the photograph was developed, an unidentified woman was visible behind the group whom no one in the gathering recalled meeting or seeing at the site that day.
The account is presented in the Shadowlands archive and similar regional ghost-story sources but is not corroborated by Forest Service records or contemporary newspaper coverage. The campground operates today as a standard U.S. Forest Service recreation site and does not host investigation activity. Visitors should treat the campground primarily as a high-elevation outdoor destination.
Camp along the East Fork of the Black River at 7,890 feet in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests. Three of the 12 sites are Adirondack-style three-sided shelters built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression and predate large-RV camping. Sites are first-come, first-served.
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