Luna Lake Campground in Alpine, Arizona

Camped April 13th-26th 2021

Luna Lake is located in the White Mountains of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, near the city of Alpine. At almost 8,000 ft. elevation, the area is nicknamed the 'Alps of Arizona'. Near the entrance to the 75 acre lake there is a public boat ramp, bathroom, covered picnic tables, and even a tackle/snack shop on the road to the campground.

The gravel road in leads to a hiking area, then splits left heading to Luna Lake Campground. Camping there usually costs $16 per night, but when we arrived on April 13th, the pay sign was covered with a black bag. One of the only signs still showing said they were accepting donations. Maybe it was still off-season, or maybe low use due to Covid, but that was perfect for us!

Luna Lake Campground has over 50 campsites, most just a short walk from the lake. There were two huge group sites available by reservation too. They don't have any electrical hookups or dump station, but there were fire-rings at most sites, picnic tables, clean bathrooms throughout the campground, and a dumpster near the entrance (it stayed full for our stay, website says trash pickup runs Memorial Day-Labor Day). There were also many water spigots, but none were running at the time we visited. 

We picked site #9 for the view, and found a short trail leading to the water's edge nearby. A wide open field of pine trees was a great front yard for the girls to run and play, with just the right amount of shade. 

This drone footage shows the distance to the lake from the camping area, then the main road including boat ramp (across the lake), then some of the road conditions and space in the campground.

As we were unpacking, a helicopter flew in to scoop up water from the lake. 

About ten minutes later, while we were walking the dogs down by the water, it came back! 

When we scoped out the site, it seemed like it might get busy. But, during most of our time at Luna Lake, we were completely alone. It was so awesome! There were occasionally a few people fishing at the lake, but no more than four or five other campers at a time while we were there, and all spread out through the campground.

Java has a high prey drive, and was obsessed with the ducks.

Kyle said maybe she'd forget about the ducks if she realized she can't catch them.


They both learned a lesson that day. Kyle had to jump in to help her back to shore.

There were some forest service workers who came out to chop up fallen limbs, and they left them stacked near each campsite. 

We also came home to a bag of dog treats and toys that some sweet somebody left by our camper door! 

A few days later, a Ranger stopped by to warn us that the wildfire danger was high. When Kyle mentioned how quiet it had been, the Ranger said, "It would be this time of year.". Shortly after, we may have found out why. We had 3 separate snow days during our stay. 

From Luna Lake, we took a day trip to my favorite National Park yet! Petrified Forest National Park was even cooler than I imagined. I knew there would be fossilized wood, but I did not expect it to be so colorful, and had no clue that the landscapes would be so out-of-this-world! It's very pet friendly - including dogs, cats, & horses! Here are a few of my favorite shots from our trip. Full post in the works!

Agate House wall

Petroglyphs!