State: Arizona
Open all Year: Yes
Number of Sites: 7
Elevation: 5676
County: Graham
Free: Yes
About: Stockton Pass was named after Old Man Stockton, a rancher who settled in this area in the 1870s. Stockton was the father of the Clanton Brothers, who were involved in the famous gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone. Stockton Pass serves as a travel way over the Pinaleños into Sulphur Springs Valley. The Stockton Pass Campground is located right at the apex of the pass and offers good views of the south slopes of some of the mountain ranges highest peaks, as well as views of Sulphur Springs Valley and the Galiuro and Santa Catalina mountains to the west.
For those who don’t want to camp, this is also an excellent picnic area, with tables set in a desert grassland dotted with oak trees and manzanita scrub. Other Upper Sonoran Zone plants such as prickly pear and cholla cactus, agave, soaptree yucca and sotol round out the vegetation. The Shake Trail winds through this high desert landscape as it leaves directly from the campground and begins a climb that continues to the Swift Trail high in the Pinaleños.
Fees: Free
Water: None
Restrooms: Vault Toilets
Directions: From Safford drive south 17 miles on US 191 to AZ 266. Turn right (southwest) onto 266 and continue 12 miles to the Stockton Pass Campground.