Map showing campground location near Cave Creek, Arizona

Camper submitted image from Cave Creek Regional Park

Cave Creek Regional Park

Gated at night and staffed during the day, Cave Creek Regional Park operates as a full-service campground within the Maricopa County Parks system. The facility sits on 2,922 acres of Sonoran Desert landscape, with 55 numbered campsites arranged in two distinct loops near the park entrance.

All sites include electric and water hookups, with concrete picnic tables and multi-level fire rings that accommodate different cooking setups. Allison D. notes the "elaborate fire ring with multiple cooking levels" and mentions sites feature coarse sand surfaces that staff rake between campers. Sites 1-42 in the older section provide more spacing between neighbors, while the newer sites 43-55 sit closer together but maintain adequate privacy. Several sites include 16x16-foot pipe corrals for campers traveling with horses.

The campground maintains restrooms and shower facilities with hot water, plus a dual-lane dump station near the exit. A nature center houses desert wildlife displays including rattlesnakes and Gila monsters, while hiking trails branch directly from the camping area into the surrounding desert. Staff rental horses operate seasonally outside the park entrance. Kiley S. points out that "surrounding homes have very noisy dogs" but appreciates the sunset views despite the residential proximity.

Weekend crowds can bring noise issues, with several reviewers noting music and loud groups, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights. Weekday visits tend to offer quieter conditions. The park gates close at night, and campers exploring the Cave Creek area can find campgrounds around Cave Creek for additional options. Sites with ramadas provide better shade during Arizona's intense summer months.

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Location

Public Campground

Cave Creek Regional Park is located in Arizona

Directions

From central Phoenix, take I-17 north to Carefree Hwy (SR 74). Exit Carefree Hwy. and travel east to 32nd St. (7 miles). Turn north on 32nd St. to the Cave Creek Regional Park entrance.

Address

37019 N. Lava Lane
Cave Creek, AZ 85331

Coordinates

33.82405153 N
112.0174494 W

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Connectivity

T-Mobile5G
Excellent Coverage
Verified by 19 users
Last on 3/29/26
Verizon5G
Excellent Coverage
Verified by 24 users
Last on 3/29/26
AT&T5G
Excellent Coverage
Verified by 24 users
Last on 3/29/26

Connectivity

T-Mobile5G
Excellent Coverage
Verified by 19 users
Last on 3/29/26
Verizon5G
Excellent Coverage
Verified by 24 users
Last on 3/29/26
AT&T5G
Excellent Coverage
Verified by 24 users
Last on 3/29/26

Access

Drive-In
Park next to your site
Walk-In
Park in a lot, walk to your site.

Site Types

Tent Sites
RV Sites
Standard (Tent/RV)
Group
Tent Cabin

Features

For Campers

ADA Access
Trash
Picnic Table
Firewood Available
Phone Service
Reservable
WiFi
Showers
Drinking Water
Electric Hookups
Toilets
Alcohol
Pets
Fires

For Vehicles

Sanitary Dump
Sewer Hookups
Water Hookups
Pull-Through Sites
50 Amp Hookups
Big Rig Friendly

Contact

General Info

Drive Time

19 min from Phoenix, AZ
1 hr 2 min from Prescott Valley, AZ
1 hr 45 min from Flagstaff, AZ
2 hrs 8 min from Tucson, AZ

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5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

4.5

out of 5

19 Reviews

Guests commonly noted the spacious, well-maintained sites with reliable utilities and clean facilities. Staff friendliness and helpful service were recurring positive themes. Some visitors reported noise from nearby homes and neighbors on busy weekends.

Allison D.

Guide

Reviewed Dec. 2, 2025

Nice clean campsite

The park employee at the gate was very friendly and knowledgeable. Easily found my site. The site was level and the surface is a corse sand that is raked between campers. Concrete picnic table and very elaborate fore ring with multiple cooking levels.

Site45

Month of VisitDecember

Hans V.

Guide

Reviewed Sep. 21, 2025

Cactus place

Nice campground, serene with a large cactus next to every spot. Power and water at the spot, toilets & bathrooms available.

Site48

Month of VisitSeptember

Martin-Charles S.

Guide

Reviewed Jun. 5, 2025

Calm, clean and wide space

We were there for one night. Quiet place all night long. Our camping lot was wide and very clean. The washroom and the shower were very clean. Free hot shower. Picnic table for 6 to 8 persons.

Site16

Month of VisitJune

Kristin C.

Traveler

Reviewed May. 26, 2025

Quiet and convenient

I liked staying here. The sites are spacious and spaced well enough apart from each other.

Sited12

Month of VisitMay

Nicole E.

Scout

Reviewed May. 15, 2025

Love it but…

Nothing on website said gate closes and can’t get back in after 9 pm.

Site9

Month of VisitMay

John R.

Scout

Reviewed Jan. 19, 2024

Clean, quiet, views, friendly, trails.

Spent two nights in January. Facilities were clean round the clock, shower water was hot, staff friendly , and hiking trails directly from the campground.

Siteone night #8, one night #25

Month of VisitJanuary

Erik J.

Guide

Reviewed Oct. 3, 2023

Friendly and beautiful

Very well kept full service campground with super helpful staff. I recommend sites with canopies if you don't have solid air conditioning as it can get hot in the sun and there's very little natural shade. All sites have power and water. There's a dual lane dump station on the way out of the park.

Site52

Month of VisitOctober

Castaway I.

Traveler

Reviewed Dec. 2, 2022

Very nice facilities and very tidy!

This is a very well-kept campground. It is has restrooms and showers. The sites are nice and mostly flat and nicely groomed. The staff here is very friendly and helpful! I really enjoyed it and I will be back. I have a virtual job and I was able to work from this campground with no real issues with network connectivity for a full week.

Site28

Month of VisitDecember

Michelle L.

Scout

Reviewed Dec. 11, 2021

Beautiful!

Beautiful Sonoran desert camping- spacious and clean. Easy access to trails. Fire pits and cement picnic tables at every site. Gravel drives.

Site34

Month of VisitDecember

Justin O.

Scout

Reviewed Oct. 24, 2021

Great camping near Phoenix

Clean, well spaced camping just outside of Phoenix!

Site20

Month of VisitOctober

Tanya N.

Guide

Reviewed Apr. 29, 2021

Peaceful and serene until the party people show up

My husband and I have camped here occasionally for several years and we have always loved it, for the most part. Until fairly recently when it began to get more popular and crowded. People will tend to set up camp almost on top of your site and persist to blast music throughout the night or be extremely loud and even more so, extremely dirty. We have always looked forward to our quiet nights away from usual civilization and would stay awake to hear the coyotes howl, along with the rest of the wildlife. But it is getting extremely difficult to enjoy ourselves lately. I understand that some people like to go party there but why they assume the whole camping area and wildlife want to hear their blasting music all night... Is beyond disrespectful. Besides that, they messes, garbage, and filth they leave behind is horrendous. It makes my heart sad and I can only imagine how it is affecting nature and the campsite itself. If you go on weekdays, you have a better chance of having a peaceful getaway. Overall, it is beautiful and serene. We catch plenty of fish and enjoy some time on the lake with our boat. The marina is accessible to guests and is decently stocked with basic needs and supplies, as well as basic groceries. It's a shame that we are limited on places we can camp like true campers, because others can't appreciate the idea of truly "roughing it" or basic camping. We have built many good memories there and try to enjoy ourselves as much as we can. It is most beautiful in spring months.

Sitenear lake by boat docking

Month of VisitApril

(4) View All

Christopher W.

Scout

Reviewed Apr. 19, 2021

Enchanted weekend

This was better than expected. The sites are far enough apart that you have enough room to spread out. You don’t feel like you are on top of your neighbors. Site hosts are really nice as well, we arrived after the front closed so he made sure we got settled and found everything we needed the next day.

Site14

Month of VisitApril

Paul P.

Traveler

Reviewed Mar. 15, 2021

Exceeded Expectations

Reservations were handled smoothly over the phone by very knowledgeable and helpful staff. Great scenic area! Sites are spacious and set for easy parking and setup. Plenty of room for 33’ Class C with toad Jeep. Will definitely return!

Kiley S.

Guide

Reviewed Dec. 18, 2020

Close to Town, Pretty Sunsets

While I prefer to be further out, sometimes it’s nice to be somewhere with all the services. I have a pretty basic self-converted camper van. Showers, dump station, electric and water hookups here. Gated at night, feels safe. Surrounded by homes but for its proximity to town its sunset views are fab. Close to a Frys and Home Depot. My onlllly reason for 4/5 stars is the surrounding homes have very noisy dogs. But overall this is pretty perfect for being so close to real life!

William F.

Guide

Reviewed Oct. 16, 2020

Amazing facility. Great location.

Well maintained facility just outside of the quaint little town of Cave Creek. Lots of room between sites, which each have a picnic table in a beautiful desert landscape. Campground host and museum staff were all super friendly.

Ellen W.

Guide

Reviewed Oct. 3, 2019

Great for hiking and relaxing

Maricopa County Park in Cave Creek. Very well taken care of.

The park has beautiful hiking trails and a great nature center, which offers activities.

Some hiking trails are within walking distance of the campground, others you will need to drive to.

The campground itself is very clean. It is quiet and the campsites all have electric and water hookups, picnic table and fire pit.

There is an older area, sites 1 through 42, which offers more space in between the spaces. the newer area, sites 43 through 55 are closer to each other, but still doesn't feel crowded.

Site51

Month of VisitMarch

Griffin C.

Guide

Reviewed Jun. 22, 2019

Views of Hot Air Balloons

Big open campground with some hikes nearby. No complaints other than a couple hungry mice at our site.

Chuck T.

Guide

Reviewed Jun. 13, 2018

Abundant sunshine

Nice park,, level sites, spotless bathhouses... Only down side is remote location...

Month of VisitMay

(4) View All

Chenery K.

Guide

Reviewed Sep. 24, 2017

Great for Large Groups

My visit was to the Cave Creek Regional Park (since there's no "official" description of what Cave Creek Rec Area is defined as, and the website link goes to an outdated Maricopa County webpage).

This is another great park in the Maricopa County Parks network, very similar to Estrella or White Tanks in design and layout, in north Cave Creek/Carefree area (take 32nd Street north from Carefree Highway and you basically dead-end into the park. . .

They have a large Nature Center with lots of desert creatures inside including a big fat rattlesnake, gila monster, black widow spider and some scorpions to safely check out up close, plus a big outdoor enclosure for a desert tortoise. The best part of this park is the outdoor theater seating for events and HUGE picnic area with paved parking, shaded tables, and even a basketball hoop. The camping area is the first turnoff, just inside the park, and has an RV dumping station and about 30 multi-use sites laid out in a big loop. One cool extra is that several of the sites have a 16x16 foot pipe corral on them, so you can camp with your horse without keeping him tied to your trailer overnight. They also have horse rentals just outside the park (seasonal, no summer rentals) and several events monthly such as guided hikes that you can find on their online events calendar.

Month of VisitSeptember

(8) View All

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I make reservations for Cave Creek Regional Park campground?

Reservations for Cave Creek Regional Park can be made over the phone with their helpful and knowledgeable staff. The process is generally smooth and straightforward. As a Maricopa County Park, you can also make reservations through their official website. Be sure to book well in advance, especially during peak seasons, as this is a popular destination near Phoenix. For specific availability and to secure your preferred site, contact the park directly.

Are there RV rental options available near Cave Creek Regional Park?

While specific RV rental companies aren't mentioned for the immediate Cave Creek area, the campground is very RV-friendly with spacious, level sites that can accommodate larger rigs. Visitors have reported successfully camping with 33' Class C motorhomes plus towed vehicles. For RV rentals, check with companies in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, which is relatively close by. The campground's amenities, including electric and water hookups plus a dump station, make it well-suited for RV camping. Contact the park office for recommendations on local rental options or search online for RV rentals in Phoenix or Scottsdale.

What are the reviews saying about Cave Creek Regional Park campground?

Cave Creek Regional Park is highly regarded for its spacious, well-maintained sites that provide good separation between campers. Visitors appreciate the beautiful Sonoran desert setting with scenic sunset views. The campground is known for its cleanliness, from the sites themselves to the spotless bathhouses and facilities. Many campers enjoy the convenient access to hiking trails directly from the campground. Some visitors note it has become more popular in recent years, occasionally resulting in more crowded conditions. The park's proximity to the quaint town of Cave Creek is considered a plus, though the gate does close at night, limiting late returns.

What amenities and facilities are available at Cave Creek Regional Park campground?

Cave Creek Regional Park offers a comprehensive range of amenities. Each site includes electric and water hookups, a fire pit, and a cement picnic table on a gravel drive. The campground features clean restrooms and hot showers that are well-maintained throughout the day. A dual-lane dump station is available when exiting the park. The nature center provides various activities and information about the area. Multiple hiking trails are accessible either by walking directly from the campground or with a short drive. Some sites have canopies for shade, which is helpful in the desert heat. The park is gated at night for security, and cell service is generally reliable for remote work.

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