Cave Creek Regional Park

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(since there's no "official" description of what Cave Creek Rec Area is defined as, and the website link goes to an outdated Maricopa County webpage).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

Great for Large Groups

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

Abundant sunshine

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

Views of Hot Air Balloons

Cave Creek Regional Park was our first experience in Maricopa County parks and it's an amazing park. The park is very well-kept and brimming with ways to enjoy the landscape. 

  

Our site was level and spacious with easy access for our 50' of truck and toy hauler. The bathrooms and showers were always clean and we never encountered a line or wait to use them, even in peak season which was a surprise. 

  

I'm thoroughly impressed by the park system. It's very well run and drive-throughs by the county deputies multiple times give an added sense of safety and security. Multiple camp hosts keep things running smoothly. 

  

The price point for partial hookups would normally be a negative in other places. But given how wonderful these parks are, the free showers, dump station, and the popularity of the park system, it's reasonable. 

  

The reservation system can be cumbersome if you're trying to piece together your stay since you reserve specific spaces and you sometimes have to move within the park to get the nights needed for your visit. But it is doable but definitely reserve well in advance since they are in such high demand at certain times of the year.

Fantastic park and campground

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!

Close to Town, Pretty Sunsets 

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.

Peaceful and serene until the party people show up

Clean, well spaced camping just outside of Phoenix!

Great camping near Phoenix 

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.

Very nice facilities and very tidy!

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. 

Friendly and beautiful

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