Houston Mesa Campground

We've camped at Houston Mesa Campground several times and consistently have a fantastic experience. Here's why we give it 5 stars: 

Amazing Staff: The camp hosts are incredibly friendly and helpful, adding to the welcoming atmosphere. 

Spacious Sites: We love the ample space at each campsite, allowing us to park comfortably and spread out for a relaxing stay. Our kids adore playing in the dirt and exploring the trees. 

Nature's Playground: The campground's proximity to swimming holes, hiking trails, and the charming town of Payson provides endless opportunities for exploration and adventure. Serene Setting: The abundance of trees creates a peaceful and shady environment, perfect for escaping the Arizona sun. 

Clean Facilities: The bathrooms are well-maintained and clean, ensuring a comfortable stay. 

Dry Camping Friendly: We appreciate the ability to dry camp at Houston Mesa, making it a budget-friendly option. 

Heads Up: While Verizon service isn't optimal, it's manageable. Additionally, campsites near the freeway can experience some road noise. However, the convenience of having Home Depot and Walmart nearby outweighs these minor drawbacks. Overall, Houston Mesa Campground is a fantastic choice for families and outdoor enthusiasts seeking a comfortable and scenic camping experience. We highly recommend it and will definitely be back soon!

• Great location
• close to Phoenix
• close to Payson
• close Tonto Natural Bridge
• close to undian ruins, creeks, hiking, and fishing
• we came the day after July fourth Independence Day! Many of the holiday campers did not clean. Leave no trace! The Campgrounds stewards slow to cleaning campsites.
• overall camp host are great and helpful and the campsites nice

• Great information
• app easy to use
• Great updates

Deer in campground in trees! The bathrooms are immaculate! Very friendly people!

We enjoyed a couple of days car/tent camping at this multiuser campground . We parked on a private shaded pad next to a fire pit and table. Very quiet (mid week). Showers were closed but the bathrooms were spotless. Camp host on grounds firewood for sale. Close by Payson.

Great campground. Next to Payson. Opens up lots of opportunities. Biking & hiking. Excellent and well maintained camp sites. Each site is surrounded by trees. Private.

Well-spaced sites, clean flush toilets and sinks. Pretty with trees. Close to road. We could hear traffic, but it didn't impede our good time.

Campground sites are well spaced with lots of privacy. The dump and showers were out of service due to mechanical problems. The only downside is trying to find enough level sites when they are busy. The campground is also very close to Payson so you will hear Street noise if you listen.

This is a horse campground. Most sites have a small corral. Sites are decent size, easy access. Several sites are a pull through semi circle. Staff is very helpful and kind. Campground is very clean and cared for.

• Peaceful and relaxation!
• Some hiking, read a book, and close to Payson.
• my android had service to check in with my family.
• Clean Campground and Bathrooms.
• 2 miles East on Houston Mesa rd. Away you can drive to shofly Indian ruins.
• 2 miles north on 260 is creek on the West side of the road.
• Cons, rode noise route 260
• Overall I still give the Campgrounds 5 stars.

We stayed in Mule 20. The site was perfectly level. Got a good nights sleep and breakfast.

We spent 4 nights in #3 Mountain Lion loop. Pull through site that our 30' toy hauler fit nicely in. Would be tight for anything larger.

Really beautiful place with many trees. Convient toilets and showers. Showers are $3 for 6 minutes. We didn't use them. Lots of bear proof dumpsters.

Hosts were friendly and not intrusive. Firewood available for $8 a bundle. You can get the same firewood at the Circle K in Payson for $6.

Water fill and dump station at the campground entrance and several water hydrants throughout the campground.

The only reason I'm not giving this place 5 stars is because of the road and aircraft noise. It was pretty loud during the day but we didn't have any trouble sleeping.

Would definitely come back here.

This is a well maintained beautiful campground. Lots of trees and space between sites. The only negative is a big one! Like big trucks going by the nearby highway in to Payson. Earplugs help, but not completely. Lots to do in the area. Tonto National Bridge down the road and also Indian Ruins just a few miles past the campground.

Well maintained with good privacy between sites. Enjoyed the close proximity to Payson with all the amenities. Also, close to the Mongollon Rim. Reasonable cell coverage with Verizon.

Nice little campground. Spots are close together but a decent amount of nature separates you and gives you some privacy. Bathrooms were clean.

Close drive to home and nice setup that makes you feel like you are in the woods. No hookups here at all but nice clean bathrooms to use. Dump station was closed while we were here and it looks like they charge to use is when open. Overall we like it here and will come back again.

These spots are fairly large and allow for some large rigs and is located right on the edge of town. No hook ups though but you can fill your tanks on site.

Nice campground with lots of space and trees between sites. Pull throughs and pull-in sites. Hosts are helpful. Recreation.gov app said there were no sites available on a recent Sunday, but a drive through found 3 of every 4 sites open. The web site was more accurate. The dump station costs $10, regardless of camping here or not. There IS a lot of traffic noise - and there's a Home Depot across the road from the entrance. Less than 10 minutes from Payson.

Overall the campground was fine. Spaces were large enough and the site I was in was pretty secluded. I had problems with people getting loud and staying loud until 3 am. Obviously whoever is supposed to be taking care of that was not aware or just didn’t care. I literally screamed 3 times “Please be quite” to be avail. Also you could totally hear the traffic from the nearby road for the entire night. It’s was a minor annoyance but still an annoyance. It was a trip for me and my sister and the first one we had ever been on together. It would have been much nicer had the camp host done their job and the road noise was more quite.

Great spot for tent camping. Awesome for beginners and young families. Bathrooms were clean. Fellow campers were respectable. Site overall very clean. Would go again.

Very clean and quiet lots of hiking areas. Short drive to water

Beautiful country with a lot of campgrounds down the road. Close to creeks and water wheel and some hidden hiking gems.

We were able to escape the valley and up to beautiful Payson for an extended weekend. This campground was very well maintained. There are bathrooms and showers, drinking water available and many hiking trails throughout. Most spots had a good amount of space between the other. Most are pretty level. There are a handful of pull thru spots but most all are back in. Each spot as a fire ring, paved driveway and picnic table.

We really liked this camp ground, we just didn't like the experience. The spaces are spread apart and there is plenty of room. But you can have up to 10 people, 2 car and ONLY 2 tents. So be prepared to sleep in groups I guess, we weren't. Also the camp host was nice but seemed to cater to the people she knew, she drives by A LOT and checked up on us almost every hour, we go to camp to get away, not be bothered. She really did not make us feel welcomed but we really did like where the camp site was so we're just hoping a new host is there if we ever go back.

We had a great time here, sites are good size and well kept! Amenities were in great condition and our favorite day use river spot is 15 minutes away👌🏻 A+++

This site is well kept and spacious. And the closest site to Water Wheel which is about ten miles away and Arizona’s best kept secret. I usually set up camp the afternoon before and get up early to make the drive to Water Wheel and get in a day hike. This place has extraordinary water falls and swimming holes. I have probably camped at Mesa Houston more than any other place in Arizona just so I can hike Water Wheel and have never had a negative experience. Payson is beautiful and this camp site is near amenities and great hiking spots.

This campground has really nice sites, that can accommodate large trailers. Each horse site has two large corrals, a fire pit, and picnic table.  There is water locations around the campground as well as bathrooms. Across the street is the main non horse campground, there is pay showers if needed and an amphitheater there. The trails weren't my favorite, a bit rocky, but were not bad either. The campground is a great location near Payson.

Campground Review

We LOVE Houston Mesa!  This is our second time staying here, and we had an even better time this time then last time  (and we had an amazing time last time, so that was hard to beat).

Located just 1.5 hours from Phoenix, this is a super easy getaway from The Valley.  Houston Mesa Campground is also right off the main highway of town, so if you forgot something (or just want McDonalds instead of hot dogs) you can find civilization about 2 minutes away.

This time we went up with friends and stayed at sites Black Bear 4 and 5.  These sites were PERFECT to book together, since they made one huge space when connected.  We had 3 families, each with large tents, and had plenty of space. We will stay at these same sites next time.  The bathroom is also right next to site 3, so it was easy to walk to.

Bathrooms are clean and have flush toilets.  There are showers available at a central shower building, but we did not use those.

Each site comes with a picnic table and a fire pit (complete with BBQ grill topper).  I also found the sites to be freshly racked on arrival, so that was nice.

There is also a great nature walk at the park that you can do with young kids.  Every few feet is a sign describing local animals and plants.

A short 15 minute drive away is the Tonto Natural Bridge State Park --  a must see in the area! Beautiful and easy hike to see a absolutely gorgeous natural wonder.

Product Review

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time - at Houston Mesa I was testing the GrubStick Deluxe Kit.  

Wow. Wow.  WOW. This set is a GAME CHANGER for campfire cooking.  We have been using dinky little forks forever and having to buy new ones every few trips because they get bent out of shape or burned up.  This kit will last you FOREVER. They are so well made!

This kit includes two grippy telescoping handles, and then a ton of accessories (2 fork toppers, a cage for whole S’mores, a cage for burgers, a small metal rod to make bacon cups, and a large metal rod to cook dough). There are also 4 other accessories, like hot pags and cage openers that are thoughtful additions.  AND they come in their own mini duffel bag!

My friends were seriously blown away when they saw our set and were asking so many questions about it.  My favorite part was the dough rod, because we made delicious campfire cinnamon-sugar crescent roll cylinders!!

5 Stars for GrubStick, can’t wait to try out new recipes!

Check out my video review here: https://youtu.be/JPNznJ7wApE

So grateful for the showers. Love this campground.

All paved driving and campsite parking except equestrian area no hookups they have places to fill water and to dump. Restrooms and showers nice a clean.