Gilbert Ray Campground

Nestled among the saguaros is this great little campground. Well maintained sites offering privacy and electricity. Beautiful night sky not far from Tucson.

We were just stopping thru Gilbert Rey for a night and it surpassed our expectations. Very clean, quiet, and situated in a valley full of beautiful cactus. Would highly recommend if you are traveling through Tucson and need a place to stay.

A well maintained and popular campground. Paved roads. Electric hookups. Potable water available. Clean restrooms. Closest campground to the nearby Saguaro National Park.

Super quiet! Dump, water, bathhouse. Beautiful desert setting, 20 mins from Tucson AZ. $35 night

This is our absolute favorite campsite close to home. If you need a getaway or just a clean, gorgeous place to stay, this is it. You will not be disappointed!

$10 for tent only site $35 for site with electricity Requires reservation Reservation website was tricky on IPhone but got it to work. 7 day max stay. Clean bathrooms and water. No showers Easy access to bike trails. About a 15 minute drive to gas restaurants laundry dollar store. Full supermarket is farther.

Awesome location, super close to Saguaro West and the desert museum. Weather was nice too, and there was lots of vegetation and birds (saw gambles quail, cactus wren, thrasher, etc this morning). Campground also has hot water, running water in bathrooms, and great camp hosts. Overall great time.

We like this place, even though it’s somewhat limited in its access to water and sewer. However, that would not keep us from coming back, but their policy of no vehicles over 40 feet total length (end of camper to end of tow vehicle) are allowed anymore. There are plenty of spots here where they could fit no problem, as we did ours, but it’s now a matter of policy of Pima County to not allow any campers in any bigger than that.

Easy to find. Very clean and quiet place. We are in the local Saguaro vegetation. Clean restrooms and a friendly outdoor dishwashing area.

We had a reservation April 25th-April27th 2025 here at this campground. We left a day early, we were staying in campsite C6. We took our kids for a hike on the Brown Mountain Loop trail, after passing the picnic area, we got ambushed and shots were fired by someone in the nearby wash. At that point we ducked, ran for our lives, and it took us about 2 hours to hike the entire trail in despair, afraid, and ready to leave. We got back, packed up our campsite, trailer and left a night early. We called the local sheriff and filed a police report. I know this time of year there aren’t rangers, and very little authority. I think Pima County should know what’s going on, there are people preying on those hiking in the middle of nowhere. 4-6 shots were fired and whizzed by our children’s heads. The lack of presence here brings in criminal activity and we will not be staying again.

This is a great spot near Tucson! Clean quiet spot while you're exploring the area.

Beautiful scenery. Very full campground but everyone is friendly! Nice loop to have kids run around. Can be a lot of traffic, in and around. Not ideal for little ones but still a beautiful place. Clean grounds. Some spaces are tight to get into so be ready especially the one we were reserved. Worth it can’t wait for the rest of the weekend.

This camp ground was awesome. Has electrical hook ups and a dump station down the road. When night time came, the stars were amazing. No light pollution there with unobstructed views of the night skies. Rest rooms were clean and well maintained. Make reservations as this Campground in popular. Camping area ground host was really great. We had an issue with our electric at the sight and he sorted it out quickly. We had a great stay there and will go back again.

stayed for 1 night in December. very easy to reserve online, paid $36/night. neighbors were quiet and respectful. bathroom very clean and well stocked with soap and paper towels. can hear coyotes at nighttime. perfect place to watch the sunset. fires not allowed unfortunately. had water spouts here and there for washing dishes.

Some spots vary is size so make sure your rig can fit. Also some more difficult to back up into.

Great staff and clean bathrooms.

Also many spigots dispersed so filling you tanks or getting water not too much an issue. I used 100 ft of hose to refill

I came here at the beginning of September 2024 and stayed for one night only. My spot has Shore Power (15,30,50), but you need to fill up your water tank before parking your trailer. If you select a site near a water source, that's fine, which I did. All roads are one way, and that's why they called a loop. I stayed at Loop A. Make sure you make your reservation online before going there. I bet this campground is packed in wintertime. By the way, their office is closed during off-season. If you arrive during this period, you'll help yourself locate your campground number. And you can just go online and pay your fees.

This campground is so cool!!! I prefer to be in nature while camping and this is it! You really feel like you’re in the desert. Sites provide some privacy and aren’t right up on each other. Quiet and relaxing. Good accessibility to the NP. I would definitely return.

Enjoyed this campsite and all it has to offer - electrical hookup for our RV, a dump station, several drinking water spigots around the loop, and hiking trails all around. Easy to get to, easy to park and level. Our rig is about 38 feet total. So close to the national park & easy to ride in for hikes or exploring! Would definitely return.

Loved this spot for a night. Practically in the NP, hard to tell the park bounds of Saguaro. Camp hosts were orderly and extremely friendly and available. Grounds were tidy! Bathrooms were clean. Felt really safe as a solo camper. Tent only sites are secluded to themselves. I was in B2 and I’d book that one or B3 if I ever go back. This tent site cluster has a little shade whereas the other two tent sites down the road are pretty exposed.

Only issue with the site was traffic noise. Was woken up by loud exhausts/tire squealing at 3 & 4 am.

No water at the site but there are full stations within the park. For the price, you get a great view and a wide open quite spot.

We made a last minute change in our itinerary and decided to swing through Tucson to check out Saguaro Ntl Park. We had no reservations and arrived after dark, hoping to get one of the campsites for walk-ins (the entire H loop is first come first served). We were surprised to find the entire campground nearly empty and we were able to stay in a spacious and mostly level site in the A Loop with amazing views in all directions and hardly any neighbors.

In addition to visiting the Saguaro Ntl Park west side, we spent the better part of a day at the nearby Desert Museum which was fantastic.

This county park was nicer than many state and federal campgrounds we’ve visited, well worth the $20.

Perfect place to camp with family, Great views, big sites, clean restrooms.

Gorgeous campground, from the saguaros all the way down to the bathroom signage. We stayed for a couple of nights in the A loop, which gave us 30amp service (needed for heat) and plenty of solar. Getting our 27' trailer and full-size truck into the spot wasn't super easy: the campground road is narrow, and we really wanted to avoid damaging cacti. 

Once in the spot, though, we loved it. Our butt faced open desert, and we got a beautiful show each night as the golden mountains went red and faded to black. You're right in amongst the cacti here, which helps you feel like you're IN the desert, even when you have neighbors 30 feet away.

Great access to Saguaro NP's West Side, though this isn't a great campground for biking and only so-so for hiking. Unbeatable at this price or even twice it (but don't tell them that!).

First come first serve rules..didnt apply to everyone equally..I was 3rd in line..but another person in lot was there b4 everyone..they took first 2 in line..then let him go in front of me?? Making me wait almost 2 hours for someone to leave..just be fair people.

We were only able to reserve 1 night here but our spot was perfect!

Beautiful campground,  the desert plant life comes right up to your campground in such a natural way, it is beautiful! We love it and recommend it! It was nice having electricity at a somewhat remote site. The hosts and park employees were very friendly and cheerful and helpful! Paved roads around the site, nice fairly level campsites. We have a 36 foot fifth wheel and a long bed four-door pick up, which made parking a little difficult in our spot, but once we got in, it was really nice.  We played guitar and had some friendly international traveling neighbors come help us sing.

My wife and kids love this place. So do I. Quiet, clean, peaceful. And close to home: we come back every year. Wouldn't miss it, and neither should you.

I dont know why it’s listed as closed for the season. The registration office is closed but campsites are reservable online and are available first come first serve w self pay as of May 16 2022. The closed for the season on Hipcamp appears to be in error. Mostly close together sites but the scenery is gorgeous. Right outside Saguaro Natl Park but also in a county park itself. Nice bathrooms, plentiful water fountains for filling. My site was supposed to have shade awning per county reservable website… it did not. Only a handful of sites actually have shade structure. There are no showers but there is a large handled faucet w hot running water behind the bathroom in C loop you can clean hair off with.