Cottonwood Campground — Roper Lake State Park
Reviewed Sep. 2, 2020

Close to Mt. Graham

This is, so far, my least favorite of the AZ State Parks. Maybe because of the season, maybe because of all the kids running around wild... All AZ State parks are clean and have hook-ups, water and bathrooms. There is some nice hiking around the lake and Mt. Graham is very close by, so more hiking there. I got there on Thursday afternoon and all was nice and quite and calm. 

They started to come in droves, Friday afternoon. Little kids on bicycles (many, many of them) riding in the roads like crazy people and making so much noise, it was dangerous and annoying. Saturday was more of the same but now we can add intense heat and crazy wind into the mix. I ended up staying in the teardrop, eating an edible gummy and watch the Matrix trilogy (maybe not the best idea, but in the moment it seemed good). Sunday I drove up Mt. Graham till the road turn to dirt and enjoyed the cold and quite. By the time I came back down the Mt. and went back to camp, all those little Kamikaze bicycle turds had left and it was back to quite. 

I have never experienced that much kid chaos at any of the other state campgrounds.

Month of VisitMay
  • Review photo of Cottonwood Campground — Roper Lake State Park by Mindy H., September 2, 2020
  • Review photo of Cottonwood Campground — Roper Lake State Park by Mindy H., September 2, 2020
  • Review photo of Cottonwood Campground — Roper Lake State Park by Mindy H., September 2, 2020
  • Review photo of Cottonwood Campground — Roper Lake State Park by Mindy H., September 2, 2020
  • Review photo of Cottonwood Campground — Roper Lake State Park by Mindy H., September 2, 2020