Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Arizona City, AZ

We stayed here in January 2021 during our visit to Saguaro National Park due to previous good reviews. Classic BLM-style camping, meaning no amenities, dispersed, and pack out all waste.

This campground’s name is quite apt; it is indeed a cactus forest, and a beautiful one at that. However, watch where you step AND where you drive!!!! Some places are hairier than others, but we were very careful for our own safety and for the livelihood of the Saguaros, as young ones are quite tiny and need to be protected. We were traveling with our cat, and we usually let him walk around campsites with us, but decided it was not worth the risk at this campground. I would avise against dogs roaming here as well.

This is a great campground if you are just looking to get away for the weekend or want a quaint, quiet campground amongst incredible Saguaros. However, I personally prefer the BLM Pipeline campground to this one, as it’s more spread out, has less opportunity for cactus stepping, and has a much better proximity to Saguaro NP (especially the East park/Tucson Mountain Park).

We really wanted to like this park. It had some nice features, but elements of it were rather alarming.   

First of all, It's not a resort actually, but rather an unsecured clean rv parking area with hookups and mostly level gravel sites with concrete patio pads. There were only a few sparse trees throughout the property and nothing for shade on the sites. There were no park models, and there were only a few permanent residents. It was mostly transient travelers, which was fine during the high-season, but there was no sense of community at all. 

The park had absolutely no security whatsoever. Strangers wandered into the park at night to use the main dog park from off the noisy main road, Meridian, which the park was located on. We heard of a dog attack related to a stranger coming into the park with their animal. There were no park employees on site in the evening, night, or early morning hours. The amenity areas were all located behind locked key pad entries for a reason. 

It was supposed to be an age-restricted park, but nobody seemed to follow the rules. There were teenagers staying there who had absolutely nothing constructive to do to occupy their time. 

There was a nice pool, a small library, a laundry facility, community bathrooms with shower stalls, and an absolutely tiny fitness room. There was a separate building with a pool table and cornhole.

After dark, the park became something odd. Most people never ventured outdoors. There were occasionally dances that took place in the main amenity area, but other than that, it was practically a ghost town. After management left for the day, all park rules went out the window. Strangers coming into the park. Dogs running around unleashed or tethered outside to trailers. People staying in a hauler, literally like a horse hauling trailer. There was even a police helicopter search where the target of the police search was hiding in a parked vehicle in the park until the police gave up. In general, we felt a bit of unease at night knowing that there was no one even monitoring the property, and there was no security gate. 

Management was a myth. We never once saw the actual park manager. This person stayed in their office and never came out and had zero interest in their guests. The woman at the front desk was quite efficient, but management was non-existent. 

We really tried to make do with the situation at this property, but we can not recommend it, particularly for older people who are more vulnerable to random crime, nor shall we ever return.

I think if you're  looking for a place to winter, this is a good Campground.  

Pros: Very clean, nicely landscaped for AZ, staff friendly, good grocery & dining options nearby. Lots of OTA channels, pool, corn hole, laundry, dog park, activities  etc. 

Cons: pull through was long, but not quite level, WIFI does not reach the pull through sights in the back at all .... and they know it. Couldn't figure out how to hook to their cable. Permit to wash your rig $10 for the season.

Guess that should have been our first clue... they have a season. Sort of winter camp for snowbirds. If that is what you are looking for, it is very nice.

We were in the area to visit friends, dump/pump/resupply after boondocking, and do Taxes. Not having wifi was kind of a big deal for us. Being told we'd have to use the internet in the clubhouse wasn't  going to cut it. Who wants to drag all their personal financial information to a common area?

Normally  it would not have been a big deal, we do have a Hotspot, but at $431 weekly rate, $80 nightly, in this day & age, routers for wifi to the whole park should be a given.

Otherwise we did enjoy our stay here, and met some great people.

8nts, 34` 5th wheel