Best Cabin Camping near Benson, AZ

We stayed here in early summer and were so comfortable in both an RV site and cabin. Wonderful. Staff great and the solar structures above most RV sites were great at keeping us cooler and happier! Best cabins we’ve seen in KOA Places. Nicest pool in a Koa. Super hot tubs and picklevall court. Wow. We’ll be back!

Tent camping, Cabins, RV Camping, ton's of hiking from various levels of difficulty. Kartchner Cavern's is the main attraction here. Call ahead for availability and tickets. But don't miss all the other amazing hiking trails and nature center. Also check out the other astronomy programs they have from time to time. Tuscon is a "Dark Skies" community that offers amazing views of the night sky.

What can I say. This place was my #1 KOA in 7 months of travel. We stayed for 3 1/2 weeks over Christmas and New Years. We cannot wait to come back. RC track, 2 pools, 2 hot tubs, fire pits, game room and great mail service too. We met amazing people here who became great friends. Fresh citrus trees on your site. The BBQ restaurant was great too. Clean laundry facilities.

We've been here about 6 weeks with 6 more to go.  The park is excellent, well-maintained, friendly staff, scheduled activities for those who want to participate.  There's a heated swimming pool and hot tub and, of course, 'The Lakes', which are really small bodies of water that have campsites around them.  Our spot is towards the back at a raised elevation and it is very quiet.  They have Casitas for rent---they are beautiful inside and out.

General: Large KOA campground laid out in typical RV style with no privacy/separation between sites. There is every imaginable kind of site here from tent sites (with water and electric) to back-in sites with water and electric to FHU sites, some with covered sites to sites with private pet areas or play structures. There are also cabins sprinkled throughout. 

Site Quality: Most sites are gravel; some have grass. All are level. Amenities vary per site. Ours had a round table with four chairs (in lieu of a picnic table) 

Bath/Shower: In okay condition but then I saw a sign that they were scheduled to be remodeled a few months after our stay. 

Activities: There are so many offerings including two pools, a hot tub, a fitness center, corn hole, putting green, basketball, and bike/surrey rentals. Also a daily “schedule of fun” with daily classes including Zumba and yoga, arts and crafts, bingo, etc. 

Other amenities: On-site restaurant (delivery to your camper available), laundry, little lending library, pet wash.

This campground is located in a less desirable part of Tucson with very few (if any) grocery stores, restaurants, etc. nearby. There is nothing scenic about the area and the campground is located on a busy street so you will hear road noise (and an occasional train). While we appreciated all the amenities, we prefer campgrounds with more privacy and scenery. This was a last-minute reservation when our plans changed and worked for an overnight stay.

While site parking is a serious challenge unless 25 foot and under the park is fantastic on most levels.  Beautiful grounds with kind staffing that are most helpful.   Wifi is one of the problem areas here.  Their "free internet" is a serious joke and the high priced Wifi setup is so slow it's criminal.   We opted for making our Comsumer Cellular phones "Hot Spots" which works very well.   Palm trees and flowers everywhere with great pool and hot tub that are kept spotlessly clean.  All the amenities you could ask for even Pickle Ball courts.  The nearby adventures are fantastic with desert and cool mountain top adventures aplenty.   I highly recommend this park.  The five month stay rates are great at just under $4000.  Propane delivered to your door and all aspects of this operation are kept so clean it squeaks.......With the help of friendly neighbors we parked our 35 foot Toy Hauler--took an hour--serious obstacle coarse to parking--palm trees at curbs being a problem.

When spending time on the road many times you will find campsite after campsite that is welcoming but not quite like home away from home. But when you drive through Tucson, there is a mecca filled with winter bird campers and long term campers which create a home away from home.

With only tent sites available on the facility, we were fortunate to find a site, however when we arrived we were so excited by the facilities we extended our stay by a day.

Office staff immediately greeted us and let us know about the facilities, which happened to feature a mini golf course, an indoor events facility, 2 swimming pools and hot tubs, an indoor recreation area and multiple on camp fire chinineas. In addition there was a fishing pond and dog park area.

Each of the 4 campsites were considered to be regular campsites instead of upgrade sites but when we arrived it was the most delux sites we had encountered along the way.

Pad sites were large and the first to actually accommodate our large tent and the ground was u like any we had seen before at a site. The soft mulch was similar to that of a modern day playground and made for a much more comfortable sleep over the two days we were there.

In addition to the standard picnic table of most facilities, this campground offered a kitchen facility at each campsite including a large copper sink and food storage as well as electricity and overhead lighting in the pergola designed to allow shade from the harsh Arizona sun.

It was the closest thing to glamping we had encountered by far!

Then as an added bonus, fresh fruit trees abounded ready for the picking. The front desk informed us of the allowance to pick what you want as everything was in season! An amazing treat on the road!

We spent many hours at the pool facility, enjoyed amazing neighbors, used the wifi and even did a load of laundry while in Tucson. The facility really was like a home away from home on the road.

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If the scale went higher we would rank it more Bunnies. There were no real areas we could see for improvement. Staff was very accommodating, long term and short term residents of the facility were amazing and this was a desert oasis like no other!

1-17-2021 site 33. Talk about clean! This is by far the cleanest campsite I have stayed at. The camp host are really nice and really do care about the camps. Nice and quiet at night. Electric and water at the sites. And some cool Arizona fire rings. We weren’t able to go into the caves because of our small child but there is a hiking trail which was nice. Great weekend getaway. Site 33 is right next to the cabins so are kinda close to there fire pits when relaxing but all the other sites look perfect.

The owners/managers are very friendly and kind. They told us where else to explore down in this region.  Their bird feeders and birding area has way more birds than just the Ramsey Cyn preserve.  We saw lots of birds and very close. Also saw lots of turkey and Coos deer.  They are also knowledgable about their birds.  The wild life and birding opportunity is the reason to stay there. They charged full hook up but have only electric. We did not get a discount at Ramsey Canyon Preserve for booking at the Cabins, though we were told otherwise. The Cabins are not affiliated with the Nature Conservancey.

The perfect place to beat the Tucson heat! Located in Mount Lemmon, you’ll be nestled under the pine trees. Bird watching in this area is aplenty, as is stargazing. Head to the town of of summerhaven for pizza and cookies at the cookie cabin. Make reservations via recreation.gov

This has been our least favorite campsite in the Arizona State Park system so far in our travels. We shortened our trip and headed home early because it just wasn’t for us. I’ve listed pros and cons below, but to give you an idea of our camping style, we are a family with young children and a dog. We head out in our 24ft trailer at least once a month for a long weekend totally immersed in nature.

Pros: -Close to Tucson -beautiful drive (topography and scenery) -although we didn’t partake due to covid there is a nature center & gift shop, market, boat rentals, and a ranger stations -primitive cabins with a great view -water and electric and on site dump station -bird viewing seemed awesome if that’s your thing. We aren’t birders, but thoroughly enjoyed the variety of birds in this area. -Junior Ranger program with fun prizes... posters and wooden badges. Although the rangers didn’t seem interested in engaging with the kids and just tossed them the prizes.

Cons: -the campground was not clean at all. Dog poop was everywhere and litter was strewn all over the campground. Our site alone was full of bits of broken plastic, paper, dog poop, and cigarette buds. It was disheartening that neither the rangers nor the campers take pride in this campground. We did our best to leave our site much cleaner than we found it. -while the sites are more spacious than an RV park, they are not as spacious as nearby karchner or roper lake. There is not any privacy. -many sites are not level. Our parking spot was level but nothing else. Leaving us without a great spot to put our chairs and table. -the traffic is non stop. Even up until midnight we had trucks driving through the campground. (This may have been campers or Border Patrol as we saw them driving through every couple of hours) -there is a lot of day use foot traffic through the campground. Between that and full campsites, we didn’t particularly feel safe outside of our campsite in terms of covid. Very few were wearing masks in congested areas.

With that being said, we will not be returning to this campground.

Patagonia Lake Campground is well maintained. Very busy in the Winter months so you must make reservations well in advance. The visitor center is great if you have children, they have all kinds of activities for kids, and a junior ranger program. The RV spots are full hookups no sewer but there is dump station there on the premises. They have tent camping right by the lake as well. Cabins will be completed in October 2018. Staff very friendly and the grounds are well maintained. One of our favorites.

Full hookups. We stayed a few nights visiting Tombstone just down the road. Check out their website for amenities. Spoke to a few RV'ers that stay there for the winter. Benson is 15 minutes away and has a Walmart, Safeway, auto parts, etc...

We have been to the caverns several years ago did not know about the campground.  The camp sites are spready well apart which is nice, they are all paved and well set up and maintained.  The facilities were all great.  The hiking trails in the park were awesome providing adventures and scenery for all levels.  We used the park as a base while we toured the caverns and hiked in the park as well as to visit other nearby sites such as Sierra Vista, Bisbee, Tombstone and Benson.

Great getaway for a weekend

We stayed here once in March of 2020. Must have Spring Break - tons of families, tons of kids, dogs and a few old timers. There's a couple short hikes from the campground that were OK. Lots of birds, saw a couple javelinas. 

There's some boat rentals and a small visitor center/general store. We had water and electric at our site. Sites can be pretty close together with boundaries undefined. Shore of the lake difficult to get to in places because of thick vegetation. East CG is maybe a little less busy than the west.

Lots of places to explore nearby - Tubac, Madera Canyon, the Town of Patagonia, Ramsey Canyon near Sierra Vista, which is a good place to resupply and other more far flung places like Tombstone.

It was to have a lake by the campground which is a little unusual in Arizona. The land is different than the Sonoran desert of Tucson but still cool. We probably wouldn't go back unless it was offseason.

This State Park is an amazing place. I’m lucky enough to live in Benson, AZ where it is located. The Cavern tours (if you are lucky enough to get a reservation during COVID) are spectacular! There is a short movie about the Caverns discovery back in the 60’s which is well done & very informative. The Rangers are knowledgeable & the tours are wonderful. The Discovery Center is well designed. The Campground has around 60 sites & the views of the surrounding mountains are incredible, especially at sunrise & sunset. There are a few pull through sites. The bathrooms are very good clean (when opened due to COVID) & the camp hosts friendly & welcoming. There are well marked trails for novice hikers & more seasoned hikers. Put this on your bucket list! You won’t be disappointed!

We stayed here for 5 nights at the end of March, 2023. The campground has paved roads, showers, dump station, water & electric hookups and the usual campsite set-up.

Three trails are located within the park. The campground itself is large, sites somewhat spaced apart and the grounds have a lot of stubby trees which were leafless when we were there.

A large visitor center is near the park entrance and the cavern is up the hill behind the center. We reserved and did the Rotunda/Throne Tour. It was very cool and our 1st cave tour. I would suggest reading the rules for tours before reserving. Access to the cavern is very controlled as far as how you get in and what you can take. There's quite a story about how this park came into being.

The location of the park allows quick access to the I-10 and the town of Benson, about 12 miles away. Other interesting sights are within an hour or so of the park.