Best Campgrounds near Chino Valley, AZ

TLDR: Yet another over-hyped dust pit that wants to over-charge for basics. Vanners and those who don’t need hookups for their obnoxious rigs, SKIP THIS PLACE.

I just needed a place to get my senior dog out of the heat for a few days, so I called to ask specifically if the site would be shady. “Yes, all the sites are shady because we keep so many trees.” Riiiight. I’m stuck in a spot with MORNING shade (pretty useless when it’s in the 60s) for the next four nights. I also get to watch people walking through the site and smell the wafting odor of the toilets, which are feet away. I spent all afternoon on the day of arrival buying MORE things to make the next few days bearable for my dog. The “dog park” is like an oversized hamster cage full of wood chips and immediately next to the dump station. No escaping the sh*t, it seems!

When I asked before arriving if there would be any refund in case we needed to leave early, the answer—of course—was no. They don’t give refunds for any reason after the day of arrival. And the mandatory waiver, which specifies we have essentially no recourse or rights once here, would have made me cancel plans to stay. But again, that only came after they had already charged my card for the full stay.

Particularly annoying/laughable are the signs EVERYWHERE telling us all the things not to do—however, management is quick to sell you “add-ons” that are overpriced priced and basic.

Got us caught in an extractive, ugly tourist trap—won’t happen ever again. Just hope I can keep my cool the next few days 😈

Two stars only because it’s in Flag, which is beautiful and fun on its own.

The amenities are nice our kids liked the playground, and the pool was nice to have when it was hot in the afternoon. The pool was absolutely filthy but wasn’t our biggest concern. Staff was friendly to us but didn’t really seem to want to take steps to check on their guests like I see at other campgrounds. The location is decent being close to wineries nearby and Sedona for hiking and such. Other than that it was the single worst camping experience of my life As a seasoned camper… the site they had us at was infested with BITING horseflies… I’m talking like in the hundreds. We kept everything in our cars didn’t leave things out and tried to keep things as clean as we could but they still came in hoards. They were biting our kids and swarming us to a point we went in to ask if we could move up a bit to another campsite to just eat at least, which helped a little but was still pretty aggressive. And look I get it there are bugs in the great outdoors I’ve never had a problem with that but this was not ok cause they seemed aware of it and didn’t take steps to accommodate other groups they wanted to place in those sites. we asked around other sites turns out just the sites on the side we were on aka sites on the water by the j5 side are INFESTED but all the ones on the upper portion of the campgrounds don’t have that problem I assume it’s mostly due to the creek having water that’s running more over there versus being less stagnant. My problem is they are putting people in sites they are very aware of a problem. We overheard staff talking about swarms even. If the flies get like this during specific parts of the season they should warn their guests and make other arrangements. My kids and I are covered in huge painful welts that are bursting caused by the biting flies. The site we had also had a million ant holes but we just avoided those. For the price they expect you to pay for this campground I’d have thought they would take guest concerns on his more seriously. If u have kids just choose a different campsite the amenities are not worth it. We had an option to escape in the listed clubhouse that would have been nice too but it still says“closed” stating cause of covid on it… had I not been responsible for organizing my larger group to be there I would have left on day one… we probably spent another$60 just on fly traps from their general store(which they charge$7.99 each) Sedona and northern Arizona has a bunch of great campsites this is not one of them. Avoid at all costs.

5 miles off of 69. Close to the center of Costco, Walmart, downtown Prescott and the Valley. This is a transient center. Loud music all day and night. Friendly, but you get it if you understand. 

Mountain biking trails are pretty sweet. Well-groomed and challenging. Better trails than Thumb Butte. Lots of variation with mountain lanes covered with shade and wide open. Tough yet giving. 

No cell reception,  T-Mobile and I were lucky to get a single bar. In this area, the sites sit in a valley.  No chance. 

If you are okay with the above, move down to the next site to the south. Less frequented by the transient, Quieter.