Best Glamping near Clifton, AZ

My husband, myself and our 2 small dogs live in Tucson, AZ. We recently acquired a roof top tent and we’ve been trying out various campgrounds across the Southwest.

Water recreation areas in AZ are sparse, so this place holds a certain appeal. The facilities are nice and clean but if you’re not careful you could end up with only a view of your neighbors. We didn’t stay at the tent cabins, but they also looked nice. I’d come back to stay in the cabins with a group of friends or as a one night stop on the way somewhere else. It’s a great place to stop, swim, shower and hit the road for another adventure. When you haven’t seen a shower in days, they are so beckoning.

Pros: larger sites and further spaced out then your typical RV park. Several sites include a covered picnic table(most in the Gila Loop do not). All sites have water, a fire pit and a table. Also- fishing! $20 a night for non-electric site is a good price since you can take free hot showers in the park. Cell phone service (T-Mobile) and WiFi).

Cons: Most sites don’t have much of a view. Very few trees. Only a few sites are suited for tent camping. Busy park, expect to see a lot of other campers. Hot tub is permanently closed.

Bighorn, NM: great for stopover., As it is right off the highway (Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good

(71 yr olds in 17’ trailer.)

Overall Rating: 3 perfect for a stop over Security: no Usage during visit: light Site Privacy: no Site Spacing: OK Pad surface: dirt Outside Road Noise: some highway noise Through Traffic in campground: no Electric Hookup: no Sewer Hookup: no, Dump Station: no, Potable Water Available: no Generators: allowed Bathroom: pit toilet Showers: no Setting: parallel with creek, just off the highway. Solar: great Insects: none during our visit in April. Host: no Sites: along the creek bed, just off the highway.

Loved it.Great family friendly camping! Very clean and well kept park, beach swimming area is very large and never felt crowded by people!  Plenty of shaded picnic areas, campsites big, and on site bathrooms very clean and showers have hot water and great water pressure! Only downfall was the hot springs was closed, but not necessary when campinge in Arizona!

If you like fishing you mihght be a bit disappointed. you could see a ton of fish around the dock, but sadly none of them were biting or we just didn't have the right kind of bait.We don't come here too often because you have to pay each time you come unless you get a pass. But it's a fun place to swim and fish and be by some water when it's ridiculously hot.

Loved the pool and cabins even though we have a camper

Camped for a week over Christmas 2020 and really enjoyed the serenity in the “non-hook up” loop? Tables, fire rings and grills, and water all available. Site 46 is on the lake which hosts a variety of water fowl. The sites are large with plenty of screening for privacy. I would not stay in the hook up loops which are more typical Arizona State Park Campgrounds offering no privacy with sites usually crammed together. Walking trails all over the place including one that leads up to the Mesa top. There’s a beach,several docks for fishing and a boat ramp. Excellent staff.

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.

There is plenty to do at Roper Lake. Great spots for RVs, tents, and cabins too. This is a popular area so get your reservations in early. The lake was low in December and it was windy and cold, but we made the best of it and enjoyed the views of snow capped Mt. Graham. Campground was clean and very dog friendly. They have a dog park. The have a junior ranger program... fun for the little ones! We did notice that many weren’t following covid protocol in bathrooms and around the campsite. But we had no problem social distancing and keeping to ourselves, even with our loop completely full. We felt safe and comfortable. Your stay also includes access to Dankworth Pond State Park, a 10 min drive down the road. The pond is small, but you’ll catch more fish here. There are also great educational hiking paths with information & replicas of tribal villages. Worth the drive!

Great camping experience! We were pleased with our camping experience. Good amenities. A couple camping areas/campgrounds to choose from within the park. Camping is designed for Rv's it seems but tent camping is easy to do as well. We had a small 'pavilion' type structure at our site over the picnic table which was a nice feature. Camping cabins were also a nice feature of the park we may utilize on our next trip :) We heard about people having issues with excessive partying/noise, but we were there during the week and didn't have an issue with this. Hot Springs were a nice attraction of the park as well.