Best Glamping near Coronado National Forest

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!

Most sites have a lake view. Seems like Arizona takes good care of her parks. Lots to do in the area.

The State of Arizona has done it again with the Kartchner State Park. The Campiste is beautiful in a way only the desert can be and Kartchner Caverns is breathtaking. Recommend making reservations to ensure you get a long enough spot and get a spot in a tour of the caverns.

Camp host was friendly and helpful. Bathrooms were clean and worked well. Nice that the trailheads are just a few min walk from the campgrounds. The foothills loop is easy and takes you all around the area without being too challenging. Incredible stargazing experience- no lights after 8pm I believe and Kartchner Caverns State Park is a designated dark sky park by the International Dark Sky Association. Glad to live only an hour away from this Arizona State Park.

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.

-This was a great little spot! There is no light pollution besides maybe a neighbor that forgot to turn off their lights. -Kartchner Cave is walking distance with a great observation center even if you don’t take a tour into the caves. -Couple stores within 20miles for any forgotten items. -Spots a very large and spaced well. -Restrooms/showers well maintained *Shower water pressure is less than desired. -Visited Tombstone, AZ as well. About a 30min drive. **Watch your step, we came across a Diamond Back Rattle Snake about 4 feet from our picnic bench. ***It’s Arizona, summer times will be hot, our temp in June was 108.

The campground is in the Sulphur Springs Valley at an elevation of 4200 feet. Located in the shadow of the Mule Mountains it is only a little over eight miles from the quaint, mining town of Bisbee. Old Bisbee is a charming, mountainside town that is often referred to as little San Francisco. The historic downtown has restaurants, shops and galleries that also make it an artists paradise. The area has four seasons with a pleasant, dry, high desert climate. The mild winter is sunny with temperatures that are usually in the sixties with desert nights that want to make you snuggle. Bisbee has been voted as having the best year-round climate in Arizona. Whether you are on a vacation, extended stay or just for the day, Desert Oasis Campground is a great place to have a wonderful time!

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.

Wow, what an awesome AZ State Park! If you live in Arizona and haven’t camped here you are doing something wrong! It’s a quick weekend getaway from Tucson or even Phoenix. The camp hosts are friendly and stopped by to say hello, leave us maps, and give us the run down on a few rules. Kartchner is a designated Dark Sky park, so they do a great job of making sure everyone keeps the lights off after 8pm so you can enjoy the stars. It really is an awesome perk of the park! The campgrounds are immaculate. Like the cleanest and most well taken care of sites I have ever seen. Everything was perfectly raked and swept prior to our arrival. *We didn’t use the restrooms, showers, or dish washing stations due to covid, so we can’t report on those. We did notice family restrooms, which is always welcomed with little ones! We walked around the loops, like we always do when camping, to make note of the best ones for future trips. There were too many to count! All the sites looked spacious (for state park standards), clean, and had plenty of mesquite trees (perfect for learning how to climb trees for the first time!) The hiking trails are aplenty and dog friendly. The caverns are a quick 5 min walk from the campsites. We didn’t visit due to covid, but in the future plan to visit the caves, discovery center, and cafe. Although the campsite seemed to be most occupied by snowbirds, it really is the perfect destination for families too! We can’t wait to go back!

Spencer Canyon Campground is a nice campground approx. 20 miles from Tucson up the General Hitchcock Highway(often called the Catalina Highway or Mt. Lemmon Highway). It is located approximately 3 miles past the Palisades Visitor Center and the entrance is marked well by a big brown sign as you approach. Phill and Denise, the friendly campsite managers will give you advice and suggestions about campsites that suite your needs. The photos attached to this review are from campsite#6, which is close to the Phill& Denise’s camper location and the highway- yes, we did hear road noise. Most campers chose locations deeper in the campground, but we were there on a busy weekend so most of those“deeper” campsites were occupied. All sites have a large bear box, concrete picnic table, charcoal grill and an iron fire pit. The picnic area of the site is level but the whole campsite is NOT so pick your location carefully if you want to pitch your tent on a flat, level plot. We did find some firewood left over from prior campers but recommend bringing your own, dry wood if you have room in your rig. In my observation, there is a rather nice, vessel toilet house strategically located to serve 6- 7 campsites. There is also a water faucet to be shared by 6- 7 campsites. Campsite#6 has its own faucet so others might also. There are 60+ campsites throughout Spencer Canyon and I would suggest that those“deeper” in the campground are more desirable. It should be noted that most of the campsites are close together, that is, about 50-75 feet apart, hence, my“... if you don’t mind company” comment. It should also be noted that Phill& Denise are really nice and helpful, the campsites are well maintained and clean, it is only 22 miles from Tucson and less than 6 miles from the mountaintop hamlet of Summerhaven, and is situated at approximately 7,900 fee of elevation. Thus, Spencer Canyon Campground is a great getaway from the Arizona heat and close enough to Tucson for a 1- 2 night weekend.

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.

Camping at Kartchner Caverns was wonderful! It seemed like the sites were geared towards RV campers, but tent camping would work out ok as well. The camping area was somewhat open, but the sites aren't too close together that you feel uncomfortable. The obvious draw is the caverns which could occupy a couple day of a persons camping trip. Because of this attraction, it does get rather busy but camping is still not disturbed too much.

So very very pretty! The giant mountain is a perfect backdrop for camping! It's super dark at night, so sky viewing is great!

Even if you don’t want to camp here the caves are worth the drive from Tucson for the tours and to hike around the grounds (gift shop is good too). The trails are not long but have some good views and give a good sense of cactus country without long grueling hikes. The campgrounds are a short distance to the caves and museum. The campsites have sparse shrubs and nice views, not huge sites but not awful, lots of water. Birding is great certains times of year.

Great caverns and the hosts were very friendly. Very clean restrooms and showers thanx to the DOC

I can’t lie it got 5 stars on the bathroom/showers alone!!! Beautiful scenery great places to hike. Rangers and park staff are so friendly and great with kids. Park hosts are all business as I’m sure they see all kinds. we really only interacted with them upon set up. No dog run but dogs are welcome you just have to keep them on a leash. Spacious showers good water pressure. If you’re in a tent I did notice a sizable platform area. Lots are fairly level. We had some wildlife visit or site. We also took the tour of the caverns. It was good but extremely humid so beware. It was about 30 min drive to Tombstone I think.

Kartchner caverns is an incredible place in the desert. It’s worth it to take the cavern tour! Beautiful views from the hiking trails. Large campsites.

My family and I have taken our travel trailer here several times. Bathrooms and showers are clean. You can visit the caverns, hike and bike ride. If you forget something Walmart is one exit over.

Nice place to camp. All roads are pave and sites are level. The caverns are amazing.

We chose Kartchner Caverns State Park for our 1st trip out. Very nice Campground with the Cavern tour to add to the adventure. Campground Host’s were very helpful and courteous.

We pulled in after dark and were gone by morning! We wanted somewhere to see the stars! It looked like a super clean park with paved roads, plenty of RV hookups and bath/shower house. We did tent camp. I wish we could have stayed longer to see the caverns, but this was just a pit stop on our road trip!

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.

Beautiful scenery and a lot of awesome places to hike. Rangers and park staff are so friendly and helpful. Our Park host was super nice, but definitely keep things in order. Dogs are welcome you just have to keep them on a leash and pick up after them. The Caverns are the main attraction, please make your reservations early.  At different times of the year different parts are open, mostly depends on the bat migrations.  Caverns are a must-see!  It is close to Tombstone and other attractions.

April 18-20, 2019 Enjoyed this park. Very clean. Site had electric and water. Restrooms with showers, flush toilets and heat. Elevation 4,639. We did not get to go on the cave tour.

I typically rate campgrounds as they fit into 1 of 5 categories. This campground will be rated as a Regional/Public Park — Grounds that are on public lands, and have a cost for entry and/or overnight stay. Ratings for this category are based on: Cost: 5 Allure of the park/lands: 4 Amenities as available (bathrooms, showers, hookups, etc): 5 Layout and privacy of sites: 4

We wish we had more time to spend here! We used these grounds as a jumping-off point to visit Tombstone (meh), Bisbee & Lowell AZ along with a few other small ghost towns. We also headed to Chiricahua National Monument on our way out of here, though it is a trek(about 90 minutes). The area is remote and has a beautiful mountain backdrop. We weren’t able to explore the caverns at the State Park but will on our next visit! We’ve heard the tours fill up daily, so make reservations for your planned stay.

The price is very fair at $30/ night for electricity and water hookups. The showers and bathrooms were always clean. The layout was quite nice with plenty of personal space.

Worth mentioning, we were there in January and it was very, very cold. We were unaware just how cold AZ could get. This was our awakening.