Best Equestrian Camping near Cottonwood, AZ

The boss lady and I are full time and have stayed here multiple times. The staff and park are always amazing. The sites are level and most have a nice layer of rock on them.  There is an awesome pool and clubhouse, pickle ball courts, playgrounds and trails to explore. You are only 10 minutes from Cottonwood 30 minutes from Sedona 30 minutes to Prescott and an hour and a half to Phoenix. Passport America gets you 6 days at about $20 a night. Verizon and AT&T work awesome here. The laundry works on an app on your phone so no quarters to carry. Only downside is I-17 is way to close constant road noise when you're outside.

We pulled into our spot at Dead Horse Ranch as the temps crept below freezing. This was our first night ever in a campervan, and we were feeling very fortunate for scoring the last site with electricity. 

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It snowed in the night (February) and we woke to discover that the bathhouse was heated with free hot showers. This, combined with dishwashing stations (again with hot water) and friendly campground hosts, made for a lovely stay at Dead Horse Ranch.

The only downside was the lack of privacy between sites - fine for van or RV camping, but not ideal for tenters. 

There are a couple of nice trails in the park, one leading into Old Town Cottonwood - try Old Town Cafe for their flaky croissants! Dead Horse Ranch is about 30 minutes from Sedona and fantastic hiking, which we took advantage of all three nights we were there. 

Bottom line, this was not a wilderness experience, but Dead Horse Ranch provides nice sites and great amenities, and you can't beat the convenience of the location. 

We preferred the Red Tailed Hawk loop to all the others, and really liked sites 57 - 64 for the views and access to trails.

The forest was closed in Northern Arizona so I decided to camp out at Dead Horse Ranch SP.  I was pretty pleased overall with my trip.  My campsite was comfortable and private enough, considering how close the sites are at this campground.  I had some shade trees to help keep my travel trailer cool but definitely needed to run the AC all night in order to stay comfortable.  The RV sites here have fresh water and power, but no sewer.  There is a dump station at the park entrance that is easily accessible when both entering and exiting the park. I enjoyed fishing, hiking, and bike riding while I was here but had to limit my outdoor activities to the morning hours due to the heat.  

One afternoon I went into old town Cottonwood, which is only a couple of miles from the park.  It's a great place to visit if you're into antiques or wine tasting.

Dead Horse Ranch State Park is a perfect place to stay if you want to visit, Montezuma Castle National Monument, Tuzigoot National Monument, Old Cottonwood, Red Rock State Park, Jerome and the many Sedona attractions. Montezuma Castle and Tuzigoot are pet friendly although if your pet doesn’t like stairs Tuzigoot may be a little more difficult walk for them. The price of one ticket covers both National Monuments and Tuzigoot is only 4 miles from the campground. Within the campground, there are three lagoons and miles of trails to hike or bike. The bathrooms are well maintained, and the showers had great water pressure. We were in site 91 which was a large site and level, but the metal picnic bench needs to be replaced. Brush between the sites adds privacy. Staff and the camp host were all very friendly and helpful. Firewood can be purchased for$8 cash from the camp host. The dump station is on the way out of the park is easy to access. Overall, we enjoyed the park. It was very quiet and a great location to multiple attractions.