Best Cabin Camping near Crown King, AZ

Gorgeous easy dirt road ~27 miles from i17/Bumble bee. (There’s also a much more difficult trail from lake pleasant that requires very experienced off-roading 4x4). Great food and drinks(alcohol) at the crown king saloon and Mimi’s Cafe. There are amazing camping areas just past the main town, and even all the way up near Horsetheif Basin which is about 7 miles past crown king(requires 4x4). There is also an amazing ~30 mile trail from crown king that leads all the way to Prescott called Senator Highway. This also requires experienced 4x4 and like the trail to Horsetheif basin, there are many areas that are only single vehicle width. Amazing weather all year round, but extremely limited travel available while snow is on the ground.

If the sites had a little more privacy, I'd give five stars. Whenever I take my family, I remind myself I'm not there for the actual tent camping, I'm there for everything else the state park offers. There are about eight small cabins as well. This park offers a much needed break from the Arizona heat in the spring and summer months. The "lakes" are really more like ponds but plenty large enough to fish in as is the Verde River, running through the park. Make sure to go down and take a dip during the warm seasons. They've recently improved the playground for young ones and offer horseback riding as well. Facilities are always clean. If you're tired of camping food, drive down the road to Cottonwood and be sure to visit Larry's Antiques (if you're into that of course).

We stayed at this campground for 3 nights in mid-October and recommend this state park for camping in the Sedona area.

Pros:

-all sites in the Blackhawk Loop where we stayed had a level pad for tents (either small gravel or a wood platform), picnic table, and fire pit (though they could not be used due to a fire ban

-can easily fit 2 smaller tents on the tent pad or 1 jumbo family tent

-good amount of shrubbery in between sites so it didn't feel like you were right on top of your neighbors

-driveways have space for 2 cars if needed

-shower house was fairly clean and had hot showers

-dishwashing sink behind the shower house was a nice perk

-usable cell phone service (T-mobile)

-no tent sites with power if you need that.  We filled up an air mattress using the outlet in the bathroom which worked fine.

Cons:

-sites really vary in terms of how far back from the road they are.  Our site (122 in the Blackhawk loop) was a bit back from the road and had plenty of shrubbery, but some don't have as much privacy

-not a ton of water fill up stations, but our loop was pretty small, so it was fine

-you have to pay $15 per night for a 2nd car, which was a little steep, but given the campground is reasonably priced, this was fine

Came out for some camping, hiking, and fishing with the extended family. Wasn’t much of any of this at this campground.

Camping area was without any shade and made up only a few square meters of the complex. Site caters to the RV crowd, which is just fine as some of our group was looking for this and others rented a nice little cabin along the river. Only problem was that the facility was overrun with the annual crowd, which spent more time glaring and sneering, than minding their own. A few nice souls about, but more of the bitter old timers.

Hiking trails were advertised, but they were short and combined to less than 3km. Many were partial trails as they are undercutting them to add more RV parking. Hiking along the river is possible with the gate code you can get from an employee, but it is overgrown and not suited for small children.

Fishing is possible with a hike of less than a 1km and following the wash makes this a good morning activity for the entire family. A friendly resident was kind enough to hike the trail with us, showing us the waterfalls and fishing holes.

The facilities themselves, were actually quite nice. As expected from a retirement complex, there were daily activities, pool, billiards, shuffle board, and a Wi bowling league. Plenty of coffee, clean restrooms, free WiFi, and friendly staff were to be found every morning at the main lodge. Well maintained roads, cabins, and grassy areas(marked common areas, but locals claim them as their own and attack like rabid dogs if you walk on them), made the place acceptable.

This majestic spot is roughly ~26 miles (from Bumble Bee) of bumpy dirt roads, steep terrain, switchbacks, and the occasional one vehicle bridge. The main city of Crown King has a general store with essentials and a 1 pump fuel station. Prices are steep so best advised to fill up on gas and supplies before heading up. The Hazlitt Hollow campground and Horse Thief Basin Lake are ~7 miles from the main city of Crown King and definitely require a high clearance vehicle (4x4 highly recommended). Horse Thief Lake is truly a magical place and beyond serene. The lake fish species present include Bluegill, Largemouth Bass, Channel Catfish, and Muskie. The weather is very similar to Prescott with an elevation of 6,000 ft. Peaceful, quiet, serene, and soothing all describe this area perfectly.

Great place to RV and camp along Oak Creek! Plenty of space between sites. Ours backed up to LoLo Mai spring and a waterfall (spot 15). But bring your bug spray after dark. Short walk to 3/4 mile of creek frontage with out having to leave the park. Kids have a pool, playground in good shape, DVDs to rent for free and a general store where they can spend money on ice cream ($1.50 for a popsicle). Bring a bike for them to ride around the large campground. Scooters don’t work on dirt roads. We had a 32 foot class C, 30 amp full hook up back in spot. Hs to level about 2.5 inches in the front. Spots are well maintained with table, grill, fire pit. Ours had a concrete patio. Although I saw some RV sites did not. Tent sites don’t have patio either. Dust level is moderate. It’s Arizona, am I right?! They use sprinklers to wet roads and play areas to keep dust down.

We had 4 kids and one large pit bull with us. We were charged extra with the dog. Required to stay 3 nights. $87 a night with tax. Well worth it.

Showers and bath are clean. Laundry has one washer and one dryer working. Did not use them. The creek is the main attraction. No need to leave the campground for entertainment. Will stay again.

Information listed on website is not accurate. Some of the sites you had to park across the road from your camp. Had to pay for WiFi per day and even then it was spotty snd only worked for a short time. No firewood, no fires allow and no fire pits. Not all sites have picnic tables (our didn’t). Sites were right on top of each other (good thing other campers where friendly) Dump station was about 20 feet from our site and sometimes the smell was so bad we had to take a walk. Ask to move site and the host was not very nice in telling us no. When we booked our site we had originally plan for 7 nights on our trip we made some changes. When we arrived we asked to cancel our last night. Which they don’t do and the host was not nice about letting us know this. Besides the misleading information the location was pretty and peaceful.