Best Cabin Camping near Fort Mcdowell, AZ

This KOA had some really awesome features and gives you most of the convenience of a hotel with the ability to bring your RV and your personal items with you without the hotel price tag. The KOA features a year round heated pool and jacuzzi. The pool area was fenced and had some chairs, tables, and what appeared to be covered grills. The pool is right outside the office building which also has bathrooms and a small convenience store. If they don't have what you are looking for the is a major grocery store about 2 miles away. This KOA is in town. Don't come here if you're looking for a remote destination. The other side of the exterior fence has houses and businesses.

Each site has a picnic table and some had a stand up bbq pit. The spaces are really close together and separated by a row of rocks. Up front they have 4 little single room cabins that say there can sleep 6 but have no bathrooms. There are some upgraded RV spaces that have outside grill areas with sinks and counter space.

The spaces have very little shade if any! Be very aware of the weather when you visit. It'll be hot during the day and very cold at night depending on the time of year. You will be randomly assigned a space unless you pay the fee to have an assigned space.

The KOA features a small fenced playground with a tetherball, swing set, merry go round, and a table with an umbrella. On the other side of the KOA there is a small fenced dog run. I also saw a stand alone sink near one of the loops. There is an activity center if you're hosting a group event. It had a few standing bbq pits outside. At the entrance was an air pump for filling tires.

Camped here for two nights and enjoyed it very much. Sites are large and well maintained. We opted for a site with electrical and water ($30 vs $20) so there were mostly RVs. Large pull through with fire pit and bbq grill and metal picnic table. Many have views of the Superstition Mountains. We reserved ahead of time which is good as the campground was full when we arrived. There is overflow camping if no sites available. Bathrooms were clean and one had showers and filtered water, a nice bonus. I only saw two bathrooms (there might have been another in the newer loop but we didn’t explore that) so they were not real close to our site. Several hiking trails directly accessible from the park. A variety of ranger led programs but unfortunately none during our stay. You do have to put up with the annoying train whistle from about 10-6 from nearby Goldsfield “Ghost town” but otherwise it is probably the quietest campground I’ve ever stayed at. Only issue we had was with over-eager volunteers who yelled at us and told us we couldn’t park outside the showers. (We had moved from our site to use the showers after our hike and before leaving).

Reservations are necessary, as many people grab these spots, and often for long stays (14 day maximums). Due to extreme heat, I recommend visiting in the fall. Winter, spring, and summer can tend to very uncomfortable.

Loved the variety of hikes here, anything from easy to medium-difficult. The individual sites are pretty small and hard to put a tent anywhere but the paved drives into each nook, much of the ground is covered in small plants and cacti. There's a picnic table/bench thing at each spot, plus a fire pit grill (which is the only place you can burn). Bathrooms and showers are on site and worked great during our stay. Bring plenty of water to hydrate with!

Campsite 36

Spent the night close to home as my dog had never been camping and I wanted to see if he liked it (he does!).

Booked online about two weeks prior for a Monday night stay and most of the campground was available. When I arrived about 75-80% was full, so good idea to book ahead.

Some of the sites are super close together, especially on the newer loops (sites 75-104 and 106-134). They'd be ok with a trailer, but I'd feel cramped in with my tent. The main part of the campground where I was is a bit more spread out, with vegetation between most of the sites.

My site had a big pad for the tent that was raked, a picnic table, a fire ring/grill, easy access to the hiking trails, and a great view of the mountains.

Beware during the winter as the wind can come up during the night and morning hours, so stake your tent down well. It got up to maybe 15 mph, so not super strong, but typical for the edges of the valley.

Staff was friendly, and the bathroom was clean. I didn't use the shower.

One specific note about my site 36: don't book it if you'll be taking a 5th wheel or really any trailer. The access road is narrow and the parking spot is at a 90° angle so it'd be very difficult to back into. Better to pick one of the pull thru spots. If you have a campervan or are tent camping then it's a great spot.

I'm glad I came here. Can't wait to come back! This would be an epic place during a full moon, or really anytime it's clear to see the stars. Too bad it was cloudy my entire stay.

Lost Dutchman is a beautiful campsite however the sites are a little closer than what we prefer. We were in site 98 which was right in front of the Superstitious Mountains with no obstructions. The site was a pull thru but was barely long enough for our Toyota Tundra max cab and 20-foot trailer. A picnic table, fire ring and a couple of camp chairs is about all that fits at this site. If you want your trailer door to be lined up with the table, it will require you to pull the trailer through and park your tow vehicle behind it. Firewood can be purchased for$8 cash from the ranger station and ice for$6. If you want to use the well-maintained bathrooms or showers don’t stay in the 75-104 loop since the bathrooms are almost a half mile away via a trail that I would not recommend without closed toe shoes. We saw Quail and tarantulas on the trail. Although there were multiple signs to beware of rattle snakes we did not run into any. There was also a dog park near the main restrooms and showers. There is a dump station on your way out of the park that was easy to access. Goldfield Ghost Town just down the road, although a tourist trap it is a must see. There are multiple gift stores, a restaurant as well as a hamburger/ice cream stand and bakery, a train ride and Mine tours. Just a little farther down the road is the Superstition Mountain Lost Dutchman Museum which is more than just a museum full of old artifacts. There is a great gift shop and 15 acres of mining artifacts, artwork and a movie site Chaple used in a 1968 western called Charro which started Elvis Presley as well as the Apacheland Movie Barn used in multiple westerns. They even have a working 1914 Stamp ore mill which was used to crush boulders that had small pieces of gold within them. When enjoyed our two-night stay at Lost Dutch and spending the day learning about the history of this little community.

Beautiful views here, they have both water/electric sites plus dry campsites, all have views with picnic tables and fire ring grill grate. It had been 110 days since rain when we first arrived, so no fires first couple days, but they got rain yesterday 12/10/20 so we can have fires again. This is desert camping, the birds and everything in desert is happy about the rain. Goldfield old mining town is across the street, worth a visit as well for old western town lovers 1883 I believe. Route 88 will carry you through beautiful curvy mountain road over to canyon lake and Tortilla flats, well worth the drive. Lots of hiking from Lost Dutchman State Park. We have seen rabbits, roadrunners, doves, quail and a number other birds, early morning and evening hikes you will see plenty of creatures feeding off the desert. The Saguro cactus are incredible.

This place is not the type of resort you "girl's trip" to. It's the kind of resort where you plan to spend all day on the lake and come back to a shower and a real bed. You can choose to camp in your tent/RV or start in the motel.

The resort offers:

• breakfast, lunch and dinner
• watercraft rentals
• two boat ramps
• convenience store

There is a $10 fee to use any of their land. Even if you're just launching your boat. Emergency personnel have a base on the property which is comforting. Cell service is scarce on the lake but works great close to the resort. Only gave the resort 4 stars because I prefer camping around less people.