Best Equestrian Camping near Lake Havasu City, AZ

I had been camping in August by the Colorado River in Arizona, a mistake that time of year. About midnight I was too hot to sleep, and the mosquitos were eating me alive. I decided to move, and an hour later I rolled into Kingman, Ariz. to get gas. I saw a sign for Hualapai Mountain Park, and, knowing nothing about it, I took a chance. Within a couple of miles, the temperature had dropped and the air was fresh. I rolled into the park about midnight, somehow found a camping spot amid the towering Ponderosas and slipped into a deep sleep in the cool air. In the morning a friendly ranger reminded me to pay, nodding in understanding at the story of my escape from the desert. The campground itself was beautiful. The big Ponderosas kept the site cool well into the day--it is almost at 8,000 feet! Better yet was the short hiking trail I took the next day to a promontory on Aspen Peak with a stunning view east across Arizona. A memorable stay.

A stay here is like a stay right in the mountains where you can see everything around you and truly appreciate the atmosphere. Up at this camp anyone can come and enjoy stretching out and enjoying a day or weekend away at a reasonable rate with good company all around you. There wasn't a single camper that I met here that wasn't pleasant, maybe it is that mountain air.

When I visited there were not any events going on here so it was a typical day in the middle of the week, there were still plenty of other campers here but it did not feel overwhelmingly full by any means. I opted for a site without water because there were plenty of spigots around so I didn't figure it was a must have at that moment. My site was pretty basic with a picnic table out of stone and a grill but it was nestled in the mountains and seemed like my own little piece of happiness. Only $17 for my site seemed more than reasonable and I felt like I had plenty of room to really spread out.

This campground has a little piece of history being a part of the jobs created during the Great Depression. At that time they put people to work etching out paths through the mountains, some of those are still in use today and as you hike along the many trails here you are hiking along the path with such an appreciation for the beauty that you tend to forget that this once was a place which reminded people of hope in the midst of tragedy through minimal wages.

While there I checked out the Aspen Peak trail which was awesome and I recommend it as a must see!!

TIPS:

• Sites are first come first serve so get there early on busy weekends.

• Check their site for special events, they often host off road events here because of the terrain in which case sites fill quickly.

This is a great place to get away from the heat in Bullhead City. There are lots of dry tent camping sites scattered throughout the park, or you could rent a cabin or even a teepee. There are rv sites with full hook ups if that's your preference. We went tent camping in the pine basin section there's no water so we brought enough for the trip. In our area I only saw port a potties scattered throughout the area. There are a lot of deer wandering around and they're not shy, a doe walked right up to me the first morning while I was making coffee. I have been told there are Elk wandering around too but I didn't see any. We enjoyed it there and will be going back. The fees are reasonable $17.00 a night for camping, you can buy firewood and ice at the check in station.

Gorgeous area set in mountains covered with mature pine trees and huge granite boulders just 10-minutes off I-40. The Pioneer RV Campground consists of about 10 sites terraced into a hilly area accessed via a steep, one-way but well maintained road. The sites were way too close together for privacy. It is a good think we liked our neighbors, because we essentially camped with them for 3 nights. All that said, it was worth it to have immediate access to the Potato Patch Loop trailhead and the area in general. A nearby bathroom was a porta-potty, but there were reasonably clean pit toilets at the trailhead. We were happy to have full hook-ups in our 17-foot Casita RV. We arrived on Sunday and a nearby group area was noisy (music, talking) until about 9PM. We were happy to have access to the town 20-mins away, where we were able to get parts for an rv plumbing repair.

I enjoyed my stay here. The terrain is steep, with mountain pines and boulders. This was a welcome change from the surrounding country, as was the lower temperature that comes with higher elevation. It was about 10 °F cooler here than in Kingman when I visited in June. Tent camping is first come first served. I had no problem finding a good spot on a Friday night.

There are two areas to the campground. The front section has paved roads and is mostly cabins with some tent sites mixed in. There are real bathrooms here, though they were in need of a cleaning when I visited. The back section has dirt roads and all tent sites, with a few porta potties. The roads are steep in places, but nicely graded. My front wheel drive passenger car traversed them without difficulty.

It is very quiet and dark here at night. Flashlights are a must, as are water vessels: there are no water spigots in the back section. I also saw what I am 80% sure was a mountain lion crossing the road at night when I was walking to one of the porta potties.

The only real downside I noticed here was the flies. They don't bite, but they buzz around you constantly and can get pretty annoying.

This is a Mohave County park near Kingman AZ. We had a rough start, but it ended up being a reasonable place to stay. And the hiking was excellent.

A couple days before we arrived, someone called to tell us our site was not going to be ready. The caller wanted to move us across the road to their RV park. We explained we had a teardrop trailer, and they moved our reservation. When we arrived, we realized the RV park was a big parking lot (albeit with a nice view) but there were no bathrooms. It is, however, a full hookup park. If you don't mind camping within a few feet of your neighbors and have a bathroom with your unit, this is a good option. That doesn't work for a teardrop with a living compartment with a futon that folds down into a bed plus a kitchen on the back. A trip back to the office led us to a site across from group camping with a nearby bathroom. (There were two other group sites deeper in the park. All group areas looked nice and were appropriate for large groups.)

Showers were up above where we camped, but we quickly found out these were locked units that were only for people in some of the cabins that didn't have showers. Oh well, there was a wellness center in Kingman with a gym/shower. That's a good option for occasional showers because we planned to stay multiple nights. Cabins looked nice from the outside, but we didn't see the inside.

There were a couple camping areas that had nice sites but the road to get to one area was steep and deeply pitted. We would not have wanted to take our trailer too far into those areas. Tent campers, campervans and truck campers would be okay. I don't think they intend for people to tow anything to those spots, but they were very rough (even for a car).

But....we found an excellent hiking loop and were able to do a 7 to 8 mile hike in varied mountain terrain. There is a good map online that shows all the hiking options. On our way to the trailhead, we passed the area where we had made our reservation. I'm not sure why they waited to call us until a couple days before our stay because this area was not even close to ready for camping. Not sure if it is new or just being redone.

Wildlife in the area - deer and elk. I was running on the road in one direction while an elk was headed for the campground in the other direction.