Best Dog-Friendly Camping near McNary, AZ

This is really a Park Model Resort that has about 25% of their sites set aside for RVs. The RV sites are scattered throughout the park but they have tried to group them together as much as possible. The sites are pretty level, really wide, and fairly deep. There is a concrete patio with each site. Sites are covered in cinders which are a bit of a pain. They present a somewhat soft surface which is like walking in about 6 inches of soft sand. Almost all the sites have a tree planted right at the front next to the road. Some of the trees are a bit wide which really makes getting into the site difficult. Even though the sites are wide the RV parking area is between the patio and the sewer connection which is about 11ft wide. When you combine that with landscaping and patio covers on some of the park models and getting in some sites can be real challenging for a larger rig. We have a 40ft motorhome and have been to this park probably 8 times. So far we have made it in and out but with some new scratches and a bit of maneuvering. Cell service is pretty bad here. We have Verizon cell phones which usually worked for phone service but sometimes cut out. We have Verizon and AT&T hotspots. AT&T worked the best but not fast enough to stream anything most of the time. There is Wi-Fi offered for a fee but we have not tried that. They also offer cable TV which I believe is free. They have a couple of dog parks, nice common areas, laundry, and a small gym. They have some other clubs and activity rooms but all of those have been closed due to Covid.

I have been coming up to the White Mountains since I was a kid. Rainbow campground has been our go-to spot for camping. There are 3 loops that are FCFS. The rest of the sites are reservations. The sites all have picnic tables and fire rings. There are full bathrooms throughout the area and pay showers when is not covid. Big lake is a short drive from the campground, where you can rent a boat, fish from shore and a small store with supplies. There is always wildlife around, especially skunks, so watch your pets. The sites are laid at where you don't feel like you are right on top of your neighbor. None of the sites in Rainbow have hook-ups, bit there is a dump station down the road. There is another campground for full hook-ups down the way.

If you didn't know it was here you wouldn't ever guess there was a campground. The only signage is a "dead out" fire sign. There are very few fire rings established so plan to build your own. It looks like they've done some logging or clearing in the area and there was plenty of down wood on the ground to use. There are no bathrooms so plan accordingly. Plenty of trees and shade. Very secluded but the roads on the way in from both Show Low and McNary were in decent shape. This is a hunting area so we did see quite a few people hunting. Biggest thing with this is don't wear a brown fur coat and try to look like an elk. We went on a moonless night and it PITCH BLACK. I know it was overcast but I have to imagine with the amount of tree coverage even a clear night wouldn't be very well lit on the ground. I wouldn't call this ideal for larger groups or units. There were only a few spots where I think you could have parked more than 2 tents or anything larger than a pop up camper.

We camped here in the off season so there wasn't a whole lot of activity around us, which was good.  We were there at the end of October and the weather was great.  We stayed in the Redhead Loop in site 9 and it was a really nice site.  We had a lot of space and decent privacy.  Site 10 would have been perfect since it sat right at the lake.  The showers were clean and good pressure.  They are very dog friendly and even have a little kiosk with some supplies for dogs that you can borrow as well as a jar of dog treats.  We bought firewood and it was harvested from dead trees in the park.  A little pricey but it burned longer than that gas station firewood does.  Show Low is a nice town and has everything you need.  It was near Halloween and they had some scary scarecrow competition going on.  We did not have a cell signal for some odd reason.  We have T Mobile and usually have good coverage.  Not sure what was going on with it.  The lake was very pretty but we didn't go out on it or anything. There is a nice trail to hike around the lake.  Dogs are allowed on it.  We didn't do a whole lot of activities while we were there.  Just a relaxing long weekend.