Best Tent Camping near Mount Lemmon, AZ

Camped 14-15 March 2021 - Minutes from the hustle and bustle of Tucson and Oro Valley, but surprisingly quiet. Catalina State Park Campground has two campsite loops- A and B, as well as the Ringtail group tent site. I tent camped at site A16, which was a decent distance from the neighboring sites. The loops and parking slips are asphalt paved. Familiarize yourself with the site map, because most of the campsite numbers were on posts set back a distance from the road, making it tough to locate some of the sites, especially if you’re arriving after dark. Campsites are typical desert sand, with mesquite and palo verde trees. I had plenty of location options within the site for setting up my tent, but had to choose carefully, as to not sleep atop an access hole to the round-tailed ground squirrel burrows that are in abundance throughout the campground. The site had water, an electric hook up (which I didn’t need), a nice sized thermoplastic polyethylene coated metal picnic table (easy to clean), a raised BBQ grill and a beautiful view of the Santa Catalina Mountains. The restroom and shower facility in loop A was clean and adequate, with three toilet stalls (one of which was ADA compliant, as well as two showers (one being ADA compliant). Signage on ADA shower stall indicated adaptive equipment (shower chair, etc.) was available through the camp hosts. An open breezeway between women’s and men’s restrooms includes a sink, soft drink machine, a small “Take a book, share a book” cabinet, and informational bulletin boards. A posted sign indicated wifi password for the campground, but whenever I tried to connect, I got a prompt that it was unavailable. I had a strong Verizon signal. Per another sign posted in the breezeway, the 48-day Bighorn Fire of June 2020 burned almost 120,000 acres / 25% of Catalina State Park. Because of vegetation loss, the Canada del Oro wash (along the main road between the entrance/ranger station and the campground) is prone to flooding when it rains at higher elevations. The wash has been running black with ash, and for longer periods of time than before the fire. The ash coats the sand, preventing the rainwater from being absorbed, creating the potential for flash floods. The Romero Trail to Romero Pools has been closed since the fire, with signs indicating reopening in May 2021. There are still plenty of miles of beautiful desert trails to enjoy. There are two large grocery stores and two gas stations within five miles of the campground.

Loved this spot for a night. Practically in the NP, hard to tell the park bounds of Saguaro. Camp hosts were orderly and extremely friendly and available. Grounds were tidy! Bathrooms were clean. Felt really safe as a solo camper. Tent only sites are secluded to themselves. I was in B2 and I’d book that one or B3 if I ever go back. This tent site cluster has a little shade whereas the other two tent sites down the road are pretty exposed.

Nice, clean campground, along the Mt. Lemmon Highway. Better for tent camping as there are beautiful, individual walk-in sites that are fairly private.

Tons of rec opportunities right from camp: hiking, mountain biking, etc.

Nice RV hookups but great tent sites as well. Desert vegetation so don't count on much shade. Best in the fall or spring. Summer is Hot!

Me and my family did a 1 day tent camping trip to Catalina state park. And we all absolutely loved it there. The bathrooms are super clean, the staff was very helpful. The camping sites are great, lots of space. Would definitely recommend a trip to Catalina state park.

We pulled in after dark and were gone by morning! We wanted somewhere to see the stars! It looked like a super clean park with paved roads, plenty of RV hookups and bath/shower house. We did tent camp. I wish we could have stayed longer to see the caverns, but this was just a pit stop on our road trip!

Tent camping, Cabins, RV Camping, ton's of hiking from various levels of difficulty. Kartchner Cavern's is the main attraction here. Call ahead for availability and tickets. But don't miss all the other amazing hiking trails and nature center. Also check out the other astronomy programs they have from time to time. Tuscon is a "Dark Skies" community that offers amazing views of the night sky.

Camping at Kartchner Caverns was wonderful! It seemed like the sites were geared towards RV campers, but tent camping would work out ok as well. The camping area was somewhat open, but the sites aren't too close together that you feel uncomfortable. The obvious draw is the caverns which could occupy a couple day of a persons camping trip. Because of this attraction, it does get rather busy but camping is still not disturbed too much.

Great spot between Tucson and Mount Lemmon. Far enough down to stay warm in the winter. First come first serve and it was pretty empty at 5pm.

This is mine and my family's favorite place to stay when we go to Mount Lemmon. You can park right near your campsite and this site is only 5 miles from Summerhaven(the closest town). It is also a very beautiful area with springs and creeks everywhere!

May, 2019 we visited Saguaro National Park near Tucson AZ. We had planned to hike into the park at one of their few campgrounds but the office informed us that there was a controlled burn and recommended we not stay in the park and suggested Gilbert Ray as a good option. Gilbert Ray Campground is a great location for visiting the National Park. We arrived to find the office closed for the summer, so self serve option was available, at 10.00 per night for tent camping you can’t beat the price. The bathrooms were clean and as an added plus they have a dishwashing station. We stayed in the A loop. There are no showers and the campsite it all gravel making it next to impossible to put a tent stake in. The sites are fairly close together, for example, I could hear our neighbor unzip his tent. All sites have picnic tables. Cell service is good.

This campground is walk up only with over 60 sites to choose from. Several sites are double or group size. This is the highest National Forest campground on Mount Lemmon and your best bet for cooler temps during the summer. Parking can be limited with only a few of the sites having adequate parking for trailers up to 22 feet. Your best bet for a good site for the weekend is to get there on Thursday or early Friday.

Staying at Rincon Country East has proved to be a fantastic choice for us.  The level of silence both day and especially night is a bit of heaven.  Thoughtfull staff and campers makes for a most pleasant stay.  The mountain views greet us constantly here.  Mount Lemmon is a short drive or bike ride away with snow capped top and great food offerings.  Skying is possible for those with young legs.  The bike situation in Tucson is the finest we have encountered.  Our electric bikes can run forever on the well paved trails all over the county.   Tucson is an easy town to drive around with good shopping and dinning.  So happy with our snowbird park pick!

General: Large KOA campground laid out in typical RV style with no privacy/separation between sites. There is every imaginable kind of site here from tent sites (with water and electric) to back-in sites with water and electric to FHU sites, some with covered sites to sites with private pet areas or play structures. There are also cabins sprinkled throughout. 

Site Quality: Most sites are gravel; some have grass. All are level. Amenities vary per site. Ours had a round table with four chairs (in lieu of a picnic table) 

Bath/Shower: In okay condition but then I saw a sign that they were scheduled to be remodeled a few months after our stay. 

Activities: There are so many offerings including two pools, a hot tub, a fitness center, corn hole, putting green, basketball, and bike/surrey rentals. Also a daily “schedule of fun” with daily classes including Zumba and yoga, arts and crafts, bingo, etc. 

Other amenities: On-site restaurant (delivery to your camper available), laundry, little lending library, pet wash.

This campground is located in a less desirable part of Tucson with very few (if any) grocery stores, restaurants, etc. nearby. There is nothing scenic about the area and the campground is located on a busy street so you will hear road noise (and an occasional train). While we appreciated all the amenities, we prefer campgrounds with more privacy and scenery. This was a last-minute reservation when our plans changed and worked for an overnight stay.

Campground Review

Catalina State Park is just a bit outside of Tucson Arizona, and more importantly, Saguaro National Park.  We used this State Park as a jumping-off point for our trip to Saguaro and it was a pretty good location for that.

Oro Valley is a modern area with tons of shopping and dining options right outside the park.  This was very convenient for us to pick up McDonalds or grab something we forgot from the store.

The Park itself is stunning.  Right up against the mountains, the views are gorgeous, especially at sunset.  We were in campsite #A-23, which was AMAZING. Perfect for tent camping, the space is large and flat.  You could easily fit several tents in this site.

We drove around campgrounds A and B and found the sites to be much more spaced out in A.  Most of the sites were occupied by RVs, which made for a very quiet and non-stressful night!  

Our site had electric hook ups and a water faucet.  Also a BBQ grill and picnic table are provided. Wood fires are NOT permitted in the park.

Overall we LOVED this place.  We will for sure return in the near future!

The Park also has a lot of amazing trails, including a very short hike to see Hohokam ruins which were so cool to see!!  The kids loved this hike and the views were amazing.

Product Review

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time - at Catalina State Park we had the opportunity to try out the Wenzel Camp Quilt (or 2!).  These quilts are so great! Our old camp blanket had to be carefully folded in a particular way and then zipped up. These quilts come with stuff bags and you can just stuff the quilt in them when you are done!  I now keep these in the car with me at all time, because you never know when you need a picnic blanket, or something to keep you warm!

For us, it is a no-brainer to just toss one or two of these in with your camping gear.  Here in Arizona, the temperature drops fast once the sun goes down. Although it was over 100F during the day, it was still FREEZING cold in our tent at night.  We were so grateful to have these quilts to snuggle up and keep us warm!

Campground Video

https://youtu.be/yw_dUs9b7aM