Best RV Parks & Resorts near Payson, AZ

The Thousand Trails Verde Valley RV Resort is a lovely Thousand Trails RV park located in Cottonwood, Arizona in the Verde Valley. The park is very well-kept and maintained and the staff is friendly and helpful. The premium sites are unbelievably huge in size and have upgraded FHU. The views from them are worth the extra $5-7.50 per night alone! They are level and gravel which makes parking a dream! The amenities here include pool, sauna, community room, shuffleboard, volleyball, basketball, tennis, mini golf, hiking trails, game room, pool tables, horseshoes, ping pong, dog runs, etc. The park is located just down the road from Cottonwood and the historic downtown district. There is a lot of things to do nearby including hiking trails, wineries and vineyards, shopping, historical sites, state parks and more! The only downside we have found to this park is the Wifi. Our signals have been pretty spotty here. This is definitely one of the nicer Thousand Trails parks we’ve been to and we will certainly be back. 👍🏻

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Verde Ranch RV Resort in Camp Verde, AZ offers a pleasurable stay with several top-notch amenities, earning it a 4-star rating. 

Here's a breakdown of the pros and cons: 

Pros: 

Resort-Style Amenities: This resort boasts impressive amenities, including a sparkling pool, a well-equipped rec room, close proximity to sightseeing attractions, paved full hookup sites, and easy access to the Verde River. 

Connectivity: Stay connected with reliable internet access. 

Variety of Options: Choose from RV sites, cabins, and covered wagons to stay in and be sure to play a friendly game of pickleball. 

Cons:

Highway Noise: Be prepared for some road noise from the nearby I-17 freeway, especially at night. 

Arizona Summers: The Arizona heat can be intense during the summer months, so keep that in mind when planning your trip, swim when you can at any of the local swimming holes! 

Cost Factor: Be aware that Verde Ranch RV Resort falls on the pricier side compared to other campgrounds in the area. Overall: Verde Ranch RV Resort is a great choice for those seeking a comfortable and amenity-rich camping experience. However, the highway noise, summer heat, and higher price point might be a deterrent for some campers. 

Recommendation: If you prioritize comfort, amenities, and proximity to attractions, and are comfortable with the price and potential for noise, then Verde Ranch RV Resort is a great option. However, if you're on a tight budget or seeking a more secluded and quiet experience, you might want to consider other campgrounds in the area.

This is part of the Encore/Thousand Trails network (although anyone can use it).  They do offer a 20% military discount.

The resort has spacious RV spots with extra room to park your vehicle(if towing). Each spot has a nice concrete slab with a picnic table. The Small trailer, tent camping sites are very big and have a lot of distance between them. Staff are always patrolling around keeping everything nice and clean. Trees are everywhere providing shade. A nice breeze is always blowing and there is a creek down behind the resort where you can cool off. if you're looking for a great relaxing place to stay I highly recommend it.

Close by is Jerome and Sedona for things to do

This is a hidden gem Thousand Trails campground for us. So many amenities. The off leash dog park, pickleball court, and hot tub/pool are just a few to name that we use! On the weekends they have a wonderful food truck that also serves espresso drinks and fresh pressed juice! Bathrooms are clean and showers are pretty big. Full hookups at most sites as well! We have stayed in both the premium sites and the regular and have enjoyed both. Pool was closed this last visit for renovations but they say it should be open any day now!

The Sedona View RV Resort is a really clean and safe Park. The Staff is friendly and help you any way they can. They have Full Hookups with 30 & 50 amp service. They do charge a KWH fee for electric for a monthly stay. However their monthly charge is NOT high like other Resorts in Camp Verde.

They have a shower and laundry house. As of March 2021 showers are still closed due to Covid 19. Laundry is open.

Most sites are level but there are some on the outer parameter that you’ll have to work a little magic. Inner sites are fine.

If you like hiking, this is right next to the National Forest with a trailhead right in the Park.

Quiet at night. Watch the moon rise over the mountains.

This place is huge! Nestled in the red rock country of Arizona, this Thousand Trails campground offers a scenic and tranquil escape. The sites are well-spaced, and the amenities include a pool, hot tub, 2 dog parks, hiking trails, river access and clubhouse. Its proximity to Sedona, Jerome and local wineries makes it an excellent choice for those seeking relaxation and exploration.

This is just a basic RV Park that is nestled in amongst older trailers. The RV part is in the middle section and on either side is the trailer park. So don't expect much in the way of conveniences other than the provided water, electric and sewer. There is decent Antenna service and Wifi so I did not need their cable TV. It is less than a mile from the shopping at Tlaquepaque. It can easily be walked to as well as continuing your stroll to uptown Sedona shopping. As far as RV spots in the Sedona area, there is only two within the area and this is the only one that seems to have spots available.

Verde Ranch was an amazing stay for us. The Customer Service and Hospitality was truly why we came back. All the amenities one could ask for. But what made our stay here awesome was the proximity to everything. Hiking, backpacking, off roading, and of course access to all the cool places in Flagstaff and Sedona.

Verde Ranch RV Resort did it right. This is where we will always stay for our Sedona adventures.

This is now one if my favorite RV Parks. We have stayed in so many RV Parks that make you feel like a can of soup on a grocery shelf, but not this one! The spaces are nice and big! I think all spaces are full hookups, but they price the space according to size, whether it has trees, and whether it is along the river. We took a cheap space with none of the above, but it was still great! We could see some mountains and enjoyed our view of the trees. The park seems well cared for. My husband used the laundry facility and said it was nice. We didn’t use any other amenities, but they have a pool, spa, miniature golf, and sometimes offer food socials in their recreation area. There was a rather large population of ants, but nothing annoying. We will be back on our travels up I-17!

This RV resort is a short drive from Sedona, Cottonwood, Jerome, and Prescott. The staff is very friendly and accommodating. We were there during the Thanksgiving holiday and only have one gripe. When we called they advised us that we could rent a fire pit at the store, but when we arrived they were all out and put us on a waiting list never to hear from them again. It was cold and windy in the evening so a fire pit would have been extremely useful. Aside from the fire pit everything was great. I wouldd recommend this resort to friends and family and will definitely be going back.

Stayed here for two weeks. This campground is nestled behind some hills right next to the Verde River. It’s a beautiful setting with a huge variety of sites. There’s a mix of full timers and daily/weekly visitors. The entire staff is very friendly and helpful. I can’t say we met a bad neighbor either, and most were super nice people.

We stayed near the pool lodge. The pool and hot tub were very clean. There is a horseshoe pit, tennis courts, and basketball courts that didn’t seem to get much use. Still, nice to have for people staying longer term.

The only irritation I had was the speed limits. I understand the reasoning, but getting in and out of the park was a pain just because it took so long to drive 5-10 mph for 1-2 mile stretches. Most of that drive is through uninhabited areas, but I think Thousand Trails is just covering their rears for liability sake.

Oh, and internet is almost non-existent. I had a T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon phone, and all were pretty much worthless most of the time. We paid $15 for a week of WiFi, but ended up asking for a refund as it was even more unusable than our phones. Still, you can only ask so much from a campsite when it gets far enough off the grid.

So, overall a great experience, and would definitely love to stay there again in the future.

We decided on a whim to head north for the weekend. This was our first dispersed camping experience with our new RV.  We didn't know where to go and this was the first place we tried. 

There are lots of places to park, but many are a bit 'rugged' in trying to get to. We found a great place that suited our needs.

Here are the Positives: 

• Uncrowded. We were literally the only people there. There were 5 other RVs that people apparently had parked long term. Some had stickers on them indicating they were in violation of the 14 day stay policy. Interestingly all were moved out while we were there.
• Close to town. You're only 5 miles out of Strawberry so pretty convenient if you want to head to town for breakfast or if you need something.
• Strong 5G cellular signal on ATT. We got 120Mb/s speed there which was awesome.

Negatives

• Right off Highway 87. Lots of road noise. This bothered us just a little. 

• Big drop off on turn-in. We have a 39ft rig and the backend bottomed out when we pulled in. Keep that in mind if you have a big RV that tends to ride close to the ground. 

Overall I'd say this is a good place if you are just trying to get out of the heat and you enjoy going into town. It doesn't seem too popular so maybe less crowded than others?

I typically rate campgrounds as they fit into 1 of 5 categories. This campground will be rated as a Basecamp — grounds that offer a comfortable home base that you’re happy to return to after a day of exploring the surrounding area. Ratings for this category are based on: Value to cost: 4 Overall grounds: 4 Utility of sites (hookups, layout, accessibility): 3 Local Attraction Proximity: 5 Reservation Process/Ease of Getting a Site: 5 Amenities: 5 Customer Service: 4 Cleanliness: 4

Verde Ranch RV Resort is a newer RV campground located about 30 minutes South of Sedona. It offers lots of amenities including a big, lovely pool, laundry facilities, a decent sized workout room, a community center, pickle ball courts and more. In the age of COVID, a lot of these amenities are closed or restricted but we were able to use the pool on our visit. They offer different levels of sites based on price but we didn’t see much differentiation based on the price levels. We chose a covered site through their easy online reservation system as we were visiting in the dead of summer. We weren’t super stoked on our selection once we arrived. Our hookups were in the very far back corner of the space so we needed to choose between a small sliver of shade provided by the solar cover or the reach of our dump hose. Not ideal. We seemed to be in one of very few spots with this weird location for hookups. The end spots of the shaded area are hardly covered so it might not be worth it to you because these spots are pretty close together with no privacy in between sites. All sites seemed nicely wide enough to allow slide outs and big rigs. Plants between sites are all very newly planted and so don’t offer privacy yet.

From what we were able to access, the grounds seemed very clean and well maintained. The online reservation process was easy though it was hard to get ahold of the office prior to and upon self-check in. Staff we did encounter were friendly and, though there are a lot of rules, there was no policing.

The biggest draw for these grounds was proximity to Sedona (30 min), Montezuma’s Castle (10 min) and Tuzigoot (25 min). We enjoyed a visit to all 3 within our 2-day stay. We enjoyed our stay and the awesome pool in the desert heat but next time we might opt to stay a little closer to Sedona.

I was really looking forward to Cottonwood camp, outside of the Sedona area.  The campground had excellent reviews so we booked three nights.  There are many different sections of the park and your experience overall could be impacted by which site.  We were in site 141 close to the main activity room.  These sites are very packed and there are a lot of long-term guests and it looks like it.  The other sites throughout the park are better, especially the ones on the ridge with a view.  

The other challenge was almost zero connectivity even using a hot spot.  I work remote so this was a challenge and I had to take work calls in the public lodge.  The lack of WiFi at all limited our other devices as well.  Not an option if you work on the road.

The area however has amazing natural beauty, parks and lots of hikes.  Some are dog-friendly, but some are not, so recommend checking.  The town of Sedona has changed over the years with many more tourists, traffic and high prices.  I would likely not return or stay somewhere more in nature, but with cell service as well.