Best Glamping near Rio Verde, AZ

This site is well kept and spacious. And the closest site to Water Wheel which is about ten miles away and Arizona’s best kept secret. I usually set up camp the afternoon before and get up early to make the drive to Water Wheel and get in a day hike. This place has extraordinary water falls and swimming holes. I have probably camped at Mesa Houston more than any other place in Arizona just so I can hike Water Wheel and have never had a negative experience. Payson is beautiful and this camp site is near amenities and great hiking spots.

Located at about 203rd Avenue, on the westside of Phoenix, in Waddell Arizona is a tiny little Campground with phenomenal views. There is also a large group campground and a very primitive "camp ground" available, but primitive desert camping requires a LOT of preparation and packing in/out. There are numerous horseback, hiking and biking trails. Family campground has electric and water hookups with a very clean centrally located restroom, that hosts a shower and flushing toilets.

Views are amazing. Maricopa county operates the campground and has made significant improvements with ramada, gathering areas, grills, fire rings, monthly hikes, educational presentations, a huge public library...every bit in caliber with state and federal campgrounds.

This area is best for its hiking and photo ops, in my humble opinion. As with most desert campgrounds in Arizona, there is not much privacy between the sites but take advantage of the beauty. The waterfall trail is an easy hike and very doable with kids. You can only bring a stroller so far unless it's an off-roading stroller but the hike is worth it (especially if there's water flowing). There's a playground across from the trailhead in case all else fails and someone stays behind with he little ones. Restrooms are thoughtfully placed here. DO watch for rattle snakes on this trail and all for that matter. Also, bring a lot of water and then some. Stop at the Visitor Center and library on your way in. You're not far removed from civilization so anything you need is just a brief drive away.

For every good thing there was a bad. We stayed at Coyote Loop. You can’t fish from the shore because all the dead trees that go out about 10 feet along the entire shore (awesome if you have a boat; I guess). I expected lots of generators and the sound that it makes, myself included. I didn’t expect three campsites to be taken up by the same group of people and here F-bombs all night till 10 o’clock. Then people turn high power lamps on you and everyone for long periods of time because they can afford expensive toys but not a simple flashlight. It was peaceful at 10:00pm and we could hear the lake wildlife. Maybe not a good place to take children. There seem to be one super secret place to dump your trailer water, grey & black. While you can dump there for free; you cannot find it without a treasure map, a devining rod, and a map of the stars. Don’t bother asking the site Camp Host because his directions were equally as cryptic; if you can find them at all. I and to wait to get home and map it so here it is:

PQJV+2J Tonto Basin, Arizona

Decent campground. My site backed up to the river and I was able to hammoc next to it. Short drive to horseshoe lake. Very dusty

Great place! Hosts were friendly and very helpful!

Reservations were handled smoothly over the phone by very knowledgeable and helpful staff. Great scenic area! Sites are spacious and set for easy parking and setup. Plenty of room for 33’ Class C with toad Jeep. Will definitely return!

This was better than expected. The sites are far enough apart that you have enough room to spread out. You don’t feel like you are on top of your neighbors. Site hosts are really nice as well, we arrived after the front closed so he made sure we got settled and found everything we needed the next day.

While I prefer to be further out, sometimes it’s nice to be somewhere with all the services. I have a pretty basic self-converted camper van. Showers, dump station, electric and water hookups here. Gated at night, feels safe. Surrounded by homes but for its proximity to town its sunset views are fab. Close to a Frys and Home Depot. My onlllly reason for 4/5 stars is the surrounding homes have very noisy dogs. But overall this is pretty perfect for being so close to real life!

My visit was to the Cave Creek Regional Park (since there's no "official" description of what Cave Creek Rec Area is defined as, and the website link goes to an outdated Maricopa County webpage).

This is another great park in the Maricopa County Parks network, very similar to Estrella or White Tanks in design and layout, in north Cave Creek/Carefree area (take 32nd Street north from Carefree Highway and you basically dead-end into the park. . .

They have a large Nature Center with lots of desert creatures inside including a big fat rattlesnake, gila monster, black widow spider and some scorpions to safely check out up close, plus a big outdoor enclosure for a desert tortoise. The best part of this park is the outdoor theater seating for events and HUGE picnic area with paved parking, shaded tables, and even a basketball hoop. The camping area is the first turnoff, just inside the park, and has an RV dumping station and about 30 multi-use sites laid out in a big loop. One cool extra is that several of the sites have a 16x16 foot pipe corral on them, so you can camp with your horse without keeping him tied to your trailer overnight. They also have horse rentals just outside the park (seasonal, no summer rentals) and several events monthly such as guided hikes that you can find on their online events calendar.

Clean, well spaced camping just outside of Phoenix!

Beautiful Sonoran desert camping- spacious and clean. Easy access to trails. Fire pits and cement picnic tables at every site. Gravel drives.

Maricopa County Park in Cave Creek. Very well taken care of. 

The park has beautiful hiking trails and a great nature center, which offers activities.

Some hiking trails are within walking distance of the campground, others you will need to drive to. 

The campground itself is very clean. It is quiet and the campsites all have electric and water hookups, picnic table and fire pit. 

There is an older area, sites 1 through 42, which offers more space in between the spaces. the newer area, sites 43 through 55 are closer to each other, but still doesn't feel crowded.

Big open campground with some hikes nearby. No complaints other than a couple hungry mice at our site.

Nice park,, level sites, spotless bathhouses... Only down side is remote location...

Very well kept full service campground with super helpful staff. I recommend sites with canopies if you don't have solid air conditioning as it can get hot in the sun and there's very little natural shade. All sites have power and water. There's a dual lane dump station on the way out of the park.