Best Cabin Camping near Salome, AZ

Every time I mention Alamo Lake, even people who have lived in Arizona forever say "where"? It's quite a drive to what feels like the middle of nowhere, but totally worth the trip. It's like a mini-Lake Pleasant without all the jet skies and power boats. Campgrounds are basic but serviceable and the far side of the lake has nice sandy beaches for additional camping outside the official park.

I just returned from a camping trip here this weekend and the lake was totally different from my last visit. This lake is not fed by any dedicated water source and it was designed for flood control, so it's level varies greatly from year to year based on winter rain/snow fall during the previous winter. The lake this weekend was THREE TIMES bigger than when I saw it in the spring of 2016 - about 17,000 acres and close to full right now. I'd love to give the park a one-star review just so no one will go there and it can be my great little secret! The drive there is a bit boring, and it's funny to note that while driving the 30 miles or so out Salome road, the "watch for cattle" signs are paired with warnings painted on the road AND rumble strips about every 300 years while in Maricopa county, but as soon as you cross into La Paz county the yellow signs and road paint continue, but the rumble strips disappear :)

There are 5 camping sections with different amenities for each - I prefer the B section because most of the sites have views of the lake, but section A has showers near the cabin rentals (they are only a short walk from B, so it makes staying closer to the lake a win still). Sections C, D, and E are off the first road you can enter and are much more primitive, although they are serviced by their own launch and fish cleaning station. Sections A and B are near the ranger station/camp store that sells all kinds of stuff you might forget and snacks, and has a gas pump outside (I did not inquire about purchasing gas and the pump looks like it's quite an antique. . .)

It's a bit desolate and can be hot and to be honest, kind of boring if you don't have a plan. I love taking my kayak because it's so quiet and it's a great lake for birding - I saw tons of migrating water birds this weekend, as well as an osprey, Harris hawks, and an owl early this morning. There are also tons of wild burros, coyotes, and other desert creatures. This is a fishing lake and pretty much everyone who drives all the way out to Alamo Lake is going for the same reason - to sit in a serene lake on a quiet boat and catch a ton of fish. This is not a hiking lake - I did not see any trails other than just paths here and there through the park.

This is our go-to spot in the winter. 2 hours from Phoenix. This is all ugly desert landscape, but the lake is nice and the night sky is AMAZING! We pay $22 per night for water and electric. Spots are pretty close to each other. They have a ranger store that sells pretty much everything. The bathrooms are always clean with flush toilets and showers. The weather is close to perfect in the winter, gets pretty cold at night. I wouldn’t recommend going in the summer as the temps reach well over 100. We have fished there, but have never caught anything. The fishermen on boats bring in a ton of fish, so if you have a boat then you’ll have better luck. It’s always very windy at night, so remember to put your awnings up! We made that mistake our first time there. I’m sure we’ll go back next winter since it’s close to Phoenix and reasonably priced. We get pretty good cell service too. There are a ton of spots and are reservable online. They also have small cabins you can rent.

Due to its location, it is pretty quiet. However, because of the cliffs on two sides, noises can be amplified (like the person who used an impact drill for their jacks on their fifth wheel to leave at 7am).

Pros:

• Tucked away, but right off the highway.
• Congenial ranger to check us in.
• Fairly big space, with enough room for slideouts and our awning. Though it did feel like our awning was just slightly in the roadway due to angle.
• $30/night for most sites.
• Beautiful sunrises/sunsets.
• Boat launch ramp.
• Picnic table and grill included at most sites.

Cons:

• Wifi is spotty, even the ranger was up front about it. Add in folks trying to stream and hogging bandwidth...
• Our T-Mobile cel phones had no reception at all. We could use the wifi, but could not get calls or texts. Not sure of other providers.
• This is partial hookup (water/electric) with a dump station, like most of the state parks on the Colorado River.

Large campground with many permanent squatters. Positioned directly on the Colorado R. about 3-4 miles below Parker Dam. This could be a nice campground with the mountain views over the river. But the rundown nature and lack of maintenance here is very noticable. This place is definitely past it's prime. There is no cell service so you must rely on wifi, of which, there is none. I asked at the office...nope, none. There is a nice area right on the river to walk your dog or whatever. Sites are cramped, and there is not much gravel. Worst picnic tables I have ever seen situated between the tight(!) spots. Tiny homes are available for sale along the shoreline, so camping spots are slowly being devoured.

Camped here during 2019, 4th of July weekend. Mobile home rentals available, full hookup RV services, and tent camping available. Echo Lodge is in a beautiful area situated on the Colorado River where the river water is just cool enough to take the sting out the 100+ degree temperatures. Plenty of boating, jet skiing, swimming, or lounging around on floatation devices to be had on the river throughout the site. Site has a small convenience store for ice runs and everyday supplies. Echo Lodge also offers a bar/restaurant in the kiddie pool/wade pool compound on site. Had a great time all around and met some very good people while there. Some of the permanent residents allowed our kids to use their lily pad which was a pleasant surprise to all of us. Just good vibes and good times. Hope to visit here again soon.

We arrived with no issues, though our RV GPS wanted to take us to the main ranger station about 4 miles before the campground(CG). Waze took us right to the CG. We arrived 30 minutes after their 2:00 PM check-in time, and the little ranger station was closed, so we proceeded to water and electric(50/30/20 AMP) site 23 and had no problem backing into this site. The utilities are centered on the pad, which was nice, and the water pressure was about 40 psi. One of the first things we noticed about this CG was how clean it was when we saw camp hosts cleaning sites and manicuring the gravel around them. The sites here are decently spaced. Site 23 was long enough for our 40’ 5th wheel with space to park our F450 off to the side of the asphalt pad. There was also a jumbo-sized picnic table and a stand-up barbecue. The Verizon signal was iffy, sometimes getting 1 bar depending on where you are in the CG. They have Wifi at the ranger station, which was okay. There are shade trees here and there throughout the CG, but we had no problem getting a clear shot of the northern sky for Starlink. This state park has a nice-sized agility dog park in which they have grass and keep it watered. Suggest you arrive before 3:00 PM as the office closes early. Parker about 20 minutes away has your major amenities such as Walmart. Lake Havasu City has some tourist attractions worth checking out, such as the London Bridge. You cannot beat the mountain views, and we wished we’d stayed longer than just four days.

I booked our first trip in our new rv to Emerald Cove for 4th of July. We were sent to the very last space far left at the edge of the campground. The furthest away from bathrooms, showers, store, snack bar, pool, beach, everything! The beachfront spaces were all occupied. But so was the walkways to the water! The spaces reserved as access for all campers to get to the water were filled with cars, tents, people, even though these were clearly marked as walk ways and no parking or any other was allowed. We couldn't even get to the water! Staff did not enforce fair access. Worse, the next camper close to us had a 4 seat razor. Since there was a few spaces between us that were vacant they decided to use the area as a raceway and drove their off road razor vehicle whipping around our camp kicking up dust, dirt and rocks that even flew into us hitting us. I first approached the other campers and asked them nicely to stop driving their OFV wicked fast around us that we were being struck by rocks. They didn't stop. I reached out to the staff who did nothing. We were so unsafe with the vehicle driving around us doing broadies, that we packed up and left within the first 24 hours. We had a 4 day reservation. I phoned the office to let them we had just left and why...they couldn't care less. We will never return here.