Best Campgrounds near San Manuel, AZ

The KOA is under new management and they are making changes.  The pool/spa is being redone and were closed during our stay. Oh well.  Sites are typical of a KOA with enough room to spread out a little. The wifi is good with decent AT&T cell service.  Bathrooms are clean and well stocked. Now the issue.  The shower in the mens room has a problem with the floor.  Due to settling of the ground the water goes into the dressing area. There is a large squeegee provided to push the water to the drain but you have to deal with it. Management is aware and have plans to repair but with only one shower when do you do that??  I am sure they will work it out.  Other than that it was a nice campground and we will stay again next year.

The road from the highway is paved for most of the way. It is about 7 miles from I-10 north of Tucson. You can see the small airport, but it's not busy. The Pump Station Rd dirt access road is a little washboard, but inside the camping area, it's pretty good. We only went in a short ways as we were just overnight. The Ironwood Forest is close by and was a nice ride.

The washboard road getting to the coordinates is worse than the road within the dispersed camping area! There are a few good rolling bumps and small ditches but going slow will help. Plenty of areas to pull into, some are ez in and out loops, some are back-ins. I went in 1.25 miles from the entrance on Pumps station road with my 18’ trailer with no issues other than stuff moving in the cabinets. I walked another half mile and saw more sites but they are closer to the “airport”. Don’t be put off by that. There is almost no activity during the week and on the weekends there are some very small planes in and out that are towing gliders or dropping parachutists. Very little noise and fun to watch! The site I was in must have had frequent or dedicated visitors because there was a very lovely set of stone boundaries, rock and creosote gardens and a fire ring with an edged path! (see photos) Very clean,very quiet!!

We arrived about 1800 on a Saturday and there were many RVs and vehicles already down this road. We ended up driving about 1 mile down the dirt road to find the spot we wanted with a view of Pichaco Peak

Friendly staff and plenty of spots. It’s a fairground, so not really a “camp” site, but for the price they offer a lot of amenities. Hookups, restrooms, private showers, laundry, and dog areas. Close to Saguaro and town.

Other than the noise from the highway, this place is really lovely. The vibrant green shrubs against the soft dusty brown terrain is magical. The landscape is dotted with Cactus reaching up toward the pale blue morning sky is something to behold.

The campground doesn’t have a lot of light at night so you get a wonderful dark sky star display. The restrooms are nice and some of the campsites have roofs over the picnic areas. There are fire pits also. Very well kept up.

A mix of RVs and mobile (manufactured) home.

They have everything; and as many seniors permanently live here, lots of activities. 

Great dog / people walking trails right around the complex through dessert trails.

Only about 20 minute drive to downtown Tucson. 

We stayed six nights.

I think you will be happy staying here.

Good spot, level ground, lots of room. Any size camper will work. Turn north on the dirt road just west of the casino and follow the power lines north up a coupe hundred yards and you will see the camping area just off your right.

Came in for a three night stay in February. Weather was great, other campers were very respectful of your personal space and found lots of firewood within 100 meters of the campsite.

I stayed for 5 nights at this location.  I took the time to explore the area and have this recommendation:  When you pass through the entry gate, you will see a line of telephone polls and a road under them straight ahead.  There is only a couple of mediocre sites on that road.  About 150 yards in from the gate the road will split with a 2nd (Southwest/middle option) and a 3rd (Westward option).  You will see a camping board/sign on the 3rd (West option) that provides info.  If you continue along that road you will find a couple decent sites, but you will also find the road gets rutted a bit further on and is not a good place for trying to drag a trailer.  The Westward road also gets a couple cars passing by during the day and night.  My recommendation is that you take the middle, Southwest road to find the best options for camping.  The Southwest road is better than the other two options (South and West) for pulling trailers and it has multiple locations to choose from.  Eventually, you come to a point where the road turns right (West)...  if you follow it you will come to another gate that marks the end of the BLM parcel.  But, at that point you will also find a large, flat, open area to set up camp.  Best of all is that it is about as secluded as you can get for this location.

Not bad for a night or two. Cell service is 5g with 3 bars on Verizon. Not very scenic if you're looking for that.

Great place to explore the trails right from your camp! Easy pull throughs all hook ups, clean bathrooms with laundry!! We were not looking for adult only but enjoyed it!