Best Tent Camping near Sun Valley, AZ

We spent 3 nights here in February, and while it was chilly, the place was very quiet and the stars were amazing! There are no hookups here, but there are bathrooms with flush toilets (some have showers), and there are faucets with potable water. There's also a boat launch and a few playgrounds for the kids. 

There were mostly RVs here, but the waterfront tent sites are amazing if you don't mind walking in from the main parking area (it's not a far walk).

Each campsite has a picnic table with a shaded awning and a fire pit, but you have to bring in your own wood or gather it from the surrounding forest. Saw lots of birds here - cactus wren, quail, finches, warblers, and road runners.

If you go during the winter months (that is, if roads are open), you may likely be the only one there! The lake is not very easily accessible for camping but it's an easy hike down for fishing, photography, and simply enjoying nature. Keep your eyes peeled, you may spot a bald eagle. The actual campground is usually crowded with no privacy. Perhaps suitable for a large group. Restrooms, never mind, just bring a shovel and use the woods; it's cleaner. Just don't be disgusting and leave it all out. Leave No Trace, PLEASE. Also, you'll need to carry out all your trash. On a holiday weekend (Labor Day especially) there are so many visitors but otherwise only a few venture out that way. Your best bet for solitude is to drive 2-4 miles passed the campground which will be on your right and find a good dispersed spot. Just bring ribbon or rope to mark a tree from the road in case you need to travel down to Woods Canyon Lake store or out to a Rim viewpoint for cell service.

Many of the photos listed here aren’t correct. There aren’t any paved parking spots that others have posted. Anyhow, I love this place because odds are you will be the only one camping out there. It’s a good 45 minute drive after the pavement ends. Most of the sites have picnic tables and fire rings but are near where you park. We carried our stuff down the canyon about 100 feet to set up. It was kind of dry but there was still water running through. Very secluded place with no one else there. So peaceful. Plenty of firewood. Beautiful meadows as well. We went hiking down the stream a bit and found some smaller bear foot prints so be aware. Some friendly raccoons tried to join us for dinner by the fire as well. There are some vaulted toilets there which was surprising. If you like solitude, this is your spot.

Super accessible from the Phoenix area, very easy to find. You can choose your own camping spot, and there are many existing stone fire rings and pits that are spaced out decently across the area. The earlier you arrive, the more spots you'll have to choose from; most are filled by sundown. A sedan can easily get across the Flat with some careful maneuvering. Vault toilets are all the way at the entrance of the Flat so plan accordingly. (Or... bring a trowel.)

Lots of families, which means kids, music, and laughter. Never a bad thing, but even if they're not particularly loud, there's no trees or shrubs on the shoreline to dampen the sound and it carries pretty far—especially when kids figure out the lake is basically a giant echo chamber!

The wind can really whip across the lake when it picks up, and it makes it hard to pitch a tent or run a stove. I recommend setting up camp up by the trees if you don't plan on boating/fishing/RV camping to give yourself a bit of shelter from the wind.

No hiking or trails to be had here, but definitely a relaxing, pretty spot.

Campground Review:

Woods Canyon Group Campground was a great area! There are 12 usable spots most of which I would consider double if not triple occupency. The roads were well maintained and would be easy to drive into even with a car. Each site had a metal fire pit with grill grates and a picnic table. We didn't end up using the fire pits at the individual sites at all because there was a huge (probably about 3 foot wide) metal campfire ring in the middle of the group loop. We easily sat about 20 folding camp chairs around the pit each night. There is also a large concrete area with about 10 picnic tables and 2 huge grills. There are also 2 prep tables and 2 poles with hooks you can use to hang lanterns and trash bags. The only real downside to this area is that it was not covered so mid day sun may be really warm and rain could get in the way. 

The loop has it's own vault style bathroom building with a men and a women's side. They were very clean and kept well stocked (probably because there is a designated host to the group site and he was very attentive). There are 2 potable water faucets in the loop. When we arrived the water was really murky brown but by the time we left it was running clean. If I had to guess it was because we were the first ones to run water through the pipes in a while. There is also a designated dumpster near the entrance/exit so you don't have to tote your trash home.

There is only 1 entrance/exit to the loop and it made it really nice for the kids. They were able to ride their bikes around the loop and play in the grassy area in the center without a lot of traffic in and out. There are multiple hiking trails in the area and the lake is just a short walk away. 

At the entrance there is a sign with prices for the sites per night so I imagine that if you go up on a night that the entire loop is not rented they will rent out single sites. The site is a bit hard to find and can get confusing because it's called Woods Canyon campground at Woods Canyon Lake but there are actually 4 or 5 other campgrounds around Woods Canyon Lake. The sign at the entrance was also broken so it could be easy to miss if you aren't paying attention. I drove up using Google maps and it did take me right to it. With as close as it is to the main road leading to the lake we didn't hear much of the traffic (except for the loud side by sides and quads).

.....................................................

Product Review:

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time - today I am testing the RovR RollR 60. This cooler definitely has some cool features that help it stand out. The first thing is the all-terrain puncture resistant rubber tires. I was able to roll this thing through camp and over rocks about the size of baseballs with no issues. If for some reason you do manage to damage the tires they are replaceable! The RollR 60 was very easy to pull. They have a dual sided aluminum handle with rubber grips. The design was made specifically with your heels in mind. You actually pull the cooler off to the side so it isn't constantly bumping into your heels.

The RollR 60 is certified grizzly bear resistant. It has a rotomolded foam insulated lid and body which helps the ice retention (up to 10 days with proper use) as well as making it super durable. We used it for 3 days and had very little ice melt even with the cooler sitting in the warm mid-day sun. The lid seals with an airtight gasket and I can confirm when it is latched it is leakproof. The cooler has a removable dry bin inside which is one of my favorite parts. This bin attaches to the inside with a removable screw and it keeps all of the water out so no more soggy bags or cardboard! The center divider of the dry bin is cut out and it works great to fit a full size loaf of bread or carton of eggs.

On top of the RollR 60 is a removable canvas storage bin. The one it comes with is almost an off white color and does show dirt fairly easily so if you are going to be getting filty you may want to upgrade to the designer tote. Even though the tote is collaspsible it is very sturdy when it is set up and can handle a lot of stuff inside. Our fold up camp chairs were hanging out the top and still didn't topple the tote. When the tote is folded down it velcros to the lid for easy storage and then doubles as a make shift padded seat.

RovR has gone above and beyond with the accessories available for this cooler. They have a prepping board that can attach to the side (perfect for sandwiches, cheese boards, or cutting limes). There is an optional umbrella/rod holder. Again, you could carry the rods or umbrella in the storage tote but this would keep the rod from getting banged up with the other items in there over rough terrain. There is a cup holder because sometimes a flat surface can be hard to find and setting things on the ground can always be risky. There is also a BikR kit you can use to attach it to a bike for easy towing. The accessory I was able to demo was the stash bag. It was a fleece lines drawstring bag with 2 zippered pockets on the outside. It was perfect for putting in my keys, phone, and wallet for easy access and to keep them off the ground and prevent them from getting lost.

As with all things there are bound to be features that you aren't in love with. When it comes to the RollR 60 these features aren't deal breakers for me but worth calling out. The RollR 60's handle is not adjustable. I'm 5ft 7in and it worked well for me as well as a few other people that tried it all in the 5-6ft height range. However, I could see it being difficult for someone a bit shorter than that (for example a child). When my son was rolling it around he managed to tip it backwards and because it wasn't latched there was ice everywhere. We played around with it and figured out that if you lifted it much beyond 45 degrees it would roll backwards since the handle doesn't lock open. This could be problematic if you were dragging it up a steep incline. The handle is also just about the same height as the cooler and when it hangs down it often hit the ground and did get pretty dirty. 

The cooler doesn't have a specific lock location. It does have the metal bars where you attach the accessories that you could use a larger padlock on but not a standard sized lock. The drain plug is not attached to the cooler in any way so be sure when you are draining it that you don't set it down and lose it. My biggest peeve was the weight of the cooler. I literally could not lift it by myself when it was loaded so getting it in and out of the truck was a 2 person job. (thankfully, because of the wheels I was able to move it around camp by myself without any issues)

Overall I really liked the RovR RollR 60. If you like to bike to the beach and take a cooler or to do walk-in campsites this is the way to go. It was so nice to have the additional storage bin on to to help minimize the amounts of trips we needed to make back and forth and it was so easy to pull. Make sure you are either super strong or plan to have help loading and unloading the cooler from a vehicle (again, this would be a great reason to just tow it behind a bike).