Best Glamping near Tonto National Forest

Almost an urban park just due to it's proximity to the city of Mesa, Usery park offers great tent camping, group campsites, as well as RV Sites with Electric and Water hookups. Dump station on site. 

Usery is a great jumping off point for hiking in the National Forest. There is an extensive trail network both in the park and connected to the Tonto National Forest. One of the most popular is Wind Cave Trail.

There is also a world class Archery Range here. There is a usage fee of about $2 (at time of this writing) on top of your park entry fee, but kids are free.

Lost Dutchman is one of the best campsites to wake up in. One of my favorite trails in Arizona.

This is one of many outstanding Arizona State Parks. Sites are clean and most level with mix of electric and non electric. Suggest you make reservations well ahead for busy winter months!

Outstanding layout, great hosts, spectacular location.  Good hiking and sites nearby whether you are looking for lakes, wild mustangs in the Salt River, a scenic drive to Tortilla Flats or just enjoying the Arizona weather.  

Hiking in the park to accommodate all levels.

Campsites are well maintained.  Quiet in the evenings.  Could not ask for more.

Arizona State Park campgrounds are generally developed to maximize profit at the cost of minimizing camper experience. Lost Dutchman offers one bath house to service five or six loops of campsites piled one on top of the other. Because there are so many sites, the campground is managed like a military operation with untold Numbers of rules and regulations to understand and follow. If you fail to follow, a Ranger will be by to repremand and straighten you out. Coyoties are bold here and will enter your camp even if barking dogs attempt to deter. I reserved four nights but left after two. Tortilla Flat SP up in the Superstition Mountains NEAR Canyon Lake or BLM/National Forest dispersed camping is tmore to my liking.

We've camped at Houston Mesa Campground several times and consistently have a fantastic experience. Here's why we give it 5 stars: 

Amazing Staff: The camp hosts are incredibly friendly and helpful, adding to the welcoming atmosphere. 

Spacious Sites: We love the ample space at each campsite, allowing us to park comfortably and spread out for a relaxing stay. Our kids adore playing in the dirt and exploring the trees. 

Nature's Playground: The campground's proximity to swimming holes, hiking trails, and the charming town of Payson provides endless opportunities for exploration and adventure. Serene Setting: The abundance of trees creates a peaceful and shady environment, perfect for escaping the Arizona sun. 

Clean Facilities: The bathrooms are well-maintained and clean, ensuring a comfortable stay. 

Dry Camping Friendly: We appreciate the ability to dry camp at Houston Mesa, making it a budget-friendly option. 

Heads Up: While Verizon service isn't optimal, it's manageable. Additionally, campsites near the freeway can experience some road noise. However, the convenience of having Home Depot and Walmart nearby outweighs these minor drawbacks. Overall, Houston Mesa Campground is a fantastic choice for families and outdoor enthusiasts seeking a comfortable and scenic camping experience. We highly recommend it and will definitely be back soon!

Beautiful retreat in the Arizona forest. Saw many different birds while there, especially hawks. Could smell skunks but none seen at the campground. Was warned by rangers that bears had been spotted in the area, so keep that in mind with food and trash.

Each site I saw had a good amount of space and wasn't right next to other campsites. We were lucky and got shade in our campsite. Plenty of hiking opportunities nearby, and a caves not too far away.

The restroom facilities were clean and included flush toilets. Showers were available for $3 (coin operated).

Gear Review: This contains a review of the LuminAID Packlight 16 and the LuminAID Packlight Spectra, which were provided to me free of charge***

LuminAID's lanterns are a gamechanger. Seriously. They are incredibly lightweight, bright, float when inflated, and most amazingly are solar powered.

The Packlight 16 resembles a pillow and has several settings depending on how bright you want it. I was able to read a book with the Packlight 16 hanging from the ceiling of my tent. Everyday I set it outside to charge for a couple hours and have yet to see it run out of energy, even when left on the dimmest setting for several hours.

The Packlight Spectra is a fun little box shaped lantern that has seven colors (including white) and a color-changing mode (see the video I included in this review). The first color is red, which is nice when you don't want to scrub your nightvision.

I'll definitely be ordering these for my friends. They are great for hiking and the perfect addition to an emergency kit (when folded the Packlight 16 is about the size and weight of an emergency poncho).

Had so much fun doing our Cotopaxi questival challenge at this camp site. So beautiful as we watched the sun rise with a camp fire! Weather was great!

The campground was great! Clean and nice bathrooms with showers, nice places to park. Gorgeous views of the mountains. The only complaint is that it’s a little crowded, but not enough to ruin our experience. The price was great too!

Visit for scavenger hunting challenge.

We stayed two nights at site #4 at Lost Dutchman State Park in early May, in a campervan. The campground is very large with multiple different loops, some with large open RV sites and some more secluded, a mix of pull through and back in sites. We walked most of the campground, and if you don't need a large RV or trailer site I highly recommend the sites from 1-15, they had pretty good privacy for a desert campground. The campground loop we were in was fairly empty when we were there (mid week). The view was amazing! Site was large and level if you are tenting it, with a nice level parking pad. Bathrooms were a bit of a walk from our area, so take that into consideration. They were spotless and the showers were available at no extra cost, which was great! Site was wonderful for just lounging around and relaxing at. Potable water spout was just two sites over, a short walk. There were fire restrictions so propane stoves only, no campfires. We hiked the siphon draw trail up to the top of the flatiron, a very challenging and unique hike with a lot of rock scrambling. The trail leaves right from the campground which was perfect. The campground was very clean and quiet while we were there. I highly recommend Lost Dutchman to anyone looking for camping near Phoenix! We reserved ahead of time, campsites were $25 with the online fee.

Clean facilities, beautiful surroundings, full amenities. We loved staying with a big group of teardrop trailers and home built campers. The area is beautiful and user friendly facilities. One of my favorite winter camp spots.

I absolutely loved the setup for this campground. Each space offers enough room and you get a wonderful view of Lost Dutchman surroundings. There's full on bathrooms, shower, and campfires.

This spot has excellent showers and amenities and its beautiful

However it's expensive and if you don't make a reservation you might wind up in a parking lot at fullprice like i did

very clean and well maintained park. sites are level and plenty of distance from each other.

Reservations are necessary, as many people grab these spots, and often for long stays (14 day maximums). Due to extreme heat, I recommend visiting in the fall. Winter, spring, and summer can tend to very uncomfortable.

Loved the variety of hikes here, anything from easy to medium-difficult. The individual sites are pretty small and hard to put a tent anywhere but the paved drives into each nook, much of the ground is covered in small plants and cacti. There's a picnic table/bench thing at each spot, plus a fire pit grill (which is the only place you can burn). Bathrooms and showers are on site and worked great during our stay. Bring plenty of water to hydrate with!

Great modern facilities including showers, lots of hiking trails leading into the Superstitions from the campground, old mining town right next door which also has great hiking and is worth the visit.

Campsite 36

Spent the night close to home as my dog had never been camping and I wanted to see if he liked it (he does!).

Booked online about two weeks prior for a Monday night stay and most of the campground was available. When I arrived about 75-80% was full, so good idea to book ahead.

Some of the sites are super close together, especially on the newer loops (sites 75-104 and 106-134). They'd be ok with a trailer, but I'd feel cramped in with my tent. The main part of the campground where I was is a bit more spread out, with vegetation between most of the sites.

My site had a big pad for the tent that was raked, a picnic table, a fire ring/grill, easy access to the hiking trails, and a great view of the mountains.

Beware during the winter as the wind can come up during the night and morning hours, so stake your tent down well. It got up to maybe 15 mph, so not super strong, but typical for the edges of the valley.

Staff was friendly, and the bathroom was clean. I didn't use the shower.

One specific note about my site 36: don't book it if you'll be taking a 5th wheel or really any trailer. The access road is narrow and the parking spot is at a 90° angle so it'd be very difficult to back into. Better to pick one of the pull thru spots. If you have a campervan or are tent camping then it's a great spot.

I'm glad I came here. Can't wait to come back! This would be an epic place during a full moon, or really anytime it's clear to see the stars. Too bad it was cloudy my entire stay.

Camped here for two nights and enjoyed it very much. Sites are large and well maintained. We opted for a site with electrical and water ($30 vs $20) so there were mostly RVs. Large pull through with fire pit and bbq grill and metal picnic table. Many have views of the Superstition Mountains. We reserved ahead of time which is good as the campground was full when we arrived. There is overflow camping if no sites available. Bathrooms were clean and one had showers and filtered water, a nice bonus. I only saw two bathrooms (there might have been another in the newer loop but we didn’t explore that) so they were not real close to our site. Several hiking trails directly accessible from the park. A variety of ranger led programs but unfortunately none during our stay. You do have to put up with the annoying train whistle from about 10-6 from nearby Goldsfield “Ghost town” but otherwise it is probably the quietest campground I’ve ever stayed at. Only issue we had was with over-eager volunteers who yelled at us and told us we couldn’t park outside the showers. (We had moved from our site to use the showers after our hike and before leaving).

I had family coming to visit & we planned to drive up to the Grand Canyon to camp when the road was closed due to snow. We searched for a different camping option but there was snow everywhere so we ended up here. It wasn't what was planned but it was amazing. My family had a great time & even climbed the Flat Iron. There were little kangaroo rats, bunnies, the sounds of coyotes, & stars were amazing. Definitely will go back for more.

Large campsites in main loop. Great for boondocking or not. Nice bathrooms, great trails, good location. Helpful staff, I love it there.

My family & I had planned to head to a different campground but it was snowed in. After several hours of driving, we couldn't find anywhere! As a last try, we went to the Lost Dutchman State Park & were pleasantly surprised. We camped for 2 nights & had a great time. Excellent trails, beautiful views, friendly staff... overall a great experience that my 3year old still can't stop talking about.

If you love the Sonoran desert landscape, this will be one of the most beautiful parks you will ever have been to.

Don’t miss this beautiful place

I love the campground. Right at the Superstition mountain!