Best Equestrian Camping near Tortilla Flat, AZ

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.

Beautiful views here, they have both water/electric sites plus dry campsites, all have views with picnic tables and fire ring grill grate. It had been 110 days since rain when we first arrived, so no fires first couple days, but they got rain yesterday 12/10/20 so we can have fires again. This is desert camping, the birds and everything in desert is happy about the rain. Goldfield old mining town is across the street, worth a visit as well for old western town lovers 1883 I believe. Route 88 will carry you through beautiful curvy mountain road over to canyon lake and Tortilla flats, well worth the drive. Lots of hiking from Lost Dutchman State Park. We have seen rabbits, roadrunners, doves, quail and a number other birds, early morning and evening hikes you will see plenty of creatures feeding off the desert. The Saguro cactus are incredible.

Great spots for your horse and trailer. Good size corral. More space on the pit side. Stay a week or month! Great trails out from camp. Water at corrals. Nice showers and restroom a short walk away. Plan to go back!!

The have a few electric and water sites, then more dry sites. Also horse corals, its neat being able to walk right into town, well worth a stop, sites are hard dirt, but adequate, spaced a little more apart on the dry sites, the electric/water sites back up to the town small railroad tracks and are much closer together. This is a great alternative when the lost Dutchman is full. 20 dollars to dry camp, but being able to walk into town was pretty cool. Seen roadrunner, quail, and doves, rabbits. A few coyotes howled at the moon at night, which was pretty cool to, off in the distance. I'd stay here again for the convenience.

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!

Oak Flat is a Forest Service campground in the Tonto National Forest and is about 90 minutes from Phoenix. It's a short distance off a windy mountain highway which means it's easy to get to but traffic can be heard from camp. (Luckily it's not a busy interstate and traffic is pretty infrequent at night.) It's not spectacular location but there are decent views of the oak scrub desert surrounding the camp.

There are a handful of campsites with picnic tables and firepits, plus several flat and open areas for RVs or tent cities. Some sites are open and others have a few shady tree for hammocks, slacklines, and more. There is a bathroom which was clean and well-stocked with toilet paper, despite the campground being quite full when I stayed here for a few nights in April. There is no water, however, so be prepared with as much as you'll need. The elevation is just shy of 4,000' which means nights are typically a few degrees cooler than in the Phoenix area.

There are no hiking trails from the campground but there is a network of dirt roads which take you back into the desert scrub oak forest and through hundreds of bouldering problems of all levels. Just a few miles away, however, the Arizona Trail crosses the highway and heads north into the Superstition Wilderness.

This campsite is pretty basic but is a good place to kill some time, especially given that it's free! It's also a great place to set up your base camp if you want to do some bouldering.

Campground Review

What a great find!  We had no idea what to expect when we rolled down a long and lonely road from Phoenix out to Box Bar.  But other people sure knew about it! There were lots of party people there, playing music, floating in the river, and enjoying some BBQ.  

Box Bar is not fancy, but it is FREE!  There are no reservations and no set camp areas, but there are plenty of flat and shaded spots perfect for a tent.  There is a large dirt parking area that includes 3 port-o-potties. If you were going to camp here, the potties are quite far from the camp spots, so keep that in mind.  

The best part -- the gorgeous river!  The Rio Verde runs right through here and is the main attraction.  At Box Bar there is a small dam that holds the water in just enough for a calm small lake to appear.  There is also quicker waters that can be kayaked or floated on. Many kids were putting in and going around the bend, getting back out, and doing it over and over again!  The water is cool and refreshing in the Arizona sun.

When we went, it was a Saturday.  So I’ll be anxious to go back on a weekday or Friday to see if it is as crowded other days.  It wasn’t OVER crowded, but the loud music can get old :)

Overall, a truly great find.  Only 30 minutes from Phoenix too!

Product Review

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time.  At Box Bar, I got to use the IceMule Pro Large Cooler.

Before heading out, we packed up sodas, juice boxes, apples, and a tupperware of cookies into the IceMule and poured ice all over the top.  The temperature that day was over 100 degrees, but when we got to the campsite and opened the top, the ice was still there and the drinks and food were freezing cold.  Never had such a refreshing soda! I’m used to having to drink a warm soda or water while adventuing, so this was quite the treat.

Besides keeping the refreshments ice cold, the backpack was also super comfortable to wear.  The straps are super padded, as well as the bag where is rests against the back. I am a super weak person and it was easy and fun to wear.  

I totally recommend this cooler to anyone wanting to reward a long hike, boat, or camp with freezing cold treats.  

For more info, visit: https://icemulecoolers.com/

A beautiful desert park at the foot of the Superstition Mountains. One of the cleanest campgrounds I have ever been to. I have only tent camped alongside a camper on an RV pad, but the space was more than ample for both. Lost one star because you can hear noise from the nearby "ghost town" attraction.

Nestled right at the base of the Superstition Mountains - this is a great location that is close to excellent hiking and riding. Also close to a unique drive out to Canyon Lake! For the very fit cyclist you can ride from this location out this lake. It's an amazing and very challenging ride indeed..!

This park is large with serveral loop type campgrounds

Campsite is clean and very easy to reserve ahead of time on the supported website which is very easy to use and see all the items open.

Extra bonus for this Campground, should you need to, you can cancel your reservation up to 1-2 days out.

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!

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.

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.

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.

Don’t miss this beautiful place

I love the campground. Right at the Superstition mountain!

We got what I think was literally the best spot in the camp. It was busy when we went but not super full every night. Great system of hiking and biking trails for all levels. Some spots have Water and Power. We boondocked it. About 15 minutes away from a grocery if you needed it.