Best Cabin Camping near Winkelman, AZ

The name is a bit deceiving. The campground is designed for groups (there is a wide open group space and a loop with 12 spots that can be reserved for groups) BUT when the loop isn't reserved for a group you can stay in a single spot. Plus a day use area. Biggest downside it is RIGHT off the highway so expect road noise.

About the loop (single spaces called Brundrett 1): There are 12 spaces with co-ed bathrooms (toilet only). There are 2 large BBQs at the end of the loop, covered ramadas with picnic tables, and an oversized metal fire pit. Plenty of people were there in 5th wheels. Downside... The spaces are pretty close together.

About the group site (Brundrett 2): It's a large open space (there are some tree around the outer edges and on one side). There is a private bathroom and it's close to one of the loop bathrooms and it's close to the day use bathroom. Covered ramadas, picnic tables, BBQs, and an oversized metal fire pit. There is also a few scattered picnic tables, standing BBQs, and fire pits.

The Picacho/Tucson NW KOA was the first place we camped at when we purchased our Bunkhouse motorcycle tent trailer.  We wanted to stay close to home in case something didn't work on our camper.

The KOA is clean and the hosts were great.  The sites are well spaced but could be a little bigger for more privacy.  The sites are made of small gravel and very level.  No roots, rocks, stumps, etc.  There is a picnic table, water spigot, electrical hookup and BBQ grill at each site, in addition to a fire ring.  Bathrooms are clean and there is a small camp store.  There is a doggie run in the park as well as a pool and playground for the kids.

When we stayed, the new hosts had just purchased the KOA a few months earlier and they were working on improving it.  We stayed there in late 2019 (before COVID).

The only reason I gave this KOA 3 stars instead of 5 is because of the loud traffic noise from the freeway.  There is literally no peace or ability to sleep during the night (in a tent camper).  Perhaps in a solid sided RV, it would be great, but we didn't get a wink.  I even slept with earplugs in and I could still hear the noise.

I will not be returning to this KOA, but sure wish I could because it was really nice and clean.

Campground Review

Upper Pinal campground is tiny. I’m not even kidding you… tiny. There are literally 3 campsites surrounding a 100 foot wide dirt turnaround in the center. The campground does not take reservations so it’s a long way to drive with a good chance you won’t find an open site. However, if you’re lucky enough to get one of the spaces you may really enjoy it. To the South is Unit 1 (where we stayed) and it’s an uphill driveway with a raised area with a fire pit and metal picnic table. If you have a small tent you can camp on the elevated area near the table and fire pit but otherwise you do have room to back in a small pop up trailer (beware, it is a curved driveway so if you aren’t comfortable backing up a trailer I wouldn’t suggest it). The site is almost completely surrounded by very tall trees which blocked both most of the morning and afternoon sun.

The East side of the circle is Unit 2. This is right on the edge of the circle and could be easily pulled right up to. The downside to that is that there is little to no privacy for that camp unit. It also has a fire pit and picnic table.

The North side has another campsite with a smaller (and straighter) uphill driveway. You wouldn’t be able to put a trailer facing towards the fire but you likely could camp with a small pop up in this unit and park lower down the driveway.

The West side of the circle had the single unit unisex bathroom building. It was really clean and well stocked with toilet paper (but another camper one of the nights we were there decided it was a smoking room, yuck).

The entire area had a lot of downed and broken trees for firewood. We could have easily supplied our fire all weekend with just broken pieces but we had a small handsaw so we were able to cut slightly larger logs from fallen trees.

The only other thing I’d touch on is the road to get to the campground. I wouldn’t suggest trying to travel up without decent ground clearance. There was a bit of wash boarding and obvious ruts in the road from where the road was traveled when muddy. We have gone through that area in snow/slosh and I wouldn’t even want to travel that road without 4 wheel drive in that situation. Know your vehicle and your driving skills!

Product Review

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time – on this trip I tested the Renogy E.LUMEN Multi-functional Flashlight. Upon opening the box I noticed the flashlight was much larger than I had anticipated. As such, I don’t think it would be ideal for everyday carry. However, it does have quite a few really neat features and I think it would be a great addition to any bug-out bag. Of course, my curiosity got the better of me and I was dying to test the seat belt cutter (because I’d rather know how it’s going to work before my life depends on it). Luckily, I had the belt from an expired car seat and decided that would be the perfect test subject. I angled the belt over my chest where a shoulder strap would sit and it was hard to get it to cut all the way through. It took a few tries and a lot of strength but it did make it through. I could imagine that while a knife may cut through it easier in a panic situation I’d hate to end up accidentally stabbing myself using a knife instead of the safety guided blade on this flashlight. To see the full video check out the YouTube video here: https://youtu.be/xWqkgSS7iEs

In addition to the belt cutter the flashlight can be solar charged and has a USB out so you can charge other devices. If you plan to use the solar charger the manual says it can take up to 30 hours for a full charge. Thankfully, there is also a USB charging option to cut that charging time into around 6 hours. Depending on use you’ll get anywhere from 3-7 hours of use from each charge. The light itself is very bright but of course using the brightest setting will put you towards the lower end of the usable time at around 3 hours.

The flashlight also boasts a compass on the bottom of the handle. We tested this a few times and it seemed to be completely inaccurate against 3 other compasses we had. I was able to true it up a bit by running a magnet along the needle a few times but that seemed to be a temporary solution. My 2 cents is that I would not trust this compass as a first choice.

The last thing I wanted to touch on was the magnet on the side of the flashlight they state is for mounting and storage. When I tried to hang my flashlight on my metal fridge it buckled under its own weight slamming on the ground and breaking one of the plastic clips for the wrist strap. It will not support itself in ideal situations and definitely will not support its weight in a violent car accident. If you choose to put this in your car it will need to be secured by some other means.

So overall, would I buy it again… yes. For the price you can beat the peace of mind knowing that if you were to get lost in the woods you’d have a way to charge your phone to call for help and have a light source if necessary.

Enjoyed three nights and generally had the place to ourselves excluding the host. The host was very nice. The fee station was out of order during our stay, so we paid via daily tickets at a place in Globe on our way out. The campground is right off the highway so there was a fair amount of traffic noise, but not unbearable. Little to do in the way of hikes within walking distance, but we enjoyed walking around the campground and into the woods to the north and east. Verizon service was great the entire time. Sites are well maintained and level. Vault toilets were clean. Each site has a steel fire ring and grate as well as a nice metal picnic table. There a a few group areas with full grills and communal tables. The campground appears fairly new.

This place is not the type of resort you "girl's trip" to. It's the kind of resort where you plan to spend all day on the lake and come back to a shower and a real bed. You can choose to camp in your tent/RV or start in the motel.

The resort offers:

• breakfast, lunch and dinner
• watercraft rentals
• two boat ramps
• convenience store

There is a $10 fee to use any of their land. Even if you're just launching your boat. Emergency personnel have a base on the property which is comforting. Cell service is scarce on the lake but works great close to the resort. Only gave the resort 4 stars because I prefer camping around less people.

When traveling to new places, I want new things to look at and unique experiences when I camp. I couldn't have asked for a more unique first day in AZ when I made my way to Apache Lake Campground (at the Marina) in AZ. It was late when I arrived, and I was starved, so it was the perfect time for dinner and a great view!

It says that it takes over an hour to go less than 30 miles to the campground, and I assumed this was one of those GPS errors...until I saw the road to get there. Mostly washboard dirt, a little asphalt and a lot of twists and turns. Upper speed limits of 20 mph made it very clear that the GPS knew what it was yapping about. At one point, I thought I was on a movie set and seriously didn't know how any car coming the opposite direction would pass, if it came to that. But all that aside, it was a beautiful, peaceful drive! Just don't do it in the dark. It's called the Apache Trail and it's Arizona's oldest highway, originally built in 1905. Serious history here! Absolutely worth the drive, if you don't have a fear of heights and have extra time to kill. It passes through a little town called Tortilla Flat and there is apparently an ice cream shop there with prickly pear gelato!

About the campground. It's deep in a valley, on Apache Lake. What a view!! Down a steep road that's about a mile off the main highway (Route 88), you can see the camp before you even get there. Once there, it's a little confusing to find what you need because signage isn't terribly apparent and it's a kind of "lazy-kicked-back" sort of atmosphere. Nothing up scale about it, at all. But that's part of it's charm. I guess I was there at the tail end of the "off" season, so it wasn't terribly busy. It's not fancy, by a long shot, but what you need is at your fingertips. You have to check in at the main building, which isn't very clear, especially upon arrival in the dark, but in the office, they will take your money, show you a map, and point you in the right direction.

There's a section for RVs with hookups (and they do have a dump station). There are restrooms in a few spots, and while not fancy, they let you "do the job" you came to do. Also some showers, and again, not the Ritz, but there is water to rinse with. I'd suggest shower shoes. The camping is kind of cool, though. It's dispersed. I mean, there are many little spots nested in the trees, around the lake, on the sand, where you can just pick a spot and stay. It was only $10 to pop a squat (I think it says $5 online, but that is incorrect). Some are far better than others (on little jetties or in the trees) but they all have sweet lake views and fire rings! You are allowed to collect dead wood to use, so that makes it easier to fire up at evenings end, but they sell firewood bundles too.

I had a little spot right off the lake, and it was quiet. A few night sounds, but nothing more than fish and birds. The only thing that bothered me were some bright lights, almost like on a jet plane, that were at the other end of the marina. I just positioned my tent so that I didn't get the runway lights right through my screen. In the morning, I took advantage of the big huge bathtub outside my tent (most people call that a lake) and took a very quick dip, since it was like ice water. Boy was it refreshing!!! Perfect little site for my first night in the desert. Not dessert. Big difference.