Best Tent Camping near Winkelman, AZ

Camped 14-15 March 2021 - Minutes from the hustle and bustle of Tucson and Oro Valley, but surprisingly quiet. Catalina State Park Campground has two campsite loops- A and B, as well as the Ringtail group tent site. I tent camped at site A16, which was a decent distance from the neighboring sites. The loops and parking slips are asphalt paved. Familiarize yourself with the site map, because most of the campsite numbers were on posts set back a distance from the road, making it tough to locate some of the sites, especially if you’re arriving after dark. Campsites are typical desert sand, with mesquite and palo verde trees. I had plenty of location options within the site for setting up my tent, but had to choose carefully, as to not sleep atop an access hole to the round-tailed ground squirrel burrows that are in abundance throughout the campground. The site had water, an electric hook up (which I didn’t need), a nice sized thermoplastic polyethylene coated metal picnic table (easy to clean), a raised BBQ grill and a beautiful view of the Santa Catalina Mountains. The restroom and shower facility in loop A was clean and adequate, with three toilet stalls (one of which was ADA compliant, as well as two showers (one being ADA compliant). Signage on ADA shower stall indicated adaptive equipment (shower chair, etc.) was available through the camp hosts. An open breezeway between women’s and men’s restrooms includes a sink, soft drink machine, a small “Take a book, share a book” cabinet, and informational bulletin boards. A posted sign indicated wifi password for the campground, but whenever I tried to connect, I got a prompt that it was unavailable. I had a strong Verizon signal. Per another sign posted in the breezeway, the 48-day Bighorn Fire of June 2020 burned almost 120,000 acres / 25% of Catalina State Park. Because of vegetation loss, the Canada del Oro wash (along the main road between the entrance/ranger station and the campground) is prone to flooding when it rains at higher elevations. The wash has been running black with ash, and for longer periods of time than before the fire. The ash coats the sand, preventing the rainwater from being absorbed, creating the potential for flash floods. The Romero Trail to Romero Pools has been closed since the fire, with signs indicating reopening in May 2021. There are still plenty of miles of beautiful desert trails to enjoy. There are two large grocery stores and two gas stations within five miles of the campground.

Nice, clean campground, along the Mt. Lemmon Highway. Better for tent camping as there are beautiful, individual walk-in sites that are fairly private.

Tons of rec opportunities right from camp: hiking, mountain biking, etc.

Nice RV hookups but great tent sites as well. Desert vegetation so don't count on much shade. Best in the fall or spring. Summer is Hot!

Me and my family did a 1 day tent camping trip to Catalina state park. And we all absolutely loved it there. The bathrooms are super clean, the staff was very helpful. The camping sites are great, lots of space. Would definitely recommend a trip to Catalina state park.

Campground Review

Catalina State Park is just a bit outside of Tucson Arizona, and more importantly, Saguaro National Park.  We used this State Park as a jumping-off point for our trip to Saguaro and it was a pretty good location for that.

Oro Valley is a modern area with tons of shopping and dining options right outside the park.  This was very convenient for us to pick up McDonalds or grab something we forgot from the store.

The Park itself is stunning.  Right up against the mountains, the views are gorgeous, especially at sunset.  We were in campsite #A-23, which was AMAZING. Perfect for tent camping, the space is large and flat.  You could easily fit several tents in this site.

We drove around campgrounds A and B and found the sites to be much more spaced out in A.  Most of the sites were occupied by RVs, which made for a very quiet and non-stressful night!  

Our site had electric hook ups and a water faucet.  Also a BBQ grill and picnic table are provided. Wood fires are NOT permitted in the park.

Overall we LOVED this place.  We will for sure return in the near future!

The Park also has a lot of amazing trails, including a very short hike to see Hohokam ruins which were so cool to see!!  The kids loved this hike and the views were amazing.

Product Review

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time - at Catalina State Park we had the opportunity to try out the Wenzel Camp Quilt (or 2!).  These quilts are so great! Our old camp blanket had to be carefully folded in a particular way and then zipped up. These quilts come with stuff bags and you can just stuff the quilt in them when you are done!  I now keep these in the car with me at all time, because you never know when you need a picnic blanket, or something to keep you warm!

For us, it is a no-brainer to just toss one or two of these in with your camping gear.  Here in Arizona, the temperature drops fast once the sun goes down. Although it was over 100F during the day, it was still FREEZING cold in our tent at night.  We were so grateful to have these quilts to snuggle up and keep us warm!

Campground Video

https://youtu.be/yw_dUs9b7aM

camping in a 2 man tent, traveling in a raised 2WD. We took the dirt road to the end looking for a nice secluded spot, we passed a handful of sites for both rvs and tent. We found a small site in a dried out run off area past the second cattle guard.

We ventured down as far as we could go and carried our tent the remaining 20 or so meters.

Lots of dried wood around for kindling, enough stones to make a fire ring.

The sunrise and sunset here were spectacular, the lake provides an awesome blue.

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.

Stayed here one night driving through. Came after hours and set up a tent.

Very clean. Loved the designated tent area. Everything was in great condition and the staff were extremely friendly and helpful.

Another super clean and new Arizona state park. Free hot showers in a beautiful location.

Sites are spacious and well dispersed, but the free-roaming cattle make this less than ideal for tent/car campers. It's a little unnerving to step out in the dark!

Beautiful desert camping, lots of birds and wildlife. I heard coyotes in the middle of the night that woke me up, and was glad for a rooftop tent.

A beautiful park with a challenging hike. Great stop off or home base to see a lot of great arizona attractions like saguaro national park, tombstone and tucson.

This is a beautiful place to camp most of the year. The Summer sun ☀️ can be brutal of course. I love to stop here on my way to New Mexico. There is something about being in the middle of the desert with the backdrop of the mountains and cactus 🌵 that just helps you breath a little better. Watching the sunset each night is breathtaking. This campground is just off the road but far enough back that you don’t hear all the road noise. Each spot has a picnic table with awning so you have some protection from the sun. Each spot has a fire pit and smaller rocks that make a nice “bed” for your tent ⛺️. The spots are pretty far apart so you don’t feel like you’re right next to your neighbor.

The campground has a total of 85 electric sites for both tent and RV camping. Sites are suitable for RVs and/or tents. You can have up to 4 cars on each site. There are 4 sites that are handicapped-accessible. Unfortunately there aren’t any water or sewer hookups available. There is a dump station available. Access to all sites is paved. Sites are fairly level and are located in a natural Sonoran Desert setting.

$30 per night / per vehicle (October – May) $25 per night / per vehicle (June – September) Additional vehicle $15 per night / per vehicle Group Camp Areas: $15 per night / per vehicle + Group Reservation FeeBoth back-ins and pull-throughs are available. No maximum size limit (except no tractor-trailers allowed).

First I have to mention the bathrooms, the showers are incredible. There are tent pads or set up your camper or RV. Electric and water at every site.  The view is incredible no matter where you are camped.  Hiking trails and picnic sites all over. Enjoy the relaxing atmosphere.