Best Glamping near Yarnell, AZ

I grew up in Arizona and had never been to Alamo Lake.  The lake is kind of in the middle of nowhere but what a hidden treasure. We camped there in March 2018.  It was on the warm side.  The area is best suited for camping October - March.  This is the desert people.  Or if you have a giant RV with air conditioning and cable television, you could go anytime.  Fish early in the morning and late at night. 

The campground is rather large with different areas for tent camping and hook-ups.  We stayed with an electric and water hook-up in a pop-up tent trailer.  There were lots of big rigs and toy haulers.  We definitely had toy envy with only our pop-up and kayaks.  This is a big ATV area so there were lots of ATVs riding around.  People also had speed boat and canoes.  The campground was not completely full even though it was Easter weekend.  It was also relatively quiet.  The bathrooms were sparkling clean and had nice showers with hot water.  There was also an AMAZING fish cleaning area at each campsite loop.  If you aren't really a campsite person, there is dispersed camping available by the shore but you need to drive down a dirt road through a tiny fork in the road "town" called Wayside.  There is a bar/restaurant/store/campground/gas station in Wayside.  The next town is about 30 miles away.

We found some great fishing which is unusual for Arizona.  We caught bass, bluegill and catfish.  We saw people catching a lot of fish.  They have bass fishing competitions at this lake and I can see why. 

The lake is surrounded by pretty red mountains. The sky is a beautiful blue.  I highly recommend the area.  Not too crowded, good fishing, nice clean campground.  What more could you want but maybe a nice cold beer!

Every time I mention Alamo Lake, even people who have lived in Arizona forever say "where"? It's quite a drive to what feels like the middle of nowhere, but totally worth the trip. It's like a mini-Lake Pleasant without all the jet skies and power boats. Campgrounds are basic but serviceable and the far side of the lake has nice sandy beaches for additional camping outside the official park.

I just returned from a camping trip here this weekend and the lake was totally different from my last visit. This lake is not fed by any dedicated water source and it was designed for flood control, so it's level varies greatly from year to year based on winter rain/snow fall during the previous winter. The lake this weekend was THREE TIMES bigger than when I saw it in the spring of 2016 - about 17,000 acres and close to full right now. I'd love to give the park a one-star review just so no one will go there and it can be my great little secret! The drive there is a bit boring, and it's funny to note that while driving the 30 miles or so out Salome road, the "watch for cattle" signs are paired with warnings painted on the road AND rumble strips about every 300 years while in Maricopa county, but as soon as you cross into La Paz county the yellow signs and road paint continue, but the rumble strips disappear :)

There are 5 camping sections with different amenities for each - I prefer the B section because most of the sites have views of the lake, but section A has showers near the cabin rentals (they are only a short walk from B, so it makes staying closer to the lake a win still). Sections C, D, and E are off the first road you can enter and are much more primitive, although they are serviced by their own launch and fish cleaning station. Sections A and B are near the ranger station/camp store that sells all kinds of stuff you might forget and snacks, and has a gas pump outside (I did not inquire about purchasing gas and the pump looks like it's quite an antique. . .)

It's a bit desolate and can be hot and to be honest, kind of boring if you don't have a plan. I love taking my kayak because it's so quiet and it's a great lake for birding - I saw tons of migrating water birds this weekend, as well as an osprey, Harris hawks, and an owl early this morning. There are also tons of wild burros, coyotes, and other desert creatures. This is a fishing lake and pretty much everyone who drives all the way out to Alamo Lake is going for the same reason - to sit in a serene lake on a quiet boat and catch a ton of fish. This is not a hiking lake - I did not see any trails other than just paths here and there through the park.

Scott and Kevin have a great piece of property they love To share! Located in a valley of the Bradshaw mountains just about and hour and a half from Phoenix, this is an awesome getaway- away from it all. I boondocked for a couple days and enjoyed the quiet solitude of the canyon, enjoyed hiking, and the beautiful sunrises and sunsets. It’s a rocky dirt road to get here, but my class C rv easily made it- and I’ve taken it in worse roads. Well worth the effort, give this place a try! thanks Kevin and Scott!

Miles of desert and washes to explore with tons of dispersed camping sites. Can get busy on holiday or event weekends but worth it otherwise. Some weekends have horse or Dirtbike events. Nearby washes lead to tons of trails near castle hot springs that can lead to various abounded mine sites (including Anderson Mill). Obviously not ideal camping in the summer but GREAT for the fall/winter/spring months.

Alamo Lake is a long-time favorite spot. Only a couple hours West of PHX and some great views with an abundance of SxS / ATV trails. Alamo Lake is also very well known for it's fish (especially bass & crappie). Section C has Water & Electric. Section D is primitive and as such, less crowded. This is a great place Oct - April. Outside of those dates, you'll want Electric so you can run the A/C. Wi-Fi & cell service is questionable. Some spots are good, others are not. While I've done a lot of work out here, try to stay off the devices, PCs and TVs. Enjoy what's out here!!

Pulled into our reserved spot only to see a 6ft x 6ft section roped off for a drip irrigation repair. It was really great to have this area roped off right where you would normally have the awning out and sit. Would have been nice to know this was being worked on when I booked so I could have looked for another spot. Otherwise it is a fine enough campground.

A few things. 1st. If you plan on staying overnight with an RV do not reserve the Ramada sites. They’re meant for day use and are super tiny and squished together. We started there, but our 24ft trailer wasn’t even close to fitting. So we had to move.

We moved to the sites with no water and no electric. Super awesome sites, very clean and very quiet.

Donkeys…..there are tons of donkeys, really cool…..the first night. They’re cool until you realize they don’t sleep and all they do is make a lot of noise,lol. Not that I wouldn’t go back again because of the donkeys, but just be prepared they’re not far away and they make the “hee-haw” noise All Night Long, lol.

Don’t camp here without water sports or Side by side. There aren’t any trails for bike riding or hiking. But the water is great to spend a couple of days on and the Side by side trails are endless.

Overall, really nice camping. I would definitely go back, with or without a SxS. Just not in the summer….there’s no shade and it’s desert.

Never camped before in my life, so I have nothing to compare this to. Having said that- the staff were great, bathrooms very clean. The weather was quite warm, so we didn’t do much exploring. Also - the donkeys!! Everywhere!

Lake Alamo is one of our favorite spots!!! Great place for SxS riding. I've been riding here over 15yrs and always find new trails. Must visit the Wayside Oasis for Lunch and a beer on every visit.

I heard a rumor there was good cell coverage with Verizon,but that was false. Nice Campground, good place to fish, traiks are short but ok.

Stopped here in route to grab a bit of fresh air and have a picnic. It’s a simple park with a nice lake for fishing. The campground seemed to be very basic with small not very secluded sites. It would be a fine place to spend a night, but not a destination for me. One huge attraction at the park is stargazing. It has amazing views of the sky and I can imagine on a clear night it would be breathtaking.

My family had a great time camping here, we loved the facilities!

This is our go-to spot in the winter. 2 hours from Phoenix. This is all ugly desert landscape, but the lake is nice and the night sky is AMAZING! We pay $22 per night for water and electric. Spots are pretty close to each other. They have a ranger store that sells pretty much everything. The bathrooms are always clean with flush toilets and showers. The weather is close to perfect in the winter, gets pretty cold at night. I wouldn’t recommend going in the summer as the temps reach well over 100. We have fished there, but have never caught anything. The fishermen on boats bring in a ton of fish, so if you have a boat then you’ll have better luck. It’s always very windy at night, so remember to put your awnings up! We made that mistake our first time there. I’m sure we’ll go back next winter since it’s close to Phoenix and reasonably priced. We get pretty good cell service too. There are a ton of spots and are reservable online. They also have small cabins you can rent.

Nature,wildlife awesome views what else do you need? Oh we will be back again!

Gorgeous place to visit or stay love it!!!! Huge park with nice campground. Sites near the ranger station are paved and level. No cell service unless you hike up a trail or drive to the dam overlook. There are only a few hiking trails(easy to moderate) but they are well maintained. The lake is a great place to kayak. We saw many birds and wild donkeys. The views are excellent. Hiking trails were at a minimum. Saw Borros& quail. Located in the middle of no where. Be sure to have full refrig and gas tank before you come in.(There is a convenient store on Rt 60 between Solome& Wenden). We camped at Alamo Lake in a 5th Wheel.

We love camping here. Well maintained and bit of a drive off the main highway but that is good in my book because of less people. There is dispersed camping somewhat near here for all the peeps that use ATV's on the abundance of trails. There are slot canyons to those that are adventurous. Wild burros make their presence known at night as well. The Alamo dam was built in 1968 by the Army Corps of Engineers. This created the present man made lake. There is actually a ghost down at the bottom of the lake. Before it’s construction, along the Bill Williams river, the town of Alamo Crossing was there. The town was established in the 1890s, abandoned in 1918 and sat in ruin for 50 years. So to this day one could scuba dive down to the bottom of the lake, which has a max depth of 80ft, and explore a flooded town on the bottom.

Alamo state park wasn’t all that bad. Due to the virus and our sons upcoming surgery plus several parks and lake being closed this was the only option. The wild burros are a very neat site and great to watch! The lake unfortunately was experiencing a blue green algae bloom 🤢 Park rangers advised to NOT let pets or small children in the water. And fishing was also a bust due to water conditions. Our trip was the end of May so we did experience 110° during our weekend stay. We used the Choilla camp ground (C12) nice pull through spot with water & 30amp and was big enough to accommodate a second vehicle with our Jetskis.

Over all we were happy with our stay and would recommend / plan to visit again in fall or spring when the temps are cooler

Not a ton of dispersed camping around here but the spots we found were ok. You’re a short drive or walk to the water where you can boat, fish, hike. Pretty views when you get there. The entrance to the dispersed sites we found are to the left about a half of a mile before you enter the Alamo state park off of Alamo Rd. We were able to pull our 22’ travel trailer in, but it’s kind of a steep climb. Would recommend having a 4x4.