If you don't have a 4WD vehicle, you may want to look elsewhere. As of writing this, the road is extremely muddy and worn down, so you won't be able to get far in a low-clearance vehicle. I was still able to stop and set up my tent for the night, but it was not a nice spot.
As other people have said, it's behind a closed gate but you're fine to go through. Road condition aside, it is flat and pretty easy to find a level spot for your tent or trailer.
Beautiful area, but I would only recommend it for high clearance vehicles and people who are NOT tent camping. The ground is very rocky and we couldn't find a great place to get a tent staked down in the windy conditions, so we left. Minimal coverage from wind and sun or for bathroom use.
Keep in mind that AZ-88 is CLOSED to motor vehicles slightly after Tortilla Trailhead, so you cannot get to Roosevelt Lake easily from here. There are pit toilets at the road closure area and you can turn around easily there.
Had a nice time tent camping here for 2 days in November. Some notes:
- Would recommend a vehicle with decent clearance for bad road patches, but you might be able to find an area suitable for smaller cars.
- There were sometimes loud ATV/UTV riders along the road, especially on Friday night, but it wasn't horrible. Some trash around. Only critters we had trouble with were people's dogs, but we always put away our food/trash at night.
- Decent tree/shrub coverage for doing your business. Not a bad idea to bring tweezers since there's a lot of cacti.
- Nice views and close to Peralta Regional Park, which has hiking trails, bathrooms, and picnic areas (no water!) for a small day use fee.
- Somewhat windy, could get chilly. Low elevation so it's not bad. Not much shade.
- I got occasional T-Mobile service but mostly no cell service for anyone.
- There's a Water & Ice shop in Apache Junction that we found helpful to use. The Basha's in town is expensive, so I recommend stopping elsewhere for groceries/firewood.
Be considerate to campers and wildlife, please! Clean up after yourself and put out your fire completely. Have fun!