Reviews

For Catalina State Park: My wife and I consider this one of the best state park campgrounds we have visited. Good facilities, good hiking trails a good bicycling opportunities both inside and outside the park. We have stayed here three times in our 26 ft MotorHome and will return again.

Posted Mar 30, 2019 by Paul Cummings from Wisconsin. This is the subjective opinion of a traveler and not of AllStays LLC.

For Catalina State Park: An ugly campground set down in the bottomlands in a floodplain. No screening of any kind between the sites, but at least the sites are large. Most people here seem to use the bathhouse, even the big RVs with big holding tanks. We don’t. It was disconcerting to watch people in various states of undress, including slippers and bathrobes and pajamas, tramping constantly thru the grounds. If you are lucky enough to get a site on the outside edge you will at least be spared having to watch the parade back and forth to the bathhouse. They need more dumpsters, which were full most of the time. With the heavy rains the campground was full of 3-foot-tall weeds, and the poor hosts were having to struggle with push mowers from the 1970s. No way they could get everything mowed so in addition to everything else, the campground was full of weeds. Yes there are plenty of trails in the adjacent mountains, but this review is about the RV park, not the State Park as a whole. Just not an attractive place to stay. At least the sites were large.

Posted Mar 08, 2019 by Marie from Montana. This is the subjective opinion of a traveler and not of AllStays LLC.

For Catalina State Park: Wow! What an awesome park! We came here for birding and hiking and were not disappointed. We stayed a week with a beautiful view of the Santa Catalina Mts. at our doorstep. We put out a humming bird feeder: visitors included Anna's, Broad Billed, Black Chinned, Verdin, and even the Gila Woodpecker. We went on bird tours, hiked, listened to live music in the park, and the Tucson Astronomical Society brought their telescopes for a star party. Check the Catalina SP website for all their activities. We will be back to this park next year, maybe a bit earlier like mid-March. Oh and because we were there for a week, we drove up to Mt. Lemmon for spectacular views. We toured Biosphere2, which was interesting and only about 20 min. North of the park.

Posted Apr 13, 2018 by Rosalind from Texas. This is the subjective opinion of a traveler and not of AllStays LLC.

For Catalina State Park: There are great mountain views here and hiking trails. There are also a LOT of people. Privacy is something you won't have. We had people taking shortcuts from trails right through our campsite throughout the day every day. And how about the road noise - you'll be staying at the edge of a major highway so you can hear the traffic. The campground is set among creepy looking blackened twisty trees right out of the second Lara Croft movie. A Major shopping center is right across the street, not something we wanted. Several of the sites around the perimeter are very spacious, if you can reserve them. No sewer hookups.

Posted Mar 01, 2018 by Shop35 from Montana. This is the subjective opinion of a traveler and not of AllStays LLC.

For Catalina State Park: Always full, been here last couple of years. Reserve early, Arizona State Parks allows a year in advance, and if you cancel, only a $15 fee. So, people book ahead, but keep trying, with the easy cancellation policy, you may find an opening. Restrooms and showers are very nice and clean. Volunteers clean them daily. Just about everyone here has a dog, and even though they require you to pick up after them, they don' provide bags or drop offs, so some people pick and others don't. There are great hikes to be had, close to shopping and a movie theater, and restaurants. But the best thin about this park are the beautiful Catalina Mountains! Coyotes are getting thick and are in camp spots, watch out for little dogs. It's a great place and we'll be back.

Posted Feb 03, 2018 by Don from Newport, Oregon. This is the subjective opinion of a traveler and not of AllStays LLC.

For Catalina State Park: We called for a reservation and were told it wasn't necessary so we rolled on up there from Tuscon Mt. Park. When we arrived they asked for our reservation number, which we obviously didn't have, so we were turned back;full Park. It seems that the left hand knoweth not what the right hand doeth. So beware.

Posted Jan 24, 2018 by Hank from Boise. This is the subjective opinion of a traveler and not of AllStays LLC.

For Catalina State Park: I really wanted to love this park after reading great reviews and hearing from a few people that it was great and there were some great things about it, but
To begin with, it is very convenient-located on Rte 77 which is off I-10 and the route to Tucson from Oro Valley where the park is. The entrance is clearly marked and although there is a bit of drive to the campground from the entrance gate it is also well marked. Where the good marking ends is at the campsites. We had reservations for the following day and when plans changed and they had an open spot we headed there getting to the CG just at dusk. The entrance station was closed so we did not have a map, although I'm not sure that would have helped that much. The sites are not marked at the end of the nicely level asphalt pads, either with paint or a sign post but about halfway back the site next to the utility hook ups. The signs are about as big as a paperback book and the numbers are neither glow in the dark nor illuminated so finding the site is a process (even in the day time) of stopping to peer into each site to see the number. Additionally, while the back in sites are lovely-level and quite wide and LONG-the pull thru sites are for the most part quite sharp curves making it difficult to park a longer rig (we are 35' and were just on the pavement). This problem is compounded by the fact that the pull thru sites-at least in loop A- and the direction of the traffic makes it so that your door opens to the road and the back of the rig faces the open area and the south. We went in backwards to correct this but then you have the problem with needeing extensions to hook up. All in all, very frustrating. On the plus side, if you find that shopping therapy helps (regretably I don't) you are only a 5 min drive from the entrance whch is across from a mall and within the next 10 miles you will find virtually every chain store in the US. The sites, for the most part offer some privacy as the spacing is good but there are not a lot of bushy trees (lots of mesquite and desert willow) to block the view. The water pressure at the site was good so we had no complaints on that front.

Because we came in late we had to go to the office the next day to get tags but it was a no hassle procedure and the small store at the gate has some very intersting information.

The bathrooms: clean yes, immaculately so. HOWEVER if you need a handicapped shower do NOT use the one in Loop A. While marked as ADA, with a sign saying to ask the ranger for the appropriate equipment (I presume they mean the stool) the shower is controlled by a pushbutton-ON THE OUTSIDE of the stall and there is no lower hook for the shower nozzle which was a stretch for me at 5'5?. Additionally, if left to hand the nozzle sings aorund spraying water everywhere, especially under the curtain which hangs about 8 off the ground. Anyone with ambulation or standing issues SHOULD NOT use this shower. The one in Loop B looks as if they have been updated and there is the lower hook and a twist on shower control. (Ironically, inone of the other regular showers in Loop B there is a mirror in the spacious shower stall but set at a level for a very short person or child.) Other than the ADA problem however the showers in both loops had plenty of hot water even if the showerheads were low flow and had medium pressure. (The floors in all the showers get wet so I always take a small absorbent dishmat to stand on while dressing.)

The campground was quiet in the evenings except that we could hear traffic noise from Rte 77. Even though the drive to the sites seems to take you farther away from the highway it actually loops closer and at times the rumbling of trucks surprised me. We never had any noise even with several families and a school group of campers. There are coyotes at night but they never sounded to be IN the campground.

While pet friendly the entire area is COVERED with holes (prairie dogs?) and burrs of all types. Our dog came back after each walk with sand burrs in her ears and paws so be diligent about checking them.

We had a wavering 2 bars of ATT and Verizon. But, the signal was 4-5 bars outside the park so one is never far away from reception if needed.

Trash bins are conveniently palced and there is plastic (1&2 only) and aluminum can recycling. The bins were emptied frequently enough that there was never a problem with overflow or smell.

The dump is on the way in/out and nicely set off from the road.


What we loved about this campground was the hiking -even in the heat. There are a number of trails of various length. We were there in the beginning of Oct so did not have the chance to see the saguaro in bloom but the hills are covered with cholla, saguaro, prickly pear and barrel cactus and must be a sight to behold in the spring. The other thing we appreciated was that a number of sites in Loop A are electric/non-electric. I did not ask but presume that if you had opted for non-electric and then found you needed electric you could opt in and pay the difference without having to move. The other nice thing was that we did get to visit historic Tucson (we skipped the main part of the city) and had we needed more than just to stock up on needed items we could have had a great time doing so. After weeks boondocking or in small far flung places it is nice to have a chance to get what needs done done. We did not do laundry while here so I never checked about laundromats but imagine there are some close by. Food shopping exists at virtually every mall on Rte 77.

All in all I think if you choose the right site (I would recommend back ins) this is a good park. Just not as great as we'd been expecting.

Posted Oct 19, 2016 by Lisa from Full Timer. This is the subjective opinion of a traveler and not of AllStays LLC.