REVISITING CATALINA STATE PARK – TUCSON (ORO VALLEY), AZ

UPDATE:  As of 2012, all Arizona State Parks are on a reservation system.  At this popular park, you should make reservations well in advance, as you would be lucky indeed to find a site for more than one night without a reservation during the winter season.  Check the Arizona State Park website for the phone number, or to make reservations online.

Our Opinion: Rave; a favorite stop for several years.  This is an update to my previous review in October of 2008 (click here to see the campground during the off season).

Date of Stay:  February 17 through 22, 2011.

Weather During Stay: Mild, with sunshine, clouds and WIND.

Site Description:  This campground often is full by noon from mid-January through March, so you don’t get to choose a site… you feel lucky to get one at all.  All sites are fairly level, most are very long and big-rig friendly.  Sites are exceptionally spacious, but most offer no privacy.  All sites and roads are paved.  About half the sites are back-ins; the rest are long pull throughs.  Each site has a heavy-duty picnic table.  Dumpsters and recycling containers are available in each loop.

We were assigned site A35, a long, level, south-facing back-in site in loop A, the old loop.  Sites on the south side of loop A are dry (no utilities), sites on the north (around 20 sites) have W and E.  Nice, clean, modern restrooms are centrally located, and trees (leafless this time of year) are scattered throughout the loop.
Loop B is the big “new” loop (not so new anymore, but is how we think of it), with 75 large W and E sites.  The restrooms, with showers, are the nicest we have ever used.  There is a “family” restroom/shower we have used together, very roomy and comfortable.  The great showers make it much easier to stay for an extended period without a sewer hookup.

Just opened two weeks ago: an overflow area (near the group sites and a modern restroom with showers).  If a developed site is not available when you arrive, you can wait/overnight in the large, level, dirt overflow lot.  
Rate:  Rates for sites with 30/50 amp E and water have gone up to $25/night.  No sewer hookups.  $15/night to dry camp in Loop A.  Two large dump stations are conveniently located.  Maximum stay is 14 days, strictly enforced during the busy season.

Phone/radio/TV: Aircard on broadband.  Verizon signal strong.  NPR from Phoenix on 91.5.  We pick up a couple stations on the TV antenna (the local CBS affiliate).  No obstacles for satellite TV. 

Elevation/Landscape/Terrain: This flat, desert campground is at 2700’ elevation.  Native trees are scattered throughout, providing a bit of shade.  The arid, rocky, Santa Catalina Mountains tower over the campground - impressive views and frequently gorgeous sunsets.

Lighting/Noise: Very quiet, very dark.

Favorite Sites: We prefer the perimeter back-in sites of Loop B, but didn’t have that choice during this visit.

Hiking/Walking: Fantastic.  Hikes of all lengths and difficulty.  The hiking and views are the big draw for us here.

Comments: Catalina State Park is just north of Tucson in an upscale, quickly developing area.  In the park, you feel as though you are quite remote from the city, but dining and good shopping (including Trader Joe’s and several great grocery stores) are within a few miles.  A super Wal-Mart is right across the street in a new shopping area.

APACHE PALMS RV PARK, TEMPE, ARIZONA

Our Opinion: Neutral. A small, well-maintained urban park on the Phoenix light rail line.

Date of Stay: January 9 through 16, 2011. We returned February 14 through 16; I updated this review after our second stay.

Weather During Stay: Sunny, cool days; cold nights.

Site Description: This is a small (71 sites), clean, tidy RV park in an urban setting. Most sites are back-ins, but there are a few pull-throughs. Sites are gravel; each has a concrete slab patio. It appears that all sites are FHU (30/50 amps), with cable TV included.

Sites are very level. Our first site (59) was barely long enough for our 38’ motor home, though we had sufficient room for our slides and Jeep in our site. (In the picture of our site, you can see the chair and reflector we set under the corner of our slide to aid our neighbor when she parked her truck next to us!) During our second stay, we had a long, roomy pull through with a picnic table, considerably large and more pleasant.

The park has a small pool and spa, and a laundry room with 4 washers/4 dryers.

Rate: For our first site, we paid $210 for one week, plus another $31.50 for the extra day (this included a AAA discount). For the pull-through, we paid $35.20/night (with AAA discount). Reasonable for the amenities and urban location.

Site 59, our first, much smaller site.	Site 16, a long, roomy pull through with picnic table.

Phone/radio/TV: Excellent Verizon signal here for both phones and aircard (blazing fast). WiFi is included, but we didn’t use it. Our site had no obstacles for our roof-mounted satellite TV dish worked, and the included cable TV had dozens of channels. NPR on 91.5.

Elevation/landscape/terrain: This is a flat campground in a flat urban area at 1,140 ft. elevation. Views are of neighboring rigs and palm trees.

Lighting/noise: Our site was comfortably dark at night. The big surprise: very little noise at night, in spite of the urban location.

Favorite Sites: The largest sites are the few pull-throughs and some of the sites in the back of the park. If we returned, we would be willing to pay the extra fee (around $4/night) for the roomier pull through sites.

Hiking/Walking: Sidewalks outside the park, or drive to parks in the Phoenix metro area.

Comments: Planning renovations to our motor home, we needed a conveniently located urban park. Apache Palms is very tidy, fairly quiet, located on the light rail line, very close to ASU, and convenient to Best Buy, Costco, etc. Not a normal choice for us, but it worked well for what we needed. The small size makes it more appealing to us than most of the HUGE RV parks in the Phoenix metro area.