Bar J 55+ RV Park

Other reviewers have rated this park correctly. It is a charming park, with charming owners. Long may they live, and hopefully their family successors will honor the tradition of quality and warmth when the time comes. Just the sort of park we love. Unique. Folk-arty, and on our 3 separate visits there neighbors were friendly, but not intrusive. We may well move here when we need to be near hospitals and big city more often. All the reviews I read seem accurate. The 2 Slight downsides for us were that there are neighboring barking dogs. I did OK with it though. Also, the park is landlocked by other residences, so there is no easy desert trails access right out your door, as 2 other nearby parks have. Small price to pay for a delightful, mind your own business park, with friendly but not intrusive neighbors. We have only been there off season, so I can't speak for the regular snow bird crowd, but the other web reviewers seem to like this park as well.

The weekly rate is $125, which comes out to slightly less than $18 per day. They also have a monthly rate of $400. Not to be confused with Justin's Diamond J RV Park, a much larger campground, this is a 14 campsite park with quite a few seasonal campers. We couldn't find the park on our GPS, had to use the address: 4206 S. Palant Dr. Tucson. It's a quaint little property with lots of character that is very well maintained.

The owners, Paul and Gale (Mother), a charming couple, don't take reservations nor credit cards. Paul, the 81-year old owner built the entire thing himself in phases. It's a labor of love. The sites are gravel, with concrete patios, the road in the park is a little bit tight but Paul guides you into the sites, and the sites are a decent size. Paul lines you up so that your front steps are exactly in the front of the patio. The concrete patioss have little fences separating from each neighboring site. There are no picnic tables, but each site has a metal barbecue stand.

Paul also built a tiki bar, with some funky tiki and dinosaur motif. The bar also has a seating area with tables, no service, you bring your own. Apparently anyone can use it, but it doesn't seem to get much use.

There are a couple of washers but no dryers (they increase electrical costs too much), but several clotheslines. Laundry is free! There is also a small pet area with one shaded spot, not much but cute.

The location is close to Saguaro National Park and the Desert Museum, not to be missed. This property is in a very rural area, just across from a horse farm that has adorable miniature horses, which our dog Angel was quite interested in. We walked Angel outside the park (on leash) as the road doesn't get a lot of traffic. There are lots of yard dogs in the area.

The biggest negative are the yard dogs. They bark, mostly at night, and sometimes in the middle of the night for quite a long time. We have a white noise machine, which we use when in a noisy campground so we were ok but the barking can get bothersome during the day at times as well. Would not recommend this campground for light sleepers unless you have earplugs and/or a white noise machine. Other than the dogs the place is quiet.

Paul and Gale are lovely people, very welcoming and customer service oriented. The place is somewhat quirky, a plus for us.