Catalina State Park

We really like this campground and usually stay there at least twice a year.
Pads are asphalt, not gravel.
50,30 and 20 amp plus water and dump stations.
Great trails and awesome mountain views.
Digital antenna picks up a good number of local channels.
This year's mountain fires may have made it prone to mudslide across the access road when storms come. Will have to see.

Lots of room with pull through and back in sites. Very spacious with fellow RVer's spaced far apart. Lots of wildlife, beautiful views and easy trails for biking and walking. This park has very clean restrooms and showers, all sites have electricity and water. 2 dump stations. Definately will stay here again. Had to bike up to the horse area to get reception for at&t phone. Our verizon mifi worked well at the campsite. Schedule early because this is very popular and people reserve sites far in advance.

Camped in a 35” motorhome. We are self-contained so cannot comment on restrooms/shower facilities. Water and electric. Dump station on site. Site #A16. We love this campground – will return.

Pros –

• Incredible views of the mountains
• Quiet campground
• Spacious sites and nice spacing between sites
• Many trails and bird walks in park
• Convenient to the northern Tuscon area

Cons –

• Better be quick to get an on-line reservation

We could go on and on about our stay at this awesome State Park - Arizona hit it out of the park with this facility! This stop will be a yearly stop for us now!
PROs:

• The epic views of the Santa Catalina mountains are awe inspiring every day;
• The time of year afforded so much color in the desert trails with spring blooming;
• So many trails to walk right out of the campground affords a new experience every day;
• Plenty of area to ride the bikes and the bird watching is incredible;
• The shower facilities are super nice - we didn't use at all due to the corona virus 19 outbreak but the facilities appear to be top notch;
• The sites are paved and level and spaced apart nicely, good job on the loop set up!
• Shopping is close by and near by National Park to explore in better times;

CONs:

• Hard to get reservations, our 8 day stay was booked a year in advance.

We spent our first night here in the overflow part of this campground and then moved to a site with electric/water hookups. The sites are really spacious, and our dog loved rolling in some grass after many days of sand and cacti! The ground squirrels kept her entertained too! There is some great bird watching here, and lots of hiking trails accessed from the campground. You are close to Biosphere 2, the Saguaro National Park and Tucson. Tucson itself has an amazing network of biking trails that circumnavigate the city of Tucson. We rode 40 miles and didn't begin the see the main loop! Flat and easy riding...not particularly scenic...but easy way to run errands while camping!
But our biggest surprise were the free showers! Huge tiled showers with really nice shower heads and plenty of hot water. After having traveled now for a month...to be able to take a really good shower was a treat! I don't think we have ever come across a better shower anywhere...private campgrounds included!

Beautiful locale, the sites are well maintained with a mixture of pull thru and back in options in both camping loops. Easy access to a shopping plaza including a Walmart. Also close to Tucson for other sightseeing options. Probably the only downside of this park is that it is so popular that availability can be scarce. You may have to book multiple sites to stay longer than a couple of days. You also need to leave the park and come back when switching sites. The Biosphere 2 is a short drive away with ample parking for large RVs. A good place to go for a couple of hours before checking back into a new spot.

The park is very quiet and the views of the night sky are fabulous despite its close proximity to the city.

Catalina State Park offers many outdoor activities for hikers, campers, mountain bikers, bird watchers, and equestrians. There are plenty of RV sites all with water and electric with great views of the majestic Santa Catalina Mountains. The trailheads are a good walking distance from the campsites and there are plenty of options for each hiking level. You’ll see plenty of giant saguaros and cacti along your hike, we took the Romero Canyon Trail where the creek was roaring with all the melted snow off the Catalinas. Tucson/Oro Valley is very accessible, but you would never know since this park feels very secluded from the city.

We really enjoyed Catalina State Park. The views of the Santa Catalina Mountains are so beautiful any time o the day. Also the star viewing is excellent. Sites have 50 amp electric/water for $30 a night. There are also some non-electric sites. Their sites are level asphalt and roomy! While there we had 2 bars AT&T 5GE. There is free WiFi but it gets overloaded in the evenings. The OTA channels were CBS/NBC/Fox from Tucson - no ABC signal. The shower building had tiled showers which had nice hot water. There was a hiking trail right from the campground and a trailhead about a mile awhile which had lots of trails to choose from. We really enjoyed the Romero Pools trail. Just one mile away is a super Walmart, shopping, restaurants and a movie theatre!

Stayed here one night on 11/10/2019 in site A-15. Site was large with a paved pad with water & electric hookup right by the pad. Decent privacy and spacing between sites. Bath house was new, clean and had hot water. Only 15 minute short walk to the Romero Ramada and Hohokam Ruins. Campground in a flat, brushy area but with beautiful views of the Mt. Lemmons mountain range.

Went on ranger guided tour of the ruins by Ranger Jonathan McCabe. Very informative and we learned a lot about the ancient community that was there. Highly recommend the tour, and free.