Cattle Tank Road Dispersed Camping

Arrived around 3pm on a sunny afternoon and was taken aback by the beauty of the desert. Beautiful and diverse flora everywhere including the giant cacti. Beautiful sunset and woke up to a plethora of birds singing in the morning. Definetely other campers around but it’s all pretty separate and everyone was nice and having a good time. Would definetely stay here again. Road coming in was easy, could do it with 2WD.

We enjoyed our 2 day stay. We came towards the end of May and the place was pretty empty. Found a nice spot and enjoyed the views outside our doors. It did get a little hot, but cooled down nicely during the evening. We enjoyed our short walks and all the landscaping. We had decent cell service (AT&T) and plenty of separation from any other RVer's.

There is nothing really negative to say about this area as it is just beautiful, Sonoran landscape and very peaceful.
Easy access from I-10 and Park Links Drive, with numerous flat landings for up to 25" trailers, Vans, HGC vehicles, Tent...
Big rigs, Dually w/ 5th wheels, probably not so much; except at the entrance where the horse corral is.
There is a shooting range and a small airport in the distance. Weekends you will hear an errant plane and gun shots, but it's attenuated enough by the foliage.
Views of Picacho Peak are dramatic.
Nearest water, fuel, dump is ~15 miles or so at Shell travel center. Call them first.

There are TWO different locations (!) APPLE MAPS directs you to take a LEFT off Park Link Road, which is not for large rigs, only for van's & cars. You can also take a RIGHT off Park Link Road (what the video in this post refers to) and it is for RV & Large Rigs. I took a LEFT with a 21' trailer, and I was lucky to find a spot with a side path were I was able to back myself in/out off and turn myself around. It is a very tied One Way, road, lot's of brush that scratches your rig. About 3/4 miles in, the road get's even narrower/rugged, with dips and sandy patches, until it get's really sandy. You can tell people got stuck there. **THE VIDEO in this posting shows the RIGHT TURN road, and it is a great spot. Nice vegetation, very clean (hope it stays like that). Only heard a few shooting sounds in the distance. Very dark & quiet at night (unless someone runs the generator....)

Not really for RVs. I think it’s more for vans and tents. I counted around 7 sites that would fit a truck and trailer. After those sites it quickly turns into an almost V shaped Jeep trail. No place to turn around. We had to back our 33ft trailer and truck into a site that already had a van and after much careful maneuvering, 20 minutes and a close call with a cactus, we finally got out of there. It’s also hard to find at night and much farther off of the highway than expected. Ended up staying off the side of the road much closer to the highway.

Out in the desert with lots of various cacti all around. Nice view of Picacho Peak to Northwest.
This site is out of the way enough it isnt very busy.
After the first quarter mile the road narrows and isn't wide enough for a 5th wheel or a Class C.
The vegetation will scratch your vehicles beyond that and it gets harder to turn around.
There is a big lot when first coming in that would hold 5 5th wheels, Class A or C motorhomes.
It is usually empty.
Past that in the next couple hundred feet there is room for 2-3 more. After that just vans and truck bed campers.
If you go in far enough there is a road to the north that dead ends and becomes 4 wheel drive after first
couple hundred feet. There was a truck bed camper there, the only one.

Coming up HIghway 77 (Oracle Rd from Tucson) at Oracle Junction turn left on to Highway 79, go 10 miles and just past highway marker 101 turn left and go another nearly 10 miles on paved road then turn south on Cattle Tank Road about a 1/4 mile. Turn in to the right and you are in the first camping site.

We arrived on a Sunday, so it was almost full. Monday was a holiday which may have accounted for more campers. We parked within a old corral area not knowing if it was okay and it appeared to be. We discovered more camping sites if one turned left off Cattle Tank Rd instead of right into this camping area. I’m unsure how to rate noise if five stars is little or much noise. There is a shooting range but not close enough to disturb us.