Cholla Campground

This campground was well maintained. You have to pay for a campsite using a kiosk. The good news is they give you half off if you have a seniors America, the beautiful pass. I was traveling with a friend in another vehicle and chose a double site and found out that I could not get half off using my senior pass. So instead I called the Ranger station had them refund my money and purchased two single sites right next to each other. Cell service was very minimal with Verizon only one or two bars LTE. I was able to send and receive texts and phone calls, but I could not use my data. My traveling companion had AT&T and she had better luck.

The restrooms were smelly on the outside but nice and clean on the inside. We stayed in the Cane Cholla Loop sites 166 and 168 and we both had good Lake views. And there is a trail that will take you down to the boat launch. We were hoping that access to the lake would be easier with our canoes, but since the campground is higher in elevation, you will have to drive your car down to the boat launch, drop off your canoe and park in the parking lot by the boat launch.

There are only three shower facilities in the whole campground so you will have to walk or drive to one. It took me about 10 minutes to walk. Because it was in the high 80s lots of people were using their generators to run their ACs. It was very noisy and they ran them until quiet time which was 10 o’clock. Thankfully, it did cool down at night and people respected the quiet timeframe.

There is running water in the bathroom sinks and also potable water nearby our campsite. We had to travel quite a distance out of our way to get to Lake Roosevelt, but it is a beautiful lake!

This place is awesome! Dry camping at its best. Spots are paved with plenty of room between sites. Camp hosts in all loops are great. One is even a solar expert with a repair truck. Cane loop hosts are especially great. Very friendly and accommodating. Water, bathrooms, showers, trash, and a dump area included. Single and double sites.

Each site is well leveled and graveled. Each site has a covered table, fire pit, lots of vegetation, saguaros, mesquite trees, and tall bushes for privacy between sites.

We stayed in the Cholla Cane loop, and there were plenty of single or double-fee spots available during the week. Quiet hours start at 10pm, so we made sure to have our generator off before then. The camp host walked around and kept an eye on things while we were there and the view of the lake was lovely. There are showers and bathrooms available, and a dump and water refill station. We did not have any issues with noise or bad camp neighbors and would recommend this site.

If you want to be rude, trashy, and loud all night, this is the spot for you. The camp host will do absolutely nothing to stop you. We paid for three nights but left after two. Each night there were at least three campsites, just in our loop, that were drunk yelling, blasting music, lighting fireworks (which are illegal) and even fighting until 2am. Then their dogs started barking at 4am.

The campground is huge and there’s a dump station and potable water. There are a few random spigots throughout the campground. When we stayed, the toilets, sinks, and showers were closed, and there were signs everywhere saying there was a water issue and porta potties were on site, but we never saw any in our area. There was also zero cell service on Verizon.

America the Beautiful pass gets you half price for the campsite, so our spot was $12.50 per night, first come first serve. We stayed on site 166 which had a lake view. The area is gorgeous, but the views and potentially relaxing environment is totally spoiled by the way locals disrespect the setting, which goes unchecked by inattentive camp hosts.

It’s a really pretty setting that could be super relaxing, but we wouldn’t risk staying here again.

It was wonderful to have one of the water views where we could watch the boats entering and leaving the lake and take in this large lake surrounded by desert! There are easy trails that surround the campground providing many different views. There is a steep drop to the lake and you can walk down along the rocky edge to fish or simply enjoy being closer to the water. While our site was beautiful it was however not level. Any of the spur type sites appear to be unlevel although the interior sites seemed fine. There is no electricity and very little service. The water spigots are close by. There is a dump station and potable water. The bathroom in our area was clean although the one in the tenting area was not kept clean.

Cholla Campground is huge. Of the 120 or so sites, probably fewer than 50 were open when we were there in late February. Bathroom was open but showers were closed.
During the day there were half a dozen or so boat trailers in the enormous boat ramp parking lot.
On a bike ride we discovered an equestrian-only camping section around 6 miles south of Cholla. Hiking and biking in the Three Bar Wildlife Refuge was challenging. Especially on a bike.
Being a dry camping area, the generator orchestra was playing, but seemed muted. Camp hosts were easy going and helpful.
Most sites were back-in, although we saw some pull-over sites, too. All have covered picnic tables and a fire ring.
There is a small store and restaurant at the Roosevelt Lake welcome center a few miles south.

If it wasn’t for the fact that the bathrooms are closed because the water was not working on the campground this would’ve been a five. The view of the lake in the mountains and the fact that this is set low so it gets nice and cool at night is a nice plus.
there is no electricity that I can see at any of the sites. This is a great place to come if you have a canoe or some kind of watercraft that you can just launch off a side of a lake they also have a boat ramp