Gordon Hirabayashi Campground

Gordon Hirabayashi campground is the second campground up the Catalina Highway at 4800 feet elevation and at mile post 7.4 We didn’t stay here but would have preferred this to Molina Basin. $20 per night, $10 with senior pass.

There are 12 sites, mostly pull-through but the entrance and exit to these pull-throughs are sharp turns, so long rigs beware. I pull a 30’ trailer and did not want to chance it. I would suggest it is suitable for trailers in the low 20’s. The campground is all gravel. If you pull in and find no suitable sites, the loop at the end of the campground does support a long rig for turning around. Each site has a concrete table, fire grate, charcoal grate, food box, and hanging pole. There is no water at the campground but there are trash dumpsters. There is one pit toilet restroom of medium cleanliness. The campground generally looks a little run down. I would have preferred to stay at this campground rather than Molina, because there is less road noise and it feels more remote, but I didn’t think I could get my trailer into any of the sites. There was no Verizon cell service. It felt safe and the campground was clean.

Hirabayashi is the quieter of the two campgrounds and it has more directions to go on hiking trails. The host was absent when we stopped in to look around. This site seems to be popular with horse riders as there were many stock pens at the turn around loop at the end. Both Hirabayashi and Molina seem to want to support AZT through hikers, hence the food storage boxes and poles for hanging packs away from critters. I wonder if a water tank is brought in when AZT traffic is busy.

The Catalina Highway is a heavily trafficked road. It very good pavement but narrow and winding. It is very popular with road bikes, people with fast cars, tourists, rock climbers, and locals generally. If you have a big rig, you should have a plan for turning around before you leave the valley floor because there are not a lot of options.