Holbrook - Petrified Forest KOA Journey

Dates of stay: May 14, 2019, May 23, 2019 and May 31-Jun1, 2019

We stopped here three times on our routes passing thru the area heading west, south and east. It's an easy access on and off I-40. They have a very nice camp store and the office check in ladies were very friendly and helpful. This is pretty much a gravel parking lot. Some of the spaces are just barely big enough for our trailer, but we also used the Premium sites which had a nice patio, gas grill and patio furniture along with a wooden fence between the sites to give some privacy. Our sites were all FHU and had no issues with the utilities.

The campground has a cowboy cookout area for pancake breakfast and dinners. The dinners were very good. We had a $15.99 ribeye steak dinner with beans, potato salad and "petrified toast" for dinner one night and the steak was as good as any I've had. Pancake breakfast were AYCE for $2.99. They have a decent dog park. It was the first time our dogs had seen grass in over a month, so they were happy. We used the pool on one stop and it was nice and clean. You can see and hear the cars and trucks on I-40, so it's a little loud outside, but not bad inside the trailer. Did not use the bath house, so can't comment on that.

We used the campground as a base to explore the Petrified Forest National Park and also the downtown Holbrook area and it's Route 66 history. Gas station and other restaurants are just down the street, so no issues with those either.

This place was a bit loud with location which made it a pain to get sleep in the tent but it had a lot of amenities. Call before booking the tent with water site. They cut it off for the winter but didn’t tell you that when charging. Luckily site 82 was right next door so we used that water. There is storage, covered cooking space, and a fire ring with benches and a table. The ground was super muddy unfortunately. Probably due to being winter. Overall it wasn’t a bad stay. 15-20 minutes to Petrified Forest NP. You could enter either at the south or north. We started north and went south!

We were only here one night as we were passing through. The campground is very clean, quiet, and staff are friendly, helpful. The store has many items you might need and also a lot of interesting artifacts and souvenirs. They have a small outside cafe that serves all you can eat pancakes in the morning for $2.99 and they are great. They also offer other breakfast items, eggs, sausage, etc. In the evening, they serve dinner. On the menu are items like steak, chicken, pulled pork dinners with added sides. Don, the cook, makes the best bread side as well, don't know exactly how he does it but it is yummy. The price for the night includes water, electricity, and cable (we didn't need sewer but it is available at other sites.) The grounds have a very nice playground and a very nice, clean pool. We would definitely stay here again.

My husband and I stayed here after 2 weeks of dry camping so we were able take showers, fill up our water and dump our tanks. It’s well kept and open. We’re from Florida so it was a surprise to see no real trees/grass anywhere, and we couldn’t get over how windy it was (definitely no to awnings!).

They have a great little general store and all the drinks/snacks are decently priced. They also have a little cook shack where they serve breakfast and dinner each day, good food at a good price.

The dump station is a little awkwardly placed as you’re right at the exit so if people are leaving it makes it a pain.

Bath houses were well kept and they even have a little area for dogs.

It is a little noisy with the high winds and with the interstate and rail road being right behind you, it can get loud. But nothing you can’t sleep through!

I always seem to expect more that what we get from most KOA,s.

This is your typical gravel parking lot with hook-ups and an old picnic table.

What’s sad is that they have invested in some nice looking cabins that you can rent. Unfortunately, our view was of either full-timers or work campers. They had kind piled in front of their rigs in our direct view.

There’s cable but we could not watch any of the major networks as the reception was so bad. But you can watch other stations with no issues.

The town has a strange feeling. There is a new McDonalds, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. Other parts feel really rum down (kind of like the KOA).

We stayed here to visit the Petrified Forest National Park which was great. In hind sight, we should have stayed at the free park, with no hook-ups, right outside the park.

Fairly nice RV park with easy access on and off I-40. Obviously, this place serves as an overnight stop for east/west interstate travelers as most arrived in the afternoon and were packing to leave at first light. Smooth and fast check-in. Park is basically a gravel parking lot, minimum space between sites but can accommodate the largest of rigs. Bathhouse was older but very clean and tidy. Laundry was more expensive than most we encounter. Does have a fenced dog run, but if your dog likes longer walks, your stuck to the gravel perimeter. CG Wifi was very slow, rendering it basically useless, so we used our personal hotspot which had 3 bars of solid 4G reception. Some highway noise from I-40. They do have a nice cowboy BBQ each evening for burgers and the like. Good access to Petrified Forest and Painted Desert. Offers military discount, which was very nice (thanks). Served our purpose for a quick stop in transit to our next destination

One large gravel lot with level sites and FHUs with 50 amps. Some small trees, our satellite connected easily. Park WiFi worked for us most of the time.

Some highway noise as I 40 is just behind the park, but it's not bad.

We didn't use any of the amenities but the pool looked fine. Easy access including a couple fueling stations on the way back to the highway.

Dark and quiet at night. Close to eateries, nice Safeway, and the Painted Desert/Petrified Forest National Park.

Holbrook was the location basis for the Disney movie, CARS. Some years ago on a Harley trip I stayed in one of the Teepees at the Wigwam just to say I had. I wanted to introduce the grandson to the source of CARS, but the pool at the KOA trumped the teepees. We stopped by the Wigwam and was disappointed to see that the original Tow-mater is no longer there, replaced by a slightly newer version.

I'm predisposed to drive past KOAs so this one surprised me. I was expecting lots of road noise since it's nicely positioned between the I-40 freeway and the I-40 business loop, but the road noise, while noticable is not intrusive. It is a gravel lot with a few trees scattered around, but it sure was nice to have the air conditioner for a couple hours in the afternoon. The price was for 30Amp FHU pull-thru including tax.

During the summer they have an evening barbeque (steak, chicken, hamburgers, hotdogs) and a pancake breakfast. They have an adequate store in case you forgot something, and multiple designated pet areas including one very nice grassy area. There are showers and laundry on site.

I didn't use the WiFi since we had good cell coverage from both Verizon and AT&T. Our site was near the middle of the park and was showing two bars from both of their WiFi access points.

This RV park is like the pictures show. A gravel lot with a few small trees. It also has a playground, pool, bath house, laundry, and a camp store. A typical KOA along the interstate.

We arrived in the evening and had enough time to set up and let the kids run off energy on the playground for 10 minuets before a large thunderstorm hit. Gravel lot or not, we were thankful to be off the interstate and set up.

They offer a pancake/sausage breakfast onsite. We took advantage of that in an attempt to get the kids moving quickly before heading to Petrified Forest National Park. (The National Park doesn't offer camping.)

We would stay there again for a one night stop.