Holt's Shell RV Park

The last time we came through Gila Bend, we stayed at the extremely expensive KOA in town (well north of $40 per night). This time, we stayed at Holt's Shell. This place is great - FHU spots in a level lot with trash, laundry, and even recycling, right off I-8 and at the absolutely fantastic price of $13.52 with PA or Escapees. We couldn't ask for a better deal, especially when the alternative is SO expensive for an overnight stop.

This place a great find especially at $12 (passport America or Escapees) full-hookup. The sites were level. Subway sandwich shop is within 100yards. It filled up quick when we were here. By 2pm it was full. They say no reservations first come first serve. Outside was a little noisy with the truck noise in the parking lot area but we just turned on the AC fan so no issues there. Verizon was full bars when we first got there but by nighttime it dropped to 1-2 bars without the Weboost. Not sure why it dropped. However with the we boost it was full fast signal.

This was a good location for a stopover on a long journey. The pull-through sites were long, the campground was spotlessly clean, and the laundry was right in the middle of the campground. The full price was $22. I paid $12 with a 50% discount for Escapees membership. If you want to camp for free, the truck parking lot out front was enormous, and very lightly populated.

The only complaint I have is that the sewer connection was too high. Even with a slinky, it was an uphill climb. The electrical panel was so ancient that it had a connection for a landline phone.

There was plenty of room when I arrived at 2 pm on Sunday without a reservation, but it was full by 5 pm. A reservation would be advised.

The noise from the interstate, a main railroad line and trucks idling in the parking lot was not intrusive. Verizon 4G was mediocre, with 3 bars, -110 dB, 3 Mbps down and 0.7 up. There was wifi, but although I could connect to it, I could not get to a single web site through it. The gas station store was very poorly stocked. Do not expect to pick up any groceries there.

The review below titled "Rip Off" is clearly posted on the wrong page. Not a single thing that it says applies to this location.

Why Here? After several weeks in the desert we needed to take an infrastructure day and dump tanks, get laundry done, gas up, propane filled - the works. We also wanted to avoid rush hour traffic as we were headed through Phoenix on a weekday. This was a perfect stopover to get everything done, even laundry! The pros far outweighed the cons for us and we will use this as a stopover in the future. We would have paid $10 for just a dump in Yuma. For just under $14 (Passport America with taxes) this was an outstanding deal.

Pros -
Location - Easy access just off the freeway. Sites are pull through and fairly level (gravel). You can get away without even unhooking.

Power Pole / Utilities - Newer power poles, clean and raised hookups. All in great shape.
Internet/Cell Service - Great for Verizon and T-Mobile.
Laundry - Very clean and reasonably priced. 4 washers ($2)/dryers ($1-20minutes).

Fuel/Propane - Easy access for both.
Free Dump/Water - Had we not been able to get in for an overnight we could have dumped tanks and filled up with water for free and continued our travels on down the road.
Weight - We were also able weigh our rig on their scale for $7

Cons -
Noise - While the park is pretty quite, small and low key you are behind a gas station and there are trucks running their generators/refrigerator units all night. If you need silence - get a sleep machine and some earplugs.

WiFi - The park lists free wifi - but we did not find it satisfactory enough to do anything and resorted to our own devices.

Showers - None available in the park, but there are bathrooms in the park and paid showers in the truckstop for a few.