Lakeview Campground

This is a great campground tucked back in the mountains with a lake. The road to get in is paved all the way. But is pretty rough in some spots and lots of dips. Rv’s are in a separate campground from tent camping. We had a nice back-in site. Arrived on a Thursday was fairly full, But the campground never completely filled. Was pretty much empty by Sunday though. Good Water and clean bathrooms throughout. Although no place to fill the rv with a spigot. Great stars and almost no cell service!

Paved, mostly smooth, somewhat curvy road to Parker Canyon Lake. The campground area is separated between a tent only area, on the two spurs to the left (as you enter), and the RV area on the right (east). Some of the spots will overlook the lake through the trees, but most will not. Elevation is 5,500ft.

There are a couple of block long drop outhouses, that had plenty of TP and were reasonably clean. Water spigots by the outhouses. No other utilities available. Some sites have semi-circular pull-through areas, others are 'back-in'. All have concrete picnic tables and metal fire pits.

We arrived on Friday afternoon in May and less than half the spots were taken. However, looking around on Saturday, all the RV camping spots were completely full. You cannot reserve in advance. by Sunday afternoon, the camping area was mostly deserted- so, definitely a weekend refuge.

Despite the full campground, there was sufficient space and trees between the sites, and at least on my weekend- everyone was pretty quiet.

The campground is on a hill that overlooks the lake. It's a short walk down 100 vertical feet to a 5mi trail that goes fully around the lake. And, about a mile drive to the boat dock and small store area. shorter to walk. The boat ramp is a good entry point for swimming, kayak, paddleboards, etc. We did an open water swim of a couple miles.

It's about a 2mi drive (part paved, part dirt) to the Arizona Trail- which is great for hiking, trail running, backpacking. You can also boondock right at the AZTrail in a couple of locations. Really, the only advantage of being in the campground is access to the water spigot and porta potties. Is that worth $10/nt? your call.

Come prepared as this is a long way from anywhere. The boat house has some camping supplies. There are sites more suited for RV's. I was in a tent sight where there is a short trek from the paved parking area. Had a great view of Parker Canyon Lake. Wild pigs come around at night so don't leave anything out.

What made this trip for me was the hiking trail around the lake. It was a few miles and relatively flat except for a few spots along the eastern side of the lake. Moderately strenuous.

AZ 83 is paved from Sonoita/Rt 82 though bumpy and potholed in places to the CG. I would definitely camp there again.

Long winding road that you suddenly see a lake out of nowhere. This area was tents only and sites were extra large; there were trees around the campsites but not sufficient shade. Bathrooms and water. Most sites overlooked the lake. Can be windy at times. Marina stores nearby at lake. I stayed here Thursday and Friday; Thursday was great with minimal people but when Friday came I think many people from Tucson fled here to escape the heat and became somewhat crowded. If you have a Senior Pass the cost is half-price ($5 instead of $10).

Tent Campground Review (but some RV campground info too):

Being a weekday (Thursday, 10/27/16), our stay at Lakeview was quiet and almost deserted. There are two campground areas - one for RVs, one for tents. The tent campground has awesome views of Parker Lake, the hills & mountains; the RV campground is back farther, so there may be only one or possibly two sites that can see the lake. Lakeview Campground is situated on a hill and there are trails going down a gentle slope to the lake shore.

There are 2 vault toilets in the tent campground, one at each end. Water spigots are next to the vault toilet building. There is no electric, no lighting at all in the campground.

Sites have fire rings and large cement picnic tables. Tent sites are in groupings of 1, 2 and 3. RV sites had pull-up types, back in and pull through. Parking for most of tent sites were on pads above the sites and you had to walk down. Picnic tables & fire rings were in areas of pea gravel; grass was mowed in areas to put your tent, but most of the grass was left natural.

We were able to take our inflatable kayaks from our site, down the trail to the lake shore. Boats can put in at the ramp where the marina is. Water was clear, chilly, and we got to see a number of coots, loons, an osprey & other birds.

There's a hiking trail that goes around the lake, and although we spent our time on the water & didn't hike, there were a number of people on the trail.

Sites & surrounding areas were clean, but the vault toilets and the trash bins (by us) smelled pretty bad. When the breeze was right, we could smell it at our site. The women's toilet was not gross, but my husband said the men's was nasty. Because of the smell, there were flies buzzing about in the daytime. Friday while we were kayaking, personnel came around, cleaned the vault toilets and emptied trash, so perhaps cleanup is not after the weekend, but just before.

This is actually the Lakeview campsites at Parker Canyon Lake Campground. The sites closest to the lake are tent-only. The motor coach/travel trailer sites are farther back. There's a boat ramp and small store. The road is paved all the way in, but there are rough patches that will set your rig a bouncin' and wobblin'. The sites are well maintained. A crew of eight or nine was cleaning fire pits and vault toilets while I was there. NO cellular signal except Telcel from Mexico.