Picacho-Tucson NW KOA

This KOA is very crowded, all gravel, and has significant noise from the highway. But it still has all the great features that make KOAs enjoyable for me, and it’s magnificently run.

I’m not kidding when I say that the bathrooms are the cleanest I’ve ever seen in my life. They were a balm to my road-weary soul. The ladies who run this ship do so with genuine care, and it shows.

If you need a stopover for a night or two with all the amenities, this is a good choice.

In the interest of full disclosure, this is the first KOA we've camped at so not 100% sure how it compares to other KOAs. Check-in was super easy, and the owner showed us to our site. The site was nice and all of the hookups worked flawlessly. This KOA does seem to be under newish ownership, and the new owners are making improvements. KOAs are a little more expensive than other RV park options, but not by much, and the added amenities (pool, etc.) are worth the extra money in my opinion. The pool area was nice, and there was a playground for kids. There was a train and the interstate nearby so that could be annoying to some people.
Overall a good place to dump, recharge, swim, relax, shower and shave.

We were not too impressed by this KOA. The sites were, as expected, fairly close together in a gravel lot with a few trees and cactus interspersed. Some of the shorter sites were more wooded, but many sites were wide open with no shade. Our 50 amp electric voltage was very low and if we tried to run both air conditioners (it was 90 degrees in March) our power management system kept shutting off our power with a low voltage warning. The campground was half empty so we were surprised to have low voltage problems. We reported it to the office but they didn't have anyone with experience to troubleshoot it. On our second evening, the water to the campground cut off unexpectedly for a while. We called to report it but the office was closed so we just waited it out. The office is closed from 11am to 3pm which also makes things a little awkward. There's quite a lot of highway noise as the KOA is right off the interstate, and there's a fairly loud train that goes by from time to time. There's a decent-sized dog park and a huge empty field where dogs can be walked, but which is also used for grazing by the neighboring ranch's cows, so watch your step there! AT&T signal was very strong and fast. There's WiFi available at the office but we couldn't receive it at our site so I can't report on speed. There's not much in the way of stores nearby. The staff we interacted with was friendly.