TrailManor Owner's Forum  

Go Back   TrailManor Owner's Forum > TrailManor Camping & Lifestyle > Recommended Campgrounds and Places to Visit
Register FAQ Members List Calendar Mark Forums Read

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 12-06-2014, 04:22 PM   #1
Bill
Site Team
 
Bill's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: The mountains of Scottsdale, AZ, and the beaches of Maine
Posts: 10,088
Default Campgrounds for Spring Training in Scottsdale, Arizona

Salt River Fields in Scottsdale, AZ, is a new professional ball park and stadium complex. It is the home of spring training for the AZ Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies. Each year the forum sees a number of queries about where to camp for spring training. Since Scottsdale itself doesn’t really have any campgrounds, we have to go further afield.

A few days ago, my wife and I were out at McDowell Mountain Regional Park. This is a county park outside of the town of Fountain Hills, AZ, just east of Scottsdale. The park itself is quite large, and has a campground within it. We haven’t camped there in a few years, but were reminded of what a wonderful campground it is.

There are 76 individual campsites, well spread out. Interior roads are paved, campsites are level, graveled, and well drained. Each site has water and electric hook-ups, a picnic table and a barbecue fire ring. There is a dump station at the entrance, and several restroom buildings with flush toilets and showers.

The park itself is more than 21,000 acres. Although one edge runs along the McDowell Mountains, most of it is in a level section of desert. For people who are not baseball enthusiasts, there are miles of hiking and biking trails the park, ranging from level and easy to steep and challenging. Motor vehicles are not allowed on the trails. Geocaching is allowed, and there are many caches within the park. If you are an amateur astronomer, this is a dark skies area. And of course, spring is wildflower season in the Sonoran Desert. Check out http://www.maricopa.gov/parks/mcdowell/.

All sites in the campground may be reserved online at http://www.maricopacountyparks.org/. As you can imagine, early reservations are highly recommended.


Bill
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	20141203Four Peaks (Custom).jpg
Views:	212
Size:	144.5 KB
ID:	11046   Click image for larger version

Name:	20141203Interior road (Custom).jpg
Views:	203
Size:	142.4 KB
ID:	11047   Click image for larger version

Name:	20141203Typical site (Custom).jpg
Views:	212
Size:	206.5 KB
ID:	11048   Click image for larger version

Name:	20141203Site separation (Custom).jpg
Views:	208
Size:	135.3 KB
ID:	11049  
__________________
2020 2720QS (aka 2720SL)
2014 Ford F-150 4WD 5.0L
Bill's Tech Stuff album
Bill is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-06-2014, 05:26 PM   #2
Bill
Site Team
 
Bill's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: The mountains of Scottsdale, AZ, and the beaches of Maine
Posts: 10,088
Default Another campground suggestion for spring training

As I was writing about McDowell Mountain Regional Park, I thought about another really nice area nearby. This is the Lost Dutchman State Park, at the foot of the Superstition Mountains just east of Apache Junction, AZ. It bears many similarities to MMRP. Far enough out of town to be interesting, paved interior roads, level gravelled sites, good facilities, really nice views, miles of hiking trails (motor vehicles forbidden on trails), dark skies, geocaching, and incredible wildflower displays. There are 134 campsites, about half of them dry, and half with water and electricity. Dump station at the entrance, rest room facilities with flush toilets and showers. As I recall, the sites tend to be a bit closer together than at MMRP, but this is by no means a commercial in-town crowded campground.

In addition, motorcycle people are going to love Rte 88 (the Apache Trail) through Tortilla Flat and out to Roosevelt Lake. Bring an extra pair of undies.

http://azstateparks.com/Parks/LODU/
__________________
2020 2720QS (aka 2720SL)
2014 Ford F-150 4WD 5.0L
Bill's Tech Stuff album
Bill is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-06-2014, 05:52 PM   #3
scrubjaysnest
TrailManor Master
 
scrubjaysnest's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Big Bend area, Florida
Posts: 2,120
Default

And I left my Diamond Back hat at home
__________________
Axis 24.1 E 450 chassis, 6 spd tranny. GVWR 14500# GVCWR 22000 # GW(scales) 12400 #
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

mods: 2- 100 watt solar panels, on roof, 300 watts portable



“They who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” Benjamin Franklin
scrubjaysnest is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:57 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright 2022 Trailmanor Owners Page.