Aspen Campground

This is one of the most popular campgrounds in Arizona, but we lucked out getting a spot at 4 pm on a Friday without reservations. I guess someone had to leave early unexpectedly, and we arrived shortly after they left and got that last spot. There are some reservable spots and some walk-up spots. According to the map, we were in a walk-up loop.

The sites are very clean and spacious. Some are shady; some are sunny. Most all sites are decently spaced away from neighbors. We were on an outer loop so had woods behind us, and that was nice. The sites have a charcoal grill, a fire ring, and a picnic table. No hook-ups. We noticed quite a few sites are situated on the opposite side or behind the driveway for your RV. It's not a huge inconvenience unless you need the RV door to face your picnic table, fire ring, and grill.The restrooms are vault toilets, but they were in good shape. Some (like the one near us) are newer, made of cinder blocks, have lights, and are handicap accessible. The others are primitive small, wooden shacks.

I rated this campground as a 4 out of 5 for noise only because it is busy. It's hard to predict who your neighbors will be, but there were some larger groups who played their music louder than necessary. They weren't near us, but we could hear it. We could overhear the displeasure of those who were near them as they passed on their way to the restroom.

In the mornings, it's not unusual to see elk out grazing among the campsites and we did see a family of five one morning. It was very cool because the night before we went to a ranger program about elk at Woods Canyon Lake.

We spent half a day on nearby Woods Canyon Lake. It's a stone's throw from the campground. We rented a little fishing boat for $45 for four hours. We also hiked a portion of the Rim Trail which is about a mile from the campground.

There is water to fill your RV right at the host booth, and there are water spigots throughout the campground. The dump station is a little ways back towards the freeway, and they charge $7 even if you stay in the campground. But there is an attendant there who does a really great job of getting rigs in and out of there efficiently and they have the hoses set up already so you don't even need to get yours out. Maybe that's a Sunday morning thing, but there was a long line and we hardly had to wait fifteen minutes to get in and out of there.

We had no cell service, but we have T-Mobile so we never expect to on camping trips. :)

Campground is located in the National Forest near Wood Canyon Lake (walking Distance). The entrance and campground roads are paved. The campsite pads are paved with large areas of open space and trees around many sites. No utilities at your site so fill your water at one of the many locations throughout the park. Solar panels are not reliable here, at least some sites, due to the trees. Generators are allowed during the day and early evening.

I camped here using my Senor Interagency Pass, so I got 50% off of the $20 fee. There is a dump available that is shared by several Federal Forest campgrounds in the area and is $7. There is also boondocking areas available in the areas forests.

The lake store is lose by, well stocked with many items, but as expected a little steep $$. The nearest town with a Walmart is about 30 minutes away. Also there is a laundromat there, Very clean and nice equipment.

We road our mountain bikes through this park in March, it was closed. Patches of snow and a lot of standing water at the time.

Large park, paved sites (although not all sites were level) can accommodate large rigs, picnic tables, fire pit, trash. Paved trail to the lake and out to the Rim Trail, a must do! Dump station down the road, 3 lanes.

Road is paved the entire way, some of it a bit rough but new pavement had been recently replaced towards the campground.

Granted, it's location is beautiful, and we did arrive on the weekend after the 4th of July, maybe that was the problem. Campground is managed by Thousand Trails. The parking pad was stained from campers who just let the gray water run out. The picnic benches were in need of a good cleaning and paint. A popular campground obviously, highly used and they can't keep it clean, imho. Lots of 4 wheeling and noise and dust. Bathrooms were clean vaults, but needed emptying. At 1am, someone came through our site looking at our camper with a flashlight. What does this say to you? Weekdays are probably the best time to go if your looking for quieter. Lake was busy too. Oh, and the potable water was brown.

We arrived on a Tuesday, left on Friday. Noticeably busier as we approached the weekend. Loved our stay. Large sites, fairly level pads. Pit toilet in our loop was older and smelly since users didn’t close the lid. Newer toilets on other loops. Easy check in, pay dump station on your way out. ($7). Large groups allowed on sites which meant loads of people and extra noise from sites. We liked the close proximity to Woods Canyon Lake. We would definitely come back. Cell service not usable, occasionally would receive a text. But that’s about it. (Verizon)

We were very happy with our campsite. The RV site was pretty much level. It seemed we had lots of space where the barbecue, fire pit, and the table are located. We were in a perimeter lot with no neighbors to the rear. It was very private. We had limited cell service with AT&T and Verizon. There is a dumpsite available with a seven dollar cash only fee. The attendance at the campsite were very helpful as well. Nice place to go since you have things to do like ride bike fish off the banks of the lake or even kayak the lake.

I got a bad site because they wouldn't let me drive through and pick a site without paying $7 first then pay for my site. They wouldn't let me move sites.