Catalina State Park Campground

We loved this campground and it's our second time here. We stayed up at the Ringtail Loop the first time and much preferred the sites at the A and B loops. But it's all great because the park is beautiful with many trails to explore and great views everywhere, plus it's only a few miles from shopping, restaurants and Tucson. We enjoyed exploring with our bikes in the campground and right outside on a long bike path.

Very convenient campground for being close to Tucson but not having to stay in a private campground. Sites were spaced decently and loved that I was close to hiking trailheads. Some of the trails do not allow dogs so that was a bummer but hiked the 50 year trail. Free wifi but I did not use. Seemed to me that my regular Verizon wireless was slow perhaps due to the parks internet. In my site, very little Over the Air TV stations.

We have no complaints. Nice spacious and level asphalt sites, wonderful backdrop of the Santa Catalina Mountains. Great hiking in this park.

Water and electric only sites, but the dump station wasn't that far away. We didn't use any of their facilities so can't report on that.

A quiet and pleasant stay!

Our stay in Catalina State Park was just such a great experience. The location is perfect - you are in a quiet state park with a view of the mountains, but there is shopping literally across the road from the park's entrance. The restrooms were kept clean and the tiled showers were clean and hot. We enjoyed a large "yard" as well as having a private path to the restrooms/showers just behind our site. We even had wifi! We were told that the wifi was only available in Campground B, but we were able to access it in Campground A. The campground hosts were lovely and made sure to let us know about the concert and star party on the day of our arrival. This is such a friendly, beautiful place and we will definitely be back.

We made reservations on line, after researching camping in the area. We were greeted at the park entrance by friendly park employees who had our reservations and everything ready for us. The campground host was wonderful and made us feel welcome.

Stayed here one night on 11/10/2019 in site A-15. Site was large with a paved pad with water & electric hookup right by the pad. Decent privacy and spacing between sites. Bath house was new, clean and had hot water. Only 15 minute short walk to the Romero Ramada and Hohokam Ruins. Campground in a flat, brushy area but with beautiful views of the Mt. Lemmons mountain range.

Went on ranger guided tour of the ruins by Ranger Jonathan McCabe. Very informative and we learned a lot about the ancient community that was there. Highly recommend the tour, and free.

We really enjoyed Catalina State Park. The views of the Santa Catalina Mountains are so beautiful any time o the day. Also the star viewing is excellent. Sites have 50 amp electric/water for $30 a night. There are also some non-electric sites. Their sites are level asphalt and roomy! While there we had 2 bars AT&T 5GE. There is free WiFi but it gets overloaded in the evenings. The OTA channels were CBS/NBC/Fox from Tucson - no ABC signal. The shower building had tiled showers which had nice hot water. There was a hiking trail right from the campground and a trailhead about a mile awhile which had lots of trails to choose from. We really enjoyed the Romero Pools trail. Just one mile away is a super Walmart, shopping, restaurants and a movie theatre!

Catalina State Park offers many outdoor activities for hikers, campers, mountain bikers, bird watchers, and equestrians. There are plenty of RV sites all with water and electric with great views of the majestic Santa Catalina Mountains. The trailheads are a good walking distance from the campsites and there are plenty of options for each hiking level. You’ll see plenty of giant saguaros and cacti along your hike, we took the Romero Canyon Trail where the creek was roaring with all the melted snow off the Catalinas. Tucson/Oro Valley is very accessible, but you would never know since this park feels very secluded from the city.

Beautiful locale, the sites are well maintained with a mixture of pull thru and back in options in both camping loops. Easy access to a shopping plaza including a Walmart. Also close to Tucson for other sightseeing options. Probably the only downside of this park is that it is so popular that availability can be scarce. You may have to book multiple sites to stay longer than a couple of days. You also need to leave the park and come back when switching sites. The Biosphere 2 is a short drive away with ample parking for large RVs. A good place to go for a couple of hours before checking back into a new spot.

The park is very quiet and the views of the night sky are fabulous despite its close proximity to the city.

We spent our first night here in the overflow part of this campground and then moved to a site with electric/water hookups. The sites are really spacious, and our dog loved rolling in some grass after many days of sand and cacti! The ground squirrels kept her entertained too! There is some great bird watching here, and lots of hiking trails accessed from the campground. You are close to Biosphere 2, the Saguaro National Park and Tucson. Tucson itself has an amazing network of biking trails that circumnavigate the city of Tucson. We rode 40 miles and didn't begin the see the main loop! Flat and easy riding...not particularly scenic...but easy way to run errands while camping!
But our biggest surprise were the free showers! Huge tiled showers with really nice shower heads and plenty of hot water. After having traveled now for a month...to be able to take a really good shower was a treat! I don't think we have ever come across a better shower anywhere...private campgrounds included!