McHood Park Campground

This is a good just passing thru spot. Bit of a rough road to get in with our 34' MH but we made it coming in the long way. GPS sent us past the first entrance and by the time we realized it we just figured it was for a reason and kept going. Was about 5-7 miles further around to get in but we were so glad we went that way because we would never have attempted the main entrance. It was very rutted and rough--too much for us to handle. The campground sits up above the reservoir. The sites hadn't been mowed in awhile and it was pretty overgrown. Would have been difficult to try and cook and/or eat outside. We made a quick trip into Winslow and that was great. Nothing fancy but he price was right and we appreciated being so close to Winslow so we could check it out!

Looking at a satellite view of McHood Campground, you might think you're going to be sitting in the middle of vast flatness. But the campground and small reservoir are in a slight low spot, and the banks of the reservoir are (in springtime) lush with reeds and willows. The campground itself has seen better days. It's a little rough around the edges if you're used to places that cater to RVers. But it's downright luxurious if you're primarily a boondocker. Hey, flush toilets and showers; tables, grills and trash barrels. There are back-ins, pull-throughs and free-form sites. If you go back out to the highway and cross the bridge, there's a day use area with ramadas and more restrooms.

McHood Park is a stark beautiful and cold place in the winter. The campground was clean and maintained and the views were definitely nice but there were a few drawbacks. The sites themselves were in a very open space, no privacy between spaces so it had an RV park feel to it. After the first night we were alone at night and it was quite peaceful but during the day there were people driving around the place pretty regularly. We got the feeling after a bit that the locals used the park for meetings of ill repute. There were a few amazingly friendly locals that came over and hung out the last night, brought us firewood and gave us the skinny on all the goings on in Winslow, AZ.

As it was winter the water to the bathrooms and showers were shut off and the building locked up which made having your own bathroom with you helpful,

One issue was noise. All day and night you got noise from the highway in the distance and the regular blaring of the trains going by. Not so bad that you can't ignore it and after the first few trains I slept right through them but every so often they would sound the horns, one time the horns roused some coyotes into arguing with the sound so that was...musical.

The place was decent and quiet and we had great reception as we could see the cell tower from the campsite in the distance so we stayed a while so I could work and took off when it got too cold at night. I would not mind returning but only in the comfort of an actual RV over our tiny van.

We stayed here in September 2016 and really enjoyed our time.
The road was pretty rocky on the way in but it was fairly short.
Saw beautiful sunsets and sunrises and took our kayak up the river. We didn't have to paddle too far (maybe 15 minutes) before we found some really fun boulders to hang out on and jump up of! If you do this -- be sure that there aren't hidden rocks in the water!!! Jump at your own risk.
There were a couple of other campers here while we stayed. Friendly but let us keep to ourselves. The bathrooms were available but the showers were turned off -- it sounded like that was a permanent situation.
This was a bit off the beaten path but totally worth it for several nights of free camping in a beautiful spot.
We'll definitely be back someday

Our vlog of this stay is available on YouTube!
https://youtu.be/oKG2NupCOYo

We stayed here for a week in April and had a fine time. There are pull through and back in traditional sites in the 'upper' area but we parked parallel to the shore along the 'lower' area - it was more private and had water front!

The lake was used pretty heavily and there are a ton of fish jumping in it. Lot's of birds here so that was fun to watch too.

We had consistent neighbors but everyone was very friendly and even met a fellow young full-timer that is a common contributor here :-)

There is a lot of shooting done nearby on private property it sounds like... no complaints from me since it was a distant sound except that one morning when there was a good amount of gunfire at 3:30 am. That was strange.

Winslow is a neat town but we were shook down by homeless peoples over 5 times during our one day in town running errands. We were clearly targeted because of the RV so if you have a vehicle it may be best to use that to bop around town and stay more under the radar.

It's nice that the city provides this for free.

When we were there it was very busy. There are 10 spots in the upper campground (4 pull through and 6 back in). We arrived about 5:30 or 6PM and we nabbed the last site (back in) in the upper lot. The pull through sites are paved and appear mostly level. The back in sites are gravel and wasn't as level as the pull throughs but didn't take much for the jacks to level off.

The sites each had a table and grill and a nice amount of space between them. The bathroom is in the upper lot as well (didn't check it out though).

The lower lot has spaces that park parallel to the road and pretty much right on the water, as well as some back ins on the other side of the road. When we were there most of the lower lot was mostly full, with only some of the back ins remaining.

They have trash cans at almost every site and dumpsters. None were overflowing. The park felt aged but not dirty.

The beach and access areas for the water though were filthy. Tons of trash and dog waste. We were going to take our puppy down and introduce her to swimming here but once we saw the shoreline we decided against it. We did see a number of people kayaking and canoing, and even some jet skiers, so I am hoping that once you get away from the easily accessible shoreline areas that maybe it feels a little cleaner.

It was very quiet at night. While we were there the few people running generators (including us) had them all shut off around dark and well before the 10pm quiet time. You could see I-40 but couldn't hear traffic from it though you did hear some distant train traffic.

There are some picnic areas with shade covers that appear as they are for day use, though there were RVs parked at them.

There is another entrance to the park (just past the RV entrance) which is on the other side of the water, and that is just a day use area and was very busy during the day on Saturday.

Not much to do in Winslow so this makes a good place to stop for a night or two. Though due to how dirty the shoreline felt I can't give it more then 3 stars even though it was free.

AT&T
No Boost:
0.33Mbps down / 1.19Mbps up

Boosted:
2.74Mbps down / 0.08Mbps up

Verizon
No Boost:
4.44Mbps down / 12.52 Mbps up (yes this is correct, I take 3 readings and average them to make sure I am not getting an irregular test).

Boosed:
Average:
7.06Mbps down / 11.9Mbps up

Stayed here in our 35ft Class A motorhome for about 3 nights with zero issues.
If your looking for a more detailed review... check out the GeekStreamers one below.
Here's a DashCam video of the entrance road (I entered from the Route 99 road entrance)
https://youtu.be/XFBrghk09gs

Great water views, sites right on the water, FREE and reasonable cell signal; a great fulltimer's combo.

We arrived on a Tuesday evening and there were still a few spots available, include one right on the water. By the looks of things, folks who are here are setup her for the long haul.

Here's a tip... if you have a long rig (ours is 31' feet) DON'T GO all the way to the end off the paved road onto the dirt area. The turn around is not really big enough to turn around without doing a multiple point turn and here's the kicker... there's a cliff, sans gaurdrail, that you'll have to avoid falling off of. So yeah, wouldn't recommend going all the way to the end dirt turn around with a big rig.

This place is great for a few days stay. We showed up around dusk (during the super moon) & it was the best view!! NO ONE has reviewed the amazing "pull-thru" (by the bathhouse) it's the gem in this park! FREE 50 AMP, AND SEWAGE. (HINT:( it looks like the power lines to the pole are cut, but they are not! Have fun folks!

I don't think you can ask for much more from a free spot. We were here in mid December and the night sky was fantastic. I'm a train buff, so it's just a few miles into town to watch one of the busiest mainlines in America. The town is famous because of the Eagles song, "Take it Easy", but there is a hotel here that is an incredible piece of history and art. Ot's high enough in elevation here to be cold at night, but I'm guessing that's a big plus in the Summer:)

I posted a video of our experience here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f80ykcwcEEg