Maricopa County has several parks surrounding Phoenix, Arizona. We were told these are good places. Usery Mountain Regional Park is the first one we’ve checked out. It’s about 30 miles northeast of I-10 and Hwy 60.
We liked it so much I’m not sure if we’ll ever check out the others.
The campground has 75 sites some of them pull-through. All of them have water and electric hookups although tents are allowed. The dump and trash are by the entrance/exit. The restrooms have flush toilets and hot showers. The site have tables, grills, and fire rings. RVs can be up to 45 feet long. All sites cost $20 a night. None are reservable. When we arrived about 5:30 on a Monday evening in February, there were five sites left. They are distributed around a couple of circles in such a way that you get some sense of privacy. Our site, #8, was level.
When you arrive they give you several papers full of information. One is a large map of the park. Another is a map of the campground. Another is a list of the park’s twenty-one trails with short descriptions of each trail including which ones are best for horses or mountain bikes. Another is the schedule of programs for the current month (47 programs for February 2009 with some repeats) but be careful which you plan to go to because you can only stay 2 weeks. You might be able to get permission of the park supervisor to stay longer but even then you must change sites.
There are picnic areas and group camps and an archery range with six separate courses. One of the trails is paved for wheelchair use and there’s a ranger led program on it for kids who might still be in strollers. One of them suggests you enter the Maricopa County Sheriff’s phone number into your cell phone before you begin. The trailhead staging area has a hitching rail and parking for horse trailers. They are building a new nature center right by the entrance to the park.
All in all this is a fabulous park for whatever type of camping you like to do. When you go, I’d ask you to save a spot for us but that’s not allowed.
TTYL,
Linda