The Good: very nicely taken care of, easy to park in the spaces. The bad: they have a new policy that will not allow camper/tow vehicles over 40 feet in length total. Although there are plenty of spots in which those kind can fit, they have made the decision to not allow bigger vehicles in here. Make sure to check before you come! read more

Peaceful and beautiful. This campground has nice sized spots with freshly layered rock flats on each site. The A loop has 30/50 electric and water at each site with a central dump. Most important once you are comfy are the staggeringly beautiful views. Come and relax. read more

Gilbert Ray Campground - Sunset across Saguaro National Park - Campgrounds Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

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If your idea of camping is a Walmart parking lot with people camped right on top of you. This is your place

This is in the Tucson Mountain Park area. No water hook up, only electric. But there's water faucets all over the campground, where you can fill up. Sites are pretty descent size, but not paved. Nice place to ride your bike, walk your dog and just walk or jog around the area. There are trails for hiking around the area. Very close to Saguaro National Park. read more

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Lovely and quiet camp ground. We stayed for 3 days/ 2 nights during our 2 week long Christmas trip. The campground was quiet, there's a decent loop around the campground to walk dogs but be careful for cactus. Spots are large, the tables for RV sites are tad small. But we didn't use them. There's no wood fire pits, charcoal only. That that into consideration. Quite close to Saguaro National Park. I recommend leaving your campsite about 20 minutes to sunset and snapping some incredible photos. Pull outs are great for that. We stayed loop C and got in at night. Bathrooms are super clean, heated, soap and paper towels. Hosts were lovely. read more

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Nice campground with hook ups, must have self contained water. Close museum, desert hikes, bike trails, beautiful sunsets. No showers. read more

Gilbert Ray Campground - Sunset - Campgrounds Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

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On line reservations through Pima parks department website was easy. This is about 30 minutes from North Tucson. The campsite has nice amenities such as a concrete picnic table and electric outlets but is tight for larger rigs. You definitely get the flavor of being remote camping surrounded by the beautiful Sonoran desert. read more

The nice lady at the kiosk allowed us to drive around and check the place out. With a map we made good progress in making decisions to where we will camp next time. The bathrooms were clean. There were watering refill stations throughout the grounds. read more

One of my most favorite campgrounds we have stayed at. We camped in January 2021. You are camping in the midst of beautiful Saguaro's. It feels like you are in Saguaro National Park since the campground is so close. We stayed on loop A. I recommend staying on the outside of the western side of the loop if you love to watch the sunset. There is no water or sewer at our campsite but there is a water fill and dump station provided in the campground. We are in a 35 foot 5th wheel that we pull with an F250. We are in spot A26 and fit perfectly. We are raising our truck hood and placing lights around our truck and camper since we read reviews about the Desert Pack Rat. read more

Gilbert Ray Campground - Sunset at Gilbert Ray Campground - Campgrounds Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

Tent camping here has gone excellently. The reservation website is tough to get to and navigate, and the confirmation email you get is gibberish, but the stay is excellent. We've stayed at B1 and B5 and love it for how spread out the sites are and how quiet it is. The bathrooms are spread out so they can be a bit of a trek depending on where you're staying. But the bathrooms are clean and functional. Checking in a straight forward and easy to do, as is checking out. It's so close to the city, yet feels like a little oasis outside of it. The views are great and the ambiance is just right for campers. At night, there are coyotes, and they will get up and sniff the tents, so be sure all your food is stored properly and there won't be an issue. We've come here with 2 small dogs and have done fine with them, they settle in and are able to get comfortable. I've noticed that people like to bring their bikes and bike around the loops, and they like to walk their dogs and cats (yes, cats get walked here), so just be sure to be mindful of your surroundings, mind your pets, don't cut off bikers. read more

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You're in the desert!...yet not far from town. The drive through site(s) accommodate our 38.9 ft RV wonderfully. Nice and quiet evenings. read more

Gilbert Ray Campground - Just before we put the "lights out" for the night while in our pull through site. - Campgrounds Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

Beautiful views and extremely peaceful! Friendly onsite staff. Some quite small rv spots so choose wisely.

This place is great but it gets 2 stars because it's online reservation system is unreliable. I'll update review if/when they fix it. Reserved a site in A Loop for a Saturday in Nov 2020. Arrived and it was occupied by a giant RV. Registration office was closed until Dec and phone answered weekdays only. Ended up in first come first serve L loop. Lucky there were open sites. Don't trust a reservation if you make one. read more

Lovely campground with clean bathrooms and nice sites. We were pleasantly surprised that although it was very full, it was quiet and friendly. Definitely a great spot for spring! read more

Wow beauriful place! Long drive, well worth it... After reading all the rules such as; the camp host is responsible for picking your campsite, you have to check in first, dogs need to be on leashes, all good! Checked in, camphost picked my site, on the way to paridise, yea! Stoped to fill water tank, then to my campsite, after 8 hours of driving we were looking forward to setting up, walking the dogs and relaxing. Well, our campsite was just occupied, I said WHAT! The nice young lady on my site said they were registering now, I indicated this site was assigned to us, why are you there, she indicated it was their site! Went back to the office where the young lady's husband was registering with the camp host, I had to cut in, asking why they were in my site, husband flippantly said whats the big deal! Camp host said "you must have been away for a while, I said just filled the water tank, she said, you snoze you loose. I get it, followed their rules, huband did not, no apologies, no sorry, need new host that follow their own rules! read more

I almost feel like I should not leave a review here for the fear that others will find this gem. This is a must see and a must do if you don't mind electric only for your RV. Stunning location in the middle of the desert to listen to coyotes out your door and stare at the stars in the desert sky. We will be back! read more

Gilbert Ray Campground - Campgrounds Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

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Generally disappointing. For those who just want to park an RV and need a place to sleep, this place would get the job done. But for tent campers it feels a bit too institutional. We took a couple of kids on their first campout, hoping to see a good story night sky. Imagine my surprise when the ambient light where is brighter than my home in town. I don't know what commercial or industrial setting is responsible, but there's a steady glow to the north that obscures good stargazing, and you listen to a steady flow of airplanes. Please be aware that although the campsites are advertised as having grills, there are only four or five grills in the entire campground and they are in, and locations between campsites. Given the prohibition on open fires, that means that good opportunities for a cookout are limited and are directly in your campsite unless you bring a camp stove. It's definitely not a wilderness experience, though I guess that saves money for those wanting to avoid a hotel. A very average camping experience. read more

Great campground with beautiful surroundings. Nice and clean bathrooms. There are tons of cactuses everywhere, including the saguaro's. You can back right into a space with spectacular views of the start of Saguaro NP. We must have gone in the off season because the park was very empty and we had it all to ourselves. Only two other campers further away from us. There are electrical hookups, and a spigot for filling your fresh water tank. We had a 33 ft RV and it fit very nicely. Nice and clean bathrooms as well. Only downfall was there is cactus everywhere, so you need to be careful with your pets. We had two dogs and I was not about to let them walk off of the asphalt path. The trash is far away. And no firepits. Because the campsite is part of Pima County it is a little hard to navigate to find and make a reservation, but once you figure it out its easy. read more

Beautiful campground right next to Saguaro National Park.

This county park is one the best we have stayed on,clean restrooms and a great place to camp,in a tent or RV, Have spent a week here for the last 15 winters and hope to spend many more read more

Love the seclusion of this campground. Staff is friendly and always seem to be waiting to help you get checked in. Super quiet and dark park where you can see the stars at night! Wish they would let us stay longer than 7 days! read more

Highly recommened this camp ground. Got here early on a Friday morning and had to sit and wait for a spot but it sure was worth it. Booked 7 nights. Clean bathrooms. Beautiful area.Very friendly. Close to town. Will be back. Snowed on us...yes I said snowed on us and they let us book for 1 more night. Great peeps! Thanks!! read more

We had a great time staying here. We were on a road trip in a camper van on our way to Tombstone. Without being able to make reservations, we were a little nervous about getting a site, but being the middle of April the campground wasn't anywhere near full. Sites are all gravel, very clean and the brush had grown in, making it pretty private. There didn't seem to be any place to put a tent that wasn't gravel, so if you're tent camping, I would make sure to have something for under the tent. The bathrooms were also very clean. There aren't showers, but my husband and I put on our swimsuits and rinsed off at one of the water spouts. The only reason I'm not giving it 5 stars is that they closed a bathroom without giving us any heads up that they were closing it. We chose a site close to a bathroom on purpose and all website research I did had that bathroom open for another couple weeks. Then before the end of the first night there they closed it and we had to walk a really far distance to the next available bathroom. I'm sure this usually isn't a big deal, since almost all people camping there were in RVs, but had we known about the closure we would have picked a different site. Overall, I would definitely return if we were coming back through that area. read more

Gilbert Ray Campground - I believe we had campsite #42 - Campgrounds Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

We love this spot! Our 3-day stay turned into 6 real easy, as we settled in to the relaxing atmosphere and the great weather (late November). We stayed in our RV with our 2 large dogs, and everyone was happy. There are some great trails nearby, but even just walking around the campsite grounds every day with the dogs was fun. You've also got the museum and Tucson Studios within bike riding distance. Camp hosts were friendly, facilities were clean, and the price was OK...$20 per night for RV's. Highly recommended place away from the bustle of Tucson, but close enough to visit... read more

This place is a steal! Gorgeous plant life, clearly marked campsites with plenty of buffer in between each spot, and the price is right: 10$ a night. One of my favorite spots I've camped to date. read more

Excellent for the price. A little farther than I would have preferred from the freeway but overall perfect for driving through. Clean bathrooms, sites and available water. Would have been nice to also have a shower but if you don't mind taking a bird bath the bathroom is big, clean and supplied. read more

This place is awesome! Only $10 a night for tent camping and very spacious sites with access to clean bathrooms and potable water. The location is great - only a few miles from the Sonoran Desert Museum and Saguaro National Park and about a 15 minute drive to Tucson. There are also nice hiking/biking trails from the campground. The visitors center and people working inside are very helpful and even let us use their phone a couple times - T Mobile does not have any service here! Apparently other providers have no problem here. The only other downside is the lack of shade although the very first campsites you see seem to have the most shade. read more

This campground is what the ladies at the Saguaro National Park Visitor Center recommended to us. It's on the road on the way there (well, sort of- there's a sign and you turn). There's a place where you put money in an envelope and turn in your payment for the campsite. It was absolutely gorgeous here- plenty of wildlife (we heard "coyote parties"), birds, and plants. So many plants. Such a variety of nature literally within reach everywhere. The best part was that it wasn't very crowded- I think there was only one other group there when we were there, and they were down a ways in an RV space from our tent space. Weather was gorgeous. Peaceful place. Just walking around the campground was so wonderful. We really enjoyed it. read more