Butcher Jones Rec center is a pretty spot to have a picnic, go kayaking or canoeing, hike, fish and of course look at the wild horses. Make sure buy your parking pass in Mesa or Fountain Hills BEFORE you drive all the way to the lake as you can't buy parking permits at the lake! Go online and there's a list of gas stations etc where you can buy a permit for $8.00. read more

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Lori was awesome! We asked for lunch menu at dinner time and shr was very accommodating! There Burgers are second to non !! Wife had the best sweet potato fries ever and I the b st macaroni and cheese lori recommendation. I usually only write when things are bad but ... So impressed we will comeback to this lake for the resturant! read more

I live in Gilbert, AZ so this is a fairly close place to help beat the heat (a little). The lake is very pretty. You can swim, jet ski, water ski, just cruise in your boat, and fish. It does get pretty crowded on the weekends, but it still is fun. If you prefer land, they have nice picnic areas with grills and a swimming beach. Wear a good pair of water shoes, there is alot of glass and fishing hooks on the ground and some in water. Have fun!!!! read more

Beautiful lake that has all kinds of water sports. Boating is fun because there are so many cliffs and coves to explore. We rented paddle boards and got in a fun workout with a group of 7 friends. I would recommend this lake as a Sunday fun day trip. read more

Saguaro Lake - Lakes Near Me - Mesa, Arizona

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Drive about an hour and a half to this lake to be informed they don't take cash????! What the fuck kind of national forest doesn't take cash. Drove right back home. Waste of time read more

I Love this Lake. It is amazing how close this pristine lake is to Scottsdale. If you take Butcher Jones road on the North side of the lake you can avoid some of the people traffic. read more

Worst experience, we drove all the way out to take the boat out on the lake. There was no water craft parking despite the sign saying there was. The over flow lot has about 20 boats waiting In line for someone to leave. Instead of dropping in and parking at over flow, you have to sit in the lot for hours waiting for someone to leave so you can take their spot. This disappointed My friends and I when we were looking to have a fun day out at the lake. Instead we came home disappointed. Don't waist your time coming here when you aren't guaranteed to be able to go on the lake. Go to a lake where they take customer satisfaction seriously and have somewhere to park. read more

The lake is just beautiful, and a must do item especially during the Summer. I love boating around on the lake and jumping overboard for a quick cooloff. Also great for paddle boarding. read more

I love Saguaro Lake. If you go there, I'd recommend going to the Marina side because Butcher Jones kind of stinks for horse. The wild horses are beautiful but they leave a mess, and I don't particularly like swimming right there where the horses swim in the same water. The beach at Butcher Jones is much weedier than the other side, but it's fine for little kids who don't go out far. Lots of music and noise. Yesterday when we were there, there were zillions of tiny gnats that bit like mad! On the other hand, the marina side is absolutely gorgeous, no smells, no noise, no bugs! It's perfect for dropping in a SUP and going out to spend the day on the lake. Make sure to bring an $8 Tonto Day Pass along. Get it from NoSnow SUP rental in Mesa, the Walgreens there, or in Fountain Hills at the Circle K. read more

Only in Arizona would you have to pay money to see water.. The fact that they don't sell passes at the lake is beyond reason. Passes are sold 25 miles away from the lake and if you show up without one you have to turn back around and drive for 30 minutes in order to buy a pass. Poor employees and poor service. read more

YOU NEED A PERMIT BEFORE ARRIVING. I did not get this memo and saw signs everywhere that you will get ticketed if no parking permit. I think it's $100 fine. The gas stations along the way apparently have them which is 25 min away or so - I was lucky and someone gave me theirs because they were leaving ( thank you again!). I took my 2 yr old son to escape the heat and it was nice refreshing water, he loved it. There are wild horses so don't be surprised to see some traces of them around the beach and picnic areas. It's all part of the experience :-) read more

Love butcher jones beach! Great fun to cool off in the spring and summer. Yes it can be trashed....some people don't clean up or give a crap about the environment....but that is to be expected being so close to urban areas. You need a pass and can not buy them on location. A lot of gas stations and Wal-Mart's carry them. The trail near the beach is 5miles round trip. Great easy hike but is narrow and has steep drop offs and lots of cactus not great for kids. The lake is kind of skuzzy, bring a float and wear water shoes. There is occasional glass and nails on the beach so watch your kids. If you are lucky you might see the wild horses, don't get close to them or block their way. And for God's sake pick up your trash! Nearest place to buy a pass is 15miles back towards Mesa. read more

A lovely setting; blue water, mountains in the distance, birds chirping, and a breeze to keep you cool. The lake is 5 star, We were there at dusk, and the colors on the mountains were almost glowing. It is a short drive from the city' That being said, the restaurant is somewhat lacking. The view is great, but the food is terrible. The coffee was burnt, the pie old and stale, and the choices very slim. We did enjoy the patio, with the lake in the background. I only wish that the food was as good. read more

Don't try and go boating on the weekends! I called ahead and checked the website to see if it was closed due to overflow...NO Information was available...when the family arrived, boat in tow, we were turned away and said we could wait in the overflow lot for 2-3 hours!...it's over 100 degrees that's why we're at the lake with a boat! The park official was rude and gave NO Additional information about the other lakes in the area! I'm soooooo disappointed in the lack of care and professionalism that the Parks department t is exhibiting! BTW plenty of Police presence in the area...Nothing better than feeling like you're living in a border town!!!! What a Joke!!!! read more

One Saturday before Easter, my friends and I decided to tease the waters of Saguaro Lake. This lake is awesome for many reasons, one being it's only three miles from the Salt River. So if you live in the east valley it's only a hop, skip and jump away from good ol' fashioned fun in the sun! Make sure you get out there early on the weekends or you'll be redirected to a parking lot used as a waiting zone. Here the wait can be anywhere from forty five minutes to three hours, this particular Saturday we waited about two hours to get onto the water. By this time it was later in the day and the water was too choppy to wake board on. We decided to head towards Party Cove which is located at the back of Saguaro Lake. When crossing the entire lake be sure to look out for the wake-less zone that starts about five hundred yards before you arrive to Party Cove. Our first trip we didn't see the signs and let's just say we had a couple of upset boaters when we arrived. The scene at Party Cove is about the same every weekend. A sandy beach lined with different boats of all kinds, but be sure to have a good pair of flip flops handy because the sand is rocky and hot. Also pack your barbeque equipment since nothing is better than a smoky hotdog on the lake. You'll also notice the body shot tent, these people are awesome, a lot of fun and willing to give away, you guessed it, body shots. These sweet treats are made up of Tequila Rose liquor and whipped cream placed in a belly button. Once the sun drops behind the cliffs around four o'clock, anyone not camping packs up and leaves. If you wait about twenty minutes after that you'll have perfect calm waters to wake board until sundown. Overall Saguaro Lake is a fantastic day trip spot that also offers camping areas with bathrooms for anyone who doesn't live close enough to drive home after sunset. Saguaro Lake also offers beach access from the parking area for families without boats, and a quaint little restaurant for an easier lunch by the lake. Saguaro Lake is a great place to beat the heat in the valley of the sun! read more

Always, always, always make sure to ask what kind if any type of culture type events will be happening the weekend that you reserve. I don't mind festivals, as long as I know they will be present. I was very surprised by the Gay festival that was going on the weekend I was there. Did I mention to ask when reserving ? read more

This lake is fun and during the week it's nice and quiet. It's pretty close so it's the perfect place to go out on the boat and fish or catch some sun. My only warning is make a pit stop BEFORE you get there because the restrooms are horrific. read more

I doooo LOVE it here. Met so many great people on this lake, super fun and lots of room during the week...Great parties on the weekends

Pretty fun! Good cliffs for jumping. Not bad for wake boarding/skiing or tubing! And it's close to the salt river to go tubing which is great, too. The lake is a lil dirty, though. Not transparent at all. Basically pretty green but still end up going often! read more

Boat rental. We asked for a pontoon for up to 8 people and instead were given the one for 12 people. I didn't see any difference and they didn't say anything. But, when checking out they charged me the rate for the "larger" boat. And the "manager" was VERY rude! She said they probably didn't have the smaller pontoon so sized me up. Would have been nice if they would have told me. Oh and the gas is extra. They didn't tell me that either. Very disorganized and all about the $$$. And the manager said, "you are going to squabble" about $20--the difference they charged for "sizing me up" without my knowledge. She acted like $20 was nothing! As a single mom, $20 can go a long way! Be careful because they will RIP you off at $220 a pop and not blink an eye. read more

Went to the beach side of saguaro lake today for the first time and couldn't believe that there was so much horse feces all over the place. We couldn't even walk through the picnic area without stepping on horse feces. There was even some around the lake and we literally had to grill our food in the middle of the horse feces. I'm very disappointed of the lack of respect and responsibility for the ranchers not cleaning up after their horses. I hope this issue can be resolve so that people can take their family and enjoy the area without having to smell or see and step all of that horse feces. read more

So, I came here with my family 2 days in a row. We played at the swimming beach area both days. The second day I brought my dogs because I saw dogs the day before playing around...and it made me jealous ;) love my dogs! Today, we set up all of our stuff and were hanging out with the mutts when the patrol came around and warned us that no dogs were allowed on the beach. They were very nice about it and they said they could be anywhere else along the lake except for that particular beach for swimming. :/ so we packed it up and headed to the Marina where we had a good time.....except for all the trash. My problem is..... the people next to us were playing music very loudly...which I am all for.... but not with extreme profanity. Drinking beer from glass bottles, smoking, and fishing right where other children were swimming. (Not all from the same group but right next to us where patrol could clearly see them) if you are going to enforce one rule... why not inforce them all? We ended up having a good time anyways. read more

The lake is absolutely beautiful. Warning: Do not frequent the marina restaurant! We stopped in for a glass of iced tea on a hot Arizona day. A waitress brought us 2 waters to begin with and asked what we wanted to order. I said just an iced tea and my boyfriend said the water was fine. She turned her nose up in disgust and walked away. As we quenched our thirst, my boyfriend got up to check out the gift store up front. He tried on a hat and wore it back to our table 10 feet away. He asked if I liked it and I did. He went back to counter asked if there was a mirror. The waitress told him outside in the restrooms. Which the restrooms were 5 feet away. While he was gone for exactly 1 minute and returned. A waitress came over and said " Mam your boyfriend can't walk outside with that hat on" I said ok we'll go tell him that, exactly as he is walking right back to table. She treated us like we are on 'the take' and very distrusting. We felt very uncomfortable as to which we decided we would not buy a hat from them. We paid for my iced tea and returned the hat as to which a different waitress tells us we had to buy the hat because he walked outside with the hat on as to which I said he was directed by a waitress to check it out in the mirror. Needless to say we were not going to buy this hat. And this waitress was extremely rude rolling her eyes. Horrible customer service. These employees could use a good lesson in proper customer service. read more