Best RV Parks Near Scottsdale Arizona

‍Arizona is a well-known place for recreational vehicle travelers. The warm, dry air makes it ideal for some travelers. So which RV parks in Scottsdale are best?

The best RV parks to stay at near Scottsdale, Arizona are the following:

• Riverside campgrounds for a wilderness experience
• Lake Pleasant for the lake and beautiful views
• Usery Mountain for a mix of nature and amenities
• Apache Lake Marine and Resort for a higher end resort with some quiet isolation

We’ve looked up some of the best RV parks in the Scottsdale area. Since RV campers are looking for a large variety of services, we’ve found some of the best combinations of scenery, services, and budget friendly trips. We’ll review these RV parks one by one and let you know which ones to look up.

‍RV Parks near Scottsdale, Arizona

Riverside Campgrounds

We’ll be the first to admit that going to Riverside involves being off the grid and roughing it a bit. There are a few unique parts of Riverside that make it worth visiting. First, the site has outstanding views of Bartlett Dam and is near the Verde River. The area also doesn’t allow motorized boats.

This combination makes Riverside Campgrounds a great place for peaceful trips on a canoe or kayak in addition to providing excellent bird watching and fishing. Rather than worrying about a boat zooming past and scaring away fish or birds, they remain docile.

Now for the other side of Riverside: They don’t take reservations and don’t offer water or electrical hookups. The largest trailer or RV allowed is 16 feet. The plus side of this for people who enjoy the great outdoors is that the place is relatively cheap at about $16 per night.

You can head to their site here. We would say that their campground makes an excellent getaway to unplug from the cities or suburbs.

Lake Pleasant Regional Park

This isn’t all that close to Scottsdale, but it earns a spot on the list anyway. Situated on Lake Pleasant, as the name suggests, this park is privy to some excellent sunrises and sunsets over the water. Lake Pleasant has nice beachers and ready access to the water for boats, kayaks, canoes, and other watercraft.

Our suggestion is to go in the early to mid-summer because water levels due tend to vary (it is basically outside the desert) so having enough water to do fun stuff isn’t guaranteed later in the year.

Otherwise, Lake Pleasant offers all the amenities of a regional park, plus more for your RV. Not quite a primitive campsite, Lake Pleasant offers electrical and waste hookups for your RV so you can either stay a while or at least get some maintenance done to keep going the next day.

Lake Pleasant is also a great place for fishing and bird watching in general. Multiple trails connect to the lake if you want a bit of an adventure and to get out of the water for a bit.

The price isn’t terrible at all either, ranging from about $25 on up.

Usery Mountain Regional Park

Usery Mountain Regional Park is a bit greener than other RV parks within Scottsdale. Youl’ll be able to see some wildlife and a lot of cactuses. There are also a few trails, including Wind Cave Trail that leads up to Pass Mountain, part of the Goldfield Mountain range.

The park itself has some activities too, including an archery range as well a horseback riding nearby. Both are great for adults and kids.

A couple of small factors that might be disadvantages here: You can’t stay more than 14 days and they only accept trailers smaller than 45 feet.

The site otherwise offers the necessary hookups to refresh you, your family, and your RV with dump sites, water, and electricity.

Usery is overall a great place if you want to avoid being fully in the desert and want to see some green, enjoy views of the Arizona mountains, and would like to try some hiking trails or even ride a horse. The price is relatively low too starting at $32 per night.

Tortilla Campground

This campground, like others, is part of the Tonto National Forest. We’ll throw one fact out there right away: This site made it to our list because it combines excellent views with a rather low price of $20 while including fresh water and dump sites, but no electrical.

The price can also attract a lot of traffic, so getting here in your RV during peak seasons might be a little more of a challenge.

The campground is right next to a lake, so fishing and boating are a breeze. You’ll also have the opportunity for sport and real rock climbing since you are in a hilly, rocky area.

If you are looking for an inexpensive camp site with plenty of natural views and hiking trails, this might be the right one for you.

Coon Bluff Campground

Coon Bluff is near the lower Slat River, and one of it’s highlights is being cheap. Pay as little as $8, though you don’t get any hookups for anything like sewer, water, or electrical.

The highlight of Coon Bluff is tubing - you can grab a tube, kayak, or small non motorized boat and float on the river to relax. To be honest, in some parts of the country, you can pay more than that just for the tube.

Given the presence of a river and tubing, swimming is also nice here, especially on a hot Arizona day.

We’ll be honest: while they have toilets and bathrooms, the facilities are less than ideal, but for $8 and cheap tubing, we wouldn’t have that high of expectations.

Lost Dutchman State Park

Why do they call it Lost Dutchman? We suggest you go there and find out. At $20 to $30 per night, the place is reasonable too.

Lost Dutchman has gorgeous desert views of red rocks and cacti. There are hiking and biking trails very nearby if you want to get out and explore the area. The trails are also rated as easy to moderate, so you won’t wear yourself or the kids out too quickly.

Every site comes with its own hookups for water, sewage, and electrical as well as a firepit with an adjustable grill.

Since this is a state park, it is entirely possible that Lost Dutchman might be busy during the day. It’s no problem, really. They get local traffic too and the area tends to become more calm and peaceful at night.

Apache Lake Marina and Resort

As you can tell from the inclusion of the words lake and marina, you can definitely do some boating and swimming here. This is a little further from Scottsdale and in truth a bit remote, but totally worth the trip.

The views are outstanding, as Apache Lake is located deep in the Tonto National Forest. While other RV parks previously listed are in the same forest, this one is a little different in that it is more isolated.

Apache Lake is a bit more upscale than other RV parks, and it actually has a limited number of spots so you do feel more isolated. They only offer 21 single-space units. The result is that you have consistent access to fishing, boating, wildlife, horseback riding, and more - at a bit of a price. We do have to say that $40 to $50 per day to start actually isn’t bad at all if you want a quiet, peaceful vacation near a desert lake.

Eagle View RV Resort

Eagle View RV resort is more for people who don’t want to get too far away from the amenities of the city, and don’t feel the need to cozy up to nature.

The RV resort is right next to a casino and also offers a basketball court, pool, and other fun amenities for you and the kids. You will definitely not be hearing anyone saying they are bored.

The site can cost a little more with the extra stuff for kids, but we feel it is totally worth it for a vacation. The price is between $36 per night up to $50 or more during peak seasons.