It took us 4 hours to drive from Gilbert Ray Campground near Tucson to McDowell Mountain Regional Campground near Scottsdale. This park is managed by the County of Maricopa and reviews of it are very positive.
We left around 9:30 am and pulled in around 1:15pm. Check-in is at 1:00pm so we were right on time. Upon arrival we saw there was a mountain bike event with lots of bicyclists everywhere. In researching this park, I noticed that this park is popular with bicyclists with over 50 miles of trails in the park and Ron plans to check them out.
Our site is #56 and is a pull-thru site. I thought it was appropriate site number since I was born in 1956 and I am celebrating my birthday this week! The hookups were on the wrong side for our camper, but we were able to position it and run the hose under the camper and the electric cord reached the outlet. We could have turned our camper, but then our door would face the road and we did not think we would like that. The site was level, and we were set-up in no time. The reviews of this campground did not disappoint because the views of the mountains and Sonoran Desert are outstanding.
We decided to run down to the Visitor’s Center to buy some firewood and check for information on the trails in the park. The Park Ranger was very helpful and told us about a couple areas on the trails to capture photos of birds, including owls. Fingers crossed we get some good photos!
After watching the disappointing Bengals loss (maybe next year :), we went to bed early and plan to check out the trails tomorrow. Temperatures were forecasted to drop into the low 40s and rain is in the forecast for the next 2 days. We are here until Saturday morning, when we move to another Arizona State Park, the Lost Dutchman.
2025 Airstream Travels 
Beautiful views!
LikeLike