WINDY HILL CG, Roosevelt Lake, AZ

WINDY HILL CAMPGROUND,  
Roosevelt Lake, AZ

RUN BY:   National Park Service

LOCATION:   32.793828 -109.592354

Last Visited:  3/15/2018

UTILITIES:  NONE  (there are pole-power sites available)

COST: 

DISCOUNTS:  50% for senior pass

OUR RATING (1-5):

NOTES:  Roosevelt Lake is in the middle of Tonto National Forest.  The campground is rather typical of a large national park campground. The sites were nice and we had a view of the lake.  The best part of this spot is what is around you. Tonto National Monument is nearby. We were fortunate enough to visit on Heritage Day weekend so the trail to the cliff dwellings was open. Otherwise you have to sign up for a guided trip, and they are limited.  The drive across the mountains to Apache Jct on  State Rte 88 is beautiful but not for the faint of heart. It is dirt and often barely wide enough for two vehicles to pass. If you’re on the outside you have a looooong way down. (Sorry. I can't find my picture of the actual campground.)

Environment:  Basically desert. You’re between the Sonoran Desert to your west and the Chihuahuan Desert to your east.

Amenities:  There are some sites you can get with hookups.

Dump:  Yes

Public Water: Yes 

Toilets: Yes

Showers:  No

Laundry:  No

Phone Service: 4G Verizon 

Nearest Propane:  Globe, AZ

Location:  State Hwy 188 north out of Globe. Watch for campground signs and visitor center just after the small community of Roosevelt.

Proximity to shopping: At least 27 miles away in Globe.

Camping Population:   Quite mixed. Typical national park.

Sites:  Nice size for park campground. Easy access. Ours was pull-through.

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RATING KEY:    category - score 

Categories:  I - established campgrounds where one might spend a vacation or several days

                    II -  boondocking, dry camping where there are no designated sites and no amenities but

                               one might choose to stay for more than a night.

                    III - over-night areas 

You must remember that we are scoring 1 thru 5 according to things which are important to us: the environment, cost, amenities, location, safety, camping population, site, phone service 

* There are people who are not full-timers and van-dwellers by choice. We try hard not to be demeaning or assume that they are bad people but sadly, as you find in the poorer parts of a city, there seems to be more crime. Many call these people van-dwellers. That isn’t really accurate even though they do often live in vans. We know quite a few van-dwellers who have good incomes, are full-timers by choice and prefer a van to other types of vehicles. To try to show some respect for people who have a difficult lot in life, I’m calling them ‘residential campers’.  It is only when you get a high proportion of residential campers in an area that you find an increase in petty theft, etc.