Gilbert Ray Campground

I'm not really sure what "Rooms" refer to in this Google Maps Review; there are no rooms here. But there are campsites - so that's how I rated it. I'm really shocked that this campground is managed by the City of Tucson. Originally, I thought this facility was maintained by the State Park system. The staff here are very polite and they take care of the place superbly. The bathrooms are clean and there are plenty of places to wash up and get fresh water after a long day hiking in the surrounding areas. If you have an RV, bring it. There are plenty of hookups here. ⛺🪵 It's a great place for families as well. The only negative is that their website is not functioning now, and it's tough to get in touch with someone over the phone to book your reservations.

My hubby & I always enjoy our stops at Gilbert Ray! The park is beautiful and the staff just lovely. Don’t expect to have total privacy— it’s not that kind of place. My only gripe (and it never stops us from revisiting) is that they do not have shower facilities and for Van Lifers like us who have external shower setups— there is not enough privacy to shower. Every other amenity is exceptional and it is 100% pet friendly with no extra charges for your pets!

One of our favourite Arizona campgrounds, with 360 views of the most breathtaking sight you'll ever see. The sunset was absolutely incredible, so peaceful and serene. It's hard to believe the city is 10-15 min drive from here. The restrooms are a little dated, but clean and safe.

The Tucson Mountain Park is fantastic and the Gilbert Ray Campground is our favorite in the Tucson area. The sites are large and spaced fairly well apart. The hosts are very pleasant and keep everything in the campground clean and neat. In addition, there is a seemingly endless number of trails for hiking and biking and the campground's location adjoining the Saguaro National Park makes it a perfect location for a Park visit.

Stayed 3 nights recently and was a very nice setting. The facilities are all well maintained. Sites are pretty well separated considering it is a desert. Nice views all around. Has water and dumps. The reservation system was a bit challenging.

Beautiful campground. My only complaint, no shower, but this is the desert. Every site surrounded by native cacti and other vegetation. We saw lots of birds to include quail and lizards. On the way back to camp one evening, a bobcat stood next to the road.

Great campground. Well maintained and very clean.

The lady at Pima County dealing with the campground was really lovely and efficiently dealt with our reservation changes.

Nice, quiet spot in the Tucson Mountains, near Old Tucson Studios. We really liked it here. Lots of room to wander around. Water fill stations and waste dump on site, and power at your camp site.

Wow beautiful campground so close to town. Stayed in loop A. Nice back in site for our camper. Clean restrooms, and a couple of stations to wash dishes if needed. No showers on site. No generators! (Love)

Sites are excellent, surrounded by Saguaro cacti!

Electricity but no water (there are 3 water stations close to loop A to fill RV tanks and a dump station). Paid under $40/night with clean washrooms and station to clean dishes, so great value!

But the best is that the campground is close not only to Tucson but the Saguaro National Park (west part) and the Sonoran-Arizona Desert Museums (like 10 min drive).

It was very quiet but no playground for kids. It is a PIMA county facility and well run and organized.

I am not sure about WIFI as we used our Starlink with great access to the sky. Cell phone connectivity but limited.

Small picnic table on our site (25). No fire pit but was able to use BBQ with briquettes.

Amazing sunsets and sunrises!

Camping here is like living in an established natural southwest cactus garden surrounded by mature saguaros, barrel cacti, teddy bear cacti and more. It’s super quiet and the views of nearby mountains, distant galaxies and Tucson in the distance- especially at night with its “dark sky” - will calm your soul. They have clean restrooms and even dishwashing sinks. Get there early or make a reservation; they fill up quickly. Unfortunately, there are no showers but go anyway.

We stayed 5 nights Dec 2023 - it was great! While not a "dark place" it is dark enough for good stargazing. The sites are closer together than I expected, but we only had a neighbor 2 of the 5 nights. Our site (H3) was flat and level and just big enough for our 35' MH and toad (parked crossways). 30 amp service only. The bathrooms are clean, but there are no showers. The bathroom nearest us had a very functional dishwashing station at the back of the building. The double dump station is very functional. There are water spigots sprinkled throughout the campground. $20/night.

Excellent jumping off point for visiting Saguaro National Park (4 miles away) and Pima Mountain Park (adjacent). Rincon National Park is 45 minutes to the east and well worth the drive. It takes about 30 minutes to get into Tucson, but staying out of town is totally worth it.

Caution: I recommend disconnecting your toad somewhere after turning off Ajo Way and before entering the park on Kinney Rd a couple of miles later. There are serious dips in the road that worried me about damaging the Blue Ox. We didn't hook up on the way out until we were out of the park.

Great access with plenty to do. I came in the off-season and the staff was nice enough to give me a discount. I went tent camping and it had everything a tent camper would want. Great access to biking trails. Would definitely recommend this to my biking friends over the overcrowded dispersed sites. The pay is worth it.

A very nice campground in the heart of the Tucson Mountain Park. There is electricity at most of the sites, modern bathrooms (no showers). This is a Pima County facility and is very well run and maintained.

Not much has changes since our last visit in February of 2019. The park is located about 13 miles north west of I 10 in Tucson.. There is pavement all the way including the interior roads. Signage is adequate. Check in was efficient and friendly. The rules are fairly basic. The interior roads are in good condition.

Our site, C29, was a gravel based back in that was just long enough for our Coach and Towed. Services (30 amp only) was to the left rear. Distancing is close for a rural park. Most sites had a vegetation barrier (desert foliage) between sites. Each site has a non movable steel patio style table but NO fire pit. Our site was high on the left but we easily leveled. Overall the park was pleasant to look at. There is lots of saguaro cacti which greens up the landscape nicely.

There is NO park included wifi or cable TV. We did find a number of OTA channels. Satellite will not be difficult. We did not use the washrooms or showers but we checked and found them clean.

There are no restaurants or stores within easy walking distance but Tucson is just a short drive away you can find food, shopping and convenience stores. We found this park to be a great spot to use visiting the local attractions. We paid $20.00 per night and we feel we received very good value. We will be back if in the area again. Just a note. The park used to be cash only. Visa and MC are now accepted. As of January 01 2014 Cash will no longer be accepted. I suspect it will move to 100 % reserve only as well.

We stayed one night . Sites were level. Electric only. We had a great site for the sunset, and it was beautiful! We wish we would have stayed here longer! We were heading too Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.

Stayed here in our motorhome. Been staying here since 2012. Love the tranquility of the desert. Will continue to come on our way to and from Apache Junction. See you next season

Very picturesque and clean. Nice sites, but not all picnic tables are movable to avoid the sun.

I came across this place in 2021 and have been camping here once a year since. I tell everyone its like a nice campground cut out of the desert where it's just subtly included with the natural features around. Bathrooms are clean as well as the camping spots. Very beautiful and priced well. If you need essentials - such as ice -the nearest store is just a couple miles away; and If you are looking for a wonderful desert experience than this is the place for you and your family!

Great campground with clean bathrooms for affordable price. In mid october 2/3 closedc but still there were enough available spots. Self check-in. Saguaro cactuses everywhere. Old Tucson studios in walking distance - an easy hike.