Reviews

For Kartchner Caverns State Park: To begin with the warnings from other reviewers about unlevel sites are serious. With all (3 packs) of our blocks we still were never level front to back. Side to side was not a problem though. The sites otherwise are nice and most have some shade from trees that are around them. Some have nice raised paltforms which are good for tent campers. Be sure to pick a site though where the southern/western sun will not be beating down on you all day as the back in sites are only 30 amps and you'll have to be careful about what is on if you want to use your a/c. Also, you will arrive at the gate and be greeted BUT you get your park pass from the campground host who will either be at their site or riding around on the scooter. They are very relaxed-if you have reservations it's a question only of getting the tags, if not they will settle up with you when they see you.

Another point right away: if you plan to take the cave tour (the oly way to see them) make reservations BUT if the reservation site says there are none don't give up-ask at the Discovery Center. I had waited until the day befor we arrived and the reservation site said there were no tickets available any of the 3 days we'd be there. After hiking the Foothills Loop trail we wnet to the Discovery Center and I mentioned that we were disappointed to miss the caves-Ha! They had spaces availalble on the next 4 tours. The tour is not cheap but if you want to learn a lot about caves be sure to take it. There are two-Big Room and Rotunda-we did the Big Room. If you have seen caves before these are not the most spectacular but the story of their discovery and the information presented by the guides make them worth seeing. If you have never seen a cave before or feel you might be scared these are a wonderful introduction. Dissimilar to may cave systems though, since these are in the side of a hill, the temperature is warm and humid. You wll not be allowed to take anything but your wallet and keys in with you though so don't plan to do photos. The prohibition includes cell phones. Because the tours of these caves are quite relatively new the walkways are spacious and even, handrails are throughout and there is never a feeling of being cooped up.

Back to the campground. The bathrooms are clean, showers are OK but pressure was low-medium at best. A caveat-we were at the upper campground where the water pressure is very low. This includes the sites and weneded up putting water in the tank and turning on our pump so we had decent pressure. The lower campground supposedly has decent pressure in both the showers and the sites. The dump is on the way in/out and another well placed and spacious area.

Cell reception varied between the campgrounds just like the water pressure. Where we had a bare 2 bars of Verison and ATT we heard the reception in the lower CG was OK. I believe the same is true for TV but since we don't have one I cannot speak to that. Trash receptacles were at the bathrooms and clean with no smell. There is recycling- plastics (1&2 only) and aluminum cans) as well.

Once again, a pet friendly CG BUT watch for burrs and cactus. There is prickly pear cactus at some of the sites which is easy to avoid but when one is of the feline persuasion and enjoying the early morning bird sightings (on a tether) the cactus can get in the way. (He learned a valuable lesson.) The other things of which to be aware are SKUNKS. I did not see any but my husband did-right outside our door-and we were warned by the host that they are all over and come right to the sites. There are warnings about the other critters-including scorpions-but as always, leaving them alone, leaving rocks where they are and not sticking hands in holes will prevent the majority of run ins. If you have children it makes sense to teach a few safety rules if they don't already know them.

The hiking here is quite nice and the Foothills Loop trail gives a nice view of the surrounding countryside along with some great chances to see various types of cactus. Take water as even the shortest hike is hot.

We did not get to the town of Benson so I am unsure about food shopping or laundromats.

Posted Oct 19, 2016 by Lisa from Full Timer. This is the subjective opinion of a traveler and not of AllStays LLC.

For Kartchner Caverns State Park: We stayed here early April 2016, in a 30 ft. Class A gas motorhome. No towed this trip but the RV sites are very large, room enough for your rig and towed or tow-er, and for tent campers you'll be relieved to see raised platforms on some sites (not all) to help keep your tent high and dry. We visited Kartchner Caverns two years ago for a cave tour only, walked the park, and determined to stay in the campground next cave tour trip, which is now. We love it here. Good spacing between most sites, very wheelchair accessible, dog friendly, strong water pressure at the water and electric sites (ours is 30 amp). Good views of the mountains. ** NOTE **: Leveling - Bring extra jack pads and lego leveling blocks. The campground is built on a gently sloping hillside and some of the sites can present some leveling challenges from 2 to 4 inches of air under the front tires (motor homes). One MH near us had the front tires up almost a foot from the asphalt, but that's an extreme example. If you don't have leveling blocks, buy some. If you do, buy an extra set just in case. We got our coach level with one set of blocks and backing up to the cement parking barriers, but that put us in a place with the trees where we couldn't deploy the awning. That was not an issue due to our stay of 2 days/2 nights plus really great weather. We didn't need our awning. BATH/SHOWERS: Clean! Shower floor is dark brown tile with gray grout, but it looked clean to DW. Everything was clean. Water pressure with the water-conserving shower head was decent and so was the temperature at the Hot level. We love the Foothills Loop Trail. We will definitely stay here again. We give this 4 stars because the new (as of our visit) WiFi has "bugs" they're trying to work out. It works closest to the Discovery Center, but also in the campground. A state park ranger said users would have to log in again every 60 minutes. We used our Verizon MiFi (hotspot). However, we gently suggest taking a digital break in this amazing place for a few days and just soak it all in. To truly appreciate your stay here and what it took to open Kartchner Caverns State Park, read "Kartchner Caverns: How two cavers discovered and saved one of the wonders of the natural world" by Neil Miller. Reservations are recommended. We did meet one RVing couple who were "Walk-ins".

Posted Apr 13, 2016 by MoHobyDick from Arizona. This is the subjective opinion of a traveler and not of AllStays LLC.

For Kartchner Caverns State Park: Nice campground -- not too cramped -- with clean facilities. 2.5mi loop hike from campground. Fills up due to cave tours so call ahead! Only 10mi from I-10.

Posted Jan 20, 2015 by taminacan from CA. This is the subjective opinion of a traveler and not of AllStays LLC.

For Kartchner Caverns State Park: Clean. Nice place to camp if you want to visit the caves. A bit cooler than the lower desert as well. Nearest food is at the interstate 15 minutes away

Posted Apr 28, 2014 by Mull from Tucson. This is the subjective opinion of a traveler and not of AllStays LLC.

For Kartchner Caverns State Park: Clean sites that are close to the caves. The caves are the real attraction, so it was nice that they were within 5 mins

Posted Apr 13, 2014 by Molby from AZ. This is the subjective opinion of a traveler and not of AllStays LLC.