Cave Creek Regional Park — Attraction in Cave Creek

First time here, we've done other Maricopa County parks. There is a small visitor center, not a lot in it. You can sign up for guided hikes. Parking at the VC is tight, don't go there with an RV. You can sign up for guided hikes at the VC. They also have a vendor offering trail rides for $90. Unfortunately, they have rodeos here, barbaric. One night when we were here there was some event at the arena, they were blaring mariachi music. Must be much worse when they are actually having a rodeo. RVLife says this CG has 38 sites, but there are actually 55. I tried to tell them but they won't update the listing. Sites have water and 30/50 amp, no sewer. Our site was level. Roads are asphalt, all with water/electric. A couple even have small horse pens. Sites up to #38 are asphalt and are spaced about 100 feet apart. The loop called The Village (sites #39-#55) is all dirt road and sites, sites are about 15 feet apart. There are day use picnic areas in The Village, so you could be camping there and right next to you a hundred people show up. Clean restrooms, nothing to look at. Showers get hosed out, but the soap scum and hard water deposits tell me they don't use cleaner, just a hose. Big clump of hair in the men's shower drain, yuck. Shower head was at the 7 foot level so I was able to fit under it, but water is just barely warm, not hot. Very disappointing. You get about 30 seconds of water at a time, and no way to adjust the spray. I used it once but after that my wife and I just showered onboard. I used the bathroom and the hot water handle on the sink came off in my hand. But when I told the camp host he said that they all do that, that you just pick it up and set it back in place. Apparently no budget for maintenance. There are several trails in the park, we did several. The Clay Mine trail starts in the CG and is just about 5 minutes walk. Trails are rocky so wear sturdy shoes and bring hiking poles. Also, trails are shared with horses and there is no requirement to clean up after the horses. While the CG does have a gate which closes at night and needs a code, the park is very unsafe. No police presence or enforcement rangers. Actually, in 4 days we only saw one paid employee, as she was driving through the campground looking at her phone. There used to be a playground in the campground, the shelter for it is still there, but the equipment is gone. Over by the VC there are day use picnic areas and a covered playground. We camped at Cave Creek Regional Park in a...

$7 to enter the park, but worth every penny. The gate attendant gave me a detailed, useful, and informative map of the park printed on both sides of a regular piece of printer paper. Lots of paved parking at the trailhead. Fantastic bathrooms with flushing toilets, real sinks with soap, electric hand dryers, and electric lighting at the trailhead. The men's room I used was very clean and smelled like cleaning products at 4pm on a Sunday afternoon. There are very nice picnic areas if you want to sit and eat something before or after your hike. The trails I went on were very well maintained, very well marked, and not at all overgrown. There was no litter anywhere that I saw. I think the $7 pay wall may keep away some of rif raf that likes to leave toilet paper and food wrappers on the trail (you know who you are) and generally keeps the parking and trails from getting overcrowded. You can easily navigate around all the trails in the park with just the map they give you and the trail signs. I didn't see anywhere that the trail became feint, no way finding skills required. The particular hike I did was a nice back and forth mix of uphill and downhill. A large part of the trail was fairly smooth, not very rocky and not a lot of high steps. There were a few rocky spots on the north side of the loop, but even those were pretty mild. I would classify this as pretty easy hike if the distance fine for you. Huge shout out to the people who manage and work at the park! They're doing a great job and clearly care...

I didn’t mind this park at all, it was easy to find & navigate. We camped at the campground which has large sites for our trailer and truck to park side by side. Sites were clean, spacious and spread out enough on our end so we weren’t constantly exposed to our neighbours. There wasn’t much shade coverage but the temperature this time of the year didn’t require it in the same way it would hotter months. There are plenty of hiking trails though we only completed the slate trail with the Michelin man saguaro. See my review of said trail if you’re interested. You pay a fee to enter or to use the campground. The washrooms and showers were clean, im just not a fan of the push button showers as they require constant button mashing to ensure the water doesn’t stop on you mid wash. The park rangers were kind and welcoming. It’s a very quiet park and we had no concerns. I only give less than five stars because I felt it was expensive compared to other state parks for what you get. We did have full water and electric. Sites are paved and pretty level. I would have stayed longer but it booked up so fast I didn’t have a chance to secure another site. Also love that it’s close to cave creek- a nice place to visit. Oh and though there’s a gate- you are given an access code so you can return after hours to your site...