Catalina State Park — Attraction in Four Corners States

Absolutely beautiful place. The mountains are Amazing. Here for the rising of the full moon and it was spectacular.

The campsites could be better. We have stayed in nearly every AZ state Park. We like loop A. The sites are nicely spread out and it was quiet, but our grill had old charcoal in it and it did not look like they had cleaned the site after the last campers left at all. Lots of tall grass. We like some to separate the sites but we could have used a little more cleared to give us more room in our site. Most AZ State Parks have some gravel areas so there isn't the undergrowth. Would have been tough with a Tent to find a good spot to set up because of the ground growth.

Nice shower house and clean. Tons of amazing hiking trails. We will be back.

Update - March 2024 Amazing 🤩. We had such a great stay over our Spring break. The site we were in was great and all the sites definitely had more grass clear d than when we stayed here a few years ago.

The bathroom and showers we great as well. Super clean.

The trails were in great shape. We did hiking/walking and riding our bikes on Bridle.

We hiked Alamo Baby Bathtub Tank Trail and WOW is all I can say. PERFECT time of year with Poppies in full bloom. I read to go counterclockwise and I totally agree. Park at Bobcat amphitheater parking lot closest to the entrance and then walk straight across. It is not on the park map but heavily trafficed so no worries there. You will be hiking up the West leg of the trail. Look it up on All trails or Strava. Take some snacks and have a little snack or lunch break up at the pools before you hike down. The East side is not as spectacular as the West side of the loop. Don't go too early in the day, wait til around 1100 or so, so the Poppies are Open obviously only in the Spring). We walked from the camping loops there and back and the whole trail from there was less than 4 miles.

I also hiked the Nature trail loop. It is a bit of a climb from Trailhead parking lot to get up to it, but the actual trail is a pretty easy loop. I think this trail could be much more developed to point out different cacti typ s and other plants.

We loved the storms that came through as the clouds were beautiful. We were surprised that despite a good rain, the water level did not really change in the creek by the Trailside stage area. That is fun to go walk along however.

We were disappointed as the Catalina Nights and Astrology night had to be cancelled due to weather but that could not be helped. Hoping to get to do that another time.

The staff were all great.

There is a store down at Trailhead parking in the Fall, Winter and Spring. They have ice cream novelty selection and some beverages as well as other similar stock to what is at the entrance store.

Overall we could not have had a...

We wanted to ensure we got in a couple of state parks around Tucson before we headed further west. After asking around and checking reviews we decided to check out Catalina State Park. One of the Important factors for us was dogs being allowed on the trails.

The first trail we did What is the Romero Ruin Interpretive trail. This trail was only .4 miles/.9 km and a very easy walk. There are some stairs that you need to climb to get to the top however they are not difficult and nice and wide. The interpretive guide signs explaining The history were very clear to read and in good shape; not like some other places we have been to. We met a couple up there that explained about the pottery that was scattered about and if they didn’t show us what a piece looked like we would never of known; now we know what to look for. But once again please do not remove anything from the park and keep it there for others to enjoy!

We spoke to one of the Rangers on our way in and he said his favourite spot to watch the sunset was on the ridge of Natures Trail. We parked and started this particular hike around 4:40 pm and got to a perfect spot where there was a rock to sit on to watch the sunset; which was scheduled for 5:20pm. It was a beautiful sunset like every Arizona night we have seen; it’s so nice to see it from different perspectives.

We didn’t see too many animals while we were in the park however we did see a tiny gopher/marmot, coyote birds, horses and deer prints. The kids were looking for a snake although I don’t think they really wanted to find one as we have experienced rattlesnakes up close and they are kind of scary :-)

Somebody on the trail told us to watch out for tarantulas- The only thing we really saw on the ground or lots and lots of ants.

This was a great place to go and...

We stayed here in early Feb 2022, in the Ringtail Loop. We had an additional night, but canceled and headed for BLM land. This was our first bad experience in an AZ State Park. Ringtail is normally a group campsite but they have turned it into overflow parking, for $25/night. The reason for the low rating is that they have jammed people in here. We were in a 20’ van and a 12’ van and had a hard time fitting into our area- the choice was to park side to side and be 3’ from our neighbors, or tail to nose and hang out and block circulation. Given the number of vehicles maneuvering in such a tight space, gravel road top would have been nice, but no (the whole state is rock, how difficult could it be?). If you are a senior or not a hiker, there are no driving loops, but there are beautiful views of the mountains from the Ringtail campsite.

On the ‘plus side’: The regular campgrounds (not the Ringtail dirt bowl) are paved and spacious. The showers are large with plentiful hooks for clothes (finally!), are clean and have warm water; they have sitting benches and high and low shower wands (I’d say they are ADA/wheelchair accessible). The campground hosts are friendly and sell firewood. At Ringtail there are no hookups (generator hours are 0800-8pm). There was one water hose bib at Ringtail and there is a basin for washing dishes; there’s a dump station as you leave the park. ATT was one bar for me, and my T-Mobile friend went in and out of reception. There are several hiking trails, the longest of which is 10 miles one way, and the shortest of which is .5...