Desert Tortoise Campground — Hotel in Peoria

Camping with kids was ok, not the ideal camping experience in the least. The camp ground itself was fairly nice overall. $32.00 per night little pricy, our stay was $104.& some change for a 3 night stay but we did have full hook ups.r fridge went out we had a gas leak and the kids bed broke, lol lots of work for zach when we get back. We were not able to have a camp fire because of the no burn ban being very severe, I was under the impression that was for any un self contained fires. MEANING we could use atleast a propaneor stove or a Shafer flame.. My Boy friend says none!. SO NO-smores,-roasted hot dogs,-no stories under the stars around the fire, I was pretty disappointed, it was my youngest daughter's birthday celebration during our stay hers & my youngest sons first time camping Yeah so I had some plans bombed but the Kids did walk to the water several times though the trips were short lived because of the heat was definitely 111' /116' our entire stay, so many bugs seemed like there were swarms, hopefully just a seasonal or spot specific issue I have camped at this lake several times even on the bank or shore line & never experienced so many. We made due with lots of indore and outdoor games & activities, thankfully we had the a.c. and trailer otherwise we would have probably been pretty miserable. But with water guns 🔫 lots of fruit , water and sun screen my kids wore themselves out every day. We adder a couple of other activities like those colorful chalk bags that you throw back and forth splashing each other with color, a splash ball net game, glow sticks for our night walk. They loved it, it was just too hot to be out side for long during the day. We were glamping to begin with as far as I am concerned & this was our first time camping as a family. Not at all what I was accustomed to as a child but it was better than it could have been I suppose but then again it wasnt the campgrounds fault it was unforseen natural circumstances Hopefully next time it will be a bit better and I dont plan it during a sweltering...

The good: beautiful setting, especially if you are in one of the developed loops. Also, close to Phoenix for activities. Lastly, the restrooms were clean and well stocked.

Lots of bad. Frigging noisy with horrendously loud music. Lots of park police in the Discovery Center area, but they need to spread out and patrol and enforce in the desert tortoise campground more than they do. Most of us campers don't want to be around noisy, drunk parties. We closed up our camper and ran the ac and could still hear the music so clearly we could hear the words. And the bass...ugh. after a few hours of this, I walked to the offending site to make sure i could report the correct site number, and when they saw me looking at them while calling on the phone, they must have put 2+2 together, knowing I was calling the park, and turned off their music before the park ranger came by. But it would have been much better if either the host (who was very nearby) would have been proactive, and/or the park would patrol once an hour during business hours at least and shut this crap down.

Campground hosts. If they are here, they don't display signage that they are hosts. On our first visit, we made the mistake of booking in the first loop, which had no showers and only 1 working restroom. We looked for a host to ask where the showers were. No hosts in first loop that were identified. We walked to second loop. The first site looked like it could be a host...very large site with more permanent amenities, but again, no signage. So we loudly said hello, and was answered by a surly guy who did say he was a host, but clearly did not want to be bothered. I think hosts should be readily identifiable with signs and should be required to be helpful and should be prompt about dealing with bad campers. They are not either of those here. At our recent visit, again, no signage of hosts. And with the loud music and party, the hosts should step in right away. They did nothing.

Another issue is that the restrooms can be very distant...

I've been in AZ 13 years now and never knew this place existed! We will plan to come back again and again now! It's only about 30 min max from our house in PX but it's the perfect place to unplug and get into nature! We camped over memorial day weekend, so I'm sure we were there while it was pretty busy.

The bathrooms.... At first before the crowds came in were always clean and well stocked. From my understanding they clean them nightly. There are 2 stalls in the women's and 1 stall and a urinal in the men's. During sat/Sun part of our stay, the women's bathroom was so toxic we actually had to drive to another location to use the potty. That was a Hassel with our 4 year old who is still potty training. They cleaned the bathrooms but then didnt restock any toilet paper. So just be sure to pack extra rolls. Towards the end of the trip it became gold for some people.

The showers are nice there are 2 for the men and 2 for the women. The water is cold so be prepared. They claim it's warmer in the mornings, but I prefer to wash all the dust off at night to sleep better.

We we're camped in a spot with electricity and direct water! Which was awesome. My father joined us with his tent trailer, but with the weather being as nice as it was (our highest temp all week was 89) we spent all our time out in the shade or water!

There are pleanty of walking trails down to the water to swim or you can rent boats and kyacks. The water was great! The kids most favorite part of the day was when it was time to swim.

It's windy! Between the hills and right on the water be prepared for wind! Most sites had loose rocks but the ground is HARD and very difficult to stake tents down. Just be prepared.

We will be...