We stayed at Picacho/Tucson NW KOA Journey in Picacho, Arizona. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Dates:

• Check in: 2022-03-12
• Check out: 2022-03-18
• 6 nights

Weather:

• Sunny
• High temps ranging between 78 and 87°F, lows around 43-52°F
• Little wind, other than one afternoon

Noise:

• Quite a lot of freeway and train noise
• Quiet neighbors

Site:

• #50, pull-through, gravel, didn’t need to disconnect toad (though did, since staying several nights)
• Toad parking behind coach
• Large, about 85 feet long by 30 feet wide
• Full hookups:
• 50 amp power conveniently near the coach
• 45 PSI water also conveniently positioned
• Fair sewer connection, a little loose and too high for perfect drainage, also far from the wet bay, so I needed three segments of drain hose (first time I’ve needed my spare)
• Nice wooden deck with rocking chairs, table and chairs, and bench, plus a fire pit
• Screening fences on both sides

Internet:

• Campground Wi-Fi: apparently slow (not used)
• T-Mobile: 11 Mbps down, 10-15 Mbps up, 55 ms ping
• AT&T: 8 Mbps down, 6 Mbps up, 75 ms ping
• Verizon: 4-7 Mbps down, 14 Mbps up, 58 ms ping

Amenities:

• Garbage dumpster
• Mail accepted
• Heated pool (not very warm, kinda dirty)
• Rec room (looked closed), laundry, playground, and other stuff we didn’t use
• Various outdoor games

Here’s the review Jenn wrote on Campground Reviews:

Trees in the Desert

They had very friendly and efficient check-in and then guided us to our site. We had a deluxe pull-through site with a deck that had rocking chairs, a patio table with an umbrella, a bench, and a fire ring. Pretty much every site had a mature tree to give some shade, which is very rare in the desert. We really enjoyed eating dinner on the deck and listening to the birds in the trees. There was some freeway and train noise, but it was all just white noise to us and didn’t affect our sleep. The pool area was a bit small and they might need to upgrade the filter and pump system as it had quite a few dead bugs floating in it, but it was still very popular with families. We camped at Picacho / Tucson NW KOA Journey in a Motorhome.

Here’s the park map:

A screenshot of the weather forecast for our stay:

We were guided to our site:

Putting down the jacks:

The water pressure is about 45 PSI; the pressure regulator is set to 60 PSI, so a little low:

As mentioned above, I needed to break out my spare sewer extension:

Here are the utility hookups; power and water are well placed, but the sewer was rather far, and the pipe is a little too high out of the ground:

Some more pictures of our site:

A nice deck with rocking chairs, table and chairs, umbrella, and bench:

Also a fire pit:

We ate our dinners outside, including hot dogs and beans:

And home-made pizza; the first time I’ve used the Ooni oven since we started this adventure (I just hadn’t been in the mood to make pizza for a few months, but made two during this stay):

Paladin peeking out a window:

I flew my drone briefly; here are some aerial views of our site:

And other sites:

The freeway and a railway beyond it were pretty close, resulting in quite a lot of noise:

Let’s walk around the park, starting with the KOA Journey sign — KOA is Kampgrounds of America, a large chain, and their Journey campgrounds are designed for short-term stays, so mostly pull-through:

The office and arrivals:

The pool was heated, but not very much, and kinda small and dirty. We did swim in it, but not for very long:

Playground:

Heh, a Wi-Fi hot spot:

Dog park:

Tent camping area:

KOAs often have cabins, but this one only has one:

Other RVs:

They’ve been doing some nice upgrades, e.g. this patio site with its own dog run:

A deck site somewhat similar to ours:

A deck site with a large dog run:

Another site with a dog run:

Other RVs:

A rather interesting RV, looks like a modified horse trailer:

A path and garden:

Back to our site:

A nice campground; we’d recommend it and would stay here again.