Reviews

For Lake Pleasant Regional Park - Desert Tortoise: You really can’t miss with Maricopa County Parks. The landscape and appeal of Lake Pleasant is quite a bit different from places like McDowell Mountain, Usery, and Cave Creek. It may seem strange to say we were fortunate to be at Lake Pleasant in inclement weather but it brought out insane levels of dramatic beauty looking out over the saguaros. We were only able to score two nights there but boy howdy we got a show. The sites at Pleasant Lake are a bit more difficult to manage than other Maricopa parks. The terrain is more challenging in terms of slope and they are not as spatially generous, also because of slopes. Still totally worth it but you’ll have to work harder to get into your site. We had to hastily block the road while we dropped the toy hauler ramp to unload the sidecar before we could back in properly. We were fortunate in that no one came by in the time we feverishly did that, sensitive to not messing up others’ experiences and creating a roadblock, even for a few minutes. Because it’s tight, we had to summon our best marshalling skills to back in and not tag the palapa at the site. But once in, the site was very level and no more work was needed to get settled. Cue up happy hour! Sites are paved and restroom/bath facilities are in line with all of Maricopa parks. Which means, well-maintained and very agreeable. But because Maricopa parks are well-deservedly popular, book hella in advanced for peak season. They’re popular for a reason. Note for those who carry “toys”: on the way out we made use of a larger, group parking area to load the sidecar. Depending on your site, you may want to consider unloading your tow-in/hauled vehicle at a larger parking area before getting to your campsite. Next time (now that we know the site challenges), we certainly will.

Posted Sep 07, 2020 by Val in Real Life from Carson City, NV. This is the subjective opinion of a traveler and not of AllStays LLC.

For Lake Pleasant Regional Park - Desert Tortoise: Love this place. So beautiful. We stayed 3 nights and plan to stay a few weeks next year. Great trails to hike. We got close to a dozen wild burrow. The lake is breathtaking awesome. Our campsite was in the Desert Tortoise area #137. Other awesome sites are 138, 139, 140, 148, 149, 142. We like to have a full view of the lake and these sites do, The have a great Discovery Center that teaches you all about the park, lake, dam, and animals. Only bad thing is the showers. Could be warmer in there and the shower is turned on by pushing a button. It only runs about 10 seconds and shuts off. Hate that! You have to keep pushing and pushing and pushing. That is the only thing we did not like!

Posted Feb 26, 2020 by David and Cindy from Iowa. This is the subjective opinion of a traveler and not of AllStays LLC.

For Lake Pleasant Regional Park - Desert Tortoise: Went here just to dump our tanks. Man was very nice. $5. fee and he came just to be sure we put it in the slot. They also have water for filling. Lots of long term residents here.

Posted Apr 28, 2019 by Kristin from Iowa. This is the subjective opinion of a traveler and not of AllStays LLC.

For Lake Pleasant Regional Park - Desert Tortoise: Don't know about you, but I sure don't want herbicides sprayed for 30 minutes right across the camp road from our site. If you don't mind breathing poison and having your pets walking on poison - soaked ground, this place might be for you. Not for me. Won't be back.

Posted Feb 28, 2019 by Absa from Maine. This is the subjective opinion of a traveler and not of AllStays LLC.

For Lake Pleasant Regional Park - Desert Tortoise: we’ve stayed here twice and have always been impressed with the cleanliness and beautiful setting. very few of the camp sites are level. plan to bring plenty of leveling gadgets and extra hose. lots of birds and donkeys around. good hiking close by.

Posted Feb 26, 2019 by peggy a from montana. This is the subjective opinion of a traveler and not of AllStays LLC.