Horseshoe (AZ)
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- Sites
- 41 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 1 notices
In the agency’s own words
Horseshoe Campground is farther up the road from Mesquite Campground. Offering more developed campground sites with picnic tables, fire pits and access to the Verde River at campsites 11 and 12. Gorgeous vistas of surrounding mountains and the Verde River are offered along the path for families to enjoy. Most campsites are less shaded than the favored 11 and 12 campsites, so please feel free to bring canopies and coolers to provide shade and stay hydrated during the day, but this campground does have some large mesquite trees providing shade. Bald eagles are frequently seen in this vicinity. Keep reading
This location is available on a first-come, first-served basis only. Visitors are required to physically arrive at the campground to purchase and claim a site. Once on-site, you may be able to pay for your campsite(s) by scanning a QR code using the Recreation.gov mobile app, and the Scan and Pay feature. If this option is available, you will need to first download the free Recreation.gov mobile app https://www.recreation.gov/mobile-app prior to your arrival as some remote areas have limited or no cellular service. Camping passes can also be purchased at a Tonto Fee Machine Pass. $16 per site, per night. Nearest fee machine location is at the Cave Creek Ranger Station.
Recreation
Swimming Fishing Boating (Non-Motorized on the Verde River and a 25 horsepower motor limit on Horseshoe Reservoir.) Birding Photography OHV Routes Facilities There are 12 camp sites First-Come, First-Serve only. No reservations. THERE ARE NO TRASH SERVICES. PACK IT IN, PACK IT OUT. No potable water services available. 14-day stay limit. Maximum occupancy per individual campsite is 10 people. Maximum number of vehicles per individual camp unit is three. All vehicles must completely fit within the designated parking area. Check-in time is 12:00 pm, and check-out time is 10:00 am Quiet hours 10:00 pm to 6:00 am (running generators are not permitted during quiet hours.) Trailers under 16 feet. Use of motorized watercraft on flowing portions of the Verde River is prohibited. Glass containers prohibited. Road to campground is unpaved and unmaintained, recommend high clearance four-wheel-drive vehicles.
Natural Features
This campground provides some river access for activities like swimming and fishing and offers stunning views of the surrounding mountains. Its proximity to Horseshoe Reservoir makes it a great basecamp for all your lake adventures! Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (480) 595-3300.
Nearby Attractions
Horseshoe Lake, Horseshoe Dam, Mesquite Campground, Catfish Point Day Use Site
What the agency tells you
-There are 12 camp sites -First-Come, First-Serve only. No reservations. -Campsites are $16 per night, per site. America the Beautiful Senior or Access Disability passholders are eligible for a 50% discount. Pass must be valid and present with passholder at time of stay. See Season & Fees for more payment details. -THERE ARE NO TRASH SERVICES. PACK IT IN, PACK IT OUT. -No potable water services available. -14-day stay limit. -Maximum occupancy per individual campsite is 10 people. -Maximum number of vehicles per individual camp unit is three. All vehicles must completely fit within the designated parking area. -Check-in time is 12:00 pm, and check-out time is 10:00 am -Quiet hours 10:00 pm to 6:00 am (running generators are not permitted during quiet hours.) -Trailers under 16 feet. -Use of motorized watercraft on flowing portions of the Verde River is prohibited. -Glass containers prohibited. -Road to campground is unpaved and unmaintained, recommend high clearance four-wheel-drive vehicles.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 4
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
Facilities
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “…TRASH SERVICES. PACK IT IN, PACK IT OUT. No potable water services available. 14-day stay limit. Maximum…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Reservoir, Lake, River, Creek
- Birding
- Canoeing
- Fishing
- Kayaking
- Non-Motorized Boating
- Off Road Vehicle Trails
- Paddling
- Water access
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
recreation.gov lists 1 of the 4 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 16
What you actually pay
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 4
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · record Aug 23, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
4 sites · the site map
All 4 sites
| Scan and Pay | ScanPay 2 | type not stated | |
| Scan and Pay | ScanPay 3 | type not stated | |
| Scan and Pay | ScanPay 4 | type not stated | |
| Scan and Pay | Standard | standard nonelectric | 962 ft |
OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Cave Creek Group SiteTonto National Forest · 8.6 miCivilian Conservation Corps CampgroundTonto National Forest · 8.6 miRiverside Campground (AZ)Tonto National Forest · 12 miThis site is 23 miles northeast of Carefree. From Carefree, take Cave Creek Road turn right on Bartlett Dam Road and continue for 6 miles to the junction of FR 205 and FR 19. At this junction, FR 205 turns left and becomes an unmaintained unpaved road. Follow FR 205 for 10 miles towards Horseshoe Reservoir. At the junction of FR 205 and FR 205A, turn right and travel an additional ½ mile to the site.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Scottsdale, AZ
Typical weather
Typical October night 60°F, day 86°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 41°F. Bring the bag rated for it.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
Roadless country, and what’s coming for it
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Horseshoe (AZ) is in Arizona’s 1st congressional district. Its representative, David Schweikert (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →