Molino
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 14 of the next 14 nights read 16:17 UTC
- Sites
- 1All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 9 notices
In the agency’s own words
Visitors are drawn to Molino Campground for its group camping area, scenic mountain surroundings and hiking and mountain biking opportunities. While most other campgrounds in the Catalina Mountains are closed in winter, Molino Campground and its picnic area are open in late fall, winter and early spring. The pleasant winter weather at this elevation makes it a great time to visit. Molino Basin is conveniently located 5.5 miles from the base of Mt. Lemmon on the Catalina Highway, and about 10 miles northeast of Tucson. Keep reading
Recreation
Hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding are popular activities. The Arizona Trail, which extends from Mexico to Utah, passes through the campground, and the Molino Trail leads to the Pusch Ridge Wilderness (hiking and horseback riding only). A variety of additional trails, including some on 9,157' Mt. Lemmon, are available in the area for those who wish to venture away from the campground for the day.
Facilities
This facility has a few dozen individual campsites available on a first-come, first-served basis, along with a reservable group camping and picnic area. The group area is accessible with a paved walkway, and is equipped with a large picnic shelter covering several picnic tables, two serving tables, grills and food storage lockers for bear safety. Six cleared tent pads, as well as one accessible tent site, are adjacent to the picnic area. Most of the tent sites are open and sunny. RVs and trailers are permitted. Visitors must bring their own drinking water; none is provided.
Natural Features
Campsites sit amid a high desert oak scrub ecosystem at an elevation of 4,500 feet on the slopes of the Santa Catalina Mountains. Along the banks of Molino Creek, which flows during and immediately after rain or snowmelt, species such as cottonwood, Arizona live oak and mesquite provide a scenic setting. Views are dominated by rugged, rocky hills. Colorful wildflowers bloom in spring.
Nearby Attractions
Catalina Highway (also known as General Hitchcock Highway and Sky Island Scenic Byway), the only paved road that leads to the upper reaches of Mt. Lemmon and the Santa Catalina Range, is one of the most scenic highways in the Southwest and definitely worth a day trip. Other notable attractions include Saguaro National Park, Sabino Canyon, Colossal Cave and the city of Tucson.
What the agency tells you
No drinking water available; please bring your own
No hookups
No firewood provided; bring your own firewood or charcoal; tree-cutting is prohibited
Everything else this campground posts · 6
Parking area holds up to 17 vehicles
No pack and saddle stock permitted in campground
The Sheep Management Area in nearby Pusch Ridge Wilderness is closed to dogs for the protection of desert bighorn sheep
Bears and other animals live in the area; all food must be secured in provided lockers or a hard-sided vehicle and trash disposed in trash cans
Click here to learn more about Coronado National Forest
Don't Move Firewood: Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests by obtaining firewood near your destination and burning it on-site. For more information visit dontmovefirewood.org.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 group
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 22 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- 1
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
Facilities
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “Visitors must bring their own drinking water; none is provided.”
- Bear boxes
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Creek
- Biking
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Historic site
- Picnicking
- Visitor center
- Water sports
- Wildlife viewing
- Winter sports
- Night sky · 252nd darkest of 262 in AZ
- Bortle 4
1 of 2 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:17 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
OpenBooked
The one site on offer is taken this Saturday. 1 is free on Mon, Nov 9. read 16:17 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t
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.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
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 · 12
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 · 5
recreation.gov availability, read 16:17 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
1 sites · the site map
All 1 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 1 of the 1 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 1 of the 1 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| MOLINO | Molino | group standard area nonelectric | 22 ft | yes | 3.1 mi | 140 ft | $100 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Gordon Hirabayashi CampgroundCoronado National Forest · 1.4 mi
General Hitchcock CampgroundCoronado National Forest · 3.0 mi
Rose Canyon CampgroundCoronado National Forest · 4.0 mi
Rose CanyonCoronado National Forest · 4.1 mi
Sollers Cabin (AZ)Coronado National Forest · 5.1 miFrom Tucson, Arizona, take Catalina Highway off Tanque Verde Road in Tucson. Drive 4.2 miles northeast to the Coronado National Forest boundary and continue 5.7 miles to the campground. The campground is between mileposts 5 and 6. All campsites are adjacent to paved roads.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Tanque Verde, AZ
Typical weather
Typical October night 52°F, day 77°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 35°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 Junes are colder than the June line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Molino is in Arizona’s 6th congressional district. Its representative, Juan Ciscomani (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →