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As you may have gathered from all the fitness videos we made there, we really liked Buckskin Mountain State Park. It’s another gem in the Arizona State Parks system, and we don’t hesitate to recommend it. The video above shows some of the campground, and the hike we took to the further reaches of the park. If you don’t want to watch the video – read on!
First – the basics, all of the sites here have water and 30 amp electric. A select few of them have sewer hookups as well. There is a dump station, but if the sewer hookups are important to you, you’ll need to make your reservations well in advance. The campground is paved, and the sites all have the basics – picnic table and fire pit – you would expect.
The other facilities at the park were numerous, and in good repair. Playground, boat dock, and all the rest seemed fine. The grounds were pretty, with the river providing a nice backdrop, and you can see some of that in the video. There was lots of green space and trees for exercising or just hanging out. One of the things I was particularly intrigued with was the cactus garden – you’ll just need to watch the video on that one.
One evening, I went for a jog. There was a road just outside the campground that was NOT the highway, and I went out and back for a total of 4 or so miles. The scenery on the jog was good, with overhanging rock walls, and not much traffic. Biking along this road would have also been pleasant. I wasn’t feeling suicidal, so I didn’t try to jog or ride a bike on highway 95, and I recommend you don’t either.
We did go for a hike on some of the excellent and well-maintained trails that start at the campground. This was one of the highlights of the trip. The trails run for quite a ways, and lead to some abandoned mines, among other things. They are not very technical trails, so you could hike them without special equipment. We were pretty foolish though, and didn’t take any water. We didn’t realize how far out these trails go, and we spent several hours exploring. I think we only survived because it was December. If you go hiking out here… TAKE WATER!
There were only a couple minor gripes. The park is maintained by what seems to be an army of volunteers. They do good work, but apparently this work requires them to ride the park, non-stop, in golf carts and trucks. The constant drive-bys became something of a joke between us. Also, if you happen to need something, and they don’t have it at the market in the campground, you’ll find yourself headed to either Parker or Lake Havasu – neither of them easily walk-able. But with a little planning (and maybe some earplugs) these issues are easily avoidable, leaving Buckskin Mountain one of the best State Parks we’ve ever stayed at.
