Roper Lake SP Safford, AZ review

[AZsix]

I had heard a lot about Rope Lake so there was a lot of anticipation involved with this trip. The cg is about 5 miles outside of Safford. You can hear some traffic noise but not that much and it's not that loud. There are three separate cg's in the park. Two have hookups and the other does not. Cost for a spot with hookups is $16. You can reserve a spot for a $5 fee. We stayed in the Hacienda cg in spot E. Hacienda is the oldest cg in the park. The spots were large but without much tree cover. Hacienda was the first cg in the park therefore the oldest and it showed in the restrooms. They were clean but there were pieces of tile missing from the floor. There are two shower stalls, the first one as you enter has the best water pressure. There were no mirrors at all though it looked like there used to be. I had to part my hair in the knob of the push button hand dryer. The fishing spot and the swimming part of the lake are a short walk from any spot in Hacienda. The walk from Cottonwood (the other cg w/hookups) is a little longer to the swimming part of the lake. The beach as they call it is not really a beach but rather strip of shoreline where they allow swimming. The kids had a great time swimming there however.

The hot tub that is fed by a natural hot spring is a major draw to the park. It is a short walk from each of the cg's. We fit six in there with room to spare. There is a short and easy nature walk that originates and ends by the hot tub. To be truthful there wasn't much to see on the walk. There was a map dispenser but there were no maps in there to explain what the numbers along the trail were representing.

The cg was quiet and from the people I talked to there were a lot of people that return time after time. I think the park could have been kept cleaner. I realize that some of that falls on the shoulders of the people that use it but in our spot there was trash in the bushes that wasn't cleaned out for our stay. I saw quite a bit of dog pooh left by dog owners and even watched as one dog owner waited for his dog to do his business then walked on leaving it there.

If I were to go back I would stay in the Cottonwood cg. It is newer, the rest rooms were cleaner and the picnic tables are covered. They also have spots that are closer to the lake. Some are right next to it and others look directly at it. The best spots are 14-17 and 19.

Overall it was an enjoyable stay though I was a little let down. That could have been because I had such high expectations going in. Maybe I just expected too much. I was hoping for a little more vegetation and I was a little surprised that it wasn't kept a little cleaner. Other SP's I have stayed at were better kept in general. That could change depending on who is there as host.  Would I recommend it, yes. Would I go back, yes. It does get crowded on the weekends and I heard that it is packed for Thanksgiving so I would recommend spending the five bucks and making a reservation.