Usery Mountain Regional Park, AZ

[AZsix]

Usery is part of the Maricopa Parks and Recreation Department which I found out is the largest park system in the country.

The sites are huge with lots of space between them. There are around 72 spots that are first come/first serve. They have elec/water hookups for $20 a night.  It is a desert setting so there is not a lot of shade so summer may not be the best time of year to visit. Restrooms were spotless. Each building has two private shower rooms each for men and women. The ones that are not marked "handicapped" have a push button for the water with no temperature control. My wife could not get hot water. The ones marked for handicapped have temp control that did produce hot water and a sink whereas the others do not have a sink. Shower rooms were also spotless. There is a playground for the kids.

There are a lot of programs put on by the rangers for both kids and adults. Programs range from programs for 3-6 year olds to full moon walks and fitness hikes for adults. I believe that the ranger said that in Jan alone there are 42 programs planned. Later this month they actually have an owl release planned in conjunction with one of their night hikes. There are plenty of trails that range from very easy to difficult. There is a three mile hike that goes up 842 (or there abouts) feet to a cave.

There is a great view of the East Valley from the park. There is a lot of wildlife around including coyote, javelina and deer. The coyotes to get pretty vocal at night and I did find some javelina tracks not far from out spot. Last night there were at half a dozen spots vacant but they do fill up on weekends often from what the guy at the gate told me. When we checked in there was a couple from TN ahead of us with a large motor home and they told me they stay there every time they come out this way. It is very quiet with no road noise to be heard.

They do have two large group camping areas that can be reserved. They each have large Ramada's with plenty of picnic tables and grills and I did see a horseshoe pit.

I give this park and cg very high marks all around and will definitely be going back.

[maromeo]

Gary,

Thanks for the update on the park. I have not camped there but have wanted to especially when the Stargazing group has their presentations. We have been to a few and have throuoghly enjoyed them. Did you have a hard time finding a spot to camp when you went? It is also nice to hear that the restrooms were clean.

I was a den mother many many years ago (my son is 24 now and in Iraq) and we took the cub scouts on the hike to The Wind Cave. It was a good hike and they had bat habitats in the cave. It was pretty interesting.

We will have to try to catch up with you all soon. We put some new shoes on the PUP but we need to take the PUP in to have the axle checked for the irregular tire wear.  We found a shop in S. Scottsdale that seems pretty good for that. We hope to take it in here in the next few weeks.

Mary Romeo

[AZsix]

Gary,

Thanks for the update on the park. I have not camped there but have wanted to especially when the Stargazing group has their presentations. We have been to a few and have throuoghly enjoyed them. Did you have a hard time finding a spot to camp when you went? It is also nice to hear that the restrooms were clean.

 IMary Romeo

We didn't have a hard time getting a spot at all. As I said there were at least 7 open spots the night that we stayed. I did call before we left to make sure that they had spots open.

I have found that restrooms in both the state parks and the regional parks here that we have been to are all well maintained.