Verde Valley Thousands Trails Campground Review {Cottonwood, Arizona}

Travel dates :: April 14 – 18, 2016

Yesterday I shared a lengthy blog post about the many things to explore in the Verde Valley (Arizona) area. We spent half of of our time in the area at the Verde Valley Thousands Trails Camping Resort.

This RV and camping resort is located in a great central location for exploring Prescott, Jerome, Sedona, Tuzigoot National Monument and Montezuma National Monument. Let me tell you a little about it!

The first thing you’ll notice about Verde Valley Thousands Trails Camping Resort it’s remote location just outside of the town of Cottonwood. It’s a short drive to amenities but feels like it sits all by itself. If you’re not paying attention you could easily miss the turn off from highway 260. You’ll head back on Thousand Trails road and be greeted by a gated entrance.

We were in loop C – which was in the middle of the RV loops – between the main community center and the pool. Here at Verde Valley Thousands Trails Camping Resort your hook-ups are right next to your neighbors hook-ups – so you have two trailers close to each other. But then you have more space between you and the next pair of trailers. This is not my favorite type of campground set-up – I felt like we were very close to the other trailer in the spot next to us. Close enough to hear their furnace kick on at night and close enough to keep the window shades closed 24/7 on that side of the trailer. If we both had slides it would have be an even tighter squeeze.

Here’s an example – with a better view of how the hook-ups are set-up here. Nice big spaces, lots of greener, level spots but you’re hook-ups are on a shared side with another trailer.

The flip side to this layout is you generally have a larger than average space on the other side (the door side) of the trailer. Our door opened up onto a grassy area with a picnic table, mature tree and a standing grill pit. This space was shared with a nice fifth wheel that had a semi-permanent set up. Sharing the space between our two trailers wasn’t too big of an issue – our neighbors were quiet, clean and not home very often. We especially enjoyed watching their bird feeder on the nearby tree – which got a wide variety of birds visiting often!

Although the tight quarters between RVs was a bit of a bummer the Verde Valley Thousands Trails Camping Resort had so MUCH more to offer that we ended up still loving it here. Like a lot. The camping loops are spread out throughout the valley along a river with rolling hills everywhere you look. There are trails down to the river and then many trails in the hills about the campground.

We went for a couple hikes – and the trails were well labeled and had beautiful views of the valley below. Isn’t this magnificent?

The trails had nice markers for plants and trees along the way. And benches at most scenic overlooks. The trails were easy enough for the kids but enough of a challenge that we all got a nice workout.

A short walk from loop C, the community center had a nice big entertaining area where we often saw people playing cards and hanging out. Under a covered overhang there was free foosball and ping pong.

And a small playground . . .

and mini-golf.

Near the community center you’ll also find a row of nice looking cabins for rent.

The cabins range in size and overlook the valley. I think they’d be a great place for a family vacation if you don’t have an RV.

Farther down into the campground past loop C (where we were) and headed toward loop A you’ll find a great pool area, sports courts, horseshoes and a playground.

The pool was beautiful. And well-kept – someone was cleaning it while I was scoping it out.

The weather wasn’t really warm enough for us to use the pool – but I wish it had been!

The pool was also near a recreational hall (or lodge as they called it) with TVs and space to hang out.

Despite the tight quarters between trailers, we really liked this campground. The hiking trails were our FAVORITE thing but the facilities were very well kept and there was so much to do that I imagine it would be an amazing place to visit, especially with multiple families and during warmer weather. One night we had five javelinas munching on the grass outside our camper and we saw all sorts of birds.

And like I mentioned in my earlier post, you can’t beat the location – so much to do in the Verde Valley area.

From here we head to the Grand Canyon. . . so stay tuned!

Sponsored post : Thousand Trails sponsored our 4-day stay at Verde Valley Thousands Trails Camping Resort so that we could review it and share our honest opinion with our readers. All photos are my own unless noted and all experiences/opinions are my own. This is third second Thousand Trails/Encore property we’ve had the privilege to review – check out our thoughts on the Monte Vista (Mesa) location and the  Thousand Trails Lake Conroe (Texas) location!