Conveniently located 10 minutes from Oro Valley. Excellent hiking experience with beautiful waterfall throughout. You'll have to cross the water approximately 4 times on the loop and takes about 1.5 hours with stops for pics . Stairs at one point with breathtaking views of saguaro cactus and other dessert foliage. There's also a horse trail. Gift shop at entrance and restrooms as well. Peaceful experience to get away from the city. read more

This is by far the best state park in Tucson because it's pet friendly with the exception of Romero Pools it is not pet friendly. When doing Romero Pools we ran into this older gentleman who maintains the trials with his wife every cool season. So if you're out there and you see the rocks are perfectly placed so you can walk on them just know it's a sweet older man and his wife who placed it there. Canyon loop is the easiest trail and takes you to a flat summit with the serene view. I let me dog play in the river there and she loves it. read more

What a beautiful place! And so close to Tucson. I've been there twice now and I like more each time. The first time was August of 2021 and it was so wet that the guard advised us against going in. We did anyway. The road was muddy but beyond that the wash was running and the birding was incredible. Tiny frogs were everywhere. We only walked the birding trail that time. We went again in early April 2022 and hiked up to Romero pools. Strenuous hike but rewarding. Well over 1,000 foot gain. Incredible sights. I can't wait to go back again. read more

Love it here. Park is clean, quiet, well maintained...and the views!!!!! The park rangers at the gate aren't the friendliest. They act like you're more of a hassle when you ask questions. But everything else is outstanding- including the park hosts! read more

My perspective is a little different than most - I am a backpacker as well as a hiker. Romero Canyon is my go-to route when I just need to get out for an under-24-hour outing. In addition to your park pass, if you go for an overnight you'll need an overnight parking pass. It is $5 if you have an annual pass. The volunteer staff rarely knows how to do this and what to charge, tell them to ask the ranger. There is a small campsite right after the Pools, another at the 5-mile point, and another at the 6-mile marker. All three have access to water if the creek is running. We also come here with visitors, normally to do the 3-mile Canyon Loop trail. This offers great views of the Catalinas, nice wash crossings, and great photo ops with the saguaro cacti along the way. Catalina SP is not as jaw-dropping as Sabino Canyon, but it is a LOT less crowded, and parking is much less of a hassle. Kids also love to play around in the water at the pools, which are 2.5 miles from the trailhead. read more

Catalina State Park - Sometimes you gotta wade across the wash! - Parks Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

Catalina State Park is a wonderful place to be if you love the outdoors. If you have a state park pass you are covered when you enter. If not, the cost is $7 per car. After you leave the ranger station, you have several choices as to what activity you can do. There are several hiking trials, varying in difficulty- camping grounds, and other neat things to do on the right days such as geocaching, guided walks, photography outings, etc. Usually my family and I will take our dog and complete a walk that has several places where you can stop and play in water. If you feel like hiking, Romero Pools is a great site to see, filled with plenty of places to make memories. From time to time you catch the wide variety of animals too. The whole park is breathtaking. The park also offers live music on certain Saturdays. The park fills fast so it is best to get there early and bring chairs. read more

Catalina State Park - Catalina State Park - Parks Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

Birding, MT/road biking, hiking, horse back riding, star gazing, sun bathing or sitting watching sun sinking or rising--this is another great Arizona SP to visit. Concerts and guided hikes are among a few other activities you'll enjoy. You can camp here with RV, trailer or tent. We're trailer camping for the week and digging it everyday. Over 5,000 acres to get lost into the natural world of cacti (lots of Saguaro), desert plants and wildlife abundant. Packs of coyotes are singing together every night. The park is on the edge of the Catalina Mountains. Miles upon miles of easy to follow trails exist. Some are quite strenuous so be ready to use them legs, feet and booty--get up that booty on the trail. It is 2.8 miles to the Romero Pools, just one of the awe-inspiring hikes to work "dat-butt" climbing over rocks, up and down hard packed dirt. The payoff--close your eyes, enjoy your respite while listening to the waters cascading thought the canyon. Open eyes wide and take in (dip your toe in) large natural pools among the canyon rocks. Sit and reflect awhile. The 50 year trail exits the park boundary after 3-4 miles. You can open a cattle gate and continue on the trail through open range. The 50 year trail is like a muse. It lulls me along. The further I pedal, the more I want to see. On my mountain bike I was lulled in 10 miles before heading back, 20 miles round. Fast furious fat tire fun through many technical rock gardens, curvaceous in-flow motion single track and deep chutes with whoopdeedoo's like made for bobsleds but in hard pack dirt. And a terrain filled with desert flora and fauna, rocks and boulders and towering mountains--lulls you down the 50 mile trail--so muse on! read more

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Beautiful park with lots of trails from short to long from beginner to more challenging. I bring friends and my dog here all the time! I suggest getting the annual membership over the daily rate. You get access to all AZ state parks for $75! Solid deal. It's $7 for daily access. read more

Catalina State Park - cactus - Parks Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

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Can't believe that we've lived here for six years and this is the first time we have come to this park. So close, only a 25 minute drive. It was a great quick getaway for a three day weekend camping trip. The location couldn't be better--right across from the Oro Valley Marketplace. Forget something? Just make the five minute drive to Walmart. LOL. Bored? See a movie. And it is only less than 10 minutes from one of the best gelatos in Tucson (Giovanni's Gelato Cafe). Yet, the campsites were still in wilderness, and even though you could still hear an occasional semi truck rumbling down Oracle Blvd., after a while, your brain tuned them out and you could just hear wilderness. This park is great for RV's as all sites have water and electricity. We snagged the last site that they allow reserving with the electricity turned off. All sites seemed to have shade to one degree or another. There is a grill at every site, as well as a table and the aforementioned water and electricity. It was so convenient to have water at our site. The restrooms are modern, clean, and brightly lit. There are bathroom stalls with regular flushers. And bonus--they have showers. The sinks have mirrors, shelves, hot & cold water, and GFC electric outlets. There is also a tiled sink area to wash dishes. There are trail heads offering varying degrees of hike difficulties. We went on an easy birding walk with a guide. We also made an appointment with Ranger Jack to see the Romero Ruins. Highly, highly recommended. Ranger Jack has been doing this for 20 years at the park. He's only in his 40s. Yep, being a ranger was his first and only job out of college. He loves it, and you can tell. He has a giant size ranger smile to go with it. The only way you will want to visit the ruins is with Ranger Jack, believe me. Full of interesting information (not yawn-inducing information) and full of great stories. He is larger than life! Many of the trails are great for horse back riding and mountain biking. There is an area for those who bring their horses. I enjoyed listening to the coyotes call back and forth at night. I also enjoyed looking at the stars. Tucson is not a bad night light pollution (because of the telescopes in the area) but it is even better to look at the night sky out of the city. There are two small visitor's centers with gift shops, one at the entrance and one at the main trail head. They are small. But they do have maps, some information about the area, a few displays, and stocked with visitor center items and gifts. They also have cold pop, ice cream novelties, snacks, etc. 5* = A top favorite. Mind-blowing good. I will definitely return and I will go out of my way to go here. Worth every dime of my money. 4* = Outstanding. Tucson-top-tier. Some elements not quite as good as it gets, but it still is worthy of my regular business. 3* = Good experience. I might do repeat business if it is convenient, the only option, the only one in its category, or on a whim, but would not be among the first thing to come to mind. Would definitely recommend you trying it to get your own take on it. 2* = Not so good. Would not recommend at all. Waste of money. 1* = How are they still in business? Stay away at all costs! read more

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Truth be told, Arizona has some absolutely amazing state parks. Accessible, vast, well maintained and many extra "park perks" keep visitors coming back. Catalina State Park is really no different. A little on the smaller side in terms of number of trails, there certainly no skimping on scenery. We paid $7 to enter the park. The roads are well paved and easy to navigate with many areas dedicated to lunch gatherings big and small. We saw a realtively new area that seemed dedicated to weddings and looked pretty cool with stunning background imagery (photo opp!). The park remains open through the pandemic (bring a mask), and attendance was low. We hiked the Romero trail and saw no other hikers. The trails was well laid out with plenty of trail markers to keep us heading in the right direction. There are some ruins on one Romero trail that was cool to walk through and learn about (plenty of placards to detail history of what you're seeing). Bring a camera/phone as there are plenty of prime photo opportunities along the way. We saw plenty of wildlife. The park is known for bighorn sheep so keep your eyes peeled. We saw quite a few roadrunner, which was a nice surprise. They are curious little birds, sort of followed us around while keeping their distance. Lots of birds too so brid watchers will be kept busy (and happy). Oh, and the vegetation.... awesome. Saguaros of all sizes, chollas everywhere, yuccas, mesquites, etc. Really cool stuff. Park is immaculate. We saw a couple of rangers roaming around picking up trash (!) and available for any questions or help one might have. There's a very small gift shop at the park entrance but we couldn't tell if it was open during the pandemic so we skipped it. There are bathrooms and soda machines scattered around if you need an extra cold drink. Remember to bring some sort of trash bag to keep all of your stuff together. Some of the picnic ramada areas have trash bins so you can leave it all there before exiting the park. We saw RV parking in a few spots and it looked like there was a small fee ($20?) per night for RV'ers. A great spot to spend the night, relax, etc. Saw a dumping station on the way out of the park for blacn and grey water tanks. Also a line for non-potable water. Bring sunblock on those sunny days, lots of water, and a camera. Have fun! read more

Love this place was going to go hiking with my love of my life. But she wanted a king and she got one but you don't talk to your king like you talking to your Lisa because a king won't even stand for it . So ladies if you want to Keep your king treet him Like a king and he will treat you like a queen.. read more

Lots of variety, beautiful scenery with mountains and saguaros, many trails, entertainment with music in the park and ranger talks. You either have to pay ~$7 to get in or use your annual State Park Pass which is $75/year but very worth it! read more

Trails are excellent and verging on difficult in many sections classed as moderate--made me happy to find this right outside Tucson. The rivers are great too. Though upper trails don't allow dogs there are plenty of lower trails that do! You'll want at least a week if you want to get deep into the mountains and you'll need to book WAY in advance...the snowbirds rule this place and book a year in advance. read more

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The perfect retreat to get out and enjoy the incredible beauty of Tucson. Great diversity of hiking trails from very easy to challenging.

This is the second time we've stayed at the Group area - ringtail loop. Bathrooms clean, and Ramada/pavilion has plenty tables/benches read more

Catalina State Park - Parks Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

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Be ready to deal with the rude female Filipino attendant. Just pay and don't ask questions. If you ask one question or need any kind of assistance, get ready for the rude unprofessional answer. The Park Ranger was nice and tried to defuse the situation but the damage was done. I live up the street from this place to bad they hire people like this. read more

Arizona State Park Campgrounds are the best. Large, clean, hot, untimed showers. Just don't make the same mistake I did and book a site in the middle of a Boyscout Group campout! Avoid Ringtail-25. Located minutes away from commercial area. Crazy busy trailhead. Loop trail had 100 people on it, I was the only one without a big,fat,wet dog. The Romero Pools hike is a good workout. It appears late March is past prime time. A mostly exposed and heavily traveled trail. read more

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I haven't hiked here. I just went for a day party at the Ringtail group spot. It was so nice! Completely private, big parking lot, clean bathroom, lots of picnic tables, and trailheads. We had a small campfire which I'm told you can't have in the campground area. Lame. It was a great spot for a big group. The $7 day pass was admittedly annoying but I guess that's why the bathrooms and picnic grounds are so clean. Overall a good experience. read more

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Very nice park outside Tucson. $7 for a day of fun and exercise for 2. Much cheaper and more scenic then any health club. Love going here and the views are exceptional. read more

This Park is awesome. ' Many hiking and biking trails. Dogs are welcome. Very cool after a rain with many pools and streams. You'll will not regret visiting. read more

This is a beautiful park. Great location, and great hiking. The reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because of the amount of dog poop on the trails. What's wrong with dog owners who just let their dogs poop on the trails. Highly suggest more poop bags and garbage cans be placed along the trails and that this job be assigned to volunteers. read more

This is a really nice park that has several trails and great views of the whole area. We've been here a couple times and it is always fun cruising around and exploring the surroundings. Check out the maps before you get started. Some trails are very easy while others are pretty long and more for the experienced hiker. There is even a trail that takes you to a water area where you can go swimming during the certain times of the year. The trail we took was one of the easier ones. My mom was with us and she was wanting to just take it easy. This particular trail brought us to an ancient Hohokam settlement and you could still see parts of the foundation where they used to live. Neat! Check the calendar and look at the events section. There is a cool area down by the gift shop where local musicians get together and play for free. All you need to do is get past the front gate with the typical park fee. Bring your camera and plenty of water for the trail. Maybe even some trail mix for the hike. You never know when you will need a snack. There are also some places to rest in certain areas. LOOK OUT BELOW! 4.25 STARS read more

Catalina State Park - Mega Old Saguaro Cactus. - Parks Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

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Beautiful park with of kid friendly trials. We went when there was lot of water in the creek, and it was fun for both adults and kids We want to go to Romero pools sometime! read more

Trails are fun to walk, the scenery is gorgeous! We bought a pass because we go so much. Dog, horse and bike friendly trails make this park a great one for everyone! read more

Love this place, been coming for years Best time is early in the morning on weekdays - avoid the weekends unless you enjoy watching stupido touristas from Michigan read more

We love taking our dog here for hikes. Unfortunately it is an an on-leash hike for our dog, but I will say many people (maybe including us...) let dogs off-leash in the river beds. It's our go-to now over Sabino since dogs aren't allowed there. There's many many miles of hikes, but we generally do the Canyon Loop trail which is a short 2+ mile loop. We've been coming in the Fall/Winter and about halfway in the hike you reach the stream is pretty full and really pretty to hike by since there's more colorful flora around the water bed. When it's warm there's usually kids splashing around. You do have to cross small creeks on stones a few times on the trail, which I find fun, but it might not be the safest for kids/people with balance issues. It is a $7 fee to enter/park, but it goes toward a good cause as this is great state park to visit to escape town! read more

We camp here for the weekends as much as we can. The rangers are top notch and the camp hosts are very friendly. We love to hike the trails and see the wildlife. Definitely recommend for any weekend warrior campers or the long stayers! Excellent place to be! read more

Road noise! Lots of it in the campgrounds! Right next to major roadway. Amazing views and a beautiful state park. But if you are looking for peace and quiet in a camping experience, please look elsewhere, wish there were reviews that explain this so here ya go! read more

This is a short one: ROMERO POOLS HIKE! Just do it ;) read more

Catalina State Park - Romero pools. Swimming in the waterfalls after the hike to the top - Parks Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

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Bathrooms are super clean, sites are spacious, great walking areas for exercise or dog walks, trails everywhere and the view is worth a million dollars! Only negative, no sewer at sites. Not sure if there's a company that will go to you. Still an amazing campground and well worth the inconvenience. read more

Decent enough park but we camped in the group area which sucked unless your're a loud family with toddler. The trails were OK but I wish I would have stayed in the more rural camp spots. Next time I suppose. The bathrooms and showers were very nice. read more

I have been to Tucson so many times over the years but this is the first time I have visited Catalina State Park. Had an absolute blast, lots to do for the whole family. Very helpful park rangers as well, one gave me directions to all the best trailheads for families. After doing so he pinched me in my back area in front of my kids, which was a bit odd. Still a five star experience! read more

We stayed here a week and wished it was a month! Such a beautiful park with stunning views of the mountains! We took advantage of their many trails which are very well maintained. The staff are very friendly and helpful and there are many outstanding activities such as bird walks, live music, star parties, etc. you are very close to stores and services, but you feel like you are in the wilderness. I would highly recommend this park for camping, or just a day trip. We will definitely be back for more! read more

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Catalina State Park is awesome. It has easy walks, all the way to very strenuous hikes. Romero Pools is my favorite. Great vistas. The pools to cool your feet off. Beautiful waterfall about 3/4 of the way up. Just fantastic. The staff has always been very friendly. Definitely a place to go to be outside in the desert. read more

An amazing park--I love it. This and Sabino Canyon are my top 2 hiking spots in Tucson. There are so many different options depending on what type of hike you're feeling, and I really like the picnic area as well as a good regroup spot before going off on your next adventure! One of the things I love most about the Tucson area is being able to explore this beautiful parks, and Catalina is on the top of the list. read more

What a great place for a desert hike on a cool morning! Their were people there walking their dogs. One woman told us that if you are there real early in the morning, then you may see a coyote or deer. There were quite a few bird watchers there. I'm not one but I saw a pair of cardinals. Well kept up. A good place for a picnic. read more

Catalina State Park - West entrance - Parks Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

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Great space. Very close to Tucson. Easy, nice drive. Lots of trails. Get close and personal with some cactus and wild life. Wonderful view of the mountains. Sunset is very pretty from here. read more

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Great park! We hiked on the Canyon Loop and had a good time. Many difficult degrees of hiking trails. Horse trails as well. Good park for children. Camping areas area clean. Pay to get in. $7 a car. read more

The Ranger Jack hike is a must-do. His knowledge of and passion for the subject matter is awesome, and I watched him engage a group ranging from age 4 to 64 with ease. Jack is a treasure. The extensive trail network gives you a bunch of options depending how far you want to go - this park is a treasure and more than worth the $7 day pass and the drive down Oracle to reach it. read more

Great location and people. Always a wonderful time. Mountain View's are spectacular and amenities are perfect.