Review of Roosevelt Lake Cholla Campground Tonto National Forest

Roosevelt Lake is stunning. Picture brilliant blue water, deep green mesquite trees, and soaring saguaro cacti surrounded by rust colored cliffs on one side and the Sonoran desert on the other.

The Tonto National Forest went into overdrive when deciding how many campsites to develop At Cholla campground. There are five loops and each loop has about 25 campsites. Each campsite has a ramada for shade, picnic table, and fire bit which also has a grill for cooking.

You can’t see the lake from the majority — about 80% — of campsites. The sites with a lake view go quickly. We were lucky and had a lake view from each of the five sights we’ve stayed at. Most of the sites are well spaced, but be careful, a number of them are too close together to afford any privacy. All the sites are first come first served. No hookups but there is a dump station and water available for RVs.

The camp hosts are friendly and do a good job cleaning the campground, toilets, and showers. Water is potable. The good news about the solar showers is there is no extra fee. The bad news is if the weather is cloudy and cool, the water is cold. If the weather is hot, the weather is scalding. You can’t adjust the temperature.

Dee
Note to Self: Take a bucket of cold water into the shower when the weather is hot.