Fort Tuthill Recreation Area

We stayed here twice this summer; on the way east and then on the return. Both times we found this site to be a great value and a peaceful, friendly retreat. The bathroom/showers were very clean. We went into downtown Flagstaff several times; less than five miles. Sedona was a beautiful drive of around 30 minutes (if I remember correctly). This was a better value than staying directly in the Sendoa area. Traveling to the south rim of the Grand Canyon was less than an hour and a half. The staff was very friendly and helpful; registration was easy. The peace and quite can change however if the park across the chain link fence is host to a large event, with many campers; we had that one night. We will definitely go back again.

We arrived expecting a dump overrun by teenagers (by previous reviews). It IS an older CG without the concrete pads many of us prefer, but it's extremely quiet and peaceful (there were only five other RV/trailers and very few in the cabins). We had no trouble getting our 38' Montana into our site, nor parking our full size bed & crew cab pickup in front of it. There are nature trails that wander about the old post's grounds. The laundry facility isn't new, but everything worked well. Front desk staff was friendly & helpful. Dump station is conveniently located for when leaving. Our AT&T hotspot worked well and there's plenty of over the air television too.

This is a nice, well-kept campground nestled in the ponderosa pines. Our site (#2) was satellite friendly, but we were unable to connect to the lodge's WiFi, even with our WiFiRanger booster. WiFi aside, the staff was courteous and friendly; restrooms and laundry clean and well maintained. Walmart and Bashas' just a short drive north on AZ 89. The recreation area is collocated with Ft Tuthill County Park where Pickin' in the Pines is a popular annual bluegrass event. Hiking trails abound, and the urban trail will take you on foot or bike to the aforementioned Walmart. I only rated amenities a three because sites are without septic hook up. If your stay takes you beyond the capacity of your tanks, breaking camp to dump can be a pain. Overall we thought this campground was a good value and will visit again.

This place was truly beautiful. They now have a host who has set up sewage gear at the dump area so that visitors don't have to pull out their own gear, making things very convenient. There's a coffee shop in the office/hotel which spoiled me. I didn't make it to the showers since I have my own. I have a 20' travel trailer which fit no problem. The staff were all very nice. The email I received said checkin was at 1600, which I thought was very late. Turns out that timeframe was for the hotel and not the RV area. The RV are checkin time is 1200. Get there early to get your choice of a spot. Cell phone coverage was okay (ATT). My antenna was very spotty on picking up any TV channels. Even though it was May, the temps still got down to around 24 at night. Glad I have a good heater.

This is our second time to Fort Tuthill, We have a 29' 5th Wheel toy hauler. Our site was awesome with plenty of room. There are other sites that would be difficult for my 5er to get in. We enjoyed camping in the evergreens and watching the critters. The weather was awesome, mid to low 70s during the day. During this time of season the dirt road is dry and dusty. People would not show a little respect and drive slowly to reduce the dust, you are on holiday, take it easy. Campers were getting dusted out. Hopefully Fort Tuthill will take note and pave the road, wet it down, put up and enforce speed limit or make speed bumps. However, you would not be disappointed staying here. Next to the camp ground is a zip-line park, flagstaffextream. My family of four had a great time, highly recommended, make sure you video tape your adventure.

Won't stay here again. Tired of having to pick up dog poop from owners who think they can get away with not picking up after their pets.

We arrived without a reservation because we were traveling and not knowing when we would stop for the night. We went through a heavy rain between Page and Flagstaff, which caught up to us just after we finished our hookups. There was a full length Class A just across from us, so big rigs can be accommodated. If you own one I would definitely recommend that you call for reservations. We had 30 amp service. While walking through the campground I noticed a rv site with no hookups, if you are just passing through, and can dry camp, you might ask the desk about this. If you are passing through the area on I-40, or planning on seeing the Grand Canyon, this campground is easy to get to. I first used this campground in 1993 using the yurts, followed by tent camping. This was my first time in a RV. Luke AFB does put your money back into the campground. Trees have been thinned to widen the roads, but you still must proceed slowly and use a spotter to get situated on your site. The retail store was under construction while we were there. If you are tired of parking lot style RV parks come see this one.

Stayed overnight in the Lodge. First time not in the RV campground. Cost of $70 was slightly less than La Quintas & Best Westerns but very different in amenities. I wanted to stay here once. And once is probably enough. The cabins are far nicer ( see old reviews). The RV campground had opened the day we arrived. No rv’s yet. Snow still in piles in the shade. I was told Price’s are the same as last yr and that all sites have 30 amp svc. I recommended once before walking thru the sites before the real attempt to parking your RV. Still applies. Parking is an amazing jumble of directions and positions. It’s beautiful and the employees are very nice.

Very disappointed in this visit. I was surrounded by 10+ loud obnoxious juveniles in tents that were in the RV section that continued to be out of control until midnight. My grand daughters were scared and unable to sleep in my trailer. I reported the disturbance twice to the office, only to be told that quite hours were not until 11 PM. Don't expect to be able to rent a space in the RV section since the management does not care if a tent is given a 40 RV space. They are only interested in selling spaces, regardless of the type of occupant. I counted 4 tents in 40 feet RV spaces during my stay. I was forced to move into a cabin for one night because of the lack of availability of an RV space, even though I observed a vacant RV space for the 24 hrs that I was in the cabin. When I asked about the vacant space I was told it was occupied, Yeah Right. There are special needs juveniles that are given access to the campgrounds even thought they are non military. Do not plan a trip to the Fort Tuthill cabins in the humid season, July/August. you will have a very miserable stay. The Fort Tuthill management decided that the previously installed air conditioning units in the cabins were no longer cost effective, forget the comfort of its' occupants. Instead you get one ceiling fan to push around the hot humid air, no circulation of outside air. We were totally miserable in our one night cabin stay, had we were forced to open windows during a monsoon rainfall. Very hot, nearest comparison would be sleeping in your closet with the door closed, stay away in July/August. There is no mention of the lack of A/C units in their cabin ad. The Cabins are one room (studio style) with a full bathroom, kitchenette, couch, and a table. It accommodates four people with one queen bed and the full size pull-out couch. Towels and linens are provided. The kitchenette includes a sink, two-burner range top, coffee maker, and place settings for four. Each cabin has its own deck, charcoal grill, and picnic table. Reservations can be made online or by telephone. Please become familiar with our eligibility requirements prior to making reservations. Pets and smoking are prohibited in all lodging units. This unit is subject to a 48-hour cancellation policy and an early departure penalty. Failure to cancel 48-hours prior to arrival or early departure will result in extra charges.

Okay, here's my Clint Eastwood review for Ft Tuthill: The Good: We tent camp and Ft Tuthill has many good tent camping sites. There are port-a-potties near each site, and there is a bathhouse within walking distance, as well. They have Yurts that have wood stoves, refrigerators, and microwaves in them. For those not in the know, a Yurt, is a big tent on steroids. It is a round structure that sleeps four in bunks and probably 4-6 more in sleeping bags on the floor. I think they are a best buy in the off-season ($25/night). They also have a first-rate lodge/hotel facility that has a huge warm lobby with a nice fireplace, an upstairs portion with TV and pool table, a camp store, and a computer room replete with wifi and a couple of computers with printing capabilities. There is also a recreational area in back of the lobby, and rest rooms just off to the side of the lobby. The staff here are great and seem to go out of their way to be helpful. The Bad: This is where I hate how they tie in the cleanliness and hospitality marks, because the hospitality is great, the cleanliness is hit and miss, at least in the bathhouse. The showers in the men's room have loads of hot water, but one of them is broken, and the toilets don't seem to flush right. Even when you hold down the handle, like it tells you to, a couple of the toilets still flooded and got stuck on me. Fortunately, there was a plunger nearby. Also, the Laundry facilities are antiquated, with one of the four washers broken and two of the four dryers broken. Even the washers and dryers that did work squealed, rocked, rolled, and shook like a California earthquake. The laundry facility was clean, though; I'll give them that. I would also consider getting rid of the 1980's video games upstairs above the lobby and put in a couple of video game/X-Box consoles like the USO does. It IS 2013, after all; not 1983. The Ugly: This is the part I hate, because it pits pet owners against non-pet owners and both are fiercely loyal to their beliefs. BUT, here it goes....there is a big problem with pet owners letting their animals (dogs, mostly) run free in the campground, bark incessantly, and not clean up after they do their doody. Pet owners REALLY need to pick up after their pets and respect those who are NOT pet lovers and don't appreciate stepping in dog poop; especially, in places where there shouldn't be any dog poop. Maybe they could adopt a policy like Travis AFB Fam Camp employs and segregate pet owner sites and non-pet owner sites, to keep them in separate areas of the park. The other alternative would be to ban pets altogether, which a LOT of parks are now starting to do! Overall: A good experience, with issues that need to be addressed. Tent camping is still a great value at $9/night, but the facilities need a good going over and the pet issues need to be resolved. The staff is absolutely wonderful, cheerful and happy, and the main lobby is outstanding.

My wife and i had a great experience at Ft Tuthill. We spent one day visiting the Flagstaff area and one day visiting Sedona. The park is in a great position to get to both of those. We've been to the Grand Canyon before so didn't do it that time but it's also well located to do a day trip. The day we left we were told several thousand AA members were going to be visiting the civilian part of the park; just a chain link fence away. That could have been pretty loud. We would stay there again.

Our only concern was it's a bit tight for big rigs. The folks here were very friendly, they cooked up burgers and dogs for everyone on Friday. Nice way to meet your fellow campers. The camp sites were neat and orderly. We here early in the season and they have porta-potties set up while they get the bathrooms in order. Might be an issue for non-self contained campers but we didn't hear anyone complaining. We enjoyed our stay very much.

We tent-camped here for 6 nights. The cost per night was $15. Our site, T8, backed up to the forest and was reasonably level. It was as far from the bathhouse,laundry, and office as possible but these places were still easily accessible. Yes, it was pretty dusty before a rainstorm improved conditions. Staff was very courteous, friendly, and helpful. Fellow campers were great but there's always that few percent that drive too fast, walk through others' campsites, etc. Overall, we really enjoyed our time here.

The park has lots of trees making sites very hard to fit into. Fort Tuthill Management turns away many RVs because their rigs will not fit in the small sites. When ask the management stated they do not record the many that are turned away. If the campground is never reported as full or turning away RVs then the campground will never be improved with larger sites.