Dead Horse State Park Cabin Rental Review!

One of my favorite places to visit in order to escape a bit of heat during the year is the Cottonwood area which sits just slightly south of Sedona, Arizona. The city of Cottonwood plus the few small cities surrounding it have a lot to offer from the Tuzigoot monument in Cottonwood, to a train ride in Clarkdale, and beautiful views up in Jerome to name a few. It is also home to a fantastic state park called Dead Horse State Park, that offers camping, cabin rentals, fishing, hiking and even horse back riding. It is located at 675 Dead Horse Ranch Rd, Cottonwood, AZ 86326.

Each cabin sleeps up to six people, It is a one room cabin with one full sized bed along with a bunk bed. In your room you will also find a small shelf, a bedside table plus a kitchen table and four chairs. Every cabin has heating and A/C so that you can stay comfortable during your stay, they also allow pets in cabins 3 through 8 so there is no need to worry about leaving your furry baby at home. However, there are no bathrooms inside of the one bedroom cabins, but the bathrooms are really close (about a one minute walk) and are kept up so they are quite clean. So how much will renting a cabin set you back? Renting a cabin will be $60 a night plus a $10 reservation fee which is pretty good especially since most hotels in the area will go for more. You can book a single night or stay up to fourteen nights if you are looking for a longer vacation from the city. 

When you book a cabin through their website you are able to see each cabin to select which one you want. Based off of the location and the creepy looking trees directly in front of it, I selected the "Fox" cabin to stay in for our visit. We are a family of four so the cabin was the perfect little size for all of us to move about, I like that they provided the table and chairs because it makes it easier to eat meals or even play a board game. The cabin was overall pretty clean, and included a small trash can for you to dispose of any garbage you have. I suggest packing a large trash bag anytime you rent a cabin or go camping anyway so you don't leave any trash or debris behind in the park.

Cooking is not allowed inside of the cabin itself, however there is a grill right next to the cabin along with a fire pit. Plus Dead Horse State Park is inside of Cottonwood itself, so there are restaurants and shopping centers within a short drive so you could always go grab something for dinner and bring it back. During our stay we went to a BBQ place that is in town and brought everything back with us to eat in the cabin while we watched a movie on our tablet and talked. When evening falls it gets quite dark rather quickly, so don't forget to pack some flashlights so you can see where you are going if you plan on starting a bon fire, heading to the bathroom or forgot something in the car.

The bathrooms they have across the way were a lot cleaner than I had expected which is always nice! The only thing I would change about the cabins at the various state parks we have stayed at are the mattresses, they are so thin and hard. Otherwise we really enjoyed our stay, they have a nice covered Ramada just up behind where we were so you could relax there as well with a larger group of park guests. We took a hike behind our cabin and found a small water fall, went down to the river side, found a cool bridge and more! The next morning when we woke up we got our fishing gear together and went fishing for a while. Our daughter ended up being the only one to catch a fish that day so she was pretty excited. 

So if you are looking for a weekend escape, I would check out this great state park or any of our other state parks, several of them having cabins. If a cabin rental isn't your thing they also offer RV spots and tent camping in different sections of the park, as an added bonus if you rent a cabin and have a guest who would prefer to sleep in a tent you can add on a tent for $10 and have them set it up next to the cabin since all of the cabins have a fantastic amount of space between them. If you have small kids I highly recommend stopping into the rangers station when you arrive & ask for a Junior Rangers activity pack. Once your kids fill out the packet which contains crosswords and other fun puzzles, they can return to the rangers station where they will show the packet, say a park pledge & receive a collectable pin they can keep as a souvenir. 

If you want to see some of the other State Parks we've visited, click on the "Things to do in Arizona" on the right hand side of my blog or type "State Parks" into the search bar! 🌲

How do you like to stay when outdoors? In a tent, in a cabin, or in an RV? 

Disclaimer- The one night cabin rental mentioned above were provided by The Arizona State Parks Department for a review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase