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

Cabin Rentals at Roper Lake State Park - A Review.

Right now the weather is perfect for exploring Arizona on the weekends (or during the week if you have time). While my family and I enjoy camping sometimes we don't feel like setting up the tents and camping gear after a long drive to our designation, yet we want to remain in nature so the cabins that the Arizona State Parks Department offers at many of their state parks is the perfect solution. If you've been following my blog for a while you will remember that I recently posted a review of the Roper Lake State Park located in Safford,Arizona. This post will cover information on their cabin rentals.

The cabin rentals they offer are cute and cozy, each one has it's own theme which will help you designate which cabin is yours. We stayed in the Hummingbird cabin, to go with the theme they had a metal Hummingbird hung up at the front of the cabin and inside of the cabin you'll find a small set of curtains on the door that have a hummingbird print. The cabin is one big room split by a half wall (Doesn't go all the way to the celling) and a door for privacy so you can change. Inside are two bunk beds, a queen sized bed, along with two shelves.

This cabin is one step above camping, it will help keep you safe from the elements, it has electricity and heat/ AC and beds to sleep in. Outside you'll find a Barbeque to cook on and a sink where you can clean any fish you've caught in the lake that day, no cooking is permitted inside of the cabin so there is no mini fridge or microwave so you'll need to prepare before you arrive packing enough ice and food for your stay. 

We were aware that we needed to bring our own sheets and blankets so we got everything packed up before our trip, we always make sure to pack a trash bag or two, cleaning wipes, etc because you never know what you are going to need. I am happy we packed trash bags because I was surprised to find there was no trash can of any type inside of the cabin or out (understandable to due nightly visits from animals). There is no seating aside from the beds themselves so if you are looking for a place to sit down and eat there is a cute picnic bench on the porch where you can sit and enjoy the view. 

Speaking of the view there is also a swing on the porch which my kids and I loved sitting on and just enjoying the nice weather, plus is was a lovely spot to star view from. It gets absolutely pitch dark at this park because it is on the outskirts of Safford where there isn't a ton of city lights to drown out the natural lighting from the stars, which makes the sky gorgeous during the night.

There are a few changes I would make to the rental experience a little more comfortable for families staying in the park. Firstly I would add a small trash can inside of the cabin, not all families remember to bring trash bags with them which can make it difficult to dispose of garbage properly. Second, as you may have noticed there is no bathroom in this cabin so you'll need to walk to the bathrooms which isn't a biggie. There are two toilets directly in the middle of all the cabins, they are vault toilets which are basically stationary port-o-potties, there is a small sink outside to wash your hands, but there is no lighting to help you see at night. I think an addition of a solar powered light for inside each bathroom would be lovely. A secondary bathroom with a shower is located behind a row of the cabins, we didn't go check out this specific bathroom as we didn't see a trail leading up to it and didn't want to cut in-between other families cabins to get back to it. 

The lake itself is quite lovely, they offer a beach area where you and your family can swim, a "island" where you can relax and picnic, along with hiking trails and fishing this little lake offers quite a bit. They also have a small shop inside of the ranger station where you can pick up things like puzzles, hats, souvenirs and more. The park is easy to reach from the interstate and it is close to town so you are close to shopping, restaurants and more. If you forgot something like a toothbrush or just want to pick up some more drinks/snacks there is a Dollar General just three minutes away from where the park is located. You can find more information on their cabin rentals and rates by visiting their website.

 Disclaimer- A two 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

Stay in a cozy cabin at Kartchner Caverns State Park!

 

Although this year has been a strange one due to covid, one of the unexpected experiences that has come out of it is that we've been given the chance to check out local state parks, and travel destinations on a more personal level because there aren't a lot of people traveling at the moment. I recently was given the chance to work with the Arizona State Parks Department! The opportunity is very exciting for my family and I because we love camping, being outdoors and exploring so we can't wait to work with the parks department more through out the next year.

This time around we were given a night rental at a small cabin inside of the Kartchner Caverns State Park located in Benson, Arizona. This state park is wonderful for camping and hiking, however that isn't all that it offers. It is also home to the Kartchner Caverns itself which is beautiful and well preserved cave system that I will cover in another post coming soon.  The views from front door of the cabin are gorgeous, you have a perfect view of the mountains and trails that are free to explore. All of the information on reserving a cabin or camping spot can be found on their website.

                      

 Coming from North Phoenix the drive took us about three hours to reach the park, once inside the park rangers were very helpful getting us checked in, letting us know what time we could get into our cabin, and more. The cabin itself was easy to find, there are four cabins located inside of the park along with a few dozen camping spots and RV spots that are able to be reserved for up to two weeks at a time. Wondering how much a cabin rental will set you back? A cabin rental is surprisingly affordable at $59 a night (plus a one time $10 reservation fee) the rental fee includes the daily park fee. The cabins have two parking spots located directly next to them for each cabin, all four cabins have a designated sign letting you know where to park. Directly in front of each cabin you'll find a firepit (wood can be purchased from the park rangers) and a picnic table for your personal use.

Each cabin sleeps up to six people and includes a queen bed plus two bunk beds. Originally I had pictured a big open cabin similar to one I had stayed in at a KOA in New Mexico, however we were surprised to find that it was actually split up into two rooms. The first room contained the queen size bed, a table with four chairs and a small kitchen area that includes a microwave and small fridge. Guests are asked to bring their own pillows and linens due to there being no washing machines at the camp, they do provide mattress protectors to help keep the beds themselves clean. We had no issue with bringing our own bedding, it was like packing for a camping trip without the tents.

You may notice that aside from the microwave there is no other methods for cooking, however there are plenty of outlets so you could bring a small toaster or cooking top to prep your food if you plan on staying for a long stay. We were only going to be staying for a one night/two day stay so we had brought some breakfast items to make in the microwave and we opted to take a small drive into Benson to get some dinner. 

                

The day we arrived it was a stormy day and had been raining on and off, that combined with it being winter the weather outside was a little chilly. So was the cabin warm? Yes! Each cabin has both heating and air conditioning, they don't have an actual way to set the temp you want on the heater it simply has three options "Low", "Comfortable" and "High". We had it on high or a bit but ended up turning it down to comfortable, the cabin stayed toasty warm and just the right temp, you couldn't even tell it was chilly outside. 

You may have noticed that the back room is the room with the two sets of bunk beds, however not shown is a bathroom. Though there isn't a bathroom inside of your cabin there is a camp site bathroom just out the backdoor of the cabin, a quick two minute walk gets you over to the shared bathrooms which also contain showers for anyone looking to wash off. The bathrooms were clean and well kept, since the walk was short we didn't get too chilly. If you have a lot of trash to throw out there are also dumpsters, along with a small trash can inside of your cabin. 

   

We are a family of four and we were all perfectly comfortable, and cozy inside of the cabin together. There was plenty of room to move around, and plenty of space to store our belongings. There were several hooks around the cabin, outlets with USB ports, lights and heaters in both rooms and if you want privacy to get dressed or from the kids at night there is a door you can pull shut between the two rooms. 

After we checked into our cabin the first night we went to check out the trails so we knew where we were wanting to head in the morning, we also picked up some board games while we were in Benson so we could play them at the cabin table. We had a very enjoyable stay and the park itself was gorgeous, I will be doing a blog post soon with more photos of just the trails and another with info on the caverns itself. This is a gorgeous place to visit and it is a destination that isn't to be missed! 

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