Snow Birding to Arizona

[Mel]

I am hoping my wife and I get a chance to become Snow Birds to Arizona after I retire. So here are my questions for those who have already done it.

How do find a good RV park to spend the winter?
What things should we be considering as we look for a park?
Do you have parks and places you would recommend?

Thanks for you insights. I am wanting to do my homework.

[Ozz]

Mel, Google Parker Arizona, also across the Colorado River a beautiful place just 45 minutes or so down from lake Havasu... beautiful and on the river. Depends on your interests, you can find anything from a very active park to a secluded reclusive place. If you like Golf, there are places with Golf nearby.
Good hunting...and dreaming.
Ozz

[ols1932]

Mel,
When we started 10 years ago we didn't have any idea about where were the good parks to stay at for an extended period of time. We just went out and discovered what was out there in places we had thought we'd want to be. Many people go down to the RGV in Texas; some to Florida; and we go to Southern California. As you travel, you'll find that some parks that are recommended to you won't fit your needs and/or desires.

Good luck as you travel.

Orv

[lawrenceb42106]

What part of Arizona do you want stay at? We have stayed at Tombstone, Tucson and Yuma. All in the southern part of the state. Let us know your likes and dislikes, so we may help you out.

[richfaa]

We stayed in The lake Havasu area and the Apache Junction area. Beautiful country but a bit to windy and sandy for us. Since this thing has wheels and we have choices we tried Central Florida and have been wintering here for 4 years.

[Mel]

I am probably most interested in the western half of the state. Have considered: the NW Phoenix area, Scottsdale area,Casa Grande, Prescott, and all along the river from Bullhead down.

I am not a golfer, but we do enjoy the out of doors. M wife loves to swim. Coming from Washington, I do love to see mountains somewhere on the horizon.

[HamRad]

Mel,
The east side of Phoenix.... The Mesa, Apache Junction area is very near the Superstitious Mountains. We stayed in a park and we looked directly at the mountains. There are hundreds of parks in this area. They range from basic to full range of services and things to do. Many have extensive facilities. Wood shops, sewing, crafts of all imaginable types. Pretty much whatever you want.

Tucson has pretty much the same thing. Yuma also has a huge number of parks. The Colorado River area has a lot of parks too. The ones along the river tend to be a lot of "Membership" type parks. We have never had a membership but many of our friends do. They really enjoy the parks.

I think if you take some of the info thus far and start looking around in person you will soon find something that will work for you. Enjoy! And keep us updated as to what you are finding.
HamRad

[exav8tr]

Mel, We have stayed in Tucson, Voyager RV Resort; Apache Junction, Meridian RV Park; Mesa, Monte Vista Village RV Resort and this year we are at Casa Grande, Palm Creek Golf and RV Resort. Each of these parks offers different things. I feel that if you plan on spending the winter, you need to find a park with the amenities you like and in your price range. We like this park alot and may even purchase something permanent here, of course, our son and DIL live up the road in Phoenix so that is a plus. This is desert area so not much greenery around. Some mountains, if you look hard enough.

We have wintered in So Cal, Ft Walton Beach Florida and San Antonio, TX. So far we care for the Arizona winters compared to the others.

Everyone has their opinions and these are mine. You can Google Arizona RV Parks and look these up by name. There are a ton of parks around here and ranging from dirt cheap to rather expensive. We chose this park after previewing many others in and around Phoenix. When you look at a parks website, look at the amenities and activities/sports if you are looking for things to do. Casa Grande is kind of centrally located to Phoenix, Tucson, Yuma, Flagstaff and other interesting areas. Sandy? yes, but you are in the desert.

Hope this helps somewhat....If you have more specific questions I would be happy to address them...

Good luck on your hunt and welcome to "The Best Darned Forum on the WWW"!!!

[clutch]

Everyone is looking for something different. Five years ago we came to Arizona with no idea where to go or what to do. We found a place we like and have been here for five years now. Just come on down and see what you like.

[thor]

i stayed a coco paw rv resort in yuma.very nice park .there are a lot of state parks that a nice parks .if you were in the military there are parks there also.on my computer i save all the parks in a folder so i can reference them when needed.you can list them by state or province for easy reference.

[jimcol]

We have spent a couple of late winter early spring seasons in Phoenix area because we follow spring training baseball. Love the baseball and the climate. Hate the traffic, smog, and crime in the area. Jim

[CmdrDewey]

Mel,
Orv is right on the money. the following is something I posted in February of this year. My opinion still has not changed.

Every year this kind of topic comes up and often I will post something similar to the following. I never have a lot of people agreeing with me but I have met too many unhappy people to keep my mouth shut.

Recommended parks might very well be places that you will fall in love with and be very happy. On the other hand, they might be good facilities with a bunch of people you don't like and activities you don't enjoy. You are then sort of prisoners because you paid for 5 months and you aren't likely to get a refund if you are not happy. Every park I have been in has sort of its own personality. What I like, you may not and vice versa. We like the park we go to in Texas for its personality and activities,not its facilities. Other people don't like that park at all.

I would urge you to go south without much of a plan. Travel around a lot and find an area that you like with a park that you like and then stay a few days or a week. You might like it or you might not. Do some research on your own, people's tastes differ. I won't recommend a park for that reason. I like what I like but I have no idea who or what you like. We Traveled around like that for several years and found we like Texas better than Fl. But we did enjoy our travels in Florida we just never stayed longer than a week in any one place. Five months is a long time to say in a place that you don't like.

[dandt]

Mel....The best thing to do and is what we did. Took a map circled areas of interest then found RV parks in the area that we felt would fit our needs. We kn ow our taste well enough that if they did not have a website they were going to be too small for our taste. Then we spend one winter spending 1-2 weeks at each spot, you will know the right area soon enough. They main consideration for us was, we don't like traffic and air noise...and we don't mind traveling 45 minutes to buy grocery's saves us money! Pheniox,Tuscan, Yuma and Casa Grande are nice and have so many parks to choose from, but you are in the city...We found a perfect park in CA, on the east shore of the SaltonSea called Fountain of Youth...foyspa.com that we love. Palm Springs is 1 hour, ElCentro 1 hour, SanDiego and LA 3 1/2 hours. GREAT swimming they heat the pools to 90degres and you can 4wheel from the park without to trailer. This year if you arrived by Oct 15th site rent was $505 and that includes electric and water. You are the only one that knows what is perfect for you...have a great time finding your dream snowbird park. Teresa