This is a strange little state park, located on highway I17, roughly mid-way between Tucson and Phoenix. The campground within the park is only about a kilometer or so from the highway and a major train railway. The noise from the road and train traffic is quite loud, but you get used to it after a while, and inside Rosita we can’t hear anything, but we can feel a rumble when trains pass by.
The park is located at the site of the western-most skirmish between Union and Confederate forces during the civil war. This Civil War clash was also the largest to take place in Arizona.
Our choice of campsite was quite limited and we ended up right next to the restroom building. This actually worked out quite well as we didn’t have anyone else camped too close to us, and the outdoor dish washing station located at the rear of the building was very handy as there are no water spigots in the campground. The park actually ran out of water one day and had to close all of the restrooms until a water delivery was made.
It was a bit odd that the park was low on water as a campground volunteer told us that there had been a lot of rain recently, and that the grass that was growing in the desert was very unusual to see.
There is a really nice trail that meanders around one of the peaks, great for the dogs. There is a trail that goes up to the top of one peak, but we didn’t attempt that one as it would have been difficult to carry the dogs up the sections of the trail that require pulling yourself up using wire cables (they recommend using gloves, no mention of how to get your 110 lb and 135 lb dogs up though).
Trip Summary:
Depart from: Dead Horse Ranch State Park, AZ
Depart time: 11:00 am (Jan 21)
Odometer: 130844 miles
Arrive time: ??? pm Picacho Peak State Park, AZ
Odometer: ??? miles
Gas Summary:
Jan 25 (Picacho): 13g @ $3.90/g $50.54