Desert Tortoise Campground is one of two Maricopa Country campgrounds located on the shores of Lake Pleasant. Desert Tortoise has three sections - two with semi-developed dry camping sites and one with developed sites that include water and electric hookups. The other campground, Roadrunner, has developed sites only. We camped in Scute Loop of Desert Tortoise which is the only one without a shower house. The dump station at the intersection of South Park Road and Desert Tortoise Road is shared by all the campground loops. There isn't any potable water at the dump station so fill up at the campground if you need water. The only water faucet in Scute Loop is at the restrooms and using it requires partially blocking the road. Each loop has a gate arm and a keypad to enter in a code. We were told that this was to keep picnickers from taking over the campsites.
We did not reserve a site ahead of time to avoid paying that fee. The day fee was included with the campsite fee which isn't always the case. Extra fee can really add up! It seems like most people do reserve ahead of time because there isn't much of a spot to pull over at the park entrance booth.
We were assigned an accessible site that wasn't any different that the other sites but it was close to the restrooms. The sites are all fairly level and the concrete tables have extended tops. None of the trails are accessible.
The water in the lake was really low maybe from the drought or maybe from seasonal fluctuations.
Park 33.85921, -112.30628
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