Patagonia Lake State Park Campground Arizona
Patagonia Lake State Park Overview
Patagonia Lake State Park Campground has 105 developed single-family campsites overlooking the 265-acre Patagonia Lake. Each campsite has electric hookups, a table, fire ring and grill. Some campsites have a shade ramada. Most sites are large and can accommodate any size RV. There are two non-electric campsites (22 feet maximum size for trailers/RVs). There are also 12 boat-in campsites available (some with portable restrooms). Campsites 103 to 108 are tent only, but each does have a small parking space.
Amenities include drinking water, flush toilets, hot showers, a comfort station and RV dump station. Firewood is also available for sale.
Patagonia Lake State Park and campground, located about 12 miles north of Nogales at an elevation of 3,750 feet in the Sonoita Creek State Natural Area. It is most busy from May through November so reservations are advisable. In addition to the campground, there’s a beach, picnic area, 2 boat ramps, a store, visitor center and marina.
Patagonia Lake State Park – Area Recreation
The are is a great place to see wildlife in the hills and along the shoreline of Patagonia lake. The 265-acre lake is a good place to fish for bass, bluegill, crappie and catfish. There are also some nice trails in the area to hike and see wildlife and historic sites such as the remnants of the old New Mexico/Arizona railroad.
You may also be interested in Twin Peaks campground at Organ Pipe National Monument.
Make a Reservation for Patagonia Lake State Park
Amenities
- BBQ Grills
- Boat Launch/Ramp
- Boat Ramp
- Boat Rental
- Camp Store
- Campsite Tables
- Cell Service Fair
- Comfort Station
- Drinking Water
- Dump Station
- Electrical Hookup
- Equipment Rentals
- Fire Pit
- Fire Rings
- Firewood Available
- Gift Shop
- Grills
- Group Pavilion
- Ice
- Marina
- Pets OK
- Picnic Tables
- Ranger Station
- Rentals
- Restrooms (Flush Toilets)
- RV Hookups
- Shade Structure
- Showers
- Trash Collection
- Visitor Center
Activities
- Beach
- Beach Access
- Biking
- Bird Watching
- Boating
- Boating (non motorized)
- Canoeing
- Creek
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Kayaking
- Lake
- Mountain Biking
- Nature Trails
- Photography
- Picnicking
- Stargazing
- Swimming
- Visitor Center
- Walking Trails
- Water Sports
- Wildlife Viewing
Nogales, Arizona 85621
520 287-6965
Lat / Long:
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Campsite Types
- ADA
- Boat
- Cabin
- RV
- Tent
- Trailer
# of Campsites:
105 + 12 Boat In Sites
# of RV Hookup Campsites:
105
Campsite Vehicle Size:
Up to 45 feet.
Season:
Year Round
Elevation:
3,750
Patagonia Lake State Park Comments & Reviews
Visited Patagonia Lake State Park Campground lately? We'd love to hear about your adventure. Did you find us useful? Did we forget something? Anything our community should know before heading out to Patagonia Lake State Park?
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Looking forward to having a big family gathering 9/22 & 9/23. We reserved 4 sites and my parents of 81 and 86 will be joining us. We have camped here before and had a great time. Lets hope all goes well with 20 adults and 8 kids. We will let you know.
How would I reserve 2 camp sites close to the swimming area
Hi Deanna,
Go to the campground page HERE, check out the Patagonia Lake State Park Campground Map and see which sites are closest to the swim area/beach. There are not really any super close, but the closest ones are 40-50. Once you’ve spotted some sites you might like to reserve, then click on the ‘Make A Reservation’ button (also on the Patagonia Lake State Park campground page) to check availability and make a reservation.
I disagree that campsites 103 to 108 are ones of the best. If you have a trailer, it is difficult to maneuver into the site. I had a 14 foot teardrop and found it a challenge. Regardless, people are constantly walking through the sites. Having a tent set up does not deter them. I would recommend camping here, it is lovely, just not in these sites.
Thank you for this review. Do you recall how accessible site 32 is? It’s at the water’s edge but also near a loop turnaround. Hubby thinks getting our 32′ TT in/out of there will be fine (it says the site is 40′) but I’m a little concerned. Thanks.
Hi Tina,
Always good to double check on size/accessibility of campsites. Patagonia Lake State Park site #32 is very nice and you should have no problem backing in/accessing it with your 32′ travel trailer. The loop turnaround will actually make it a bit easier. Have a great time!
This CG hasn’t improved at all since we were last there several years ago! Photos show overgrown weedy Small sites with steep & narrow access- worse than when we camped there! Unless you want to Party, I wouldn’t recommend this CG…
Beautiful park, lousy operation. I took my kids down for a boat in camp site 115 across the lake from the store, marina and RV campground. Beautiful spot, quiet, shady trees and covered in cow poop. There was a bull in the middle of the camp site doing his business when we arrived,( p.s. bring a shovel.) Cow are all over the place, everywhere you look. After we went to bed several cows reoccupied the site around the tents. It was like camping in a feed lot.
There are signs posted by the rangers that you have to pack out your toilet paper or you will be fined. All of the pit toilets are abandoned and rotting in place so cow poop is not the only thing you may be stepping in. Too grossed out to continue. Won’t go back any more. To bad, it’s a beautiful location, very poorly managed.
This was a wonderful Camping experience for my self and My Husband. We took our RV from Mesa to Patagonia Lake State Park and had a wonderful time. Everything was clean and easy to maneuver. We had a view of the lake from our site, We hiked the along the marked trails from the map the ranger provided. We stayed mid week for 3 nights. It was our first camp out in 2017 and look forward to coming back.
Ridiculous one cannot make reservation for day trip on this site! Call in and they tell you make reservation online – try to explain unable due to there is no where to make day trip reservations and answer in reply – sorry cannot help you… seriously!! How does one get to enjoy a single day at lake when one cannot make reservation and if you show up they send you away…. as they did us at 11am in the morning. I get lake might have been full, practice better customer service!
We were very much looking forward to this trip after being locked down for so many months. We booked lot 34 because it offered some shade, and was in close proximity to the showers, bathrooms and lake. We have our motorhome, but like the option of showering in the parks facilities sometimes. The problem is the bathrooms/showers were closed. This was baffling as the park was completely full including many sites with tent campers. It is honestly disturbing that the park would be open, but not have a way for people to wash themselves, specifically their hands in such a crowded area. As if that wasn’t bad enough they abruptly closed the dump station on our last day at the park, meaning RV campers were limited in their ability to stay clean. When we asked a Ranger why they were open with these important amenities available he shrugged and said ask the governor, telling me that no one is on the same page. It seems like the health department needs to provide better guidelines for the states parks before they add to the problem.
I have been coming to Patagonia lake state park since I was a small child, I have always enjoyed how easy it is to walk to the lake and dip my pole in, or ride in the boat with my grandfather. Now that I have my own family, I am wanting to take them out on adventure, however, we are tent campers, whilst when I grew up, my family always has a camper, or pop up trailer. The last time we reserved, we stayed a little too close to the water and were freezing (105 I believe). Now I have reserved site 22, but I cannot tell if we can pitch a tent well or not as there are a lack of pictures, or they only show the parking space. Does anyone have insight? We are planning on staying in August, but would like to know early enough in case we need to change the site location to accomodate our tent.
Hi Angel,
Yes you can pitch a tent (up to two) at Patagonia Lake State Park campsite #22. There is room to the left of the parking pad.
I go for the birds and the park is world-class in late April through early May. Check the film the “Big Year” with Jack Black, Owen Wilson, and Steve Martin about these obsessive birders who try to set a record for the most species spotted in N. America in one year. The opening scene is the trail entrance in Patagonia Lake going after the Elegant Trogon. The cows are a pain & I wish they would isolate them away from the birding paths, but I’ve never been attacked. The sites are best from #1-37. The lake is nice for paddling.
Site 108 and 104 are tent only with two parking spaces each. The website when making reservations says it is a back in spot with 22ft of space for your trailer. We have a teardrop and were able to park it in one of the two spots. But not ideal to camp in a trailer that way. And these two spots are right next to the visitor center which is not displayed on the reservation map. You will have constant traffic going through your campsite of people getting to the VC. The bathrooms were large, free hot showers and clean. So a plus for that.