Molino Basin Campground

We had a great experience and ended up staying two nights! Our original plan was to stay in the upper half of the mountain, but many sites were closed (even after opening dates); I imagine due to snow and weather. We loved our specific spot here at Molino - #13 - it offered seclusion and plenty of space for our tent. You do hear a bit of road noise, but didn’t deter from the experience.

A national campground on the edge of Tucson Arizona with spectacular views, mountains, hiking, and biking trails. Quiet and campers spaced far apart. Beautiful!

camped here 1 night in December. plenty of open and empty spots. each spot equipped with a picnic table, grill, and fire pit. absolute beautiful scenery. toilet was well maintained and very stocked. $20 per night.

Camped here April 1 since dispersed area was still in snow. Great sites and easy access with toilets, fire pits and bear box.

Great views of the mountains, not too crowded, and a good location for recreation in both Coronado National Forest and Saguaro West. It is a bit pricey at $20 a night but that's my only complaint

Plenty of great trails that lead all throughout the Santa Catalina mountains. A lot of highly trafficked and we'll maintained trails.

We arrived on a Wednesday afternoon in late February and were pleasantly surprised to find this first come, first serve campground nearly empty. We drove toward the back of the campground to explore open sites and selected walk up site 23. Perched away from the road and surrounding campsites with a beautiful view of the surrounding mountainside. Equipped with a large bear locker, table, fire ring, lantern post and flat open space to pitch our tent. 

Conveniently located a short walk to the restroom, which was very clean. 

On our first night we walked down to the empty group site to pick up part of the Arizona Trail for a quick hike before dinner.

This campground is a great base location to explore. One morning we did the Sky Island Scenic Byway to the top of Mt. Lemmon and visited the cute little general store to grab souvenir stickers for the kids.  In the afternoon we drove the 30 minutes to Saguaro National Park East which was the highlight of this trip.

They have some secluded spots.. Very clean and nice

Great camp with lots of privacy, space, and views. Pet friendly. Nice restrooms. Streams and trails.

Nice, clean campground, along the Mt. Lemmon Highway. Better for tent camping as there are beautiful, individual walk-in sites that are fairly private.

Tons of rec opportunities right from camp: hiking, mountain biking, etc.

This campground is very well maintained with nice restrooms. There are a few sites, including the one we were at, that are back a little ways from the road and you have to walk in to get to them. We went in February and it was warm and beautiful here. The campground was not crowded at all. There are hiking trails out here, you can check out the Gordon Hirabayashi campground and the old work camp remains which are pretty interesting. Also, if you want to drive up to the top of Mount Lemmon, it's a beautiful and scenic drive. On your way back into town, you can stop at the Agua Caliente park where you'll find tons of palm trees surrounding a peaceful pond.