With its dark night skies and numerous forested mountains, sandstone canyons, and deep blue lakes, it can be easy to see why Arizona ranks as the third best state for camping by Mental Floss. But many of the state’s top campgrounds can get pretty crowded, so it can be tough to find a campsite that’s both accessible from major cities but also under-the-radar enough that you can snag a site without having to make a reservation a year ahead of time.
Unlike some of the more famous campsites in Lake Havasu or Flagstaff, the Burro Creek Campground is one of Arizona’s lesser-known tent and RV sites. Located off U.S. 93 about a one-hour drive away from Wickenburg, an underrated Wild West Arizona town with specialty shops and desert beauty, this secluded campground is approximately two hours and 45 minutes away from Las Vegas, Nevada, and a little over two hours from Phoenix, Arizona. It’s also just a 19-minute drive outside of the unincorporated town of Wikieup, Arizona.
Named after the creek that runs adjacent to the campsites, the Burro Creek Campground sits in a green oasis that in the springtime is blanketed with pretty yellow wildflowers. It may be worth checking out the next time you’re road-tripping around the Southwest, as its location almost directly at the midway point between Vegas and Phoenix makes it a convenient place for a pit stop or to rest for the night. If your travel plans take you further north past Kingman, you’ll also want to be sure to visit Chloride, Arizona, a quirky “living ghost town” with murals and abandoned mines.
Camp near a garden of saguaro cacti
At this rustic, picturesque campground, you can set up your tent among the Palo Verde trees and creosote bushes and sip your morning coffee on a bench surrounded by saguaro and other native desert plant species in the campground’s interpretive desert garden. Just steps from your tent or RV, you have easy access to the creek and views of the rich vegetation of the Sonoran Desert and lower Mojave Desert, which includes willow and cottonwood trees and a hillside punctuated by groves of towering saguaro cacti…