April – May 2023
Other than Florida, the longest we have stayed at any park on our US adventure was the five weeks we parked at Distant Drums in Camp Verde, AZ.
Camp Verde is just south of Sedona on highway 17 and is a great location if you want to stay out of the Sedona crowds but still be close enough to enjoy the beauty of the area.
When we pulled up we were both super concerned about even fitting into the back in we were assigned. The sites are very tight. Because the park sits on a hill, our site, like many others had a retaining wall along one side and a very steep hill at the back. It took a couple of tries to get to the exact spot where we could open our slides and still, if we were careful about where we parked the truck, have room to sit outside comfortably.
The park is well maintained, clean and convenient to everything. The very best part about the park is the people who work there! On day one we met a couple who work at the park and run the Sunday church service and weekday bible study. I gained a couple of hiking buddies at bible study and we had a great time climbing and taking beautiful pictures!
If you own a class A you can ask for a site that is along the edge and you will have incredible sunsets. Those of us who tow our homes are stuck in the middle sadly.
We did make some friends who had a sunset view and with the promise of bringing over some good bourbon to share, we did have a couple of very cool sunset evenings with a great couple!!
The dog park is nice and large, but Reba was disappointed in the lack of grass in the fencing or anywhere in the resort. The three weeks in the Tucson area had not yet turned her into a desert dog! The dog park was a great place to meet the other dog lovers. Right about 6pm there were usually many other pups to run and play with and yes, eventually Reba learned to do her business in the dirt!
On the days we didn’t make the short drive to one of the Sedona hiking trails, Reba and I could do a 2-3 mile hike right outside the park. In one direction there was a well worn path and in the other some more challenging trails that led to and through a dry river bed.
Across the highway is a casino that was a fun distraction a couple of nights and one of the weekends they had a festival like event where we were able to hear stories and see some of the native dances from the tribes who own both the casino and the RV park.
We also did day trips to Flagstaff via the gorgeous 89A and the Petrified Forest National park from this stop and it was a safe place to leave the RV while we went to the United Kingdom for Katie’s wedding!