Winter in northwest Tucson is spent parked, with the rig leveled on a paved resort row in Marana and saguaros climbing the Tortolita Mountains to the north and the Tucson Mountains to the south. Mornings go to the pool and the clubhouse, and by late afternoon the low sun has turned the desert gold and the neighbors are out in their chairs. The first months of the year are the season, when snowbirds who come back every January fill the rows and the desert is at its mildest.
From there the days head into the Tucson Mountains. In Saguaro National Park West the graded dirt Bajada Loop winds through the cactus forest with saguaros standing taller than the car on both sides, and the park's trails and overlooks are laid out on Outwander's Tucson page. Every evening ends back on a pad with power, water and sewer, which is how a week out here stays easy with a full rig.
Valley of the Sun and South Forty RV Ranch
Valley of the Sun is the resort that comes up first when people look for RV parks in Marana, and its pads suit a motorhome that means to stay put. Its amenities page lists many 70-foot pull-throughs with 30 and 50 amp service and city water and sewer, so the rig pulls straight in and stays hooked up all week. South Forty RV Ranch is the other name on the Marana list, just off I-10 at Orange Grove Road.
Both resorts are age-restricted, and a family needs to know that before booking anything. Valley of the Sun is a 55-plus community and South Forty bills itself as an active-adult resort, so a group of retired friends fits right in and a family with kids should head to Gilbert Ray instead.
Summer in Marana is brutally hot, and a rig that stays through it needs the hookups and the air running all day. Mesa and Yuma fill with the same winter crowd, and the Arizona RV page lays out the rest of the state's resort belt.
Gilbert Ray Campground in Tucson Mountain Park
After dark at Gilbert Ray the ridgeline of the Tucson Mountains goes black against a sky crowded with stars, and the saguaros around each site turn to silhouettes. Old Tucson and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum are neighbors in Tucson Mountain Park, which makes this the week that works for kids.
Pima County runs Gilbert Ray as reservation-only, with 20, 30 and 50 amp electric at the RV sites and a 40-foot limit on total rig length. That cap decides the rental, so lock the site first and then book a motorhome that fits under it with anything it tows. A couple who would rather skip the measuring can size down with a smaller rig for Arizona.
The campground is open early September through late April and closes for the summer heat, and January through March is when the sites go fastest. The county page also posts any work on the C and H loops, so check it before choosing a site.
Across the valley in Oro Valley, Catalina State Park's foothill sites sit under the Santa Catalina Mountains with electric and water and no posted RV length limit, and the park itself is covered on the Tucson page.