But there is something the rest of us can do now, and that is to visit the parks that remain open, not only for our enjoyment but also to provide the needed revenue that will not only keep those parks open but could also be used to reopen some that have closed.
Over the next nine days I will profile one of the remaining open parks. And please find time as well as make the necessary route changes to your itinery that will enable you to visit one of these fine parks, for yourself and for the future of Arizona State Parks.
Buckskin Mountain State ParkThis picturesque park provides a scenic respite, mountain hikes, a desert escape, and fun-filled water adventure. The park has a campground with full hook-up, partial hook-up, and primitive campsites, cabana sites, a beach, hiking trails, restrooms, showers, boat ramp, picnic area, basketball and volleyball court, playground, restaurant, camp store, arcade, gas dock, and ranger station.
In the summer, Buckskin is popular for boating, jet skiing, swimming, and camping and is visited by snowbirds from across America and Canada. In the winter, visitors appreciate the mild climate and enjoy camping, fishing and hiking in the park. Buckskin is a year-round destination for those looking to discover a variety of recreational and cultural resources.
The Colorado River Indian Reservation is just east of Parker and archaeological sites are scattered up and down the river. Parker Dam, the world's deepest dam, is located approximately five miles to the north on Highway 95. About 25 miles north is Lake Havasu City, home of the famous London Bridge. This 1,677-acre park has been operated by Arizona State Parks since 1967.
Note the following fee changes:Starting Feb. 1, 2010, Buckskin Mountain State Park's camping sites with water, electric, & sewer will be $28. Camping sites with electric and water will be $26. Cabanas will be $25.
The nine Arizona Stat Parks that will remain open include Buckskin Mountain State Park in Parker, Catalina State Park near Tucson, Cattail Cove State Park in Lake Havasu City, Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood, Fool Hollow Lake Recreation Area in Show Low, Kartchner Caverns State Park in Benson, Lake Havasu State Park, Patagonia Lake State Park and Slide Rock State Park in Sedona.
2 comments:
This is a nice looking park we have wanted to visit for some time now. However, it is priced out of our reach. As full-timers who are on a fixed, retired income, we cannot afford parks that cost $25+ a night. State Parks used to be the cheaper alternative to commercial campgrounds. We stayed at them all of the time and preferred them. They are prettier, and used to be cheaper than commercial RV parks. Now, they are often times more expensive than the commercial parks. Now we use our discount memberships at commercial RV parks and usually pay half of what AZ and CA state parks charge. The scenery isn't as great, but our pockets are only so deep and this at least keeps us on the road. Personally, we will be boycotting AZ state parks, not encouraging the politicians to keep raising prices on the 9 parks they're 'graciously' keeping open. If you think frequenting these parks will open up the closed ones, you're dreaming. It will only keep those 9 open, and encourage the politicians to raise rates even higher. We wanted to become full-time RVers to see America the Beautiful and the great outdoors. That's best done at State and Nat'l Parks and Forests. Now they're all being priced out of reach or closed to the very Americans that they're supposed to be there for. It's a sad, sad situation that will eventually hurt us all.
We are retired, fulltime RVers who spend our winters in Arizona. Much of that time over the last ten years has been spend in Arizona State Parks. In our RV travels we spend a lot of time in U.S. Forest Campgounds, Army Corp of Engineer campgrounds, other state campgrounds and large private campgrounds. We noted from the very beginning that the ASP had huge amounts of overhead cost as compared to other similiar campgrounds and parks. We have seen parks with 5 on-site Park Rangers who are provided on-site housing including fully paid utilities, large vehicle pools with backhoes, garbage trucks, office and shop buildings that other similiar parks and campgrounds don't have. Most of the equipment sits idle awaiting any infrequent uses. There are so many parks and campgrounds that operate with much lower on-site staff and equipment. It is obviously a culture of providing jobs and job security for a select group or.....government jobs. It does not demonstrate normal management concepts of objectives, performance and measurement criteria. There is absolutely no excuse for the mismanagement and closing of these parks.
Post a Comment