OutReserve

Houston Mesa

Houston Mesa wooded view of trees and vegetation
Houston Mesa entrance
Houston Mesa Amphitheater
Houston Mesa trailhead
HOUSTON MESA

About Houston Mesa

Houston Mesa Campground is located in the forested northern section of Tonto National Forest, just one mile north of Payson, Arizona and less than two hours from Phoenix. With family, equestrian and tent-only campsites, this campground can accommodate a range of visitors and offers plenty of ways to enjoy the outdoors, including several miles of hiking and horseback riding trails nearby. As the fifth largest forest in the United States, the Tonto National Forest is one of the most-visited "urban" forests in the United States (approximately 5.8 million visitors annually). Its boundaries are Phoenix to the south, the Mogollon Rim to the north and the San Carlos and Fort Apache Indian reservations to the east.

Number of accommodations: 60

Seasonal information

2026 (Current year)

2026 Season availability

Current season
Upcoming seasons
Past seasons
Closed periods
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

Open year round

This campground is open year round, providing flexibility for your stay.

365 Days

Sites & Availability

60 Sites Available

Site
Price
🚐 002, Loop: ELK
Electric Only
$29.00
/ per night
🚐 003, Loop: ELK
Electric Only
$29.00
/ per night
🚐 005, Loop: ELK
Electric Only
$29.00
/ per night
🚐 006, Loop: ELK
Electric Only
$29.00
/ per night
🚐 007, Loop: ELK
Electric Only
$29.00
/ per night
007, Loop: MULE
10 guests · Campfire · Pet Friendly
$22.00
/ per night
008, Loop: MULE
10 guests · Campfire · Pet Friendly
$22.00
/ per night
🚐 009, Loop: ELK
Electric Only
$29.00
/ per night
009, Loop: MULE
10 guests · Campfire · Pet Friendly
$22.00
/ per night
010, Loop: MULE
10 guests · Campfire · Pet Friendly
$22.00
/ per night
011, Loop: MULE
10 guests · Campfire · Pet Friendly
$22.00
/ per night
🚐 013, Loop: ELK
Electric Only
$29.00
/ per night
013, Loop: MULE
10 guests · Campfire · Pet Friendly
$22.00
/ per night
🚐 014, Loop: ELK
Electric Only
$29.00
/ per night
014, Loop: MULE
10 guests · Campfire · Pet Friendly
$22.00
/ per night
015, Loop: MULE
10 guests · Campfire · Pet Friendly
$22.00
/ per night
016, Loop: MULE
10 guests · Campfire · Pet Friendly
$22.00
/ per night
🚐 018, Loop: ELK
Electric Only
$29.00
/ per night
018, Loop: MULE
10 guests · Campfire · Pet Friendly
$22.00
/ per night
🚐 020, Loop: ELK
Electric Only
$29.00
/ per night
🚐 021, Loop: ELK
Electric Only
$29.00
/ per night
🚐 023, Loop: ELK
Electric Only
$29.00
/ per night
🚐 024, Loop: ELK
Electric Only
$29.00
/ per night
🚐 027, Loop: ELK
Electric Only
$29.00
/ per night
028, Loop: MULE
10 guests · Campfire · Pet Friendly
$22.00
/ per night
029, Loop: MULE
10 guests · Campfire · Pet Friendly
$22.00
/ per night
030, Loop: MULE
10 guests · Campfire · Pet Friendly
$22.00
/ per night
040, Loop: BEAR
10 guests · Campfire · Pet Friendly
$29.00
/ per night
041, Loop: BEAR
10 guests · Campfire · Pet Friendly
$29.00
/ per night
042, Loop: BEAR
10 guests · Campfire · Pet Friendly
$29.00
/ per night
043, Loop: BEAR
10 guests · Campfire · Pet Friendly
$29.00
/ per night
044, Loop: BEAR
10 guests · Campfire · Pet Friendly
$29.00
/ per night
045, Loop: BEAR
10 guests · Campfire · Pet Friendly
$29.00
/ per night
046, Loop: BEAR
10 guests · Campfire · Pet Friendly
$29.00
/ per night
047, Loop: BEAR
10 guests · Campfire · Pet Friendly
$29.00
/ per night
048, Loop: BEAR
10 guests · Campfire · Pet Friendly
$29.00
/ per night
049, Loop: BEAR
10 guests · Campfire · Pet Friendly
$29.00
/ per night
050, Loop: BEAR
10 guests · Campfire · Pet Friendly
$29.00
/ per night
051, Loop: BEAR
10 guests · Campfire · Pet Friendly
$29.00
/ per night
052, Loop: BEAR
8 guests · Campfire · Pet Friendly
$29.00
/ per night
053, Loop: BEAR
10 guests · Campfire · Pet Friendly
$29.00
/ per night
056, Loop: BEAR
10 guests · Campfire · Pet Friendly
$29.00
/ per night
057, Loop: BEAR
10 guests · Campfire · Pet Friendly
$29.00
/ per night
🚐 058, Loop: MOUN
Electric Only
$29.00
/ per night
🚐 059, Loop: MOUN
Electric Only
$29.00
/ per night
🚐 060, Loop: MOUN
Electric Only
$29.00
/ per night
🚐 061, Loop: MOUN
Electric Only
$29.00
/ per night
🚐 063, Loop: MOUN
Electric Only
$29.00
/ per night
064, Loop: MOUN
10 guests · Campfire · Pet Friendly
$29.00
/ per night
🚐 065, Loop: MOUN
Electric Only
$29.00
/ per night
🚐 066, Loop: MOUN
Electric Only
$29.00
/ per night
🚐 067, Loop: MOUN
Electric Only
$29.00
/ per night
🚐 068, Loop: MOUN
Electric Only
$29.00
/ per night
🚐 069, Loop: MOUN
Electric Only
$29.00
/ per night
🚐 070, Loop: MOUN
Electric Only
$29.00
/ per night
🚐 071, Loop: MOUN
Electric Only
$29.00
/ per night
🚐 072, Loop: MOUN
Electric Only
$29.00
/ per night
🚐 077, Loop: MOUN
Electric Only
$29.00
/ per night
🚐 078, Loop: MOUN
Electric Only
$29.00
/ per night
🚐 Group Site 2, Loop: Fox
No Hookups
$170.00
/ per night

Reviews (374)

What Guests Are Saying

Houston Mesa campground offers spacious and clean sites, with friendly and helpful hosts. The location is convenient, providing easy access to nearby amenities and a beautiful natural setting. However, some visitors noted issues with road noise, limited bathroom facilities, and the absence of showers, which impacted their overall experience.

Review Summary

4.3
374 reviews
5
61.2%
229
4
19.8%
74
3
10.4%
39
2
4.8%
18
1
3.7%
14

Jacqulyn W

Verified

May 26, 2023 Stayed at: 044, Loop: BEAR

3

We actually didn’t end up staying at this campsite bc there is little shade and there were a lot of ants. But the camp host was amazing! She let us stay at site 17 and it was a much better spot! What really creeped us out tho in the middle of the night were JAVELINA!!!! There was one all around our tent, my grandma was sleeping on the edge of the tent and it brushed past her and creeped her out. They kept coming back into our camp. Other then that it was great!

Jennifer Z

Verified

May 15, 2023 Stayed at: 007, Loop: ELK

5

This is a wonderful campground!

William B

Verified

May 15, 2023 Stayed at: 063, Loop: MOUN

5

Excellent campground. It was clean, well maintained and beautiful.

perry m

Verified

May 14, 2023 Stayed at: 067, Loop: MOUN

5

Great time every time at Houston Mesa. Always a clean quiet campground with the best hosts.

Gerwin C

Verified

February 24, 2023 Stayed at: 048, Loop: BEAR

5

Nice and quite place to relaxed

Armando R

Verified

November 27, 2022 Stayed at: 007, Loop: ELK

2

The restrooms and showers were closed. This was one of the reasons I camp here. I've been here several times. I was disappointed.

Suzanne R

Verified

November 15, 2022 Stayed at: 020, Loop: ELK

2

This is a very physically nice campground with spacious sites and beautiful vegetation. It is conveniently located to nice hiking trails. However, I would not stay there again if given a choice. The traffic noise from nearby highways is extreme. We stayed there in early November and it was not disclosed when I made the reservation that the shower facilities would be shut down at that time. Considering that it is dry camping at that season I do not think it is a good value versus other national forest campsites in the area.

Dominique A

Verified

November 12, 2022 Stayed at: 045, Loop: BEAR

4

Was a beautiful site. Very close to town which was great because we ran out of some stuff. Only thing I didn’t like was the bathrooms had no soap or dryer/towels . But other than that it was beautiful, easy to find, well kept, and quiet

Cindy F

Verified

November 11, 2022 Stayed at: 065, Loop: MOUN

3

I was there 2x last week one time in mountain lion with a reservation the next time was an unexpected visit I thought is was so nice I would go back I needed to get my rig out of snow came down from Strawberry the WiFi wasn’t working couldn’t make reservation the sign at entrance said reservation only I thought I could speak to host since I couldn’t make online reservation but she was off duty it continued to snow I was by myself I was already scared then I heard a big pounding on my rig by a male worker I could tell he was mad Like I deliberately did something wrong He told me I had to go to another loop There was no post for camping without reservation I am writing this because I think he was out of line to have acted this way I had tried calling reserve America and tried calling a number on your website I could get that but no other WiFi thanks for letting me cent

Melissa N

October 30, 2022

5

Such a beautiful campground, camp hosts were amazing

Location Houston Mesa

Address:
2100 Houston Mesa Rd
Payson, AZ, 85541
United States

Latitude & Longitude: 34.27 / -111.314

Elevation: 1546 feet

Policies & Rules

Category About
General

Extra vehicle charge of $8 per night is required. Fee can be bundled with online reservation or purchased on-site at fee machine.

General

No firewood sales available at campground. Plan to purchase ahead of time.

General

Check in time is 2:00pm and check out time is 11:00am. Quiet Hours are from 10:00pm to 6:00am.

General

Fireworks are always prohibited on National Forest Land.

General

For first come first serve sites, you must physically arrive at the campground to see if the campsite is available. There is no guarantee this site will be available to purchase upon your arrival.

General

Campers who reserve sites 7 - 18 in Horse Camp (Mule Loop) are required to have horses or mules present. You do not need to have any to use sites 2 - 6 and 19 - 30 

Nearby Campgrounds

Nearby destinations