Back to Gold Canyon

2 03 2020

Gambel’s Quail

Having found no other suitable options around the Apache Junction area, we’re once again parked at Canyon Vistas RV Resort in Gold Canyon, AZ.   We’re very near the infamous “dumpster site”, but this time around the corner in site #15.  Instead of the view blocking wall of our last stay, this site looks across the desert toward beautiful sunsets and the lights of Apache Junction and Mesa.  And, there’s even a tree!  However, as is far too common, tons of activities and amenities, and virtually no internet access at all. There are access point towers, but no connectivity that we can find.  Weekly rates for 2021 will be $425 for this site. And, even with a long stay, only the weekly rate is available.  We’re hopeful we can find a new park next year.

Canyon Vista’s at Gold Canyon

With that in mind,  we spent a couple of hours touring other parks in the Apache Junction area.  We looked at Superstition Lookout, Weavers Needle, La Siesta RV Park, Sundance Resort, Santa Fe RV, Ship Rock RV, Sunrise RV Resort (a Roberts Resort) and Golden Sun.  Overall we liked Sunrise RV and Ship Rock the best.  We ran out of time to look at Roadhaven Resort, but this is a park with sold sites, so each site is rented by individual owners.  Some of these sites look nice – of course depending on availability.

During our stay on the east side, we attended two more spring training ball games. On Saturday the 29th we saw the Giants and the Angels at Scottsdale Stadium after starting our day at the wonderful Breakfast Club in Scottsdale.  After the game we hopped around through a few of the famous (or maybe infamous) watering holes in Old Scottsdale including the Rusty Spur Saloon and the Old Town Tavern.  Dinner was at Los Dos Molinos,  a terrific New Mexican restaurant in Mesa.  Perhaps some of the finest New Mexican food, even including many restaurants we’ve enjoyed in New Mexico!

Scottsdale Stadium

Then on Sunday the 1st we were at Salt River Fields, home of the Colorado Rockies playing the LA Angels.  We started our day at Toca Medera, a unique Mexican eatery that just began serving brunch.  The food, service and ambiance were all a hit!  As was Salt River Fields – again this year we had an excellent time.  For now, the home of the Rockies and Diamondbacks is our favorite stadium of the Cactus League.

Salt River Fields

After spending great times with friends in the Scottsdale, Mesa, Chandler & Apache Junction areas, we’re packing up and headed south.  It’s time for some quiet, dark nights down near the Mexican border.  We’re headed to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument – more from there…


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Superstition Views at Canyon Vistas, Gold Canyon, AZ

5 03 2018

Superstition Views at Canyon Vistas

Located adjacent to Canyon Vistas RV Resort is Superstition Views, a 55+ luxury casita community that steps up the traditional park model into beautiful stucco homes with carports, RV ports and rooftop entertainment spaces.  Most of these casitas are small, around 700 square feet and typically feature a great room and a bedroom.  The RV port is optional, but with full hookups your RV can act as your master bedroom or a second bedroom when guests arrive.  These are prebuilt park models with added custom garage, carport, rooftop patio, RV carport and/or a combination of all built to your specifications. Then they stucco over the park model & the custom build so that they appear to be a single permanent structure on the lot. The lots are larger than the typical park model lots, allowing space for an RV in addition to the park model. The larger lots combined with the stucco finish give the neighborhood a much more upscale look than your typical park model community. It’s unclear if you own or lease the site, but “lifestyle fees” run around $500 per month which include many resort amenities, but no utilities.

Superstition Views at Canyon Vistas

Superstition Views at Canyon Vistas


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Canyon Vistas RV Resort, Gold Canyon, AZ

2 03 2018

Good morning from Gold Canyon!

We’re about 7 miles due south of Lost Dutchman State Park and only about 5 miles from the KOA that we left yesterday morning. We’re parked in Site #12, a site that is less desirable than we imagined due to a large roll-off dumpster that is occupying site #13.  Having booked this site with one of the resort operators, it’s unknown if they understood that we’d be sharing space with a roll-off or not. At any rate, the nearly constant trash drop-off and the 6AM dumpster swap twice during our 7 night stay left us thinking we’d like to quickly move out of the “dump”.  The site is very trashy and we’ve picked up a handful of nails and other construction materials.

The expected site – Canyon Vistas at Gold Canyon, AZ

The actual site – Canyon Vistas at Gold Canyon, AZ

There are 37 sites here in the “short term” area – those guests that will be spending less than a month in the resort.  Along with the dumpster, these are also the noisiest sites due to the proximity of Highway 60.  And, just at the Apache Junction KOA, the WiFi here is nearly nonexistent.    Apparently the nearest access point is at the bathhouse, about 600 feet away.  Even with the extender, the connection is a solid 24KB download!  Pitiful for a resort that charges over $500 a month for resort/lifestyle fees.  Fortunately our T-Mobile coverage is a full 4G LTE signal here.

As with many RV resorts in the sun belt, Canyon Vistas is in the process of migrating to park models. We estimate about 50% of the sites have been converted to park models.  Within the “longer-term” park, the facilities are spotless and provide unlimited activities for the very active-focused community.  Options include pickleball, shuffleboard, softball, water aerobics, Zumba, woodcarving, scrap booking, stained glass, a computer lab (maybe someone could work on the WiFi network?) and dance lessons.  Laundry facilities are first-class and work on the convenient card system at a bargain rate of $1.25/load.

Canyon Vistas at Gold Canyon, AZ, site #15. Possibly quieter and no dumpster!

On Friday, along with friends from home, we’re off to spring training baseball and a game between the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamond Backs at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick.  The weather turns out to be one of the best days we’ve had so far, and the cold beers, hot dogs and peanuts hit the spot.

Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamond Backs at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick


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