Crush It in Arizona Wine Country with Camping for Foodies

Crushing grapes is not reserved for Napa anymore! Arizona is making a name for itself as a wine producing locale. Do you think I chose Arizona wine country for a reason when I decided to accept the challenge of creating an entire traditional Thanksgiving dinner at the campsite? Possibly! With a bold bottle of AZ vino as a starter, my family teamed up to make one of the best turkey + trimmings dinner of all time…at camp spot #17 in the Patagonia Lake State Park campground! 

But first, we had to explore the southern Arizona countryside. This week we’ll go fishing, birding, boating, site seeing, wine tasting and finish with a little cooking. Let’s explore the Patagonia and Sonoita Arizona areas together starting with our home base of Patagonia Lake State Park.

Surrounded by rolling hills and a 265-acre man-made lake, the Patagonia Lake State Park is a great home-away-from-home for exploring southern Arizona.

It’s an easy drive approximately 80 miles south of Tucson. The elevation is 3,750 feet. To accommodate my infamous 2-degree temperature spread comfort zone, I like this area in spring and fall. This is easy highway driving with beyond-beautiful scenic roads, Arizona Highways 83 and 82.

Expect to see sweeping grasslands and rolling hills dotted with windmills and ranches.

If you are lucky enough to hit it at the right time of year, you’ll see some of the most spectacular wildflowers blanketing the landscape as far as the eye can see.

Here’s how you get there:

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