Mesa Spirit RV Resort, Mesa, AZ (Encore/TC) Review

by Marc Bennett
Updated: April 10, 2022
2 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links.

Mesa Spirit RV Resort is in Mesa Arizona near Phoenix. Winter in the Phoenix area is fantastic. The weather is warm and dry, which makes it easy to understand why this city attracts so many people here from the northern states and Canada. We spent multiple months of our 2018 winter and early spring in the Phoenix area and most of that time was at Mesa Spirit.

We had big projects we were working on. So we stayed in the same location as much as possible to keep things simple. Our Thousand Trails membership with Trails Collection upgrade typically allows us to stay here with no nightly fee for two weeks at a time. But on this occasion, we were able to work out a special arrangement with Thousand Trails that allowed us to stay longer than normal. For our complete review of Mesa Spirit RV Resort, read on.

Location of Mesa Spirt RV Resort

Mesa Spirit RV Resort is in Mesa, Arizona – near Phoenix Arizona. This is an extremely popular winter destination for RVers thanks to the warm dry climate. Phoenix is a large city of over 4 million people. So there is virtually every possible service in the general area.

The roads in the area are all excellent and flat, so they are very RV friendly. The campground is only a few miles from Highway 60. Being in a city, there is a bit of road noise and an occasional emergency vehicle siren, especially if you have a site on the perimeter of the resort. But nothing you would not expect, and there are no train lines nearby. Grocery stores and other services within walking distance.

There are also about 8 RV dealerships within a mile of the campground. If you are doing some RV shopping, this is a pretty amazing location. Though there is a small community airport a couple miles from here, we didn’t find air traffic noise to be a problem during our multiple stays. There are dozens of similar resorts and communities in this area as this area is a snowbird haven. Because of this, the population swells greatly in the winter with all the visiting snowbirds, and drops again in April for the summer.

Area Attractions

The Superstition Mountains are nearby, offering great hiking and driving. Being near a major city you have access to any large city attraction. If you are interested in RV shopping, there are about 8 dealerships within a mile and many more within a 10 minute drive in any direction.

Although it is a city area, there are good bike lanes around for cyclists comfortable with road riding. There are also some dirt/gravel paths along side canals in the area if you prefer that surface to riding near cars.

There is also an air museum nearby that even offers rides in historic military planes. Spring time in the Phoenix area is where many professional baseball teams come for spring training, which attracts a large number of baseball fans to the area in March.

Amenities and Activities at Mesa Spirit RV Resort

One of the best things about large resorts like Mesa Spirit RV Resort are the amenities. This resort had three pools, 5 large hot-tubs, super nice shuffleboard, bocce ball, and mini golf areas. Mesa Spirit RV Resort also has tennis and pickle ball courts, a woodworking shop, lapidary shop, and a fitness center. There are three laundries and about 10 off-leash areas for your pets. Large meeting rooms, billiard rooms, a library, and a very active event calendar with dances, dinners, concerts, and other activities.

They also have a restaurant on site and while we didn’t eat there, we heard from multiple people that the food is very good at reasonable prices. Trash pick up from your site is available on some days and there are good recycling opportunities. There is nearly always something to do in these large snowbird resorts. When checking in, you feel like you are checking into a resort hotel, not a campground. The resort even has welcome committees to ensure you are informed of all the activities and parking escorts, to help guide you into your site.

Learn how we camp for (almost) free with our Thousand Trails membership

Mail / Packages

Being mostly semi-permanent or seasonal guests, Mesa Spirit RV Resort does allow mail and packages to be delivered directly to your site. We saw UPS, FedEX and USPS trucks driving around the resort every day, and we received many mail, FedEx and UPS deliveries during our stay.

WIFI / Cable

Mesa Spirit RV Resort offers over 30 channels of TV, and multiple options for internet access, including a computer room, and resort WIFI. We use our own data with Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile and therefore did not try the other internet solutions offered. All three carriers had strong signal with 3-5 bars of LTE.

RV Sites at Mesa Spirit RV Resort

This is a very large RV Resort geared toward 55+-year-old snowbirds, and is considered “Age Qualified”. So it is predominantly permanent structures and park models, rather than RVs. The internal roads are all paved, reasonably wide and in excellent condition. I read that if you were to walk or bike the internal roads of the campground, you could travel 5 miles without being on the same road twice.

Streets are alphabetical and literally go all the way from A-Z. So yes, it is a very large resort with approximately 1,600 sites. I would estimate that three-quarters of the sites are permanent ‘mobile’ homes with the remaining sites available for RVs. Some sections are primarily RV sites. But there are a few RV sites scattered among mostly permanent structures.

RV sites are gravel with large concrete patio areas. Our patio was so big that we comfortably parked three guests cars on our patio and still had room for 10 camp chairs around a table. All RV sites are 50amp full hook-up. Our sites were about 50 feet deep, but not all sites are this deep. Most RV sites we saw would comfortably accommodate RVs over 40’ in length. Some of the pull through sites can handle extra large setups like 45’ coaches towing 20’ stacker trailers, or heavy-duty semi-trucks towing 45’ fifth wheels.

PROS

Fantastic amenities
Convenient access to just about any shopping or errands
Friendly staff
Quiet neighborhood feel and very welcoming people all around

CONS

Access to nature is more of a drive
Being in a city there is more road noise and other city noises
Mostly permanent non-RV homes, not a scenic ‘get away’ type location

Rates at Mesa Spirit RV Resort

Monthly rates for Mesa Spirit in peak season were about $900/month but we saw some discounted rates at around $750. Thousand Trails members with Trails Collection upgrade like us do not pay a nightly fee to stay here for up to two weeks at a time. Many of the residents here have annual sites which are billed differently.

Learn how we camp for (almost) free with our Thousand Trails membership

Summary

Mesa Spirit RV Resort is a large park with mostly park models, geared toward 55+ year old snowbirds. While it’s not typical of the usual RV parks and campgrounds we stay in throughout the year, we felt very comfortable here and thoroughly enjoyed both times we visited. We like the many amenities, especially the hot tub at night, and appreciate being close to all of the amenities we needed. Staff and residents are all extremely friendly and helpful, and we would definitely return.

About our stay

We visited here for about a week in January, and returned for a longer stay in February and March, so spent a total of about 8 weeks over the three month period. The daytime temperatures were in the 80s, and nighttime temps in the upper 50s, with nearly full sun every day. We have also returned for other visits.

The internet connectivity and quiet peaceful environment were perfect for us to get some work done on big projects. We would definitely stay here again, especially since we can do so with no nightly fee for up to two weeks thanks to our Thousand Trails membership and Trails Collection upgrade. You can learn more about Thousand Trails and how our membership saves us thousands every year HERE.

Contact Information

To find out more or to make a reservation, contact:

Mesa Spirit RV Resort

Address: 3020 E Main St, Mesa, AZ 85213

Phone: 480-832-1770

Website: Mesa Spirt RV Resort

Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any RV park, campground, or RV resort, and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.