Having been to LD SP several times, and knowing I went NE out of Apache Jct, was wondering where this thread would go eventually...glad we figured out where it is.

I don't know much about the parks themselves (there are two).  We had a cabin boat (floating RV) in both marinas there for many years.  I would guess that I spent around 80-100 days/year there.  The area is very nice all around, the lake is big, and reasonably clean most of the year.  (During spring, river wash will float on the surface for a short time.) 

The Western campground is waterfront when the lake is full, and close to the water when it is low (fills in summer, empty in winter).  It's near Scorpion Bay marina, by far the nicer of the two.  The other campground is part of the Pleasant Harbor Marina complex, and on high ground.  There is no easily walkable water access from it or beach.  Both have parking and access fees, gate cards, etc.  I don't recall the daily costs, we had yearly cards.  This marina also tends to get the local trailer trash, so expect bar fights on the weekend.  I don't think this spills over into the campground however, just at the restaurant/bar.  Scorpion bay marina has a better restaurant/bar area, however, it's farther from the campground than PHM.  Neither is really walkable, you'd want a bike or Segway to get around.

The lake is very swimmable in summer/fall, with surface water above 80 degrees much of the time.  It's COLD during winter and early spring.  Kayaking, boating, hiking, shooting, mountain biking, dirt bikes/UTVs are all things you can do year-round right there.  There are city conveniences around 20 minutes away.  It is HOT HOT HOT in summer, so you will need good AC and shade.  Winter is very mild, with the exception of the storms that roll through.   You need to be ready for a few storms hitting 60MPH gusts every year, and the occasional 80+ storm.  I've seen huge damage to boats in the marina when they were not properly secured (meaning, way better secured than on most lakes).  We never took a hit, but I doubled on the lines and their ratings.

Here is the Maricopa County Park website with lots of good information.  Pleasant Harbor RV is not part of Maricopa County Park campgrounds.

Maricopa County has great campgrounds throughout the greater Phoenix area. We've been to every one of them.

https://www.maricopacountyparks.net/park-locator/lake-pleasant-regional-park/

https://pleasantharbor.com/

Just to make it more confusing, Pleasant Harbor Marina is part of Maricopa Water District which is part of, but separate from, "the county."  There's also a "colorful" history on ownership of the marina.  I don't know if the campground by the marina is actually part of the same company or not.  If I had to choose one to stay at, and I soon will, it would be the one on the West side of the lake by Scorpion Bay.  Which is just South of Scorpion Bay Marina, and THAT is not actually in Scorpion Bay...

Oh, and you can see actual on-lake live weather on this web site I put together to pull in the MCWD weather stations...   http://lakepleasantweather.com/

Edited December 27, 2018 by Carlos