Quartzsite Boondocker? An LTVA Warning

Boondockers by the thousands flock to Quartzsite, Arizona each year and camp out on public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management. But the BLM has done something you may find a bit dirty. Check out "Death, Taxes, and LTVAs" on our Quartzsite News Blog.

Pahranagat Refuge--A Nevada Jewel

Traveling north out of Las Vegas on the 2-lane blacktop of US-93, things get pretty lonesome. The voices on our tape dramas begin to loll one into a (dangerous) trance-like state. Oh, it's time to be off the road and resting up. But where?

Just south of the berg of Alamo is a big (by Nevada standards) lake, Pahranagat. The lake is the centerpiece of a National Wildlife Refuge, and serves as a stopping point for migratory birds. It's also a great stopping point for migratory RVers, and happily, the stopover is free. Bring your fishing pole, but leave your generator off, your hosts thinking that gennies make too much noise for man and beast.

Still, the views of the lake are soothing, and on our early August stop, we didn't mind not using the generator as a spanking breeze came up and gave us natural cooling action. Here's a video of the lake taken from our boondocking site:

Use Your GPS to Find Boondocking Spots

More and more RVers are embracing GPS (global positioning satellite) technology, and it's getting easier for us to find our way around. While "map and compass" ability is something all of us should be able to fall back on, this high-tech navigation system has opened boondocking vistas in a way never before possible.

Witness Andrew Koransky's boondocking.org website. Andrew has built a clever, on-line database of great places to boondock. For example, want to know where you can boondock tonight? Enter your present GPS coordinates and a "look inside this distance" figure, click a button, and the database will spit back listings of locations where you can hunker down.

Descriptions of what you'll find are included, like this one "Water Canyon, in between Magdalena, NM and Socorro, NM on US 60. Very Large Array (VLA) Radio Telescope is an hour away or so. There is a free campground with easier access for small RVs and short trailers on the way to this 4wd site. Although named water canyon, there was no water to be found."

In addition to descriptions, there are handy, immediate links to "MapQuest" which can show you detailed maps of the location, or satellite views to give you an idea of what the location looks like, the topography, and views you might enjoy.

Got some of your own favorites? Andrew's database allows you to enter coordinates and descriptions. It's a great database, and we can all pitch in and make it even better. Visit the site at http://www.boondocking.org/

Can You Boondock in an Arizona Summer?

Most of the "desert rats" have already deserted the BLM camping areas around Quartzsite. The "Long Term Visitor Areas" close out the winter season officially on April 15, and by that time, only the seeming "hard core" folks will be left.

Still, there are folks who really do love the dry, hot summers. Can you successfully boondock away from shore power and keep cool enough to survive? Altitude is the key: Not all of Arizona is low-down, overheated desert. Some have found the Chiricahua National Monument in south-centeral part of the state an excellent place to beat the heat, along with providing some stellar views. The monument has a developed campground (length restrictions apply, check out the monument website and click on the campground link under "camping") but some RVers stay free in the Coronado National Forest, just outside the monument.

At the other end of the state, near Flagstaff, where the average high temperature in July is 82 degrees, Uncle Sam offers yet more places to boondock. In the Coconino National Forest there are plenty of developed campgrounds (with associtated fees), visit the campground website here for more details. However, free camping is allowed in "dispersed" areas. As an example, take exit 326 from Interstate 17. A paved road leads south, and leads to dirt roads through the pines where dispersed camping is allowed at no charge.