Camping With an RV

RV camping can make for a great trip almost anywhere, but the best in the West. In many areas, you can only drive in the desert, and a free stay for up to two weeks. It’s true, most BLM (Bureau of Land Management) and national forest land, and state forest in many countries also. You need to move every two weeks, but what is open to interpretation, and in most cases you must accept.

BLM has begun to create special areas for longer stays, especially in Arizona. A permit fee is about $ 140 now, but it keeps you up to six months and you get pumping stations, dump trucks and water. People live in some of these areas. It’s cheaper than paying property taxes or rent a parking lot on.

RV camping is common in winter in Arizona. One of the largest collections of “Boondocks” is in Quartzite. Hundreds of thousands of people spend at least part of the year in their RVs here. It is near the California border on Interstate 10, just 20 miles from the Colorado River. Surrounded by BLM, Quartzite is famous for gem shows, swap meets, and the time of its population each winter. If you ask around when you’re in the southwestern desert, you will see that there are RV communities that form every winter. Some of these temporary towns like “Slab City” in California, have bookstores, grocery vendors and other businesses run by RVers. When summer returns, these communities Boondock disappear and reappear again the following winter.

Just look around you and you will find hidden places where you can park your RV for a week or a month in the desert southwest. Some are cheap, others are free. Hot Well Dunes Recreation Area, for example, north of Bowie, Arizona, cost $ 3 per night, and hot springs nice and lots of wildlife. An annual permit costs $ 30, but you’re limited to two weeks per month (permits are sold to the BLM in Safford). You can stay outside the fenced area free, but you do not have hot springs and picnic tables shaded.

For more information on other areas, contact the Bureau of Land Management. They can tell you what is available in its jurisdiction. In addition, the guide lists Woodall camping campsites that are free. Keep your eyes peeled for the other campers parked in the desert or the woods. Finally, ask around. Other RVers get the best information on RV camping.