If you’ve spent any time in an RV or in RV circles, you’ve probably heard of Quartzsite, Arizona. This tiny town in the middle of the Sonoran desert swells in population every winter from around 2,000 residents in the summer to over 1.5 million. How does “The Q” handle such fluctuations? Bureau of Land Management (BLM) camping! In addition to the innumerable RV parks inside the city limits of Quartzsite,
While we stayed at Ironwood Monument Access outside of Tucson, Arizona, we were ideally poised to visit Saguaro National Park. Saguaro National Park is another unique National Park as there are two distinct parts to one park. The park is split between the west side and the east side with Tucson, AZ sitting in between. A bit like Hot Springs in reverse. The Visitors Center at Saguaro National Park The
While traveling through Arizona, we had the opportunity to view Saguaro National Park. As we like to boondock, and the park sits on either side of a major city, there wasn’t much nearby. Luckily, we found Ironwood National Monument Access Point, just outside Marana, Arizona. The Ironwood National Monument access point is very easy to get to, and only 30 minutes from I-10. All roads up to it are paved,
After staying for half a year in Virginia, and driving through North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico, we were nearly at our winter base in Arizona. Tanque Rd BLM was the perfect spot for us to get out and recharge for a few days. It’s far away from cities and noise, but close enough to get supplies. Of all the spots we stayed at on our trip
White Sands National Park is a hard-to-describe experience. Your eyes are telling you “snow” as you’re surrounded by miles and miles of waving, rolling dunes of pure white. However, you are not cold. In fact, being at the northern end of the Chihuahuan desert, it can be quite the opposite. Of all the National Parks we’ve been to, this is one of the most memorable. This post may contain affiliate
Looking for a place to stay within spitting distance of White Sands National Park, we found the Baylor Pass Trailhead off of Baylor Canyon Road in Las Cruces, NM. This was just a quick stop for us as we were rushing to get to Quartzsite in time for The Boy’s birthday. But it wasn’t too bad of a campground and we wish we could have spent more time there. Camping
One of our goals on the road is to see as many national parks as possible. While passing through New Mexico, we got the opportunity to explore Carlsbad Caverns National Park. This massive complex of caves is stunning. Of the many nicknames this cave system has gotten over the years, my favorite is “The Grand Canyon with a lid on it,” and it fits. Pictures and video can’t capture its
We initially stayed at Chosa Campground to visit Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Its location gave us the bonus opportunity to visit Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Part of the same mountain range as Carlsbad Caverns, the Guadalupe Mountains host a stunning array of different microbiomes, thanks to the natural springs and mountain terrain shading areas from the intense New Mexican sun. Each visitor center acts as a gateway to unique and
We were looking for boondocking camping opportunities while traveling west toward our winter base in Quartzsite, Arizona. While we were originally planning on camping further north, we noticed that those campgrounds were predominantly forest roads and possibly impassable by our bus. We wanted to stay in “day trip” range of Carlsbad Caverns National Park and started looking further south. What we discovered was perfect: Chosa Campground! Chosa Campground is a
Free camping isn’t too hard to find. But free camping with hookups is a rare treat. Our first ever time hooking up was at such a place, but that only had electricity. Rodeo Campground in Lamesa, Texas has electricity and water! This is another example of us spending a little less time behind the camera, and we got no pictures of this location. Google did, though. About Rodeo Campground Calling