Quartzsite Az, Off Gold Nugget Rd.

Howdy folks, thought I'd share a nice little spot for those that might winter in the Quartzsite, Az area, though I admit that I'm hesitant! I'd like to keep it for myself, but since I'm there for so little time thats not really fair. :)

As you can see from the map below, it's NOT on BLM land as so much of the area is, but State Trust land.   so make sure you have your permit before you head out unless your willing to claim you thought you were on BLM land if you should happen to be asked to proved your right to access.

As you can see from the map, it's not far off of the Highway, the road there is pretty easy to follow and smooth when I was there.

  It DOES follow the bottom of a wash for a short distance, so you have to keep that in mind during storm season.

You can see from these photos that the "Parking Area" is actually pretty good sized, the road passes through it cutting it in half, on the days I was out there I never had any issues with traffic or had to worry about keeping Tori on lead to keep her safe.  

Downsides about the camp..  well.. a road runs through it :)   but as I said, no traffic to speak of, I think I saw 2 jeeps..  the larger issue if you have dogs or kids is that there are Cholla Cactus in the area, and if your not careful you may end up having needles to pull!  it wasn't bad and Tori and I would take our walks with no issue, but she's learned how to avoid them.

New campsite discovered East of Payson, Az

for me that is

just to the east of Payson,Az on Highway 260 there is a road that drops south about a half a mile, get back in there and you can pull right up near a retention pond for the animals, is room for 4 or 5 vehicles if they like each other or other turns of the road you could take to get more solitude, spent the past 4 days there in the company of some other Vandwellers, and had a really nice stay just taking life easy and gathering around the fire every morning.

some good walking both in the woods and on the trails in the area, as well as some great potential spots to hike into!  Since I'm working my way toward backpacking, I intend to do just that before winter hits, and I wont be at all surprised if I tent camp at this site again.

Now, downside.. sadly some folks (I'm assuming from Payson) have come out here and illegally dumped yard waste in the area.. I've decided that each time I go there I have a mission to clean it up!!  As long as fire restrictions are NOT in place, when I visit, I will be burning all the crap that comes with civilization and trying to help restore the beauty that should be there!

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.2556814,-111.1947015,84m/data=!3m1!1e3

Revisiting an old and Favorite area near Rye, Az

Barnhardt trailhead area.. Has to be one of my favorite late winter, early spring camping areas..

I love how open it is, and how peaceful it can be.. This time, I went to an area that is further up the access road than in prior visits, since I was in a smaller truck with 4wd just in case it got muddy..

Wildflowers hadnt yet started blooming there, but I do enjoyed just being there in the quiet and wide open desert!!  As you can see, I've begun tent camping now.  I found the small truck to be to cramped with my gear, Me, and Tori... so decided that I needed more space.. the bad thing about the box truck was that I got used to having everything with me, and I'm still learning how to break that habit!!