By Bob Difley
After you've spent your allotted 14 days in Craggy Wash (see Oct. 14 blog below) the BLM requires you to move on. Luckily, there is another boondocking location called Standard Wash about the same distance south of the city as Craggy Wash is north. Head south on AZ 95 toward Parker. You will climb gradually up a hill and cross over just past Sara Park.
Your first boondocking opportunity is on the left (east) just past the Welcome to Lake Havasu City sign and the park entrance. You will see a flat, wide entrance leading to a slight hill. This is a favorite spot when the pyrotechnics convention comes to town in February since they do all their fireworks shows from Sara Park. The down side is that it is then crowded and near the highway noise.
Once over the top of the hill, look to the east (left) and you will see a BLM sign and vehicle tracks. Turn in here and choose your spot. If you haul an off road vehicle around with you, this is your place since it is a favorite weekend off-roading spot for locals.
However, if you require quiet and solitude instead, continue down the road to past mile marker 172 and just before MM171, about 50 yards before the Vista Point parking lot on your right, a desert track heads perpendicularly to the left. If you are towing a car, pull in to the Vista Point and unhitch first. The road, is a bit rough in places, but has a firm surface. Just take your time. Between 1/2 and 3/4 mile up you will find half a dozen hard, level, "desert pavement" surfaces ideal for campsites. These spots have excellent views and you will seldom have no more than two or three neighbors, if that.
Further on, the road dips down into a wash. Don't go there unless you have a 4WD rig. The sand is soft and you could get stuck. But the wash leading up this canyon--a favorite jeep route, including several branch canyons, provide lots of hiking and exploring opportunities.
For services, an RV repair facility is just down the hill inside city limits on the east side of the highway and a new Basha's supermarket another mile also on the east side. You can dump at one of the RV resorts or at Lake Havasu State Park two miles east of London Bridge.
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