RVers in the West who have spent more than a few days on the road have heard of Quartzsite. Not all have visited it yet however, but the saying goes that if you are an RVer, you will visit Quartzsite before your last tire goes flat. It is an experience n
ear the top of the RVer's lifetime To Do list.
Quartzsite's wide open desert with plentiful camping possibilities on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land lures hundreds of thousands of snowbirds to the weather-friendly desert in winter. Most RVers call this kind of camping boondocking, i.e. "in the boonies" though in Quartzsite, you could end up as crowded as a hook-up campground. But the beauty of it is that the choice of where and how sociable you want to be is yours.
The options include groups of friends circling the wagons much like the early pioneers did on the Oregon Trail. Though the pioneers chose this method mainly to protect themselves from marauding Indians, today's RVers seek social camaraderie instead, putting tables, chairs, and a communal campfire in the "hub" of the circled wagons. You can choose to camp in close to town
and have neighbors, or move further out and have your group area all to yourselves, a definite advantage if you are nudists or practice strange rituals or ceremonies.
Several hard compacted dirt roads lead off into the far reaches of the LTVAs where campsites of
hard "desert pavement," resembling tile or cobblestone paving capable of supporting even the heaviest rigs, are readily available. Camping in any of the seven LTVAs in California or Arizona
costs $180 for the season, September through April, or $40 for two weeks. You can move between
LTVAs within the time period.
The other option is to avoid the designated LTVAs and find your own campsite. You will not have to pay the LTVA fees, though the BLM limits your camping period to two weeks, then you have to move at least 25 miles from your previous location. You can take your chances on staying longer but you risk getting a $50 ticket (maybe more since the last time I was ticketed).
Check out my ebook, BOONDOCKING: Finding the Perfect Campsite on America's Public Lands, on this page for the complete guide to boondocking.
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