What you need to know about pitching a tent in Arizona during the winter.
Have you heard about the free camping in Quartzsite, Arizona? Enthusiasts and RV fans in the US have perhaps heard rumblings about free camping on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) property in this south-west state. The land belongs to the government and is public property. Therefore, in theory, members of the public should be entitled to use it for free. Let's examine.
Quartzsite is a unique city in that it is surrounded by BLM land. So is it free? Well, yes and no.
There are four areas around Quartzsite, one on each side of town. The sites on the east and sides of town are designated as short-term camping. These are indeed free to use, but there is a time limit of 21 days attached to your stay, after which you are expected to move. And their rules state that the moving distance required is further than the camping site on the other side of town, therefore not allowing you move from one to the other and back.
Camping sites to the north and south of town are designated as long-term camping. These sites actually charge campers and the fees for the season, which runs around 4 months during the winter. Check costs before your go.
Wth that clarified, here are a few things you need to know before striking out to the desert for the winter.
1. There are no designated sites - find a vacant spot and it is yours. With this set up, someone can park as close to you as they want. You might want to choose a site that natural or man-made barriers of some sort (trees, roads etc) to keep those neighbors at bay.
2.There is no drinking water at these sites. Water is available in town and by the ranger station but there isn’t a lot of sources considering the large number of campers.
3. There is also no sewer at your site and you might want to stay ready to go to a dump station. There is generally a pumpout service, but again this will be in high demand during the camping season.
4. You must supply your own source of power. You will require a generator or some other method of recharging your batteries.
5. Quartzsite is a very busy place in the winter months and getting into and around town can be a chore. And as towns go, there isn't much to it. When the winter crowd appears each year in-town facilities can be at a premium.
If you don’t mind some discomforts, Quartzsite is still great place for snowbirds to spend the winter months. It's a sunny, gemstone collector's haven and teeming with other RV fanatics - but just one more thing: if you're heard about the flea market remember that a flea market is a flea market is a flea market. It’s big - but it is still a flea market.
