Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
Much of the land in the western states is owned by the federal government on behalf of the public under the Department of the Interior. It is managed by the appropriately named Bureau of Land Management. And a significant portion of this public land is set aside for recreation, which often includes camping. Some BLM areas have developed or semi-developed campgrounds, but most only have undeveloped, dispersed camping with no amenities, which we prefer.
Below are the Bureau of Land Management areas we’ve stayed in most recently.
Alabama Hills (BLM) - Lone Pine CA
RATING: ♦♦♦♦♦
- Dates: Apr 14, 2019 – Apr 21, 2019
- Length of stay: 7 nights.
- Cost per night: Free.
- Discount: N/A.
- Hookups: None.
- Site number/quality: This is dispersed camping. Sites are simply wherever there is a place to park off the road. Each site is unique, and the number of places to camp are countless. Some sites are much better than others, and it can take a while to find one that’s suitable. We spent an hour finding ours, which turned out to be a nice level site on a slight rise next to the main dirt road. It had great views, plenty of space, and good cell service. The only negative was occasional vehicle dust and noise.
- Park Quality: The Alabama Hills Recreation Area is a great place to boondock. It is located in the the high desert among endless rock features, including the famous Mobius Arch. The park is on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada, up against Mount Whitney. There are 30,000 acres with three designated campgrounds, along with open-desert dispersed camping throughout. We like the dispersed camping, even though there are no amenities: no water, no trash, no pavement, and no facilities whatsoever. This also means there are no fees.
- Access: Our dispersed camping site was along Movie Rd, so named because of the many movies that have been filmed here. It is a wide, fairly smooth, dirt road with a network of side roads branching off. These side roads were initially cut by the movie companies to access the hills with their film equipment. Visitors can now use these same roads to access fantastic camping sites. Some are suitable for big rigs, and some aren’t. Movie Road runs off Whitney Portal Rd, which runs between Mt Whitney and US-395 in the center of Lone Pine.
- Connectivity: Cell service is hit or miss, depending on what rocky hills block the signal. One of the reasons we choose our particular site is that we were able to get a good signal from AT&T. Verizon and T-Mobile were non-existent at our site, even though they were both strong in town.
- Return yes/no?: Sure hope so.
- Notes: While here, we visited the Lone Pine Film History Museum, which documents the long film history in the area. Over 400 movies and TV shows, mostly Westerns, were shot here. This history is reflected in the place names. Our camping area was in Roy Rogers Flats, and our main view overlooked Lone Ranger Canyon. We streamed a couple of episodes of Hopalong Cassidy and recognized several locations. Also portions of Star Wars and Ironman were filmed here.
- Website: Alabama Hills
Sawtooth Canyon (BLM) - Lucerne Valley CA
RATING: ♦♦♦♦♦
- Dates: Apr 5, 2019 – Apr 10, 2019
- Length of stay: 5 nights
- Cost per night: Free.
- Discount: N/A
- Hookups: None.
- Site number/quality: There are 12 semi-developed numbered sites with shaded tables and grills, plus a number of unmarked primitive sites with just fire rings. The campground does not take reservations, first come – first served. When we arrived, all the numbered sites had been taken, so we stayed in one of the primitive sites. But it was very nice, tucked away in a rocky hollow. By Sunday, half the spots were empty, and by Tuesday, we were all by ourselves.
- Park Quality: This is a first rate boondocking site on BLM land. The sites are well marked, either with covered tables or with stone fire rings. There are lots of interesting hiking trails that run up into the rocky hills which surround the camping area. Becky climbed a few, while I watched from our site below.
- Access: The campground is off CA-247, about 15 miles south of Barstow. The camping area is at the end of a mile-long dirt road. Before we attempted to take the rig down the dirt road, we parked it just off the highway, and took the car in to check it out. It was rough and washboarded, but manageable as long as we drove slowly, about 5 mph. We got in without issues.
- Connectivity: AT&T was not available, but T-Mobile was usually OK, especially when sitting outside.
- Return yes/no?: Absolutely. This is the kind of place that makes boondocking worth the effort. Quiet, relaxing, and beautiful.
- Notes: At the far end of the campground is an area known as New Jack City, which is very popular with rock climbers. On the weekend, it was packed with climbers. So a group of three men and the two women came over to our site and started climbing on the rock wall next to us. We sat out under our awning, and enjoyed the show. They were amazing.
- Website: Sawtooth Canyon Campground (BLM)
Plomosa Road (BLM) - Quartzsite AZ
RATING: ♦♦♦♦♦
- Dates: Jan 17, 2019 – Jan 25, 2019
- Length of stay: 8 nights.
- Cost per night: Free.
- Discount: N/A.
- Hookups: None.
- Site number/quality: This is dispersed camping with no amenities. Sites are located in a large gravel area off the highway.
- Park Quality: The Plomosa Road BLM camping area is one of the 14 day camping sections in the much larger area managed by the BLM in the Quartzsite area. It’s a great place to boondock, especially with a group.
- Access: Our camping site was along Plomosa Road off AZ-95, about 6 miles north of Quartzsite.
- Connectivity: We were able to get usable service from all three of our carriers: Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, but the T-Mobile towers seemed to be less busy.
- Return yes/no?: Yes.
- Notes: This was our first real boondocking experience, and we had a great time. We camped with the Boomers group from Escapees. There were over 200 rigs in our group known as Boomerville. A number of the people we met at Boomerville were also part of the Mexican Connection caravan we took to Baja in February.
- Website: Plomosa Road BLM
Click here to see all the Bureau of Land Management areas we’ve stayed in since going full-time.