Do you enjoy off-grid camping? Want to do so with other Great Outdoors members? Come to the meeting and we'll open a dialog. Bring a camp chair, and your ideas of where to camp. The park location (Palm Springs) will be sent to registrants in the reminder email sent just before the meeting. Some starter ideas/free and less-structured areas: Toro Peak (summer), East Flats (Barton Flats area), Blair Valley (S2 in Anza-Borrego), various yellow-post sites; nominal charge: Mountain Palm Springs (S2 in Anza-Borrego), etc. Other options include ad-hoc camping on BLM lands.
Discussion Leader: Joey Duhon email click here.
Summary:
GOPS members who enjoy boondocking (free camping without amenities like flush toilets and electricity) have shared some of their favorite destinations. DISCLAIMER: Be sure to do further research yourself in advance of any trip because we can’t guarantee the suitability of these sites. They are often first-come, first-serve, and fill up on weekends. Poor road conditions and locked gates also could make some of them unavailable.
Spring and summer:
Toro Peak – Informal tent campsites in the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument, reachable via a rough 5-mi dirt road off Highway 74. Toro Peak (8,717 feet) is located 15 mi south of Palm Springs, 12 mi west of the Salton Sea. The summit belongs to the Santa Rosa Indian Reservation, which opens the locked gate around May or whenever the snow has melted. https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/sbnf/recreation/camping-cabins/recarea/?recid=74096&actid=29
Boulder Basin – Tent campground accessible by narrow dirt Black Mountain Road in the San Bernardino National Forest between Idyllwild and Banning. https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/232022?tab=info
Sawtooth Canyon – BLM campground 45 minutes south of Barstow near Lucerne has fire pits, picnic tables, and a vault toilet. Accessible to RVs via dirt road. https://www.blm.gov/visit/sawtooth-canyon-campground
Fall and winter:
Blair Valley – Primitive camping for RVs and tents in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, accessible along County Road S-2 south of CA Route 78. Tent camping is widely dispersed from the Blair Valley park’s single vault toilet. Several hikes and attractions but beware ruts in the road made by off-roaders when it’s wet. https://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/638/files/ABDSP2017Park_Brochure_09182017_6pp_crop.pdf
Arroya Salada – Primitive campground with a vault toilet, no water, little shade but lots to see including spring wildflowers in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. https://www.rv-boondocking-adventure.com/arroyo-salado-campground.html
Corn Springs – BLM campground in the Chuckwalla Mountains about 10 mi from I-10 exit 201. https://www.blm.gov/visit/corn-springs-campground
Mittry Lake – BLM land southeast of the Salton Sea near Yuma, Ariz. Beware of mosquitoes. https://www.blm.gov/visit/mittry-lake-wildlife-area
Mission Creek Preserve – Tent or car camping by reservation, with running water and toilets but no fires. Four-mile dirt road requires a gate code to access. https://wildlandsconservancy.org/preserves/missioncreek/camping
Mojave National Preserve – Hole-In-The-Wall Campground has water and allows RVs, fills up fast. Mid-Hills Campground is up a steep unpaved road and has no water. Visit the lave tube, and with guided tour reservation, Mitchell Caverns. https://www.nps.gov/moja/planyourvisit/camping.htm
