Darby Wells Rd BLM Dispersed

Nice area with room between campers yet still opportunity to say hi and wave as you walk by. Some noisy atvs but not overwhelming. Close proximity to Ajo with plenty to do there. We will come back. The further back you go, you will loose cell signal completely.

First time camping near Ajo. We turned onto the scenic loop drive off Darby Wells Road and quickly found a large flat spot down off the road. Very little traffic and no neighbors. A new favorite!

Would stay again. Watch out for the broken glass and old rusty metal.

This is a dispersed BLM area behind the old copper mine tailings and a wide washboard dusty road goes back into the area. Scenic Sonoran desert vegetation due to the cactus diversity but some areas have been trashed by past use during the mining days. Cell signal was mixed to poor, only TMobile worked barely for me. Close to Ajo but no water, trash, or tables. Access road can be dusty and washboard.

We were on a transit from Phoenix to northern Nevada and decided a little detour through Ajo would be nice. In spite of the warnings about sketchy activity at Darby Well, we gave it a go. We had to go farther down the road than we planned to find a site that we felt we could navigate in our rig. The roadside berms closer in were bigger than we wanted to attempt. 

We found a good, level spot with neighbors reasonably spread out and walking distance to the well so we decided to stay a couple of nights instead of our original plan of just one since we had enough cell signal to get some work done, the area was quiet, and the neighbors respectful. 

The wind the first night was hefty and kept us huddled inside. Picture two adults, large dog, and a motorcycle in a tiny toy hauler! But by morning it easy to enjoy working and exploring outside. And, obviously, being a desert with no large trees around and lots of sun, we were able to keep our action up and running with solar power. 

While there, we did see a huge caravan of border patrol vehicles come and go but we had no issues or negative encounters at all. We did, however, have a Colorado Cane Toad hop through our site. Imagine our surprise when my partner said“That rock just jumped!” I was able to break out my biggie zoom lens and get some shots without disturbing it.

[Side note: On our way into town, we did the walking tour which is very engaging if you’re into history and understanding the places you travel through. There is RV parking in town behind the main square but you’ll have to watch your clearance if you want to pull out through the square. We were too tall so we had to maneuver around a bit to get back out.]

Stayed here for three nights with the wife and kids in a tear drop type camper. It has a good amount of spots that are flat. We have never camped in the desert before, but it is still too cold for the woods. We enjoyed it and it really piqued our interest in desert camping. We did a short overland hike with no trail. We didn't see any hiking trails, so be careful you don't get lost. Ajo is real close and it has a couple little stores, gas stations, and like two restaurants. It does have a museum that was closed citing Covid. The mine museum was still open and very interesting. It even interested the three kids (6, 8, 11 years old). 

On our last night I saw bombing practice at the Goldwater bombing range. Just aerial flares and flashes from FAR away. I was surprised by it. It was NOT detrimental to our stay. 

May be our fall/spring camping spot.

Darby wells Rd. Has some good dispersed campsites right off the road. With flat cleared out areas. There isn’t a lot of traffic along the road either. So I would recommend this for an overnight.

Great dispersed camping 🏕. The farther from the highway, the better it gets.

Just visiting/passing through. Nice view nearby of the copper mine. The town of Ajo is very much worth a visit. Also make sure to visit the Ajo Museum.