Best Dispersed Camping near Arlington, AZ

This is a free dispersed camping area in the BLM Sonoran National Monument. Take Interstate 8, Exit #140 and take gravel road to south. The gravel road is rough washboard first section, then gets narrower and just rough. Camping areas seem to be just within less than a mile of the Interstate so truck noise will be an issue. No services for 30 mi back to Gila Bend or 20 mi back to Stanfield. No water, trash, tables. Cell signal is excellent on all carriers. This area is more difficult to access with a TT or RV due to the rougher narrow roads, compared to the Vekol Rd camping area at exit #144.

This BLM dispersed camping area access is about MP 147.5 in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 8. This is a two track road that leaves the highway and goes thru a gate, and EXTREME CAUTION is advised slowing down and leaving the freeway due to no off ramp or signs here to alert traffic behind you. Not recommended for RVs or TTs due to the risky access off the interstate. Best suited for Overlander types and high clearance trucks/vans. This area was a pleasant surprise and the access road #8042a is best due to good gravel surface and interesting camping areas. Suggest going on #8042a for 1.2 miles to the abandoned windmill/tank area. There is a large rock borrow pit midway if you are a shooter. This windmill area is behind a ridge from I 8 and reduces the highway truck noise.

Free dispersed camping, no water. Info kiosk at pin location. Note that this area is isolated with little traffic and other campers and would not advise solo camping due to warnings about illegal smuggling. Go with buddies and go heavy.

This is free dispersed camping on the BLM Sonoran National Monument. At Interstate 8, Exit 144 go south. BLM starts in about .6 mile. Note that the gravel road then will pass thru some pvt land that the Dyrt does not show, before the BLM again at the road fork to the Vekol Ranch (2.1 miles in from hwy). See attached screenshot from the BLM monument map. Lots of sites scattered along the main graded gravel road. There is an info kiosk at junction of road going to the Vekol Ranch. Most of the campers seem to be in this area to avoid interstate truck noise. Excellent cell signal on all carriers. No water, marked sites, tables, fire rings or trash dumpsters. Nearest services are in Sanfield (poor), Maricopa (best) or Gila Bend (fuel, RV stuff) so come prepared. Maricopa has a Fry's Market and gas. Sanfield has a Family Dollar and Circle K gas. Gila Bend has most services but not a major food market. Not much Sonoran cactus vegetation by the kiosk sign in in this area, no cholla and very few Saguaros, area is just a wide flat creosote palo verde sandy plain.

Update: if you go another mile or two south (uphill) on the main road you can camp at the #8007b and #8007c road spurs and #8045 spur. More Sonoran vegetation there and very scenic...lots of Saguaro cactus to camp with on flat open desert pavement. Farther away from the hwy noise is a plus!

If you are concerned about potential safety issues from illegal smuggling warnings, then staying down close to BLMat the .6 mile mark is likely best.

This two- track BLM road leaves from the westbound lanes of Interstate 8. EXTREME CAUTION is advised and TTs and RVs are not recommended for these unmarked two tracks along the Interstate.

You go thru a gate and this area is to west of the wilderness area and is not restricted by the wilderness buffer road issues. The road splits in a couple tens and there are several camp spots along the way, but best to get farther away from the freeway truck noise. On the map this #8032 roads goes all the way to hwy 238 between Gila Bend and Maricopa. No facilities, no water. Cell signal was couple weak bars but ok for txt email.

That's right, this is AZ, State Trust land, AKA: FREE camping and parking land—72,000 acres of open dispersed, rough, rugged, off-the-grid life. I've parked here in my converted Skoolie of 36 feet for two years. I DO purchase the $ 15-a-year permit and I DO display it. But in 2 years, I've not seen even one "official" vehicle and have never been asked to see my permit or how long I have parked. It is messy, I like to clean it up at times, please help and please remember, this is your land so do not trash it to the point that we will be kicked off. I've watched this happen all over northern AZ and it does not need to happen here. Pack it in and pack it out. Leave no trace. There are garbage cans 1 mile from this land. A new gas station/convenience store has been erected a mile from Maddock Road. Although Maddock Road is no longer an access point to the lands, there are plenty of other access points. The new gas station has diesel, water dispensing, propane dispensing, and all the conveniences anyone would need. It is a paradise in Winter, believe that. In summer, it is hotter than the dickens. I bounce from Flag to this location yearly, it works well for us nomads.

This is a FREE BLM camping area. 

There are multiple places to pull off along Vulture Mine Rd that have dirt roads that you can take further back. We made a couple of attempts in our 26 ft Class C and almost got stuck and had to back out so be aware that some of the roads look good then suddenly become impassable with no turn around. We ended up near the Vulture Peak trailhead with an easy pull off and a view of the peak (33.880550,-112.820176).

There is no water or garbage so pack in and pack out and pack out more than you brought in if you feel inclined. There is a pit toilet bathroom at the trailhead entrance. This is also an ATV area so watch out while hiking because most thought they had the right of way. 

There is good hiking to the peak and across the street there is another access to hike in. There is some road noise but it is not too bad., overall a quiet place. This is a trailhead so there is a lot of day use traffic of vehicles, ATVs and hikers but the nights were quiet and pleasant. Chollas are everywhere and we constantly had to pick them out of our dogs so be aware. We did not see any wildlife except some birds but heard coyotes every night. 

Note: There is a nice spot about 3 spots in that has an old table and a couple of broken chairs sitting in it. No one came into that spot while we were there for 7 days so though it looks like someone is saving a spot, but I think unfortunately someone just left a bunch of junk there. 

Decent Verizon and AT&T coverage.

Managed by Lower Sonoran BLM Field Office. Free camping, but you have to love the sound of gunshots and love the view of trash everywhere. 

There are multiple dirt roads you can take to find spots in Buckeye Hills that run adjacent to Powers Butte Wildlife Area where there is no camping allowed. We stayed here in different spots for 3 days while waiting for mail in Buckeye. The place is filthy! Shooting garbage and illegal dumping is common, in fact one night we woke up and just down the road was a new pile of some illegal dumping. 

If you can get used to the constant gun fire, you’ll still have to put up with ATVs racing up and down the various roads. The dirt here is a fine deep powder in a lot of areas so there is lots of dust that gets kicked up when they race by, sometimes just back in forth right in front of where you are parked. 

There is not really hiking or biking unless you want to dodge bullets or ATVs. There also appears to be a lot of long time“residents” in the area as well. There are no amenities here so pack in and pack out though it is obvious not many do. We picked up trash and about 7 lbs of casings around our spots we stayed in. Besides the noise and physical pollution there is also light pollution from Palo Verde and Buckeye. 

1-2 bars Verizon& ATT, streaming with pauses for buffering

BLM road #8030 leaves Interstate 8 in westbound lanes. No signage at the freeway, EXTREME CAUTION is advised trying to access these unmarked two track roads from the Interstate hwy. There is a gate to go thru then you pass a couple v- shaped wash dips that would restrict TTs and RVs, hence the recommendation that Overlander truck types would be best here. The road goes past an abandoned corrals/tank and then at the y split you are going to go left and into the wilderness cherry-stem road. This road buffer is only about 50 ft wide so not really good for finding campsites. The road gets rougher and crosses many sandy washes so high clearance 4x4 is a good idea. Cell service was not good here, must be in a hole from the antenna at Freeman road and the cell towers at Gila Bend. Going to the end of the cherry stem #8030 road will likely end at another ranch structure/corral with camping sites (I was not able to get that far in my truck safely).

No water or any other amenities, and with limited cell signal would recommend access with a buddy vehicle for backup.

Access road is fresh gravel so better than 2024. Large open flat area in middle close to a livestock water and corral, so cow noise and smell. Free dispersed but need the $15 AZ lands permit. Cell signal is very good. No toilets, no trash, no tables...just rock fire rings. Close to the hwy so some hwy noise. Some Campers look to be folks that work in town. The other dispersed camping area a bit to the north closer to town by the cell tower may be another good spot. Only 4.5 miles to the Safeway in town.

Only 2 stars as the area is no scenic and had beat down vegetation, cow crap smell and general vibe is ick.