Best Dispersed Camping near Golden Valley, AZ

But the place I ended up is just BLM land off the highway. There's a turn off the highway, super easy to miss, and it immediately goes up a hill. There's a gate at the top that just says "please close gate - Bureau of Land Management" so I just went in. The road is very smooth and well worn as of this review, my prius had no problem. Not a single other soul in sight. The road sorta stops after the electricity thing (why am I blanking on what these are called?), but it looks like high clearance vehicles have gone through.

This spot is amazing. Free public land. There are only a few pull off spots. Very quiet and beautiful.

Please practice leave no trace etiquette! This spot is gorgeous, let's keep it that way :)

We stayed Oct 28-31. We stayed in a back-in dispersed camping spot ...exit 66 from I-40, and a couple miles on S Blake Ranch Road. Our rig is 43', towing a pickup with UTV loaded in the back. After unhooking (wide road) by the old Hwy 93 turnoff, we drove 93 a ways in the truck and determined it was too rough and washed out in places for our RV.

We explored down S Blake Ranch road and found our spot --several spots are available down that road, and easy access to trails if you go out trail-riding.

Blake Ranch road is wide, and pretty wash boarded in places, but easily doable, taking it slow. We backed into our chosen site, with room for the truck and UTV. A bonus = it's a level site!!

Beautiful scenery, extremely peaceful, wooded site with plenty of scrap wood around for a careful campfire.

Also making it a mission in retirement travel to practice Leave No Trace, so also cleaned up some prior trash left behind as well as our own.

A little traffic does go down the road, but not often.

Had 2 bars of Verizon cell service; husband had about the same on US Cellular.

10/15/2020 Location updated Thank you, Dyrt Staff

This is the gem of the area. I love the Monolith Gardens Trail and try to hike it everyday. There are extensive trails for people, dogs, bikes, and equestrian people. Best to visit in winter as it’s been hell raising hot all summer 2020. Bring water. The Campground has NO water, NO toilet, and NO trash service currently but town is a mile away. October and April are best weather. This is a primitive experience hiking on moon-like landscape.

Note: updated 10/15/2020. The Dyrt map reflects correct location. When approaching from the East, turn around at AquaFrie/Sundown Streets

10/15/2020 Location updated Thank you, Dyrt Staff

We followed the OLD directions link from The Dyrt app. This location is no longer listed as a camping spot on the app. So, follow the correct listing on the other side of the highway......Apple Maps said to go north of pin point, then head south on Co. Highway 125 which was washed out in places. May be okay for a high clearance van, but not our travel trailer in tow. This is just below the Mohave County Landfill. We gave up with many cactus spines in our tires. We had to return to I93 where we started. Google maps directions are from the south following Co. Highway 125 north. Possibly, this can be reached better from the south where Co. Highway 125 leaves I93 and head north. Or, the GPS marking is incorrect, and should be marking the west side of I93, closer to Kingman.

I ended up here after the place I had originally intended to stay didn't work out, and I am so glad I did. Yes, the front of this camping area, right off the highway, has a ton of trash. But it doesn't take much driving to get past it, and once you do you end up with a beautiful view of mountains and horizon. The highlight was watching the sun set behind the mountains. 

The campground: The road leading back is dirt and gravel, and it does have some ruts and a few big dips. It was a jarring ride, but ultimately my crossover did fine. Some of the sites do have markers with numbers; I was back near marker #6 where I found a clean, flat gravel space to park for the night. There were only two other campers, both closer to the front, and we were all able to be very spaced out. The noise from the highway was minimal, just an occasional low rumble. I felt pretty comfortable traveling on my own there, but there is very little privacy because everything is so wide open. I think if someone had parked closer to me, I would have felt like everything I was doing was on display and would have been less comfortable. 

The area: This place is right off of highway 95, and your closest gas/food is about 20 miles away (Needles, CA). Needles tends to have pretty pricey gas, so I recommend you have as close to a full tank before you head down or up 95. 

Booking: Primitive camping on public land: no booking, no fee, no assigned spots. 

Cell service: I have Verizon and this is maybe the best cell service I have ever had.

I just followed the GPS / Google Maps coordinates to go to the Craggy Wash dispersed camping area south of Lake Havasu City (was actually in Lake Havasu City when I searched for nearby dispersed camping sites via The Dyrt ...).  Copied the coordinates provided on The Dyrt webpage, turned left off US 95 South where directed (& it was the correct road on the live map), but there is a locked gate there with big sign: "Private Property Keep Out.". So.....since it was only 4:10 pm PST (Dec. 28, 2024), I travelled on to Hi Jolly just above Quartzsite.  I did leave the Google Maps app active as I turned back south on 95 just to see if the voice directions might provide an alternate entrance to Craggy Wash, but ....no.

Along this gorgeous stretch of the Colorado River downstream of Hoover Dam, you will find numerous backcountry camping options on both the AZ and NV sides, many with existing fire rings. In addition, you’ll find emerald green waters, hot springs/hot waterfalls, sauna cave, slot canyons and interesting features along the sides of the canyon.   All camping is first-come, first-served and no permit is needed.  Water can be filtered in an emergency, but it is the Colorado River; so we’d recommend bringing 1 gallon of fresh drinking water per person per day. Please Leave No Trace by bringing Wag Bags or other poop removal method, including your toilet paper. 

**Weather & River Concerns: **

• If you are camping in a wash, be sure to keep an eye on the weather as flash flooding is a major concern during the rainy season.  
• We launched from Willow Beach marina (AZ side) and paddled up stream to the dam and back over 4 days. We had an amazing weather window, but have heard from locals that this place can be VERY windy (25-50mph), making it impossible to travel against the wind. 
• When the dam releases, it can also make upriver travel quite difficult (not impossible but difficult depending on your boat and paddling skills). Also, the river can rise 4-6 vertical feet when the dam releases water from Lake Mead, so haul your boats at least 50 feet up the washes and don’t camp close to the water or you’ll find yourself floating downstream in the middle of the night.
• Cell service in the canyon is very limited. We found a bit near the dam, but otherwise it was emergency calls only.

Note: If you’ve never done backcountry kayak camping, hire a guide or go with a group. There are numerous companies taking groups down the river each day.

Beautiful area just outside of Laughlin, Nevada. Right on a Cove of Lake Mead. Four Mile unpaved Road to get down to the lake and anywhere between 15 to 20 camping spots depending on group size. Small boat launch for jet skis but not for bigger boats. Do not recommend trying to take anything bigger than a 35 ft RV down there. Two vault toilets and a garbage dumpster. Road is recently grated and other than a little bit of noise until 10:00 p.m., a great place for a night or several. Stay limit here is 7 days. I arrived Friday at 3:00 p.m. and found the last spot.