Best Dispersed Camping near Calipatria, CA

Free dispersed camping just North of Interstate 10. Take the paved road North about a mile and you can turn left or right on the "main road" just before the park entrance (right before the berm) . A few people were camping South of the Interstate. Dirt road has some washboards but it firmly packed and can be driven by any type of vehicle. If you take one of the smaller side roads, you may have more trouble and there are less camp sites cleared on those roads, but are more private.

Lot's of people cluster up near the paved road but the further you go away from the paved from the more space and privacy you have. I went about 3 miles to the West from the paved road and had about a quarter mile in each direction between me and my neighbors.

No noise except maybe once and hour a car drives by but it's not disturbing. Camp fire rings made of rocks in almost all clearings. Very private and a huge bonus to have cell and internet at almost full signal in such a remote place.

It is BLM dispersed camping so it's free, first come first served, and has zero amenities. Be sure to fully stock up on water, gas, propane etc before arriving in the area.

Gas station next exit down the highway about 4 miles. Has a free water spout for customers but it's kind of slow so don't plan on filling a 90 gallon tank this way. No firewood sold there, you have to go 30 minutes into Indio.

Verizon Cell/Network Service: 5/5 - Full bars in the BLM land

AT&T Internet Service - 4/5 - Half bars, great for how remote it is

Rig Details: 2008 Toyota Tundra 4WD w/ 27ft Travel Trailer

We loved this spot. FREE Dispersed camping is located just past power lines behind the actual hot springs. To stay at the LTVA you must have self contained trailer, van, rv…we didn’t know this. It worked out better-FREE camping and just a lil over an ¼ mile to the springs. It is well maintained by camp host Bill. Vault toilets, with TP & bonus there is great food at The Holtville Taco Shop 7 miles from springs. The Del Sol market has great marinated chicken for the BBQ and the tortillas are best outside of Mexico I have found. We will be back as the sunsets are too good not to experience over and over again…cold at night this time of year…

We love this BLM dispersed boondock area. It’s one of our go-tos. There’s always room, even though there are always lots of other campers here. Once you leave the main road and drive on the dirt road for a bit in either direction, people start to thin out and you have your own huge patch of camping. 

The road is washboard in parts, but manageable. Heads up that the BLM land is a checkerboard type situation, but nobody seemed to care. People were camped anywhere, and we’ve never seen anyone from BLM come by. 

Cell service is great out here. Getting your spot level is tricky each time, and we usually have to dig a hole on one side and use levels on the other just to get our rig level. Of course we fill the holes back in when we leave.

I researched this spot a ton and was hesitant to go - mostly because my 1987 VW Westfalia isn’t 4WD, and everything I read said you must have an off road vehicle, but the area looked beautiful and we didn’t have lots of campground options based on COVID park closures so we went.

I’m glad we did.

Box Canyon Road - the main road that goes right through Mecca Hills is paved and that drive alone was worth it. Beautiful.

The reviews were right that my car couldn’t make it to Painted Canyon or Mecca Wilderness Campground (a bit past Painted Canyon), but because it’s BLM land there’s dispersed camping anywhere off Box Canyon Road, which was amazing.

We saw old campfire pits all over and we pulled off on a dirt road that didn’t need 4WD, found a man made rock pit and setup shop. It was around a mountain so we felt totally isolated.

I had to be careful where to drive as there’s lots of sand but it was great. Glad we went. There were two other cars within site of us doing the same thing.

We had a great fire that night and enjoyed the stars and solitude.

This campground (and I use the term loosely) is everything that I love about BLM land - dispersed, quiet, and FREE! No amenities and not a ton of privacy for outdoor bathroom usage, but not crowded enough for it to matter. Tons of spaces along several different dirt roads. Rock fire pits at most every campsite, the majority of which are flat and not too sandy.

When coming from I10, head towards Joshua Tree NP and just before the NP sign (can’t be more than a couple hundred feet), you’ll see dirt roads going both left and right - we went right and had no issue on the road with our Subaru Crosstrek and small tow-behind popup camper, although it could’ve been more difficult for 2WD vehicles.

Be aware that although this camping is super close to the park, the majority of park attractions and hikes are in the north end, so be prepared to drive through. However, it is super close (about 10 mins) to the Cottonwood Visitor Center, which has 24/7 bathrooms (I think?), and the Lost Palms Oasis Trail. Nearest gas station is in Chiriaco Summit, about 13 minutes away, and nearest city is Indio, which is about 35 minutes.