Free Camping Collection
Dispersed Camping
Snyder Hill BLM Camping Area
About
Bureau of Land Management
Camping on public lands away from developed recreation facilities is referred to as dispersed camping. Most of the remainder of public lands are open to dispersed camping, as long as it does not conflict with other authorized uses or in areas posted "closed to camping," or in some way adversely affects wildlife species or natural resources.
Dispersed camping is allowed on public land for a period not to exceed 14 days within a 28 consecutive day period. The 28 day period begins when a camper initially occupies a specific location on public lands. The 14 day limit may be reached either through a number of separate visits or through 14 days of continuous overnight occupation during the 28 day period. After the 14th day of occupation, the camper must move outside of a 25 mile radius of the previous location until the 29th day since the initial occupation. The purpose of this special rule is to prevent damage to sensitive resources caused by continual use of any particular areas. In addition, campers must not leave any personal property unattended for more than 10 days (12 months in Alaska).
Campsite Selection Dispersed camp sites are located along most secondary roads and may not be marked. Popular locations can be recognized by the telltale flat disturbed area that has been used as a camp site before. Not all flat spots are sites. If possible, please use existing sites to avoid creating new disturbances. To further protect your public lands, campers must not dispose of any refuse, hazardous materials, sewage, or in any manner pollute the surrounding area.
Fee Info
Free
Reservation Info
None
Location
Snyder Hill BLM Camping Area is located in Arizona
Coordinates
32.159657 N
111.115519 W
Access
- Drive-InPark next to your site
Stay Connected
- WiFiGood
- VerizonGood
- AT&TGood
- T-MobileGood
Site Types
- Tent Sites
- RV Sites
- Dispersed
Features
For Campers
- Phone Service
- Alcohol
- Pets
- Fires
For Vehicles
- Big Rig Friendly
Very busy with what looked like full time residents
I can’t say for sure because there is a posted 14 day limit but it looked like many of the people where living there are a permanent basis. Site is small and there is no privacy.
As a solo female, I didn’t stay here. I drove over to Ironwood NM and camped there instead.
Ok
Don't go if it rained that day! Clay mud all over. We arrived late dusk and couldn't see well. We have 4 wheels truck and still got stuck in the mud. Next morning most of the water had seeped in the ground... 9am tried to move.... no luck. Another camper offered wood boards... we'll see. If it would have been dry, it would be a great easy spot to use.
EASY EASY EASY. Just pack in and PACK OUT
Would recommend pulling in during the day when you have some sunlight. GREAT little hill to hike with a very defined rocky trail. Plenty of fire rings. Do your part and pick up some of the trash! It's such a well-trafficked area that the trash really piles up.
Great little gas station close with water and propane refill stations. Walmart not far either.
Pretty good access to Saguaro NP, less than a 30-minute drive to the visitor center and even closer to the Tuscon Mountain Range.
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Great Dry Camp at BLM Camp
Lots of campers here, but everyone keeps to themselves out here, you can only stay 14 days straight. 2 gas stations near by less then a 1/2 a mile away. Camp fires allowed and all animals have to be leashed. Small cave on the mountain next to it and trails to go on, plus dirt riding also. Liked it a lot.
An ok stop for a night's rest
It's an easy place to find, close to the highway. Take a hike to the top of the hill for a great view of the valley. Crowded when we were here. Go around the hill there are more spots and less people..
- (4) View All
Convenient but not nice
Lots of people and trash. Nice view of Tucson mountains and lots of space but that’s about it.
A place to sleep, but not a good one
This place is highly overcrowded and there is trash and garbage all over. If I had another option, I wouldn’t camp here for the night. Street noise, trash and overcrowding. Not a winner.
Not bad
Pretty full lots of RVs, tents, people sleeping in their cars for the night, heard shoot range in the morning, fairly quiet at night the road right beside us wasn’t too loud… heard animal noises in the hills maybe dinosaurs rawer’s (just kidding) but sounded like it.
Not the best
Although this is a place to legally park and camp, it’s pretty bad. It is absolutely jammed with folks all across the camping/living spectrum. It’s busy! There’s garbage and glass everywhere. Old tires, discarded clothes, plastic bags. Literally everywhere. Folks seem to let their dogs just run free and we were approached by several unfriendly barking jumping large dogs. There was also a slight feeling of being unsafe here - although just a feeling, nothing actually happened to back it up. We’ve been full time vanlifers for over a year and this is by far the most unpleasant place we’ve stayed. Does it work in a pinch, sure. Would I try to find somewhere else to camp if I were you - definitely.
- (6) View All
Pleasant stay here
After reading reviews I was skeptical. Some traffic noise but really not that bad. Looks like this area had been cleaned up from trash. I didn't have any trash in my area, few shady spots. Closest camper 150+ and barely visible through brush. Will be coming back.
- (6) View All
Legal parking is all
Not a pleasant place in any respect. Dirty, muddy disorganized. But free and convenient when visiting Saguaro National park when that campground is full.
Loud and dirty but, free.
Lots of glass and trash. Lots of road noise and utv activity. No availability at local campgrounds. Worked for one night.
BLM Land
Max 14 day stay free camping. No services. Great cell service. Close to Tucson
Road noise
People have left trash and tires everywhere it’s disgusting!
It's just a spot to park, honestly..
It's truely justa spot to park. We got there and it was kind of packed. We didn't want to park right next to other people so we drove down the road a bit to the east of the little mountain. We found a spot. That night police came blasting through shining spot lights, it appeared as though they were looking for someone in particular. The next day it was raining and we almost got stuck in the soggy sand, even with a 4x4 truck. Like I originally said, it's nice for a night or so but there are people permanently living here and everyone is quite close. Also, be careful if you have a dog, there is ALOT of broken glass everywhere!
Hey it’s Free
This BLM land has plenty of spots to park and camp. There is quite a bit of road noise though. Not bad for free camping though.
BLM site with some noise
Typical BLM site, road noise, and shooting range sounds are familiar here. The road and areas are pretty flat; ok in rains also
Nice stop of the highway.
The BLM land had several entrances. We went in towards the end of the road, but found the parking was more level at the third or forth turn off. We came in after dark so it was hard to say the best direct route. The second turn in is very steep. We saw the dip when we went to leave and opted for the first turnoff closer to the light. The rocky hill was a nice walk with the dogs in the morning. Lots of rabbits got them excited. Not overly clean, but I would stop here again. The amenities are easy to access. This is one of the few areas I’ve seen where you can access BLM parking and get gas and groceries at the same exit. It’s about 8 miles off the highway. The area isn’t vast but large enough for privacy. It’s perfect for a quick overnight stop.
BLM Close to Tucson
Easy to find spots to car-camp or pull in your RV. Wifi signal was sufficient to FaceTime friends. Ajo Hwy noise was not overwhelming. 20 minutes to Tucson. There is even a McDonalds and gas station nearby that caters to the vacationers heading down to Puerto Peñaso in Mexico.
- (4) View All
Beautiful Sunsets and excellent cell coverage!!
This is a huge dispersed camping area. You definitely want to go early in day to scout out a spot because it is quite large. The campground has "all walks of life" staying here. You will see areas with upper scale 5th wheels/travel trailers all the way down to people living full time in cars/tents although the max allowable stay is supposedly 2 weeks per stay. The main road is paved, but then you have to pull off into gravel/dirt roads that are hard bottomed. Many areas have ruts so if u have a low axle, you will need to scout area first. If you have a small camper/tent and a 4 wheel drive you can drive up to the top of some areas to get spectacular sunsets over the city lights of Tucson. The solar system of stars is breath taking at night. I highly recommend this campground. There is a convenience store less than a mile down the main highway for any amenities you may need. There is no water/electric/dump station, but there are two different truck stops who have dump station and potable water. Generators are allowed in less populated areas but we asked our neighbors anyway and they had no problem with it. It is also a popular area for recreational vehicles and dust can be high at times with them running around as well as on days of high wind. There are bobcats, mountain lions, coyotes, snakes and spiders. We did not encounter any but they all have been reported so I guess it will be the area u choose as well as the season when u arrive.
We will definitely be returning when in the area. I hope this helps with any questions u may have had.
- (6) View All
Rough access free blm
The Snyder Hill BLM area is a bit of a trashy rough road access site. No water, no toilets, 14d limit. Good cell and close to Tucson. Hwy noise could be a factor. BLM rangers visit weekly.
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Gets busy
There are multiple entrances along Old Ajo and S San Joaquin. The best we found has 2 large dips. Some have quite a few more or really deep ones. If coming in with a lower ground clearance vehicle, or a longer one that may bottom out you might want to scout them out first. Once inside the camping area there are lots of spots to choose from. The smaller and more nimble the vehicle gives more choices. There is a mix of local transients, that sleep in tents and small RVs as well as travelers. These sites offer a good amount of privacy from the hwy and roads but depending on the site within there may not be much privacy. Further east on Old Ajo just east of S Camino Verde is another site that travelers with larger rigs seen to prefer. However, there isn't much privacy at all from neighbors, hwy 86 or Old Ajo. Access is flatter though. No water, electricity, or dump. For $15 you can dump and fill at right on San Joaquin at Justin's RV park or there are free options in town (20 minute drive). Signs day 14 day stay. It doesn't appear to be currently enforced but a BLM official does drive through occasionally. We didn't see him stop to speak to any campers.
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Watch out for rattle snakes! Saw one right next to my fire pit.
Good spot, good cell (Verizon), road noise, traffic lights
Good spot, easy access to Tucson area. The pinpoint and some reviews have it off snyner hill road, I'm not sure that area is legal to camp but I would not recommend it at all, a lot of trash dumped there and clearly used for target practice. The actual blm camping area is marked on Google maps as blm camp and in the triangle of San juaquin, old ajo hwy and ajo hwy. You will see cars/campers and signs with the camping rules noted, its clearly marked. Many low shrubs and trees so while sites are close they can feel separated. There is a gun range nearby that you can hear and pretty sure we also heard gun fire in that area off snyder hill road that I mentioned above.
Would stay here again, you may hear other campers (we had people playing music loudly but they stopped at 10pm) traffic noice isn't bad over night but there is a traffic light so you might was ear plugs and a sleep mask
Quiet & Very Close to Saguaro NP (west)
This BLM property, right off the Ajo highway near Tucson, is extremely convenient for a short or extended stay. Anyone can stay up to 14 nights, free of charge. Greeted people here from all walks of life -- from those living out of the back of truck to brand new 45 foot motorhomes.
Like many high-impact BLM areas, the entrance roads are not well-maintained so some are quite rough. We arrived in the dark, which we do not recommend as it was difficult to see where the entrances were and how rough the roads were ahead of us. The parking/camping spaces are not designated, but heavy use has carved out lots of opportunities.
There are a few places to walk or ride throughout the property, which is actually quite small based on typical BLM property. However, the nearby areas of Saguaro National Park and Tucson Mountain Park, offer plenty of opportunities for both.
No facilities, no water or even a stream…so plan ahead!
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Boondocking Area
Bureau of Land Management site. 14 day limit. Easy access and we were able to park our 42 ft motor home easily. The area is quiet with trails and lots of area to walk your four legged camper! We saw horseback riders and ATVs enjoying the area. We were able to stay in contact (ATT ) and the city is within an easy drive for supplies. This is a boondock area. Be aware that while camping here you are sharing the area with wildlife (including rattlers). Boondocking etiquette applies (pick up trash and leave the area cleaner than when you arrived). We have camped here several times and will certainly return!