roadtripper3869961

Camped Sunday night, 2/3/19. As per the other reviews, it was crowded, even on a rainy Sunday evening. However, we found a spot, and surprisingly, it was level. This boondock site is sandy gravel with dips and hills, and no marked sites; you just park wherever. Being rainy, there was some mud and soft areas where people drove, but mostly it was hard-packed. There were a number of larger to smaller RVs and some tents. The area is enclosed in barbed wire fence. No porta-potties or trash containers provided, and people left their trash laying around. While the road noise wasn't bad, someone ran their generator all through the night.

On the flip side, the views and landscape are amazing, and the location convenient. My husband had to catch an early morning flight out of Gateway Airport in Mesa, which was a half hour away.

A fellow camper said the weekend was noisy with partying. We'd stay here again, but only if we had to.

Saturday night stay, 5/12/18
GPS 34.2978,-112.1407

We went to the spot on the right (NE) side of Bloody Basin road, but it was pretty trashed, plus there was some soft sand. So we decided to go back a bit and camped on the side road going SW. Fairly level, big, clean, and there was a fire ring of rocks. There were other sites along this side road, but not all were level, and at least one we checked out had more trash and shotgun shells.

Our site had great views and was quiet, but you could hear a little I-17 traffic; however, it was not much and seemed to come and go with the wind. At night, we were surprised how much car traffic came down Bloody Basin Rd. The side road we were on led to a cattle water tank; it was rutted in spots, but not bad. In the morning, a rancher lady checked the tank, then stopped by to say hello and tell us snakes and Gila monsters were out.

We'd stay in this spot again, or maybe go to further back from Bloody Basin Rd.

Stopped here 5/11/21 to get gas and fill our water tank. There are two dump station lanes, and I checked the water pump nearest the gas pumps, but it didn't work. However, luckily enough, there was a water pump right at the gas pump we stopped at, pump #10. We asked an employee who was cleaning the pump areas if it was okay to fill our camper tank and he said yes, no charge.

Camped 6/8/2020 (Monday night). Driving north on I-25, we took Exit 156 and Frontage Rd (west side of interstate). It was about 5 miles to the first San Lorenzo Canyon sign pointing to the left. Since this was just an overnight stop, we didn't go all the way back into the canyon, but picked a spot along the gravel road that takes you to the BLM entrance and Enchantment Trail. Our spot was at 34.2227,-106.9387. The site had two entrances, but the first had a low ditch, so we took the second. The short drive into the site had a loop and was level.

After unhitching and setting up, we drove the road farther down to get the canyon. There's a second sign pointing you to take a right to San Lorenzo Canyon. There were plenty of spots back there, but the road had been graded, so there were mounds of soft dirt/gravel on each side. Some (not all) areas for camp sites along the road looked pretty soft, and there were soft spots on the road too, but we had no problem in our truck. As noted, the road dead ends in a large area where you can camp or turn around.

Our site along the first road had good views of the landscape and the Rio Grande valley. A cell tower was in site, getting us 3-4 bars. When we were there, it was SUPER windy, and it was only slightly better in the rocky canyon area. We didn't hear any noise (except the wind), and there were no other campers all the way back to the dead end. Our site had no trash, but there was a bit of trash at the dead end where we stopped to check out the rock formations.

Leaving, we went under the skinny tunnel under the interstate (by the first San Lorenzo Canyon sign) with no issue in our Tundra & camper. This got us to the frontage road on the east side, where we got back on the interstate to the north at Exit 163.

Sunday night stay, 5/13/18

This is a beautiful spot to camp, although due to the elevation, it's still a bit chilly mid-May (at least when we were there). We had no problem driving FR225 in our little van, but noticed the road did a slow climb. Passing the first and second spots closer to the main road (both empty), we drove back to explore other sites, and there was only one other RV camper back farther. Stopping at another site past them, it was just too windy, so decided to go back down to the first sites. Took the the nice big spot, close to main road (Hwy 89A).

This spot, as shown in the pictures, is nice, large and fairly level, with a fire ring of rocks. Access easy for this one; maybe not as easy for the sites farther back. There was some grass area around the large dirt area. It was quiet at night, but in the day, there was a fair amount of traffic on Hwy 89A. We had no cell service (AT&T).

Arrived Wednesday 5/16/18, left Friday 5/18/18
Elevation 5105

We were glad to have arrived early afternoon, since most spots were already taken and more campers arrived after us. Number of sites states 5, but the areas are large, and when we were there, sites were being shared. There was a tent camper at the site we chose, but there were two fire rings, so we camped next to him.

It's a beautiful locale, with the river and interesting rock formations. Wind was blowing through the canyon when we arrived, but calmed down in the evening. Days were sunny, perfect and warm, but nights were chilly. Due to the colder nights, we did a day trip to Bryce from this campground instead of moving up closer to that park.

Our spot had hard sand and some grass, but other sites had soft sand. Some sites were closer to the water. We didn't see trash at the sites. There were no ATVers or hunters while we were there.

Thunderbird Restaurant was convenient for a decent meal and using Wifi. Very friendly service!

I wanted to give this 5 stars, but didn't due to lack of privacy and the amount of people going up and down the road - some not slow - which kicked up dust. The trucks may have been going to the ranch down the road. Others would go back and forth looking for a campsite, even late into the night.

We stopped here to fill our camper with water before heading west to Ajo. Water spigot is around the north side of the building, across from where the RV fueling lanes are (next to the air vac pump as noted in the previous review). No hose provided; our 25' hose was just long enough going underneath the camper. Since we pulled into the station and around the building to the pump, our direction meant the camper's fill port was on the opposite side.

There was room to park and fill along the curb, but we were blocking vehicles in parking spaces with our truck. Good water pressure.

Camped 10/9/19-10/11/19 (Wed-Fri). Paid $10 for 2 people for the week to cover our 3-night stay. We thought it'd be boondocking here, but paid since the fee station notice stated all vehicles must have a permit, and besides, we planned on hiking. Use Fees were $2/day per person, $5/per person/weekly fee.  Note that rates increase 1/1/2020 (see photos).

Arriving in the evening, we put the truck in 4 wheel drive as parts of the road were covered in fine red sand.  We headed back farther than the first trailhead, and set up in a large open spot by the bridge & creek.  It wasn't until the next morning, we saw that there was a second trailhead across the road and we had camped in the trailhead parking lot (there were no signs, however, and there had previously been a fire ring).

Our neighbors across the creek left the next morning, so we moved to that spot, which was beautiful except for the fine dust that gets EVERYWHERE, especially when you have a dog.  We backed the camper in, and there was room for the truck.  We had no cell service here, but had 3-4G at the beginning by the fee station.

The site was quiet and clean, but there was occasional traffic going by.  Driving further down the road to explore, camp sites were few & far between.  We ended up turning around and not driving to the end.  There are more site options at the beginning of the road, but some are rocky and unlevel.  As in a previous review, there is an old corral area that is easy to get into and level.

We hiked both creekbeds (no water during our visit).  The first trailhead along the road goes to House of Fire (about a mile hike one way).  The second trailhead has some ruins up in the rocks above the creekbed.  No signs pointing them out; we found them by chance by climbing the rocks in certain spots.  At the fee station, there are no informative maps showing where anything is on the trails; in fact, we found nothing mentioned on the House of Fire ruins at all, nor Cave Towers.  Mule Canyon Ruins are along Hwy 95, just past (west) the Mule Canyon Trailhead road.  For these ruins, the road to the parking area is paved, and there are vault toilets.

We only needed to fill our water tank and didn't need to get gas at that time, so we asked the attendant first if it was okay to fill up with water. He said it was fine, but we might want to use our own hose, which we had planned to do anyway. (Later, we did get gas & ice here.)

Nice station, and lots of room for maneuvering.

Camped 10/19/18-10/20/18 (Fri & Sat). We entered from the east (Hwy 163), which seemed an easier way in and more scenic than the west entrance. We drove the whole loop road, and the west end part of the road was in not as good as shape, and had dips and hills. Brown "Valley of the Gods" signs on the main highways at each end of the VOTG loop road point the way to turn in.

The site we picked was about 4 miles in (from east entrance), on a cliff edge over a dry creek bed. Very scenic, but the first thing to greet us was a small rattlesnake. It moved off however, and we stayed (with no further sightings of the snake). Elevation on my phone showed 4759'.

Rain had gone through before we arrived, so there were no issues with dust thankfully. Rain clouds came in the first morning though and brought a beautiful rainbow. Such an incredible place!! There was quite a bit of daytime traffic (sightseers), and we had a couple neighbors, but all campers were pretty spread out.