Peg Leg

We stayed one night in the Peg Leg area. This is a dispersed camping area and there were a lot of ATVs zipping around while we were there on this Saturday night.

It's a large area so you don't have to be right next to anyone. We drove around a bit and found a nice spot with an existing fire pit. The land is nice and level in this area.

As we drove on to the dispersed camping area we notice a big sign that said the land was "for sale." It may be that some of this land is private and that it will be sold at some point and developed. Let's hope not as it was a great boondocking spot.

The sunset and sunrise where fantastic as the area is surrounded by mountains.

I would definitely want to return. Verizon was working weakly at our spot. If we stood on one side of our van we could get fairly good verizon, on the other side it did't work as well. A booster would help here.

There was some noise from ATVs zooming by, but I enjoyed watching them. Luckly the trail they were using was downwind from us so we didn't eat there dust. Watch that. (One star deduction for ATV noise and potential dust.)

Nearby is the Clark Dry Lake bed dispersed camping area that might not have as many ATVs. We didn't have time to check it out this trip.

The next morning we drove into Borrego-Springs and had a great breakfast at Kendall's Cafe. We also took the great nearby Palm Canyon Hike and the huge metal sculptures in the area.

Stayed here several times. Always nice and usually quiet.

Stayed 30 days Jan-Feb. Little tricky getting in due to dips at the entrance. Smaller area than the Rockhouse trail to the east. Was a chore to find level spots, it's just a little off kilter in most of the campground. Amenities can be found in Borrego Springs (5 miles) including stores, shops and 2 gas stations.

It IS at the crossroads of a highway and a normally used road. Noise was a little bit, especially during weekends where many camp across the S22 in the open land to the south.

There is a large open space on the inside of this corner (SE of the bend in the road). Pretty quiet as you can drive away from the highway and still have open, flat area for boondocking. Nice views of the mountains, only 10mins to Borrego Springs town.

The Peg Leg Smith free camping area is located at grid coordinates 33.294971, -116.297546 and is just off of the intersection of California Route S22 and Henderson Canyon Road. New vault toilets have been installed on-site at this Anza-Borrego Desert State Park free camping area. AT&T cellular service clocked in at 108 Mbps download speed and 3.64 Mbps upload speed. Verizon cellular service clocked in at 16.4 Mbps download speed and and zero upload speed. The Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Visitor Center and Borrego Springs are approximately 9 miles away from this big rig friendly free camping area.

Lots of nearby hiking.

Our AT&T was amazing, and our Verizon was good!

Plenty of parking, so dont worry about finding a spot.

I would recommend filling all tanks, dumping tanks filling propane and gas before coming here. It is somewhat secluded so gas, propane and food are pretty expensive here.

Stayed here on Memorial day weekend. Nobody else around except 1 night one other vehicle. Pit toilet on site. Temp was 100F, extremely windy, blew over our shade canopy. Cell signal was sketchy. Liked the proximity to Borrego Springs and the metal sculptures throughout the area. Good hiking.

Peg Leg has two areas to boondock. Both are accessible by pretty much any rig and both are free. On the north side of the highway is the Peg Leg Smith Memorial. This area is within Anza-Borrego State Park and is largely a gravel lot. There is a sign that states camping is limited to 14 days. On the south side of the highway is an area of desert which has been heavily used for camping. We stayed there and it will take any rig but be careful for soft sand. The best spot to pull into the area is where the sign announces that the land is for sale. It does appear to be private property that has entered the public domain. There is no camping limit and we saw one rig that was being lived in and did not look like it was going anywhere soon. It is a very large area so you can spread out and camp alone or pack in with 10-20 of your friends. It was quiet and pleasant during the work week and is convenient to Borrego Springs. The weekend is something else. It becomes a race track for off-road vehicles. Late night parties, including fireworks are the rule. If this is your ideal weekend, the south side is the perfect spot for you. Just throw your trash in with the piles left from last week's party. It's the desert, don't worry it will all decompose in a couple of hundred years. If you are looking for a more relaxing spot for the weekend I would suggest the north side of the highway if you want to stay at Peg Leg.

We stayed at the Peg Leg Smith Memorial. As mentioned there are two spots - one on the north side of S22 where the memorial is located and the other on the south side where many off-roaders usually go. It was quiet on the north side with only one or two campers nearby during our entire stay. The south side was quiet during the week but on the weekend dozens of people showed up and road atv's and motorcycles all over, along with target shooting at midnight. Fortunately we were far enough away it was not an issue but it would have been annoying if we camped on the south side next to them. The camp was in good shape and relatively clean. It's not a huge area but certainly big enough for several large rigs. There are so many other locations nearby that are not shown on Campendium. The state park is one of a few that allows dispersed camping without any permit or fees so you can go just about anywhere.

You'll want to plan a trip into Borrego Springs. It's 6 miles down the road and there are good bike lanes all over the area. The town is small and the traffic is light but there are several nice places to eat or visit in town. The sculptures are scattered all over and makes for a great bike ride to see them.

AT&T was great with 62Mbps download and 10Mbps upload using the Insty Connect. T-Mobile was very poor. Good enough for phone calls but data is too slow.