Blair Valley Dispersed Camping

There is boondocking close to the entrance of Blair Valley, however, it can get crowded on the weekends and isn't especially scenic. I also think cell service isn't as good at the entrance.

We camped much farther down the dirt road at Blair Valley. My biggest complaint is the road itself. We had a heck of a time maneuvering our 27 foot Airstream down the rutted road. Our spare tire even got stuck once (it's located under our hitch) and we had to back out and approach at a different angle.

Once we got in, camping was lovely. The elevation brought the cooler temperatures that we were looking for in April.

Cell service was weird. AT&T was 4G and worked great. Verizon was also 4G but only data worked. We couldn't place or receive phone calls on our verizon phone. Also, there isn't any over-the-air television here.

It's a pretty isolated location. We got our mail and groceries in Borrego Springs, and dumped in Salton Sea.

I'm not sure that we would go back because getting in and leaving was a bit stressful.

Stayed here for the weekend with my family. Really enjoyed it! We found it to be very relaxing to get away from the city. Wish we could stay longer so much to explore at Anza Borrego... We will return!

Easy to find. When coming from the north take the first entrance and do not follow the directions from Apple maps. There are several nice spots near the front for big rigs where the road is smooth. We traveled a bit farther and found a spot nestled among the rocks.
There is a very nice view of the mountains to the west and granite hills to the east. The roads are decomposed granite and quite smooth until you are a ways down the road. The entire area has a gentle slope towards the road. We needed to level 3 inches west/east and as far as possible south/north; but we were able to get a complete level!

Please choose your times to camp in the area carefully. At 2540' the winters could get very cold and during the summer months it can get quite hot.

The area has no cacti and is made up of creosote bushes. We spent an afternoon watching a hawk circle the hills next to us and the bats as they came out at night. At dusk there was some gentle hooting from a nearby owl. Other than that there were no other signs of wildlife (other than a lizard or two). One thing to watch for is the copious ants mounds that litter the area. We saw a few broken bits of glass but we were quite impressed by how well others have kept the area clean.

Depending on where you park, the AT&T service ranged from 2 to 4 bars of 4G (unboosted).

We are very happy with the site we found. We were able to find a nearly level spot away from other campers and not far off the road. We pulled in during the afternoon on the second day of fall and were able to pull in 9.8 amps from our 200W solar set up.
Other than the occasional jets and the rare vehicle that would come this far down the road we were blissfully surrounded by silence.

We stayed at Blair Valley February 22nd - March 4th, 2017 on the recommendation of our friends who had recently stayed themselves. It worked out perfectly for us, as we were also looking for a place to stay for a visit to San Diego. (Blair Valley is about two hours from San Diego)

The area is BLM managed and includes restrooms towards the front. There are plenty of established sites on both sides of the valley.

Accessibility was not a problem for us in our Class A rig. The roads are dirt and include a fair amount of grooves, as well as the occasional pothole. We zipped around in our Jeep first to locate a site, so we already knew that there was nothing along the way that our rig couldn’t pass. Just take it slow.

When you enter, there are crisscrosses of small roads with sites in the initial area around the restrooms. You will generally choose to either head right or left around the outsides of the valley. The right side of the valley has fewer sites, maybe four or five. This road eventually connects with a paved road which will take you back to the highway.

The left side of the valley (the direction we went) has a countless number of sites. These sites are grouped into sort of “coves” in the valley walls. The sites are typically large and generously spaced from one another. Groups would have no problem here. With the number of sites and the distance from one another, you can easily be as far from neighbors as you would like.

Some sites are situated on slopes and could prove challenging to level out depending on the rig.

We found the area to be very quiet during the week, and then it would fill up over the weekend. Cars or dirt bikes would occasionally pass by our site heading further into the valley, but overall, a very quiet and relaxed atmosphere in this area. We felt comfortable leaving our rig for two separate day trips to San Diego.

We learned after leaving, that the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park was hosting a Desert Safari event the week that we were there, so it may have been busier than usual for us.

If you continue to follow the left road, you’ll reach two different trailheads. The Pictograph Trail, and Ghost Mountain. We did both during our stay and really enjoyed them. I would especially recommend the Pictograph trail.

Reception was strong and fast for both Verizon and AT&T for us. We were able to work and stream with no issues.

We arrived with intentions of staying all week and doing some boondocking. Unfortunately there was rain in the forecast and we decided to move to a campground rather than take a chance with mud. It may have been totally fine but we were nervous nellies. :)

We arrived on a Saturday afternoon and there was an abundance of people. Even then, there were still plenty of great sites to choose from. We took our class A a good ways down before decided to unhook the Jeep and scout out some more. The road gets soft in places but we never had any issues.

The place we chose was fairly un-level but with some leveling blocks and such, all was well. Just be prepared to spend a little extra time leveling up.

There are pit toilets but we didn't use them. As we were leaving, they were being cleaned and restocked.

The views are what makes this place, though. You're in a valley and next to a dry lake bed. On a clear night you can see millions of stars. The odd generator may be heard in the distance but they didn't run for long. It was super quiet by 8:00 or 8:30. It really made you feel alone out there.

We will most definitely be coming back to this site. It's beautiful and easily accessible. Take your time on some of the mountain roads, they get a bit twisty but we had zero issues in our 31 foot class A towing our Jeep. There is a RV park about 2 or 3 miles up the road that has a dump available (for a fee), laundry, and a general store. We didn't use it but I spoke with them and they said it is no problem.

Cell service with T-Mobile was slow. Full LTE but slow speeds, boosted. AT&T had a good signal without the booster and routinely got 20 megs down.

I absolutely loved staying at this park. It’s so quiet and the mountains surrounding you are stunning. We stayed for 2 nights and never had any neighbors. It seems like everyone either parks at the front near the bathrooms are in the back. We stopped in the middle right next to a lovely little trail that lead you up to the top of the small mountains. The view at the top is stunning and the short hike is very easy to do. 10/10 would stay here again. I’d imagine this gets pretty full in the summer, but there were plenty of spots in the middle of March.

Apple maps will tell you that you have to prepare to park and walk to your destination, which is false. Just take the dirt road down after the Blair Valley sign and you’ll be set.

We stayed here for 2 days while we checked out this area of the park. Access is easy enough, some loose sand and washboard road but nothing we couldn't handle while towing our car. It is a fairly busy area with lots of people coming and going thru out the day. There are lots of areas to set up camp along the left side of the road for all size rigs. I don't recommend taking a RV past the road sign that lists the three hikes, its about a mile down the dirt road.

As I mentioned there are three short different hikes located a few miles further down the dirt road. This is the best spot we found in the area if you need cell and wifi, as we found out when we moved Yaqui Pass. The only amenity is a vault toilet. Town is about 30 minutes from here, best to come prepared.

One bathroom out by the road but...hey...at least theres one. I didn't use it so I dont know how clean it is. The road getting to the sites is loose and sandy but manageable. Perfect for dual sport tent camping (which is what I'm doing) Cell service is weak but there. I got between 1 and 3 bars(mostly 1)of 4G for Verizon. Nice twisties on the ride from San Diego and most of the road in is newly paved. I'm here in mid October and the place is empty.

Stayed here for a week in March 2019 while hunting for Super Bloom hotspots in Anza-Borrego State Park and around the Borrego Springs area. Very nice valley with lots of room and lots of places to set up camp. Bonus: Agua Caliente County Park and hot springs are only about 15 away on the same hiway.

We stayed in this beautiful valley in late March 2019 and there were still plenty of flowers and cacti blooming from winter rains. As you can see from my pics, the dry lake bed which normally would be sand was lush and green! The campground is only 6 miles south of the Scissors Crossing intersection and easy to miss as the sign is parallel to the road and not perpendicular, we flew right past it the first time :D Not many hikes nearby from what I could tell but a great spot as home base.