Craggy Wash Dispersed Camping

Craggy Wash is on BLM land and is a gravel 'campground.' There are no designated sites so it is kind of a free for all. As mentioned above, it is close to Hwy 95 which is the primary road into Lake Havasu City. Consequently the noise was pretty much non-stop. So if you are looking for a quiet site you might want to look elsewhere.

All that being said... the views are rather dramatic with all the volcanic cinder cones the dot the landscape.

The "camp host" Mark was pleasant enough but it seemed a bit odd to think that this location actually has a camp host as selected by the BLM. I could be wrong, but it seemed a bit peculiar.

A sign at the turn from highway 95 (which is at the north end of the airport) says that camping areas start in a mile. The track goes back for several miles. I found a spot about two miles in. Total seclusion except for some ATVs that went placidly by once in the afternoon. There were three bighorn sheep by the track, but they trotted away before I could get my camera out and turned on. Besides sites right along the main track, there are occasional side tracks with sites. Even though the wash is in a canyon, there's still 4G service. Since the track is the wash, this isn't a place I'd want to be during rainy weather.

We stayed here in March 2016. Although the signs clearly say the camping area starts a mile back from the highway, we saw plenty of RVs camped all along the access road for the first mile. There was no camp host here, so I guess it was more of a free-for-all. At the one-mile mark there was a pretty large area that had 15 or so RVs spread throughout. Further along the road were numerous smaller pull-outs that held one, or two RVs each. We found a spot in the large/first area where we could get plenty of sun for our solar panels. If you park close to the cliffs you will be in the shade all day long. The dirt access road is in pretty good condition, which means cars, trucks, RVs, and ATVs zip by pretty quickly, kicking up dust. The camping sign states that quiet hours are 10pm-6am, and there were two RVs near us that had their generators running non-stop from 6:01am-9:59pm, while we never heard any generator usage from the other 13 RV in this area. Verizon and AT&T had strong LTE signals, but we found the AT&T data to be much faster than Verizon data. The entrance to Craggy Wash is less than a mile from a very new looking Walmart, and only nine miles from the London Bridge beach area. Being BLM land, we found plenty of places to walk our dog, though he preferred heading to the dog park at London Bridge beach where he could swim for a while and then play in the park. We enjoyed our stay here and will definitely stay here again. Free camping nine miles from the tourist areas of town is a good deal! Lake Havasu State Park is 7 miles away and has a dump station for $15, although we didn't end up using it.

My husband cleaned Craggy up from the top to the bottom. He enjoyed going out and walking around at leisure picking up LARGE bags. We also picked up about 500 dog messes. (we LOVE dogs so don't take offense)

The hosts help to keep the free camping going on for future folks. We have been full time for 19 years and we learn as we camp in different areas.

The rules haven't been enforced for so long that some don't know that for free areas after 14 day camping they are supposed to go 25 miles away. It is in the paper that the BLM has in the office.
It makes some folks upset but don't blame the hosts for informing as that is part of their job.
If the camper is upset they should take it up with the office

The officer told us to let folks know the rules. No host wants to make people upset !

We truly enjoyed our mid December stay in Craggy Wash. Both ATT and Verizon had great service.

We couldn't have asked for anything more! Up to 14 nights free of charge, ATV friendly, close to movies and shopping, fishing, hiking, safe, sightseeing and great cell service. The presence of campground hosts help to keep this little gem what it is.

Lake Havasu City is an ATV friendly town and we were able to take side streets and trails to get around town. The wind was blowing the entire time we were here so we couldn't take the kayaks out. I was able to go to a nearby fishing dock and catch catfish. Since it was only 10 minutes away we took in two movies while staying there.

The entrance is at the north end of the airport and it's about 1 mile on a fair dirt road to the camping area. There is a restaurant and brewery located at the municipal airport and it was a nice treat.

Warning: don't venture too far off of the established driving areas. Thousands of pallets must have been burned here over the years and there are nails everywhere.

This was definitely a happy place for us and our videos reflected it.
Coming: https://youtu.be/h6_Url7W490
Playing tourist: https://youtu.be/RHj7XIOTPy4
The shopping area and brewery:
https://youtu.be/H7okK7qi67U
Fishing: https://youtu.be/hqrCWFKZAu8
Exploring town: https://youtu.be/OKOft8i7YPA

We've stayed for 3 days so far and it's been nice. Up to 14 days of free camping on BLM land. The road in is relative good. A few rough spots but nothing major. We would recommend this area. Easy on and off from the freeway. Cell reception can vary depending on where you camp so beware of that. It can get busy on the weekends so best to arrive early on an off day. No trash service so pack it out and help keep places like this open and free for everyone to enjoy.

we enjoyed our 14 day stay at craggy wash! the camp host was super friendly and so were the other campers. we have a pop-up camper but there were many different size rigs from big to small. the land goes back 9 miles but we chose to stay close to the entrance making it easy to come and go. walmart is a mile away and took about 12 min to get to town. the site was right by the airport but we never heard noises. there were a few super windy days but this was the best spot to be camped at considering the south side BLM is on wide open land & craggy wash had mountains along the sides. cell phone service was excellent, the best we’ve had camping on BLM land. we will be camping here again on our next pass through. we highly suggest this spot to stay.

Easy to get our 25 ft class C into. Road is well compressed dirt and rocks but nothing sharp unlike many places. Spots are numerous and well maintained. Camp host is very friendly. You're surrounded by mountains and wildlife that do keep their distance from the campsites. Big horned sheep, coyote, Harris antelope squirms and even beautiful hummingbirds. We have stayed here twice and will be back.

We LOVED this wash. It was deep enough that you could camp apart from other campers and find your own space. There were a lot of campers in January, but enough space to be apart. We camped in here with several other families and loved it. Kids enjoyed climbing all of the hills and mountains. Husband climbed Kong Rock. Sunsets were beautiful. We loved this space and would so go back again! Your 10 minutes up the road from town, so its quick access. There are a few sketchy people camping along the wash, but they kept to themselves. Its a huge variety of people. Huge rids to tents that have been there for a while. Overall, a great spot!

We stayed at Craggy Wash last February and loved it, were excited to be returning this year. But what a difference a year makes. Last year there was a very thorough host at the entrance and this year there is nobody there and the host one mile up the road doesn't seem to be writing permits or monitoring length of stay. Not sure if this is what's made the difference.

There's garbage, bagged and left in some of the sites and here and there along the road. There is half-burned food and garbage in firepits, which attracts rodents and is a concern for those of us with dogs.

People aren't picking up after their dogs. We have an old dog who can only manage the roadway for his walks and it is just a trail of poo. Disgusting.

The burning of pallets and the nails it leaves behind is an issue everywhere but definitely here. There's even a stack of broken pallets in one of the empty campsites along the road.

It was busy here last year but this year it seems the traffic is constant, especially in the afternoons. Trucks, cars, vans, ATVs going by regularly, many going faster than the posted limit and creating dust and noise. Some vehicles drive by us numerous times each day.

When you see this many people camping in tents, cars, vans, and other units that are not self-contained, and there are no pit toilets or other facilities, you have to wonder where they're going. So far I've only seen toilet paper here and there at the bottoms of bushes, but where there's paper...

I hate to say it because it's such a beautiful area with abundant wildlife, but we are unlikely to camp here again unless we hear that it has been cleaned up and that people are just camping here, not living.