Maternity Well Group Campsite

Great little spot very near the paved road, with a very short well-maintained dirt road. No specific campsites, just an open area with easy turn around for big vehicles.

There are other nearby free sites further off down the paved side road. But this is the closest to Highway 10, about a 20 minute drive from the highway. Beautiful grasslands. A couple trees. Beautiful night sky. Great for a quick spot to sleep (drove here in the dark with no problems) or a longer stay.

I read at another website that this campsite costs 5 dollars - not free as listed above. ??
There WAS a covered sign near the turnoff that we did not stop at in the night when we arrived. Be sure to stop at that sign and confirm if there is a cost or not.

The Empire Ranch/Cienguita NCA is simply incredible. Stunning views, cooler weather, coyotes and wildlife everywhere. Great biking, dog walking and tasty well water at the Ranch House to refill on.

You have a choice of several campgrounds within the NCA, each with their pros and cons.

Best all around: Cienguita Campground. Most privacy, limited spots 6-10, large rigs can turn around here if no one is camping in the end spot. You are allowed through the cattle gate at the end of the road here but it will dead end into some very deep ruts and there are only 1-2 spots past the gate (close behind you.) No services. The road in is rough but Class A passable in dry weather only, expect tight spots.

Best for large rigs closest to entrance (least off roading required): Maternity Well with space for about 10 closely packed 5th wheels with a turn around at the bottom. No services.

Largest area with pit toilets: Airport (easily fit a festival of people twice while we were here.)

For you remote workers out there:

3-4 bars of unboosted Verizon LTE + AT&T LTE (avoid the ravines for best service.) TMobile ProjectFi was hit and miss. Speeds around 20 up/down for prepaid Verizon, great connection for meetings and conferencing.

We stayed in Tucson for most of the winter last year 2019. We were in Pima county fair grounds and when the crowds were too much for us we escaped to this wonderful area. It is beautiful anywhere you camp on this property there are a couple of spots we couldn’t get our 41 ft diesel pusher in but mostly we had no problems. There were weekends we could sit & watch the snow showers on the mountains all around us, some days we would watch the rain showers. We spent several weekends & days during the week, it is busy on the weekends like everywhere but during the week it was amazing! So quite & dark. Love it here

Stayed at Maternity Wells for one night on 9/19 and it was wonderful. Much cooler than Tucson with the 2,000 foot elevation gain and steady breeze. The site is very flat and just a short 1/4 mile off the paved road. No problem with our 20 foot single axle trailer and Tacoma. The campsite sits below a little hill so it’s hidden from the main road. Very private and quiet. We saw several antelopes and cows wandering through the prairie.

Quick access to Sonoita for forgotten supplies, and a short drive from the Empire Ranch Headquarters which is a must visit if you’re a history buff.

There is a sign that says permit required but after looking at the BLM website for the area I believe this is only for groups larger than 29 people.

Just a short distance from hey 83. Easy access for motorhomes. Have a 38’ with tow. Have Verizon cell and a TOGO using ATT, both worked.

There are numerous places to camp when you turn off from Rt 83. We chose the first turn off which is about a mile from Rt 83. The road is 6900A is about a 1/4 of mile long and ends at Empire Ranch. We had a great spot with views of the mountains around us and the sunrises and sunsets were awesome. If you travel further down 6900 which is a paved road it will take you to Live Oaks which is another primitive camping area.

Pulled in and checked the website. Seemed like I could camp there. Got all set up then went to read the sign and it said that individuals were not allowed to camp there. Sign gave several suggestions on where to camp.

Came down to go into Sonoita and hit the wineries. Not as many spots as other areas, but we just had one rig so it was fine. Only 5 minutes from the highway making it easy to get out and down into town. Very quiet and peaceful.

We found free camping at Maternity Well, Las Cienegas National Conservation Area in AZ. In this video, we take you a free camping area at the Maternity Well camping area within the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area in Arizona. The campsites at this BLM free camping area are big rig friendly. Verizon cellular service clocked in at 93.9 Mbps download speed and 7.28 Mbps upload speed. AT&T cellular service clocked in at 17.7 Mbps download speed and 17.3 Mbps upload speed. There was no T-Mobile cellular service at this location. Grid coordinates for this free camping location are as follows: 31.765805, -110.667183