Old Ajo Highway

I was surprised to find this BLM spot situated so close to urban area. From our rig we can see a stoplight to the south of us and the local fire station to the west. A little patch of land that has about 8 rigs on it while we were there. The site could handle a few more. I would only recommend this as an overnight spot but it looks as if some of the rigs are here for longer. Convenient for Old Tucson and Saguarro NP to North.

After a LONG day of driving and getting to a first come first serve campsite that was completely packed, we were not sure what to do. The neighborhood where Walmart is located has a HOA that doesn't allow RV's to park overnight, the usual (Cabela's, rest stops, etc), were all pretty far away, everywhere was fully booked... BUT... Old Ajo BLM land was our savior. There is LOTS of space to park, access is easy - we are almost 60' long and were able to navigate in with ease, the land is level and the area is clean. We felt totally safe here and did not see any long term residents.

The downsides are that the site is located between two relatively busy roads so there is some traffic noise - but surprisingly it was not too loud. I made a video to share that will give you an idea of what it looks like under the VIDEO tab.

We stayed here for one night; Dec 5th, 2020. It is a wide open, desert area, with a highway not far away. Access is easy. There were at least a dozen other campers sharing the area, but there is plenty of space, so no problem. The area is entirely gravel, with scrub brush scattered around to break things up. We did hear sirens occasionally from the nearby highway, but it was tolerable. This is an excellent location to access Saguaro N.P. and/or the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. I'd highly recommend the latter. We would certainly camp here again.

I felt very comfortable here for a night. It didn’t seem like a fun spot to hang out during the day, but once the sun’s down, it’s fine. I like that there’s lots of activity around. The area was clean, with a mix of tent and RV campers, and unlike some of the more remote BLM sites, the size of the lot is small enough to discourage folks who might want to set up a residence.

We picked this boondock spot for the previous reviews of being easy to find as we were coming in late. It was very easy to find! And even though there were quite a few people there, it is a really big space so there are a lot of spots to be spread out from each other.
This spot served its purpose for our goals- quick, clean, safe, and close to the western side of Saguaro National Park. Great cell service, close to grocery store and restaurants.

There was a lot of people at this site, right next to the highway, you can hear cars going by, and not enough privacy to use the bathroom outside. It’s convenient to the National park (only 20 mins away), but I prefer a more remote location.

Easy access. Small but enough room to spread out. Close to highway.

We found a level place to camp pretty quickly. The surrounding mountains cactus are beautiful. Our camp was pretty quiet because we found a spot a few hundred yards away from Ajo Hwy. There are lots of campers so if you're looking for solitude this isn't the place for you. But if you're looking to be close in town and camping for free this is a great place.

We drove here thinking we wouldn’t mind staying based on the reviews and photos. However, as soon as we arrived we felt uncomfortable. As of 2/23 there are SOO many RVs and tents. Some look like they havn’t moved in a very long time (old and run down, some up on jacks, missing tires) despite the 14 day limit. And lots of people look like they live there. There was old furniture and trash strewn about and not really any space we felt comfortable parking. Everyone was already on top of each other. There was a sheriff there but I’m not sure what for. As it was getting dark we left and decided we’d feel more comfortable in a Walmart parking lot

It was safe and had easy access (no long, rutted road in.) But there was little else nice about it. It was basically a dirt lot, between two fairly busy frontage roads. It looked like a spot where a carnival would set up when it came to town, and many of the people already there looked like the carnival might have left them behind when it moved on. I suspect some of the people were homeless and will stay there until someone kicks them out for overstaying their welcome. There were some makeshift tents and my neighbors, very close, both front and back, ran generators all night long. The rig in front of me had a flashing bright light under his truck. I’ve been told that packrats are common in this region and opening your hood or putting a light under your vehicle at night deters them. This strobe light was overkill. I finally had to get up and cover my windshield. I could have tolerated a light under the vehicle, but the flashing was not going to be conducive to sleep. There was traffic noise on both sides. I can sometimes enjoy the white noise of traffic in the distance, lulling me to sleep, but this was close and apparently, in this part of Arizona, there is a requirement to have loud mufflers. The loud generators in front of and behind me helped dampen the sound of what felt like a Harley going by every few minutes.
This will do in a pinch. If you can, find another spot. This is just too sketchy.