Gunsight Wash Dispersed Camping

The area is very green with lots of trees and bushes. And because of all the foliage there are birds, lots of birds. We don't normally see a lot of birds when we boondock in Arizona, so that is a nice bonus. It's pretty easy to get into, the roads are plentiful and mostly smooth. Lots of places to park any size rig.
The town of Ajo is 10 miles away and has basically what you need. There is a small grocery/hardware store, laundromat, and fun historical places to visit. There is an art community in Ajo, and everyone we have met is so friendly.
Organ Pipe national monument is just down the road, as is Mexico.
There used to be a camp host were campers had to check in, but not this year.

Perfect for those who like privacy and quiet. A few RVs visible in the distance, just enough to know somebody else is around. Wonderful birds, even a hummingbird "friend" at the nectar, after the greedy woodpecker got discouraged about taking over. The old campground host Lorraine is back again after several years away. She just checks to see who you are, but doesn't chase anyone off with a time limit. Weather and temps perfect. Lots of good walking areas. No AT&T cell service, but Verizon internet is adequate. My guess is that reports of drug dealing problems in this area have been overrated.

In the winter the Why community club two miles away has Thanksgiving potluck, Friday night live music dances, Saturday afternoon jam sessions, and other activities. Lucia's homemade tamales for sale at the little cafe. Why gas station also has propane, RO water by the gallon. Ajo has a pharmacy inside the clinic, IGA grocery store Olsens, Dollar store and such services. Lovely little pueblo plaza and a good burger restaurant that has lots more than burgers.

A one night stay can easily stretch into a couple of weeks, but the Sea of Cortez beckons only a couple hours further south.

Nice BLM camping near Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. The wash is wide, flat, and has many spots to camp.

Signed in with the camp host, checked out the happenings board (there were a surprising amount of happenings for a town the size of Why), and drove zig zag through the wash to find a place to camp. It's a free for all, but most camp a nice distance from another rig.

Quiet except for a few military aircraft flying overhead.

We popped our hood and put out solar lights under our rig to keep the packrats away...but they chewed through our lights and left some droppings in our engine anyway.

Four bars of Verizon 4G but the slowest connectivity I've had in weeks. It was a long wait to get websites to load - careful if you're planning on working from here.

Plenty of room for big rigs, roads fairly smooth. Not crowded but enough people around to feel safe. Not sure what the packrat issue is, we did not have any issues with critters. Plenty of coyotes howling at night, Quiet, a few military planes and helicopters but not what I would consider an issue. You see quite a few Border Patrol vehicles but never saw any signs of any illegal issues going on. Felt safe. Short drive to Organ Pipe National park, or go to Ajo and see the mine and visit with Bob at the open mine view site. Used data for internet, sometime quite fast other times not but was able to do work from here. If your heading south entrance is right after mile post 55 on the road.

It's a decent camp area, a bit of a maze, but plenty of spots. Stay on the road to the south side for the best spots and access. Not real quiet with the highway and air traffic. Border Patrol stays very busy here. We did see signs (in Organ Pipes) of trafficking, but none near this camp.
Two years later we stayed here again. The place has shrunk because of flood damage though there are still many sites. This is likely our last visit because of the overall lack of privacy and noise.

The entrance to Gunsight Wash is right at mile marker 55. Go over the bridge over the wash, and turn right at the end of the fence. Snake around to the right, cross the cattle guard, then turn immediately left for the south side area, or go straight on for the center and north side. The camping area goes in at least a mile, and is perhaps a mile wide. There is a maze of good quality dirt roads, but Google maps knows them, and if you set your site location as your "home" pin, it can navigate you right back to your site in the dark.

This is quite a pleasant camping area, but not very scenic. Its main benefit is being right outside Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. There were fewer than 20 campers in mid-December when I was there, so I had complete privacy. I got to talk to others who were walking or cycling. The site I chose was completely level.

A camper told me that BLM does not enforce the 14-day limit, and he and some others were there for the winter. There was a camp host when I arrived, but he left while I was there. The Why fire department and residents at Coyote Howls RV Park arrange a schedule of pot luck dinners, Bible studies, card games, hikes, and a Christmas dinner. The schedule is posted on a board at the Gunsite Wash entrance.

You can dump your tanks and get water for a fee at Coyote Howls RV Park. I was told there is a free faucet at the closed-down gas station in Why, but I did not go look for it. I bought water at the Glacier machine ($1 for 5 gallons) at the Circle K gas station in Ajo. There is one good grocery store in Ajo, a combined IGA grocer and ACE Hardware on Hwy 85 at the north end of town. The other grocers were pretty bare.

If you are concerned about illegals and smuggling, this is probably one of the safer areas to be. There is a Border Patrol area headquarters compound just to the north, and a Border Patrol inspection station two miles to the south, close enough that you can see its lights at night.

It was quiet most of the time, but it is just to the south of the Barry Goldwater Air Force Range. The week I was there, the Singapore Armed Forces were visiting, and the range had announced increased operations. There were flight operations some evenings, and it was interesting to watch the lights of the jets dogfighting and doing ground attack runs.

Room for lots of people here. I would say we saw at least 30 rigs here. Fairly quiet. A few generators run at what I would call inconsiderate hours, a few minutes of loud music,a couple of family squabbles...

It can be hard to get out of sight of other campers here, but there are some spots along the edge of the main wash which are quite secluded. Worth looking for.

This is a great location for going to Organ Pipe NM.

Very easy access to many spots that are level. Good star gazing at night. We felt very safe here. Good bike riding and easy access to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. We have a 44 foot fifth wheel and had to problems finding a good spot. There were about 20 Rv's when we were there....plenty of space! Make sure you do not attempt to drive in at night when you are initially arriving. It is way too dark and there are huge holes and washouts.

Beeing here for the first time we trusted the GPS coordinates. However they guided us to Organ Pipe visitor center 20ml further down the road.
The Gunsight Wash is short after the intersection and before you get to the border patrol.
GPS N 32.14.25 and W 112.45.5
Overall we had a very pleasant and quiet stay.

Despite having lived across all of Mexico for a year and a half, my wife found something disturbing about Gunsight Wash. I did not share her sentiment, but I can appreciate it nonetheless. We sleep with our van doors open completely, two young children in tow, and this is how we have done it every single night regardless of what state, country or setting we find ourselves in, for years now. So if she says she’s uncomfortable, it warrants attention.

Thus, we moved the second day into the park proper. And I’m glad we did, for no other reason than Twin Peaks is paradise for $16 a night while Gunsight Wash is just a little better than just okay. Big cottonwoods cast lovely shade and previous campers have constructed impressive fire pits. A variety of animal waste, including much cow poo, adds a secondary lingering scent atop the creosote smell. No one else was camping there during our stay, which if there were other campers, I bet she would have felt safer.

We saw a man in handcuffs with a border patrol agent flashing his truck lights as we drove into the park. The visitor center is named for an agent who was killed by a drug smuggler. I believe in completely open borders and support any notion that Mexico is a wonderful country full of amazing people, and think if there were no need to immigrate illegally we would have a safer, more well rounded and diversely powerful nation. I don’t imagine most folks are trying to cross this harsh land with the intentions of hurting anyone and thus increasing their odds of being caught and tossed back to Mexico. All of that said, and while we actually had absolutely no problems, I believe those who are concerned that some amount of true danger could exist are not necessarily wrong.

I just don’t think 99% of us will ever run directly into it, and while we were alone here, i saw evidence that this place serves as a Winter snowboarding retreat for more than a few RVers at a time.