American Girl Mine Road Dispersed Camping

I can't help but think of the Tom Petty song when I think about boondocking at American Girl Mine Road outside of Yuma.

Anyway. This place is pretty awesome. When we camped there it was the less populated road just past Sidewinder off of Ogilby. The winds were howling in January, but the temperatures were perfect. 50's at night and 70's during the day.

Access is convenient, even for big rigs. There were 2 when we arrived. There's good (free) water at the rest stop just west of the Ogilby exit.

Both Verizon and AT&T worked for us and to top it off, there's even over the air television. Lots of spanish channels, but we did manage to find CBS and watch Charlie Rose.

We have stayed off the Ogilby road a couple times in the last two years. Lots of places to boondock, flat ground, easy access for any size rig. There are always several other campers in this area, but it's pretty easy to camp away from other people. Close to Yuma, and Algodones. Tumco ghost town is just down the road, and that's a pretty interesting place to explore.

This is a fairly barren part of the desert, with stunning sunsets and sunrises and some desolate beauty, but you need to look for it. The nearby sand dunes are wonderful, we took so many pictures.

This spot is convenient for Yuma and for crossing the border to Algodones for dentist work, prescriptions and Tequila (should be available on prescription!). Yuma is a short drive away and has everything you need, including decent supermarkets, food truck tacos and a couple of breweries.

We found the military aircraft overhead to be quite active when we were there. They fly pretty low and at all times of the day or night, which disturbed the peace a little.

Blissfully bug free while we were there, and not too dusty. This was a coolspot to hang out with our friends for a few days.

The pros of this spot is that it's easily to get to, lots of options and easy enough to find some land to yourself. There's also great cellular signal in the area.

Otherwise, the land is pretty barren. But there are some great views of the sand dunes and surrounding mountains. Yuma is a bit of jaunt away (close enough to do some shopping, but too far away to go into town often.. at least for our style). Can definitely see why folks going the border crossing for dental work and such enjoy the spot.

There area we plopped down is technically not BLM land, but owned by the nearby mine. According to other boondockers in the area, the company is good with folks there - and don't enforce stay limits - as long as campers keep it clean.

For us, it won't rank high on our list of places to route back towards .. but we'd probably stop in for a bit if in the area.

While this site is a little far from Yuma (30-40 min), it was a great spot for a few reasons: 1) tons of space to camp, 2) great Verizon signal, and 3) very little dust, 4) well-maintained roads in.

We stayed here for quite awhile. There's not much to do nearby (a small ghost town to the north, and Yuma to the east), but it was a great spot to hunker down and take it slow for a few weeks.

We stayed in two locations near here (one a couple miles down American Girl Mine Road on the right, and one a couple miles further up Ogilby Road, on the right). It's pretty easy to find places to camp along either road. Both times it was a good place to enjoy some privacy, isolation, and free camping while being relatively near Yuma. The weather in January 2016 had highs around 60 and lows around 40, while our second visit in February had highs around 85 and lows in the mid-60s. Unfortunately during our stay in February the wind was extremely strong all week, so much so that we had to un-tilt our solar panels and pull in our main slide-out much of the time which lessened our enjoyment of the site. There's a dump station at the gas station a couple miles east, and fresh water a the rest area a couple miles west, although we didn't use either. Our Verizon and AT&T had strong signal but Verizon was often slow while AT&T was always speedy. We'll very likely stay here again in future winters rather than pay high rates for small sites at Yuma RV parks.

We pulled into the area in a 38ft Moho dirt road going in was very smooth no problems. There is plenty of level Land to park away from everyone else. Close to the 8 fwy and 25 minutes to Yuma AZ. Not alot here but serene and quite, we did 4x4 to the old mine town of Tumco for a nice sunset hike. I would stay he again nice area to decompress! Really good cell reception with ATT & Verizon!

Stayed further back in near the mines and mountains in a 40ft 5th wheel. Not as open as when you first turn on American Girl Mine Rd., but secluded and protected from the winds.

This is a great place to stay if you are wanting to hit Los Algodones for anything. For me, it was for dental work and to get new glasses. We had friends meet up with us and there is PLENTY of space for everyone to spread out. The road, as others mentioned, is very well maintained coming in.

We had our share of very windy days and nights. There is a train track pretty close by, depending on where you stay. I like the train sounds so it didn't bother me.

The planes and helicopters flying overhead and around were a tad annoying. It wasn't constant, though. Generally, it's a good place if you have a purpose- to get away and be as isolated as possible, or a place to stay to visit Mexico.

Yuma is not too far away, though it's not exactly a 'nice place', it likely has all the amenities you need. The Imperial Sand Dunes are visible from here. They filmed parts of Star Wars there. (Tattooine)

My dogs had PLENTY of space to run around while I hiked the hills.

I'd stay here again to escape the cold or to camp while needing to go to Mexico. GREAT internet speeds as well. Verizon.

We picked a spot not to far in as we were unsure of how the road or area would be. It was awesome. The spot had a rock fire ring too. Short ride to refill water and dispose of trash. Lots to see and do in the desert! The are train tracks near by but they run mostly during the day. After the first night it was just soothing. Awesome fast internet on hot spot.