Quartzsite, Arizona (camping, best, Mexico, highway)

[Off Pavement]

Who's been to Quartzsite? Here is a good web page if you want information about a place where over 100,000 folks visit in their RV every winter...

Quartzsite RV Camping

[RVer]

I am very familiar with Quartzsite. This is the RV capital of the world. It's something every RVer should see one time before they die. The best time is when they do the monster sized flee market, RV rally and RV show with a few famous singers or bands that perform.

This show draws about a hundred thousand RVers each year. You can find swap meets almost every single weekend. I dont mean a few tables with all junk. I mean awesome interesting fasinating things of anything imaginable.

Nearby the spill off you will find BLM land that some snow birds use. For $5 a day you can park out in the middle of nowhere. No utilities....nothing. The honey pot comes around every couple of days as well as a water truck that will fill you or empty you. These are true roughing it kind of RVers. I forget the highway but the one that goes from Quartzsite to Mexico you can look out into the desert and see RVs scattered about. Nothing around them anywhere. Hundreds of them. And all they pay is $5 a day. There is usually a Ranger who roams to keep things safe enough.

I really advise any of you who want some real excitement to go to Quartzsite. You will not soon forget it.

[EarthBound?]

Were are all the trees? I need lots of trees.

Oh well, thats ok, I'll probably never make it that far out anyway. One day my best half and I want to camp up in Montana's Glacier National Peace park.

[moved]

Quartzite is wonderful in the winter, but horrible in the summer. I lived in a Class B van for 1 1/2 years with my ex and his dog. We went to Quartzite every winter to escape the cold winters of Sacramento.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

This makes me wonder what the Arizona laws are on firearms. I live on the Canadian border where we have very few problems with alien criminals. I read a lot about crime along our other border. How safe can it be to camp in remote areas? Are there areas friendly to ATVs?

[Off Pavement]

NMLM - Very loose open carry firearm laws in Arizona. You will see lots of folks packin' whether they need to or not... mostly not in my opinion. The closer you get to the border, the more reports of crime unfortunately. We witnessed people wearing all their clothers looking like the Michelin Tire man walking up washes when we drove along I-8. We also saw plenty of Border Patrol and always felt safe in the remote areas we stayed. BLM (Bureau of Land Management) manages millions of acres in Arizona, and ATV's are used all over the desert on these public lands, and there is unique history to explore in many areas too. For example near Quartzsite is the town of Bouse. During WWII, there was a secret Army base east of that town in the desert that you can access today with a car if you are careful. Patton had training areas all over the California and Arizona desert and their remains are waiting visitors willing to explore.

Here are some links you might find interesting...

Arizona Firearms Law
Bouse, Arizona
Desert Training Center
Arizona ATV Trails

[stillkit]

If you go to Quartzsite for the winter, expect to be crowded some. While the desert there seems to be endless, it really isn't and when 100,000 RV's show up, it gets more than a little congested. So too does the traffic to the few stores.

But, it's not as bad as Yuma, AZ, which sees it's population grow from about 40,000 to a quarter of a million in the winter.

While in Quartzsite, be sure to visit the grave of Hi Jolly. It's right on the old road, west of "downtown," and is about the only thing of interest there beyond sand and rocks.

You can learn more about him here: Hi Jolly - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Presumably, he's buried with his feet pointing east, so that when he arises on judgment day, he'll be facing Mecca.