Dome Rock Road boondocking is an excellent alternative to Quartzsite’s most popular free camping sites.
The “desert southwest” is one of our favorite places to spend the winter months. Arizona, in particular, has so many camping options (most of which are free). This January, we’re spending our time in the Quartzsite area on I-10 near the California border.
Here’s our personal experience:
Location: Dome Rock Road, Quartzsite, Arizona
GPS: 33.6411104,-114.2979239
Date/Temp: We pulled into Quartzsite in early January, and the weather was cooler than anticipated. Lows have been in the 40s, and highs in the 60s.
Amenities: Dome Rock Road offers no amenities. It’s true dry camping, so bring water, food, and power! The city provides an accessible trash facility on the north end of town, but we’ve noticed many people dumping trash (small bags) at gas stations and fast food chains (not recommended).
There are many RV Service Stations, about 5 miles away, to dump and refill your water tanks.
Wifi/Cell: The WeBoost cell booster worked wonders for our AT&T service. At Dome Rock Road, we received one bar of 5G… boosted, we received the full 5 bars.
Unfortunately, our T-Mobile wasn’t as helpful. The town has a T-Mobile tower that projects a strong signal, but minimal data was transferred. We made a few trips to the Starbucks in Blythe when we had to upload large files.
5G is available from virtually all cell phone providers, but again, overcrowded towers can make the signal useless.
Noise: When we first arrived at our site on Dome Rock Road, it was empty & quiet. However, the reason for us camping at this location was to be part of the Xscapers convergence. By the time we got settled in, 67 rigs joined the group! It wasn’t exactly quiet, but it was the type of noise we enjoy! 🙂
Grocery/Errands: We’d recommend completing all your errands before coming to Quartzsite. There are minimal grocery options in town, and everything is overpriced.
During our stay, we made a few trips into Blythe (15 miles) to shop at Smart & Final and use their Post Office.
Dog Friendly: Dome Rock Rock is dog friendly, but beware of the desert terrain. River loves having so much space to play!
Entertainment: Community is our favorite part of the “Quartzsite Experience”. The primary source of entertainment for us is hanging out with a large group of like-minded RVers. The RV & Gem Show is also a fun day trip!
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We got there early January was a great place to camp,on our way back first part of February,like south end better out on roadrunner,this was my first year thought husband was exaggerating on the size it is bigger love it,coming back for more in a week
Love watching you guys and all the others! Hoping to be one of the cool kids there next year…
Given that one of the attractions of RV-ing for me is getting away from people, I truly do not get the phenomenon that is Quartzite. Basic camping in a place that looks like the surface of the moon while surrounded by a gazillion other campers strikes me as being a special circle of Hell. Glad you’re enjoying it, though.
Variety is the spice of life. The attraction to full time traveling for us is that we can be very fluid. We can have solitude or socialization, they’re both a short drive away.
Glad to hear you guys are back enjoying AZ! There have been a lot of overcast days & cold weather here in Bisbee this January. Hopefully it’ll warm up next week as predicted. Watching your 2017 travel plans video, glad to hear you still plan on coming this way! Keep in mind there’s BLM land right near Bisbee where you may be able to boondock.
Do you know the name or GPS of that BLM site?
I don’t have GPS, but the road name is N. Juniper Flats (above Mule Pass Tunnel). My AZ Gazetteer shows BLM land up there. The only thing is, the drive up can be steep in places, but amazing views of the mountains. We took our Campendium picture up there actually.
[…] We highly recommend this site if you’re in the area. For us, it is much more enjoyable than boondocking in Quartzsite. […]
[…] We highly recommend this site if you’re in the area. For us, it is much more enjoyable than boondocking in Quartzsite. […]