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JeffAZ · 01-22-2023, 11:46 AM

Lately I have noticed a large increase of RV's boondocking during the cool months just 8 miles from my residence. This is on Arizona State Trust Land east of Lake Pleasant. It is north of Hw 74 and east of New River Road, about 3 miles long x one mile wide.

Out of curiosity, I looked at historic GE images for comparison. The image from 2-18 (which would be the primetime for this boondocking) showed one RV. The latest view from 3-22 shows 60 RVs! Some of these are people hauling their OHV vehicles here just for the day.

I am not advocating if this is good or bad, just curious if anybody here has camped here. It is quite a barren landscape, but it is level and close to the city and lots of other attractions. There is a nearby sign stating "Welcome to the City of Phoenix", which I don't believe is very RV friendly, so we'll see how long this is allowed. Here is a GE screenshot, (my crude red drawing delineates the approximate boundary) and a photo I took yesterday while on a motorcycle ride thru the area:
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Iceclimber · 01-22-2023, 12:24 PM

There must be an attraction like it's a good spot for side by sides, or they are shooting or whatever. I was recently in the area and would see like anywhere from 3 to 10 rigs either on trust land or leaving it like in a wagon train. Arizona is mostly not privately owned and state trust land is a fantastic resource considering it's 20 bucks a year. The one big hazard I saw was any rain and roads can become impassible in minutes. I saw a bunch of Class A's running for it one day, one didn't make it.

JeffAZ · 01-22-2023, 12:34 PM

There are many "NO SHOOTING" signs posted around the area, which I believe is pretty typical for State Trust land.
And the world-class Ben Avery Shooting facility is not too far away, it shows up in the LR corner of that map image

Iceclimber · 01-22-2023, 12:52 PM

I did a lot of biking on trust land and occasionally would see garbage and shooting evidence, but not that bad really. So.much.land.

twogypsies · 01-22-2023, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iceclimber

The one big hazard I saw was any rain and roads can become impassible in minutes. I saw a bunch of Class A's running for it one day, one didn't make it.

Where were you at the time that you could watch all this? Were you the one that didn't make it?

Iceclimber · 01-22-2023, 04:59 PM

Not at all. I was leaving Queen Valley in my truck and suddenly of nowhere here comes a caravan of Class A's and other rigs out of the desert like the freakin Rat Patrol. He almost made it and got stuck in a wash that all mud. I stopped and started busting out the tow strap but his buddies swarmed back to help so I was extra as they had a one ton diesel dually. They got him out at least he was gone when I came back later. I doubt my baby diesel would have been part of the solution anywho. There are literally hundreds of miles of trails around there, I got lost on more than one occasion on my bike and had to use "find my" on the iPhone to get home ha. You want to have Kevlar bands in your tires out there, the thorns are plentiful.

Iceclimber · 01-22-2023, 05:04 PM

trusty steed

mbridinger · 01-24-2023, 09:22 AM

I wonder if anyone is enforcing the 2week stay /permit required? That might thin the crowd.

My guess is that someone has spread the word on the interweb. It is close to civilization without paying much. I have a spot in N. AZ on state land that I love.

There is a similar spot near Mormon lake that fills up like a small town. It is Forest service but the same concept. Some rvr's like to be near others, not my cup. I have not seen any enforcement. I talked to a forest service ranger about various camper violations. He told me that most of his time is spent hunting down drug deals in the forest. These are the times we live in.

mbridinger · 01-24-2023, 09:28 AM

Nicely sandwiched between the shooting range and the Federal prison.

twogypsies · 01-24-2023, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbridinger

Nicely sandwiched between the shooting range and the Federal prison.

Arch Hoagland · 01-24-2023, 12:16 PM

I wonder if the price of staying at RV parks skyrocketing has more people looking into boondocking.

bradvoorhees · 01-31-2023, 06:05 PM

I saw them around that area while leaving the pub at lake pleasant last winter, it didn’t seem an ideal area, looked to far from provisions but I don’t know the area that well.

darnold9999 · 02-01-2023, 10:29 PM

We were just at Lake Pleasant and noticed the same thing. Way more boondockers this year compared to previous years. It may simply be that all of the more inexpensive Regional Parks near Pheonix (like Lake Pleasant) are full. In previous years we have just showed up to Lake Pleasant or booked a couple of weeks in advance, this year we had reservations months in advance and wanted to extend by a few days and couldn't because the place was full - as was everything nearby. In previous years there were always a few boondockers, but this year there were noticeably more.

BeatCJ · 02-05-2023, 05:25 PM

I noticed it last year, when we stayed at Lake Pleasant for Spring Training. We have made several trips to Sedona and Cave Creek when we have been down there, and had noticed a few staying in that area, but nowhere near as many. I suspect more than anything, it's just growth over time. Lake Pleasant wasn't more difficult for me to book than before. But I book early.