8 Mile Road Dispersed Camping

This was an amazing camping area! This road needs 4 wheel drive. Some reviews say otherwise but I got stuck in sand and had to be towed out. There are also many rocks and steep hills that are a bit too risky for 2 wheel drive. This camp site was so beautiful. During off-season there were not many people around. It did get pretty breezy and cool by the lake at night. Also there are so many coyotes in the area. I saw some roaming around in the day so just be careful. They are very load at night but didn’t cause any harm. Overall a great place.

Only for experienced off roading. Got stuck twice and needed help out once. Very very friendly and helpful people staying close by helped pull us out with their truck. Beautiful views and secluded. But HOT in the summer, this should have been obvious. But I didn’t realize in the summer that the desert doesn’t cool down. It’s wonderful and we had a great time, especially swimming in the lake, just a little tricky to access without experience on tricky off-road roads

Bumpy ride down there but views are awesome. I wouldn't take a trailer past the 1st big dip in the road. Detach & go explore in your truck. Some good tent camping spots down near water. 4WD will be needed. Big hills, sandy ruts, & loose gravel makes it difficult but fun. Can't believe how much trash people have left behind. Who are these people? It was pretty windy the day we left, so I could see how the wind can blow garbage away from your site without even knowing. Like car floor mats, broken windshields, beer bottles, dirty diapers... That's some strong wind.

It feels like our own private piece of the desert. We started on Government Wash and had trouble finding an open site that we liked. There are several great spots but they were all taken.

Fortunately we found our own little slice of the desert going down 8.0 Mile Road.

Cell service was fantastic for both Verizon and AT&T. Some party noise heard off in the distance at night but couldn't hear it inside. I think these were some of the Government Wash folks since it originated from that area.

The only major downside is the washboard road is uncomfortable to drive down.

We took our 39' Fifth Wheel down to a lower spot to see the water. We have a 4x4 dually so felt confident that we wouldn't get stuck. Had room to maneuver and back into our site to camp facing the lake.

After more than a weekend of struggling to find a place I could actually say I enjoyed on Lake Mead, I finally ended up on 8 mile road, and it worked. It wasn't the totally silent, but it was quiet and not too busy at all. I enjoyed staying here.

I didn't bother going too far down the road, so I'll defer to other comments on that. I stayed pretty close to where the road splits, and everything was pretty great there. It was clean, mostly quiet, and easy to camp at. The view was pretty good, without too much difficulty getting in and setting up camp.

No toilets, but dumpsters up near the road entrance were mostly empty and nice to have. The spot I camped at had a used fire ring.

I never bothered turning on my cell booster. I didn't need it. Verizon signal was great. TMobile was great. Both worked excellent for streaming, downloading, and uploading. It's a good place to stay for getting work done, in my experience.

I would certainly stay there again if in the area, which I'm nervous to say about any of the other places I tried before this in the same area!

8 Mile is a great boondocking section if you want to get away from the crowds at Government Wash. 8 Mile is also becoming more popular as folks get away from the crowds at Government Wash. The drive in is on washboard/loose gravel road, and the best spots are approximately 1 mile down the road. You can camp along the road itself, but you'll be contending with dust and cars driving by pretty consistently.

At the 1 mile point, the road splits. To the right there's one spot at a dead end, and you can continue down the road there. I wouldn't recommend it unless you've got 4x4 to tow your rig back up, but there are some spectacular views down that way. I saw a fellow Airstreamer and a 5er go down that way.

To the left of the fork, there's a few spots that can accommodate a few large rigs or a dozen tenters. Just watch yourself going through the rutted berm. If you're a low sitting rig, like an Airstream, your steps might be in danger. There is room to turn around if you need to as well.

Verizon unboosted was fine for streaming and working the entire time we were there. The stay limit is 15 days, despite what the sign says. This was confirmed when a ranger came through and wrote down our tag and details as they are enforcing that 15 day stay limit to keep folks from living there.

If you’re looking to get away while visiting Lake Mead National Recreation Area, then 8 Mile might be your place to stay (at least it was for us in December). There are a handful of reasons probably why there’s less traffic here: it’s a longer drive into the first boondocking site (2 miles, although there are passable “spots” beforehand that), there are a lot less boondocking spots available, the stay limit is 7 days opposed to 15 days, most of the sites are further from the water than Government Wash, and there isn’t a public bathroom like there is at Government Wash. But 8 Mile still has two dumpsters at the entrance, a view of Lake Mead, cell signal, and you can still walk/drive to the lake (around a mile away). Since it’s more straightforward for boaters to access the lake via Government Wash, you don’t get any trucks towing boats driving through 8 Mile. During the time we stayed here it was just us and another RV, who were friends. We actually like 8 Mile better than Government Wash.

If you stay at 8 Mile then Calville Campground will be closer to go to for fresh water and dump station than Las Vegas Bay Campground.