Craggy Wash Dispersed Camping

We took our 43 foot 5th wheel in and felt brave enough to go slowly down the bumpy road. In the front part of the camping area, affectionately called the Parking Lot, you will find a lot of people, all sorts of set ups, and not a lot of space. As we continued down the road, the crowd thinned out, and we set up 2.8 miles off the main road. We had some distant neighbors, but felt like we were alone. We were also one turn off the main road which made a nice difference. Oh, and we noticed there is no cell signal in the middle part, but were were delighted to find we had 4 bars further in where we set up! Take some time to find a spot that works for you, and you won’t be disappointed. Lots of hiking, incredible sunsets, campfires, mountain goats, hummingbirds, peace and quiet. Lots of trails to ride, so if you have an ATV, this is a great spot. The weather was perfect, and the views are beautiful. It is 2 minutes to Walmart, once you finally get back to the main road (😂) and Lake Havasu City has plenty of great restaurants and all the amenities. We took a day and visited The Desert Bar, about an hour away. Very cool spot, open Saturday and Sunday, noon to 6, in the winters only, (going from memory, you may want to check their website for details).

So, be brave, drive down the bumpy road, and enjoy the free camping! It is definitely worth the journey!

We really enjoyed our stay at Craggy Wash and loved being close enough to easily run into town to explore or to stock up on things. It was nice to have some privacy from Hwy 95, too. We woke up to gorgeous sunrises and watched wild rabbits play in our campsite. The cell signal was not great for T-Mobile, and, while better for Verizon, I think a lot of people were using the same cell tower by the afternoon/evening, as we pretty much lost usable cell service by the afternoon especially over the weekend (we don't have a cell booster). There are plenty of large sites for at least a mile or two beyond what we affectionately called “the parking lot,” where a lot of people stop. But turning around could potentially be an issue for bigger rigs if the campsites were full. It’s probably best to scout ahead for a spot, if in a large rig. Also, the sites are somewhat elevated from the road, so a low clearance vehicles might have to access sites carefully. Craggy Wash Road gets a LOT of traffic all day and all night. This is a popular area for ATVers and dirt bikes, but they were all pretty good about driving politely past all the campers.

Filtered water station is available at the Shell on N. Palo Verde for 15 cents/gallon. We filled our 5G water cans and added to our fresh tank to top off our supply. Dump at Lake Havasu State Park for $15, which includes garbage and fresh water, if you want it. They prefer you arrive before 10 am or after 1 pm, to keep from interfering with checkout of campers.

Camping starts 1 mile off the highway 95 but we recommend going a little further in to really get the full effect of the beautiful mountains that surround you. Great cell service, beautiful stargazing, and the mountains -wow! Amazing to be that close to a large city with every amenity you could need, plus beautiful lake Havasu, and yet feel so remote.

We stayed here so we would be ready to head north the next morning. Sites were really gravelly (sp?). We worried about getting our class C stuck but also saw lots of pickups around if we did so. Road in is fairly level with few bumps and well maintained compared to other blms. Was quiet. Most sites had fire pit but we didn’t stay long enough to use it. Would stay again.