Haekel Road Dispersed Camping

Another win through Campendium.

This location is a lovely location that is perfect for those of us looking to off grid. Easy to stay here for a number of days/nights. Safford is just around the corner and has everything you will need supply wise.

I veered to the left and went down the paved road once it curved left about 1 mile. There are a number of spots down the dirt road if you keep going straight, but there are also a ton down the road when you head left where the road curves.

Felt safe, secure, and the spots are all very level, hard packed and well kept. I would stay here again.

Good place to overnight or rest for a couple of nights, but not a destination, as city and highway lights are seen from all directions at night and road noise, plus the train can be heard, even pretty far in, also air quality was affected by proximity if town. This area is very close to the edges of the city and agriculture. A few spacious sites there but there is no way to ensure privacy with sites of these size and some being also connected, next to each other. You can not prevent someone from setting up close. BLM seem to have closed paths going deeper into the desert, though a truck camper with good clearance can probably hide somewhere out there. This issue happened to me, I arrived after dark (no excuse, disrespectful of others to do that, it was a one time situation) and barged with my RV in on a guy with a truck who was setup there, hidden by some vegetation, I could not see him in the dark and when I heard his dog thought it was a coyote. I moved away some later, when I heard his voice, feeling lost in the dark and not being sure where the main rd was, but he just left, I guess being reasonably upset. I want to highly apololigize if he reads this. I usually setup miles from others, was very tired that day. When I woke up I saw other RVs but at very long distance away (still, takes away from the feel of being in nature) It was Saturday off season and when I drove back in the morning I saw that some clearly arrived later than me, one slept in sedan car. So someone can intrude on you there as its easy access camping close to well traveled highway. Some rare spots had few small trees, but mostly very short vegetation. Sunrise was very nice to see, overall peaceful night, a couple of atvs after dark, one seemed lost.

This is one of the better BLM spots in my opinion. Most of the road is paved, albeit with a few good sized pot holes - so watch for those. Lots of excellent spots. Next time, I'll follow the paved section to the east as there were some real nice and somewhat tucked away spots farther down the road near the powerline. If you come in at dusk or later there is a nice turn out close to the entrance where you can post up for the night and then find a better spot in the morning if you'd like. Cell service (AT&T) was good, town was just a few miles away with all the major big box stores for you. I'll be back and plan for a longer stay next time. This one is a winner!

We stayed here one night 2/4/23 although we would have loved to stay for the maximum amount of time but we are due at a Truck Camper rally in Quartzsite. This place is easy to get to, offers gorgeous views of the mountains in all directions, is quiet and peaceful and I have great cell service with AT&T. There are people out here but the closest rig was about a football field + away. The area was clean and temperatures were just right while we were here. High 70s during the day and 40s at night. We will definitely come back here.

We camped at tranquil dis camping last year it was ok but the spaces were tight and we have a 20 foot trailer the only place for a big rig would be the first 2 spots.This was our first time at Hackle and there is lots of space for our 20 foot trailer. We would camp here again. Like usual people don’t seem to care to pick up after themselves, if we keep doing this then NO one will be able to enjoy free camping, do your part pick up after yourself, if you weren’t taught learn it’s not that hard.

Nice Spot. Easy to find, and easy to find a spot. Big Rig friendly in the 1st area. Gets a little tighter the further down you go like most places. We stayed in the 1st area for stronger internet & less fuel consumption when we go to town. Diesel prices are stupid right now. We found a nice level unobstructed spot looking out at the snow capped peaks of Mt. Graham. Verizon via Visible 2-3 bars. ATT via Straight Talk 3-4. Haven't tried OTA channels. 4 Rigs in this area, about a football field apart. Some overnighters, but most we talked to here 7-14 days. Minimal trash, but some. Pretty quiet and only about 8m to town, but it feels more remote. Free dump station at the Water Reclamation Plant in Safford, just sign in, dump, sign out. They also have water to rinse, not potable. Cute diner in town called Jerry's. Good burgers at JD's sports bar (loud though). Great RV repair shop (Trek RV) squeezed us in for a Furnace motor issue. This one gets added to the Will RETURN list.