Hot Well Dunes Recreation Area

This place is a long way out in the middle of nowhere. About twenty miles from Bowie, twelve of that is washboard dirt road.
We were out there a week after Easter, it was very clean and quiet.
I understand the weekends, and especially holiday weekends are crowded here.
The hot tubs are nice and soothing.
We wanted to see this place, it’s very unique, but we prefer exploring, rather than sand dunes for our OHV. The sand dunes are fun for a little while, we wouldn’t make the trip again for that.

The trip in off Hwy 10 was a bit long about 28mins and the roads were about 50-50 paved dirt but we'll maintained.

The area is extremely well kept and the hot tubs were cleaner than most 4star hotels, not kidding.

When we first arrived I was like, what??? I just drove this far into the middle of nowhere for this. Then I took a deep breath set up and my wife and I and our two daughters went to the hot tubs and my Lord what a moment we had.

The tubs were so relaxing and just melted away my stressful attitude I arrived with after a long drive through a monsoon, lol.

Awesome stop literally in the middle of nowhere and if you're coming in with a side by side or a quad etc, although we didn't see one, I envy you cause it's just endless riding out here, extremely beautiful to say the least.

Enjoy 😁

Getting into the dunes is an adventure in itself but once you are here the sunrises, sunsets, night skies, and natural hot mineral spring tubs are well worth it!

Pulling our 28 foot Airstream meant it was an hour from the camping area to Safford or Bowie due to the conditions of Haekel Road.

If you head north to Safford, it's paved but there is about a mile or so of serious potholes that will challenge your dodging skills. If you head south to Bowie, there is about a mile or two of serious wash board, but having done both this was our preferred route. 10 miles an hour and our trailer was fine.

Bring your water and come well stocked like we did and you don't really need to leave the campground.

Site 9 is the camp host spot from November to March, so it was vacant when we got here and loved it. It has a nice row of tall trees that provide shade and a wind break. The individual sites are plenty big enough for a couple of rigs if you chose too and came with picnic tables and fire rings.

There are 11 designated sites on the right as you drive in towards the tubs and just past them is site 12 which is the group camping area and has covered picnic tables and fire rings. During the weekend this area filled with about 25 rigs that camped all around the area to access the dune trails with utvs.

Rangers and staff were out frequently during the week to clean hot tubs, vault toilets, and checking fees. They were enforcing the 14 day rule and moved people along that were in violation of it.

We loved the night skies and other than the weekend utv noise it was incredibly quiet during our time here.

Plan for more time to get here than your map suggests and enjoy the amazing natural hot tubs and some quiet desert life.

This place is fantastic. It’s three dollars a night, you have a picnic table with an awning, grill, and small fire pit and you have access to two small pools filled with hot spring water every morning. There are about toilets scattered throughout the campground as well as trash bins. I arrived on a Friday night and it was already dark which I would not recommend because it’s very difficult to navigate and see who has taken care of spots. Also, the sand can be very thick in some areas so I’m not sure if we’ll drive. Be sure to scout spots before you pull in. There’s a total of 14 designated sites and they have spot but it was blocked off during my stay. It was very quiet night and beautiful stargazing and I would recommend anyone that is remotely in the area. Definitely worth heading out of your way to be here.

This place is fantastic. It’s three dollars a night, you have a picnic table with an awning, grill, and small fire pit and you have access to two small pools filled with hot spring water every morning. There are about toilets scattered throughout the campground as well as trash bins. I arrived on a Friday night and it was already dark which I would not recommend because it’s very difficult to navigate and see who has taken care of spots. Also, the sand can be very thick in some areas so I’m not sure if we’ll drive. Be sure to scout spots before you pull in. There’s a total of 14 designated sites and they have spot but it was blocked off during my stay. It was very quiet night and beautiful stargazing and I would recommend anyone that is remotely in the area. Definitely worth heading out of your way to be here.

Unless you ATV not a lot to do or see here. Very sandy. Road from south was paved all way to get in. Once inside, it's pretty but sandy and since we don't have the toys there was not a lot to do. The hot tub was closed because of covid, why, no idea. Camp host says any day it will open, but who knows. It was super windy when we were here too, sand and grit inside and out of our camper. Pretty views. Didn't use restrooms and no noise around. Quiet night.

We came in from the south, and played pot hole slalom for nearly 3 miles. We left to the north, and it was a little over 5 miles of same. Some of the craters are unavoidable, so it's a slow and unpleasant slog, especially if you're driving or towing a vehicle of any length. Jeep folks would probably find it fun!

Tubs were hot, clean, and a very welcome diversion. We arrived on a Sunday afternoon in February, specifically to avoid crowds, and were told by a long-time visitor that that was a wise decision. The place fills up with weekend ATV enthusiasts.

The camp host directed us to Site 11, which was a pull-through with a line of evergreens at one end. These provided both privacy and a screen from the wind, which was welcome on our gusty second day. Nice to have a fire pit, picnic table, and trash can right there at our site. If we ever decide to brave the road and camp their again, we would choose this site.

Rate is $3/day. For those with some forms of National Parks passes (I *think* only the senior/disabled ones), the rate is only $1.50/day. Very remote. As others have stated, bring everything you need, or you'll be enduring that long drive on nasty roads more times than you want to!

We had 1-2 bars each of Verizon and T-Mobile, which was enough for the basics and even Netflix.

The map at the fee station is misleading. When you get to there, continue through the only visible "10 mph" sign; 1/4 mile up the road you'll come to campsites and the tubs. Find a spot that has your best cell signal and settle in. Beware of soft sand. The water is great! As others have said, It fills around 9am and starts draining around 4-5 pm, depending on when the sun sets (the solar panels do not heat the water, rather, it pumps the water from deep down in the earth. Cool eh?). The camp host, Lon, is very friendly and helpful! An authentic cowboy and gentleman.