Plomosa Road Camping Area

Considering it’s free there’s really nothing to complain about. Roads back to camping areas are good enough for a car. I went out in my Nissan and tent and stayed out in middle of nowhere. The view night and day is breathtaking. My only complaint would be the jet noise at night. From 8-12 it’s like grand central station in the sky's above. Non stop jets back and forth that steal all good signal strength.

No way to explain Quartzsite. You have to see it. This location is 3 miles of flat desert with thousands of RVs. Easy to find a place. I suggest going far back on the north side of the road if you want more privacy. Little traffic at night, but noise carries far out here. Some of the easiest BLM boondocking anywhere. And this town revolves around RVers.

Cell speeds can slow to a crawl at peak times with thousands of other users hitting the same towers.

Worth noting that it will be much more fun here once COVID is done. Many RVers don't seem to believe in masks, unfortunately...

It's a full-timer's dream to camp in Quartzsite during the RV & Gem show. Plomosa Rd. is perfect just for that. Far enough out of town to enjoy the quiet and night sky but close enough to town to enjoy the amenities.
We had great service with our cell booster on Verizon. Easy to find flat spots. If you got fur babies, watch out for cacti and stickers, but that's life in the desert.

This review is biased because I camped here during the RV show, so the cell towers were totally overwhelmed. Strong signal but no T-Mobile data and barely a drip of Verizon. It's a huge area that can fit hundreds of campers, but also fairly accessible so you can make your way back from the road to get a little privacy. Friendly neighbors and fairly clean. I'd give it 4 stars if I had cell data.

This place is simply great. Easy access off the highway, tons of flat places to park, good cell connection and beautiful views. It was quiet with our closest neighbors hundreds of yards away. There are signs to let you know the boundaries of allowed camping and it’s easy to stay within them and maintain distance. Even though we parked not too far from the highway there was very little noise from cars going by. There are lots of fire rings randomly scattered around. We parked for a week while we worked. Two bars of T-Mobile is fine with us!

We stayed here for two weeks from mid to late February 2020, after the crowds from the big RV show had left. We went just over a mile in from 95, turned left, went across a wash, and found a great spot with no one too close by.

Lots of people park right off 95 in the parking lot areas... no idea why because you get constant noise there.

Some tips:

Going even a little ways off to the side makes a BIG difference in the noise you're going to get from traffic on Plomosa Road. We walked to a newly vacated site closer to the road and were amazed how much louder it was, only 100 yards or so away from us.

You can fill up with fresh water, dump tanks, fill propane at the RV Pitstop in downtown (ha!) Quartzsite, about 5 miles away. We filled our 66 gallon fresh tank for $7, and went back to fill our 30-gallon bladder (highly recommended!) for $2. They go by the length of your rig for fresh fill. RV Pitstop is AWESOME.

There is a business out of Yuma (RV Mobile Dump Service) that comes out to Quartzsite once a week (at this time of year - more frequently during the show) that will empty your black and gray tanks. Well worth the money for not having to tear down, hook up, and drive into town to dump. If your tanks/sensors are in bad shape there's a business called the RV Proctologist that will clean them out at an RV park in town. We did that on our way out of the area. They can also replace your gate valves.

You can see cell towers on the hills nearby. Cell service on both Verizon and AT&T was good and we had no issue with our Unlimitedville WiFi. (If you work and depend on high speed Internet, check it out. It's expensive but if you rely on it, it's worth it.)

If you like manicured RV parks and pulling in in the dead of night, wild camping is not your thing. Please don't leave prissy comments about how there should be lights to guide you to your site (!) late at night. Just go stay at some golf resort RV park and review that.

When we were here it was about half people with solar and half running generators. There's no enforcement of generator hours so if you have solar, look for neighbors who do as well.

It's rocky. It's flat. It's level. For real boondockers (not Wallydockers) this is ideal.

There were a good number of people with off-road vehicles/side-by-sides.RZRs here, but none were obnoxious. (Thank you!)

Watch out for the small, dark baby cholla cactus that are prevalent here and will tear up your feet and those of your dogs if they're not cactus-savvy. Also, Google "scorpion weed" and memorise what it looks like. It's in bloom in the spring and it is deceptively pretty. Touching any part of it gets you a noxious substance that causes severe itching like poison oak or ivy, and can't be rinsed off. Your dogs can walk in it and get it all over your rig and you. Learn what it looks like and avoid it.

You can take your trash to the transfer station a few miles away (south, toward town) for free - but be aware that it is closed Thursday, Friday and Saturday so plan accordingly. There are NO dumpsters at Plomosa Road! (And for the jerk near us, no, it's not okay to just leave your trash bags and drive away...)

By March 1, businesses in Quartzsite are winding down and by April it's a ghost town so stock up on groceries elsewhere. The Roadrunner grocery store in town is the best one there. Nice meat section, decent produce, everything else is spotty.

Don't try to have mail sent general delivery to the Post Office. They are serious jerks and will send your mail back if the slightest thing is wrong with the address (even though they know perfectly well who it is for - they're just spiteful, miserable people.) Also if you're an Escapees member, DO NOT have them ship anything to Quiet Times (business that accepts deliveries) because they WILL NOT follow the correct address protocol, and your package will not be delivered.

Rainstorms here are no joke. Watch the weather and if rain is forecast, plan to stay put until the washes are not flooded and the ground is not soup. It doesn't take long to drain, but we saw plenty of impatient people who didn't want to wait. The washes are as deep as they are for a reason, folks.

If you go into it with reasonable expectations (remoteness, peace and quiet, dark skies) then you'll love this place like we do. If you really prefer a FHU RV park, there are plenty in town.

We really loved this place. It was easy to get in and out of for any rig. It was very quiet. Plomosa Rd. which takes you to Bouse runs through the middle of the area but is infrequently travelled especially at night. We almost didn't have to do any leveling here it's so flat. Watching the ground squirrels and cottontail rabbits was fun and the star gazing at night was excellent. It was nice to come here for the peace and quiet.