Sand Mine Road Dispersed Camping

We spent 8 days in early October camped on the rim of a small canyon/wash less than a quarter mile from the paved road. The access road is solid, but rocky. The campsites are mostly packed rock/gravel/sand and I did not run into any soft spots. There are quiet a few sits here, some on the canyon rim while others off in the flats. Most are quite large and suitable for multiple vehicles. I think the canyon rim sites are lovely. To get to some of the ones farther back, keep to the left and follow the little yellow markers that are posted at intersections. The road does have one small rough spot just after you cross the powerline. It's not too bad but if necessary cut to the left onto the campsite spur and that will get you past the rough spot. Nearest water and dump station is in Valley of Fire State Park, which is worth a visit anyway. There are some off-road trails in the area. We saw very little off-roading activity, even on the weekend, so dust and noise was kept to a minimum.

We stayed here because it was just outside of Valley of Fire yet close to the town of Overton. There are 3 locations to dry camp and this seemed to be the quietest. The views and sunsets were beautiful. It does get very windy. Our Verizon cell service worked just fine with out a booster. There is also lots of room between spaces if your looking for privacy. We went about a mile in for our stay. The further back you go the tougher the road gets.

After seeing so many motor homes and trailers at Poverty Flats, we decided to check this spot out fir a little more privacy. The Sand Mine road will quickly come up on your left coming from the North, immediately around the bend. So slow down or you will miss it. Plus it’s an abrupt drop so slower speed is good. We went to the right when the road splits. Our site is the last large, level open space in the left before the road drops down into a wash. If you end up at the end, it’s a little tight to turn around but you can. Just have to do some French parking back and forth until you succeed.

Cal’s tires place is a good, reasonable place to have your tire fixed. We had a slow leak that started leaking more so we decided to have it done. The True Value hardware store is great. Helpful service and they have lots of different stuff. Store is bigger inside than the front looks. And we had tacos al pastor from a red food truck Tacos & Salsas that was good!

Valley of Fire SP is a must do. Pack a lunch & snacks and check out some hikes. What we liked best was to park @ Parking #2 and just walked out across the rocks. No one around and we had the whole spot to ourselves

We were trying to get into Atlatl or Arch Rock Campgrounds but found out at the Visitor Center that both campgrounds fill up quickly at this time of year (early March.) Only 12 spots were available the day we came in and they were gone by ten am. So we overnighted at Sand Mine Road, as it was less crowded than Poverty Flats, up the road. Easy access at the beginning where we stayed. Despite the 4x4 only sign. We had a large space to ourselves, no nearby neighbors. Pretty clean for BLM campsite. VERY windy was the only drawback. Took us 20 minutes to drive to Atlatl the next morning where we got a spot easily at 8am. Recommend Sand Mine for privacy and proximity over Poverty Flats.

Refusing to play the Valley Of Fire campsite game we settled on this very peaceful BLM. Only a few miles from the Park entrance road.

There are some great places to set up camp here. Not crowded, more privacy than many BLMs, any size RV. Good Verizon signal. The further in the better the view. Shaman rocks.

Sign say 4x4 recommended but we walked to the boundary line and it’s not a problem.

We tried to get a spot in Valley of Fire after spending a week at Lake Mead. Well, that was not gonna happen, the parks there are not on reservation and extremely popular, so we decided to camp just outside the park and go back in later. We first stopped at Snowbird Mesa and Poverty Flats but man, was it crowded there! We backtracked a bit and chose Sand Mine Road and are so very glad we did. We found an area with only a few large rigs and were going to pull off when one of the campers came to us and told us they stop here all the time and that the road is really good for a mile or so with lots of options farther down. We appreciated this news and went all the way to a mesa just before the gravel road becomes rough and narrow and starts to wind down into the small canyon. We had 360 degree views of mountains and valleys (and of Snowbird Mesa on the other side of the canyon, haha) but in all, there were only two other folks on our section and each were a minimum of a football field away. Anyway. whether you stay closer to the highway or take the mile or so of the road farther, there is a lot of room for any sized rig.
We pulled off the road in a huge, flat and easy to level gravel area. It was windy for two of our days, but typical of the Nevada desert so we didn't mind. Overton was about 4 miles farther north on highway 169 for supplies or gas and there is the Lost City Museum if you want to check that out too. Extremely quiet, great sunsets, easy access to both Lake Mead and Valley of Fire for hiking, good UTV trails as you head toward Overton (Lake Mead and Valley of Fire do not allow off road travel) with canyons and valleys to ride through.
One note, if you are coming from Lake Mead and heading North, the road and sign are hard to see as they are on the right side of the road as you make a turn. Easier to see the entrance heading South on the left of the road, just pay attention, I found the coordinates listed here to be right on the money and google got us there no problem.

This is a delightful location, with an expansive view down into the Moapa Valley and the mountains beyond, and a clear view of the confluence of the Virgin and Muddy Rivers. It's close to Valley of Fire State Park, the Lake Mead NRA north entrance, St. Thomas ghost town and the excellent Lost City Museum. It's about a mile from Snowbird Mesa (aka Poverty Flats), and much quieter. When there were 4 other RVs here on the weekend, I drove over to Snowbird Mesa and counted 45.

There is a sign at the entrance that says "4x4 recommended", but the road through the camping area is excellent, with no sand, rocks or potholes. It is suitable for any rig. You only need 4x4 to go down into the canyon, or past the end of the camping area.

Campsites along the main road go in for 1.2 miles, with mostly-small canyon rim sites on the left, and much larger sites on the right. After the last site, the road goes down the hill, becomes definitely 4x4, and is partially washed out in places. There is a right fork off the main road at the power lines, which has one large site and then ends at a locked gate. There is a right turn off the main road at 1.1 miles, with a few sites followed by a "Property boundary. No motorized vehicles" sign at 0.3 mile.

I camped on the right just past the power lines (coords in site # above). The site was large, hard, flat and almost level. There was no trash. A burro family came to visit, there were a few big flies, and on some evenings, mosquitoes. I guess they were being blown up from the rivers when there was an east wind. Verizon 4G was excellent, with 5 bars, 22 Mps down and 11 Mpbs up.

Hwy 169 goes south only to Lake Mead NRA and Valley of Fire. Commercial vehicles are prohibited in both, so traffic was light and very quiet. The Lake Mead gate was not even manned - vehicles drove straight through.

There is nothing much in Overton, except for the Lost City Museum. There is free water and a free dump station at Echo Bay Upper Campground (at 36.3083,-114.4349). I checked the price at the Echo Bay gas station (down near the water), and it was 5 cents cheaper than in Overton. I couldn't find anywhere local to get a propane fill, so I got a fill at Pioneer Storage in Mesquite when I went there to Walmart.

For just an overnight I'd maybe go to Snowbird Mesa because it's just easier. This location is generally breezy with frequent high winds. Most sites are within the first 1/2 mile though the road is okay a mile deep. Go too far and reversing course might be difficult for RVs. Overton is very limited, but the grocery store is decent. The only fuel option (Maverick) is a tight squeeze for larger rigs.

Sand Mine Road is on the other side of a hill from popular Snowbird Mesa. Because the sites are smaller and the road a bit rougher, it doesn’t have nearly the crowding of Snowbird Mesa and has an equally beautiful view.

The area is close to Route 169 which makes for a quick and easy trip into Overton for supplies, though it does mean you’ll hear some road noise.

There is some trash and broken glass around. Our dog, taking his morning walk, found a pile of what looked like dog food and snagged a few pieces before we caught him. It turned out to be human grade potassium supplements, which quickly had us rushing toward Las Vegas for a vet. This isn’t to suggest that Sand Mine Road is covered in pills - it’s not - but a reminder to watch out for what people have left behind.