Sawtooth Canyon Campground

As of April 2021 the BLM website says this campground is closed. Not true. It's patrolled relatively infrequently, but they're aware people are using the site and not kicking anyone out. The pit toilets are not being maintained. My boosted cell service for T-Mobile and Verizon was fine. Maybe I was in the right spot but I didn't have to seek it out, it was the first spot I chose and it had service.

Broken glass everywhere. Everywhere. Some people also littered up a couple sites while I was there. A nice family next to me left a firepit, some wood blocks, and some plastic smelling garbage still burning. Some van campers left a box of "free dry goods". Another group let the wind carry their garbage far and wide and also left a pillow and some blankets. I get the sense that some people think they're paying it forward by leaving something they deem useful. If this is you, you're not. Litter is litter. Stop it.

BLM/NFS needs to either figure out a way to allow us to report litter/dog poop violators and deter these people from returning (cameras at the entrance recording license plates?), or provide trash services. Saying "pack it in pack it out" with no enforcement doesn't work.

Lots of reviews here! I'll add a couple of observations.

Be mindful of the entrance coming from the south, there is quite a lip coming off the pavement. The entry road is still bad, it's still free, although there is a lidless Iron Ranger at the entrance. We arrived on Monday before noon and most the numbered sites were taken.

There are 14 numbered sites and 1 group site (we camped there). Site 1 appears to be a host site that was unmanned and blocked off. All sites had a ramada, table, fire pit and BBQ (except site 9 only had the ramada and table). Then there appears to be several sites, 5 maybe, that are not numbered, that had a rock fire ring, weren't blocked off by rocks and didn't have signs saying no camping. There are plenty of no camping placards!

This campground could easily have 30 sites spaced around the property. The road infrastructure is sure there! Most sites were not spaced out, instead there was a group of 3 sites together and three groups of 2 sites together. Great if you were camping with others. Half the numbered sites could accommodate big rigs as well as most the unnumbered sites. Big rigs should not venture past the group site, only site 9 was up there anyway. There is a turnaround sort of up there, but it was being used by some rock climbers with cars.

This is a favorite with rock climbers. I stayed here last February and came back for more! OHV vehicles were banned here a couple of years ago and the disgruntled "sportsmen" came in and threw nails all over the place and broke a lot of glass. I urge everyone who visits here to help restore this area and undo the damage done by these immature people.

We had trouble with mice here. This is my only complaint. We caught one and held it hostage until the next morning.

Sites are easily accessible from the highway. You have about a mile on a dirt road, but it’s in pretty good condition.

The covered table was nice in the heat.

There are a few bathrooms. Not too bad, but bring your own toilet paper.

This was my first time camping on BLM land and it wasn’t bad at all. There is a mile long dirt road to get to the campground that’s well maintained. Several sheltered campsites with fire pits, I arrived late (around 8pm) and still found a nice spot right next to a large rock. Other rvs and tent campers as well.

Cell service was barely much but was able to get a nice boost with my Cell booster. 2 bars of talk only with no booster/2 bars of LTE Data with booster. Stayed in a Thursday night and Friday and was very quiet.. few kids and climbers on Saturday morning. Would’ve stayed longer. The toilet—- yeah let’s not talk about that but it’s there. Bring your own toilet paper.

Stayed at Sawtooth Canyon BLM Campground for 4 nights. The one mile, dirt and washboard access road from California Route 247 to the campground is passable with a big rig. Upon arrival on Tuesday midday there were only three sites available that would accommodate my 38 foot fifth wheel. We were lucky enough to snag a campsite up against a large rock outcropping that was level. Melody and I selected this free camping location for its scenic beauty and it did not disappoint. There are several serviceable vault toilets within the campground. Trash is pack it out and there are no hookups, water, or dump station—dry camping only. Both AT&T and Verizon cellular service varied widely depending on your location in the campground. While I was unable to stream movies at the campsite I selected, a short walk just outside the entrance to the campground allowed me to download movies. Verizon cellular service just outside the entrance clocked in at 48.6 Mbps download speed and 12.0 Mbps download speed. AT&T was also usable outside the entrance, but not as fast as Verizon. An nearby alternative boondocking location is the Slash X boondocking area, a part of the Stoddard Valley OHV Open Area, grid coordinates 34.7673565, -117.0138185. A secondary alternative dry camping location is the Owl Canyon BLM Campground located at grid coordinates 35.0213264, -117.0217384.

Our second time here, hadn’t planned to spend a week but it was so perfect we couldn’t leave. Sparsely populated except on the weekend when the climbers and hikers arrived but still not crowded. Breathtakingly quiet, gorgeous sunsets, and starry starry nights. Lots of ground squirrels/chipmunks/quail to observe, even saw a tarantula on one of our many bike rides. Trails for hiking. Fire rings at most sites so we had a campfire every night. Dry camping at its best. The road into the campground from the main road has minor washboarding with a stretch at the end that’s pretty bad but just take it slow. 19 mile drive into Barstow for provisioning/fuel/etc. Excellent Verizon coverage. Will definitely return.

Stayed here May 19-21.
Decent road in, washboardy but easily navigated in our rig at 10 MPH. We arrived at 6 PM on a weeknight to very limited site selection.
After a couple rings around the rosie, found a site that was old roadbed and settled in near level, with plenty of outside room. It is the most westerly site next to the first loop around the rocks.
No fire pit but easy access to hiking trails, in particular up and along the sawtooth ridge to the south. Views from up there were awesome. Although late spring there were still plenty of flowers. We enjoyed our stay and would go back from anytime between October - May.

Lots of activity with hikers and rock climbers. Our site got a bit party loud on occasion but quiet hours were honored.