Sawtooth Canyon Campground

This breathtaking off the beaten path camp ground was PERFECT! We went in mid October 2022 & got a spot no problem. The sunset & moonrise BREATHTAKING!! The sunrise even more brilliant! The view of the stars was the best I’ve had with no aid, naked eye star gazing & this spot is great. Being off the beaten path, no city lights, no traffic noise, just absolutely the best & we’re going back this April 2023 for more stargazing, relaxing & enjoying each others company for our anniversary!

First time camping at Sawtooth (04.15.22) and had a pretty good time there.
I don't remember our campsite number but the camp sites were space out so you had plenty of room between campsites.
The camp sites are located in a small valley with a large jagged rocky ridge surrounding the valley hence the name "Sawtooth Mountains"

Durning the day we watched many rock climber's practicing their skills climbing the many different rocks formations.

The only negative was the hard winds (30 to 40 mph ) we had day and night for 3 days. I don't know if this is a seasonal thing or if is always this windy in this part of the desert ?

I plan on returning as it's a nice quiet camp ground with no HOV allowed.

Campsites are spread out. We stayed at site #2 in May which is next to the group campgrounds on the other side. Each site has a metal pagoda and concrete table to act as a shade cover. Nice little park area by group campsite with sand and dinosaur mockups for kids to play. Several pit toilet buildings in the park but none had TP so bring your own. Stayed here for 13 days and had several days of 90 temps and two days of 30-40 mph winds. But when you boondock, you need to come prepared. We have 1200 watts of solar with 6200 watts of LiPo4 battery storage and ran the generator and solar to give us 6 hours of ac per day on the hottest days.
Each site has a firepit and also a bar-b-q setup. We camped at Sawtooth Canyon Campground in a Travel Trailer.

12/5/2022
Back again at site 4 on the other side of the Boy Scout climbing area. Cloudy weather for several days as a low-pressure system is moving though the West Coast. Had one night of 35 mph winds with guts between 50 and 60 mph. Daytime temp about 45 and nighttime in high 20s. Cold front will pass in a few days and weather is forecast for daytime temps in mid to high 60s with nights in high 30s and low 40s. Outside of typical unpredictable Ca winter weather, it is still busy here in the winter. Most sites are taken Friday through Sunday and during the week about 30 per cent full. Barstow is 20 minutes away and there is a Walmart Supercenter off Armory Road parallel to the I15. On the I15 south at Lenwood Road, there is a Flying J which has free drinking water, per gallon propane refill station and $10 dump fee with 3 dump stations available.. Easy in and out. Several fast food places on Lenwood Road about 5 minutes from 247 and I15 intersection.....In and Out...Panda Express....Del Taco etc. Funky Laundry place in the Stater Brothers parking lot on Armory Road but it works, otherwise use the truck stops laundry rooms.

First, if it has rained you probably don't want to drive the couple miles in as the road is unpaved and has some pretty deep dips that would fill with water. However, if its dry, pass up the other BLM open camping on this road and head for this quaint, peaceful, clean and beautiful campground surrounded on sides by rocks jutting up from the ground on three sides. There is even a place for kids to play! Lots of hiking paths up into the rocks and plenty of bouldering opportunities. Lots of bathrooms located throughout and covered picnic tables. We had a great night and would stay again if we are ever this way. No internet signal on Verizon, so we read books for the first time on our trip!

I arrived in the dark and was able to easily navigate to an open space. In the morning when I could see, I was pleasantly surprised how nice this campground is and it's in such a beautiful location. And it's FREE! I stayed in spot #6 across from the dinosaur bones and loved it.

I have Verizon service and used my WeBoost to amplify the cell service. Without it, it would have been 1 bar of service. So you can text but no data.

Small campground that could accomodate many more sites. They are trying to keep campers in actual sites only, but it seems many people camp where ever they find room. There was a host spot but no host was there. Sadly there was the usual broken glass everywhere and the occasional trash left by people who just don't seem to care. We took out three small shopping bags of trash when we left. The vault toilets were not being kept up, maybe due to the lack of a host? Not sure if we were there "out of season" and if things are different when there is a host. This did not affect our visit as we are set up to boondock. Close enough to Barstow for supplies etc.

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.