Snyder Hill BLM

We had plans to see the BioSphere, catch a couple of women's college softball games and to revisit the Desert Museum, so we needed a spot close to Tucson. While not scenic and a little bit of road noise, it is very close to everything Tucson!

The entrances are getting pretty rutted, so check them out before you pull in...but there are lots of spots to choose from, varying degrees of level! We were traveling with family and we found spots for all three of our rigs.

Don't miss the Desert Museum...particularly the Raptor Show. And the historic El Charro restaurant is fabulous!

We have camped here and at Justin's Diamond D RV Park down the road. Great blm slice of land right off Hiway 86 in SW Tucson. We found a private spot off to one side that had shade. Fill H20 and dump at Justin's Diamond D RV Park. We did a hike (can't remember name) accessed from Gilbert Ray CG. The desert was stunningly beautiful at the end of March. No size limit for rigs, although I suggest you drive around the perimeter first to select your entry point; some entrances are deeply rutted. Kitt Peak Nat'l Observatory is visible from Snyder Hill BLM and worth the drive. We camped in March 2018 in a big fifth wheel. Unfortunately I wasn't collecting cell phone data at that time, but I don't recall it being a problem.

Here's a short video, less than a minute, that does a 360 view of a small portion of the main camping area.
https://youtu.be/9J2GCEgIVMQ

If you make a right hand turn from W Ajo HWY onto S San Joaquin Rd keep going until you see W Old Ajo Hwy on your right. The dirt turnoffs into the BLM area are easier to access the closer you get to W Old Aho Hwy. I made the mistake of turning off into the second dirt opening off of the highway that I saw and it was a pretty big rut. My 24ft Class C towing a CR-V made the dip with the rear end slightly hitting the gravel. On the other hand my partners 40ft Class A towing a motorcycle and jeep had a louder and harder hit on the gravel. So, save your bumpers and go a couple of yards down the road and then turn in. We arrived on a Thursday in late April around 6:00 PM during the COVID-19 epidemic. There were plenty of open spots still. Maybe only 4 other campers in the area. We saw 1 other person walking their dog, rigs were quiet, and we couldn't hear the highway until about 7:00 AM this morning when traffic picked up.

We spent the afternoon here so my partner could work before we got back on the road and received better data service through Verizon rather than AT&T. AT&T Data: 35 MB down and 1 MB up with an average of 50 millisecond return times and no dropped packets on a 1 minute ping test to Google.com. Verizon Data: 75 MB down and 3 MB up with an average of 50 millisecond return times and no dropped packets on a 1 minute ping test to Google.com.

No closure or warning signs. Some trash and broken glass.

We needed a free over night spot on our journey to our safe long term isolation spot and this fit the bill!

Safe travels everyone!

The best wifi is on the side of the mountain that the GPS coordinates take you to - further towards the corner of Ajo Rd. The other side of the mountain is terrible even with my Drive Reach Boost.
Verizon internet about 60mbps upload and 25 download with a tiny booster. ATT is crappy.
During C19 no one is patrolling so you can chill here to quarantine.
Right next to the national park.
Convenient location to a dump station at a gas station 35 min away that's free and has potable water (free too) and propane!! (Shell, 6150 S Klob Rd, Tucson, AZ 85756)
Really chill spot. Hour drive to a bunch of outdoorsy things! I will be returning here in the fall for sure.
Some of the access roads suck and have some serious dips that will take your underbody out but the one on the corner of 86 and San Joaquin is the best access.

To address the previous concerns about homeless people here - yeah there's lots of people camping here in tents too. They're all very nice and I have had no issues with them (I actually live the closest to these people unlike the other RVers it seems). Some of them leave bins or their tents rolled up to return to - homelessness is an issue but no one is dangerous or mean. They actually have some sweet setups. I'm all about living off the grid in whatever format works for YOU and I love that this place is policed basically by the residents and not cops driving by yelling "14 DAYS" at me, especially during a pandemic. Neighbors help each other here. It's pretty awesome. I'm going to probably say people who are "uncomfortable" here are bougie and come from high income where they previously didn't live in very financially diverse areas so they're making assumptions without actually speaking to anyone.

It was pretty busy and not many people coming and going the night we were there. It looked like a lot of people were making this place home. Lots of trash, permanent looking tents (where do they use the bathroom?) and it made me feel uncomfortable.

It was difficult locating an entrance where we would not bottom out the back of the trailer. We were northwest of the hill. I would recommend you stay east of the hill. Access this area easily from South Camino Verde through the large dirt lot south of the fire station. The other option Campedium lists in this area is easily accessed near the intersection of South Camino Verde and Old Ajo Highway.

On the positive, great WiFi and antennae TV.

The place is fairly quiet. Just park far from the road. There were maybe 20 RVs of all sizes and a few tents. This place is big and there were still plenty of spots available. It is flat but the road is very very bumpy.
There is some trash that people left behind but I think overall it is clean.
The few people we met were very friendly.
Some wildlife around. We saw many rabbits, hummingbirds and what we think were prairie dogs.
Great place overall. We'll definitely come back if we're in the area.

Once you get in past the roads full of ruts, spots are pretty easy to find. We stayed on the furthest from Tucson side of the hill near the road. There were a number of rv’s around and everyone was friendly. Only one car, and she looked friendly, too. There was a blanket left behind, which we cleaned up. Not much broken glass near our spot, but I went for a walk up the hill and the bushy areas by the trail were full of it - almost to the point that it made a glass mosaic! Lots of bunnies and gophers about. Heard coyotes at night in the distance. Good cell reception here. It’s convenient for trips into Tucson and area.
Some road noise. There is a shooting range a few miles from here, so you hear gunshots periodically in the day.
It’s a good spot to stay for a night or two while sightseeing.

I read reviews that there was a lot of glass here. I didn't find it to be too trashy. The broken glass doesn't bother me too much as I feel that it will eventually turn back into sand. Don't walk around barefoot!
I did come across someone's abandoned camp where they left a canvas cot, a cooler, some toilet paper, pill bottle, a 30-pack of Natty Light beer cans (which I cleaned up). The little mountain/hill offers a nice view of the surrounding area. There is camping on both sides of the mountain. I was on the west side with about 20 other rigs. I think that side is a little quieter as it's away from Route 85 just a tad. The night was quiet. I slept well. I don't recall how the cell phone reception was with T-Mobile.