Arizona in a camper van advice needed

Coconino NF is reopening tomorrow. Hope for more rain to keep it that way. How long do you have?

We have been all over Az. and Utah in an RV. Grand Canyon, Flaggstaff, Prescott, Phoenix, Tuscon and all 5 of the Utah national parks. Ask me anything.

Internet tuff guy fu

quote:

---

tuff girl

---

Anyways, back on track. My opening question is really what I’m after. Looking for “campgrounds” I guess. That aren’t too populated so we might see a ton of stars and/or the Milky Way.

Anything like an open desert field? Or is forest a loose term? I don’t know much about Arizona.

We just left Moab this morning. It was hot but had fun on the side by side and quad.

Got to Bryce Canyon today and did several hikes and will do another before heading to Zion.

Then to the Grand Canyon and Flagstaff. It's been

Given the short window I'd consider doing Zion, Grand Canyon, Sedona, Phoenix for a road trip.

Imo to truly boondock in remote areas in that time window would be more difficult unless you've seen the sites and are OK bypassing them to go straight to a hiding spot.

quote:

---

That aren’t too populated so we might see a ton of stars and/or the Milky Way.

---

Get away from cities, as high as possible, in low humidity. There are campgrounds on Mt. Charleston - west of Las Vegas. But that may be too close to the city lights.

Do you have good air conditioning? You could head to Death Valley (hot as frick but the night sky would be good) and continue on to a campground at the base of Mt. Whitney (Whitney Portal). It's just up from Lone Pine California. Very scenic spot (they've made a ton of westerns there) with an outstanding night sky. I've camped there a couple of times and really like the spot. There are two campgrounds - Lone Pine down lower with wide open views; Whitney Portal is up higher and cooler and in trees.

It's about a 4 hour drive from Vegas, through Death Valley.

ETA: ETA - From Lone Pine it's less than 2 hours to Mammoth Lakes - there are a ton of beautiful mountain campgrounds in that area, and Yosemite isn't all that much further but with 3-4 days I'd settle for Death Valley, base of Whitney, and Mammoth Lakes. Lots of desert and mountain scenery and no city lights.

quote:

---

FIRST things first...you need to plan your trip by the moon. If you have too much moon, it won't really matter where you are. Smoke is another variable in AZ/UT.

---

We have to start August 11. My wife is going see a concert with some friends in LV. But I checked the moon phase and we are in a waxing crescent just coming off a new moon. So we lucked out there.

I found Valley of Fire about an hour away from Vegas. They claim to have some of the darkest skies on the planet. From there it’s a short drive to Zion or Bryce Canyon. We could probably hit up the Grand Canyon or coconino on the way back in.

quote:

---

Does anyone have experience driving an RV camper in Arizona or Utah? My wife and I are considering doing something like this next month. Mainly interested in checking out some national parks and sleeping under the stars. Remote areas would be fine, just not so far out in case something happened or we ran out of supplies.

---

You're in luck. I bet 75% of AZ is BLM land, meaning you can park just about anywhere and stay for 14 days. If you google "free rv dump" you can find plenty of places that will let you dump the waste from your RV for nothing.

If you're starting in Vegas, Valley of Fire is a great place for day 1. Close to civilization, beautiful rock formations, sunsets/sunrises and will allow you to get comfortable in an RV if you have never used one before.

On the way to Arizona, https://goo.gl/maps/wiuYM1dExsAcCctDA is a cool place to pull over and hike. It's a lot like The Wave, but without the permits. Not many people seem to know about it. If you want, you can pull off the road in the area and stay the night in your RV. I spent a night there on the ground once.

Locust Point is a favorite spot on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The Rainbow Trail runs through there which is a popular mountain biking trail. There will likely be other people there, but nothing like the South Rim. You can park the RV a hundred feet or so from the rim of the Grand Canyon. It's a slow drive through forest roads, but they're pretty well maintained. It's takes a while to get there because you're not going to be flying down dirt roads in a RV, but I promise you it's a once-in-a-lifetime kind of view that few people ever venture out to see.

You have Horseshow Bend south of the canyon. Glen Canyon Dam is a cool place to stretch your legs before Horseshoe Bend. Lockett Meadow Campground is great. The actual campground fills quickly, but on the road up the mountain you will see plenty of places where you can pull off and park the RV for the night. There is a beautiful hike through an Aspen forest that starts at the campground. It's a top five hike in AZ that ends in a meadow with an awesome view of Mount Humphrey. You can refill your water on the hike at a natural spring. If dark skies interest you, meteor crater is not too far away.

Sycamore Falls (probably not much water in August, but still cool area to hike) is a good area. Driving down from Flagstaff to Phoenix, there are a few campgrounds just north of Sedona that are popular along Oak Creek. Pine Flat and Cave Springs are the two we've used. Manzanita is larger and is like the others, but with showers I think. They make a good base of operations for swimming at Slide Rock and some other swimming holes in the area. Oak Creek Canyon has several good hikes that are all well shaded in the summer. Schnebly Hill is technically BLM land, so you can camp out there in the RV on a cliff just above Sedona which is https://goo.gl/maps/5sYXNvFKsU9CgC9ZA. The Pink Jeep Tours drive people up that way, but you can approach it from the back side of the area off the highway.

If you want to go out on your own and boondock it, I used www.freecampsites.net as a starting point. There's nothing wrong with using RV parks, but there is something liberating about being out on your own on BLM land away from other people (and their noise and BS) that you don't get in RV parks. One of the best things about it aside from having to pay people the privilege of parking your rig is that you're not fighting other people for camping spots. If you see people already there, just drive down the road a little further. You can still be pretty close to civilization (safety net) while feeling like you're remote.