theboondork's RV blog

Doing some real boondocking at last

10/26/2017

This is my current boondocking spot on 10,000 Trails Rd.

I stopped for breakfast at a Cracker Barrel in Flagstaff, which is a real treat for me since their breakfasts are one of my favorite things, and eased into a boondocking area just outside of Cottonwood at about 11 o'clock this morning.

This boondocking area is a little more crowded than I normally like to be, but they're still plenty of space between all the RVs so I'm fine with staying here for a while.

There's three main areas where you're allowed to boondock here on 10,000 Trails Rd. and the first two areas I drove past were more crowded than I wanted to be. So I kept going to the farthest area and found it more to my liking. This goes along with what I've always felt about boondocking, which is most people like to stay close to the pavement. So the nicest, most uncrowded spots will usually be a little farther from the main road.

Normally I wouldn't go looking for a new boondocking spot while pulling the Arctic Fox because of all the things that could possibly go wrong once you turn off the paved road pulling a trailer. But in this case there was good, recent information about this area on the Internet and Google Earth gave me a very clear picture of what it was like. When searching for places to boondock Google Earth is your friend.

As with most public lands there's a two-week stay limit here which is fine with me because I'll probably want to ease on down the road about that time anyway.

Just down the road in Cottonwood there's plenty of shopping including the big-box stores like Walmart and Home Depot. Which means this will be an inexpensive place to stay. shopping will be reasonably priced, it won't take much diesel fuel to get to town, and camping is free. For the old boondork It just doesn't get any better than that.

theboondork

I think this area is only five or six miles from I-17 and the Camp Verde exit. The area is simple to get to and there is less than a mile of dirt road to get to where I'm at.

I'm in the upper boondocking area since there are less RVs there.

4 Comments

Barney Ward

10/26/2017 06:30:27 pm

That is where I thought you were talking about when I was looking at Google last night. I am so ready to roll it is crazy but I must wait until Monday morning. Then I have to hit the eye doc in Rockport. I expect to be there until after Christmas. At least it is the best fishing time of the year. Cottonwood seemed like a nice town back in 2005,

theboondork

10/26/2017 08:30:03 pm

I don't know how you can remember all of the different towns you've been in. I've driven through Cottonwood several times on the way to an Arizona state Park named the Dead Horse, and I don't remember anything about it.

I know what you mean, when it comes time to leave you can hear the road calling and you feel like you gotta go right then. I'm not sure what it is, maybe it's a new place, maybe it's a different sunset, maybe it's new faces, or maybe it's just "the grass is greener", but whatever it is it seems to call to some people louder than others. For some it's just a whisper that can be satiated with a two-week vacation. For others it's a song that runs around your brain that you're unable to ignore or forget and the only thing that silences it is an endless road to a new town and a new sunrise.

Tom... toooo happy to be boondocking again

Vall & Mo link

10/27/2017 12:21:36 am

Congrats on the great boondocking spot, Tom! And thanks for posting it. This looks exactly like the kind of place we love...

We were planning to camp nearby during our last Arizona trip but ended up going straight to Buckeye. Will be sure to stop by on our next trip.

For those looking for more details, reviews, etc, we were able to locate them here: https://freecampsites.net/#!3978&query=sitedetails

Cheers,
--
Vall & Mo.

10/27/2017 10:30:10 am

I'm glad you liked my boondocking spot. As you probably know there's places like this scattered all over Arizona, the trick is finding them.

Outside of looking things up on the Internet, the best way I've found of locating boondocking spots is purchasing the Escapees, Days End Directory. The last time I bought one they were $10 and well worth the price. I find most of my boondocking spots by looking at the Days End directory at the town where I'm going, finding a suitable boondocking location near that town, then finding that boondocking location on Google earth. That way I know where I'm going and what it looks like before I get there.

I also find boondocking spots by looking at the Internet or specific websites like the one you mentioned, or Campendium and Allstays. I especially like Allstays to find Walmarts that have overnight parking. But if I only had one way to find boondocking spots it would be the combination of the Days End Directory and Google Earth.

Tom

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.

Doing some real boondocking at last

Leave a Reply.

Archives

CONTACT THEBOONDORK