Two things to keep in mind are the frequency of these two events, but if one has a decent vehicle setup, this wont be too annoying. Triple check where you park as a previous comment mentioned. Theres an odd swath of non-BLM land in the middle of the place. I drove all the way down to the fork. Be wary of soft sand, clay, and clearance issues further in.
To think a few years back this place was a popular route for smugglers/immigrants/etc. We didn’t see any, but border patrol presence was heavy everywhere every day! While hiking in various spots there was much evidence of past immigrants because there were a ton of black water jugs and other debris from crossers dropping their stuff on ground. Border patrol monitors this area heavy and sometimes on horseback! We felt very safe because of their presence! Beautiful area!
This was a super quiet place to camp. I hardly saw anyone else at all. The road is well maintained and super easy to access. It’s easy to end up on private property if your not careful. We had to double check the map.
This was a great stop. Lots of room and quiet but still easy on and off the 8. Thanks to a previous comment we knew to go far enough to ensure we were on BLM land. There are signs at the beginning. During road but we'll maintained. We will stay again if our timing coincides!
Make sure you're definitely on BLM land!! We pulled off on one of the first areas we saw other campers at. Around 9pm cops came and told us we were on private property. We had to turn on the BLM filter for the map to see that we were less than a mile off. 🥴 But to spare yourself the annoyance of having to move when you're about to set up for bed, triple check you're ON BLM land.
We took our new van for a test run for lunch in the desert! Great afternoon! Access to this location was easy. Fun little outing.
Lots of spots. Wide open. Good signal. We stayed for a few days pretty quite. Few people camped out but more than enough room for everyone to stretch there legs. If the signs worry you just stay closer to the road, but we went about a mile down the road and we were happy to let our cats out with us.
Came out at night in total darkness. Little creepy but easy to navigate. Found a spot a good ways from the highway and other campers. Total privacy. Night sky is amazing. Will be returning.
Found nice spot near cell tower ( turn left at the T ), some noise from the highway , no smugglers seen :), next time I would probably park near others (turn right at the T ) just to feel a bit safer .
Lots of open space to camp, close to the highway, signed posted about being weary of illegal activity in the area. We spent one night with no issues and encountered no other vehicles.
Litterally, signs posted. I only seen a few vehicles, but the low flying airplanes heading south made me wonder.. other than that you can hear distant noise from the I8 and yes this is in the middle of nowhere.