Palm Springs,CA car camping

[Davsey85]

hello guys and gals 

I know there is no blm land in Palm Springs but I was curious if its possible to car camp there somewhere  without getting in trouble 

Winter weather is one reason im considering this 

Thank you

 

[gizmotron]

If you drive up to Desert Hot Springs and travel east on Dillon road, up past the big hill, out to the north is open desert. There are a few dirt roads I have ridden my mountain bike out on. I found places where people have camped in one of the deep gulches. Those mountains are the Sothern boundaries of the Joshua Tree National Park. You must go past Calienta Springs Resort on Dillon Road.

 

[Davsey85]

Thanks

Do you know if I need 4 wheel drive to access the dirt road?

 

[MrNoodly]

There's a dirt lot at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio that's good for a few nights.

There's BLM land on either side of Cottonwood Springs Road, which is the south entrance to Joshua Tree NP. It's just before the park entrance. You can also camp off of Box Canyon Road, which Cottonwood Springs Road becomes on the south side of I-10. And you can camp in Box Canyon itself, more toward the Mecca end of the canyon.

You can overnight at the Walmart in Yucca Valley and at the Tortoise Rock Casino in Twentynine Palms. But those towns are slightly higher elevation so probably chillier.

But if you don't need to be in Palm Springs/Palm Desert/Indio area, there are other places farther south, like the BLM areas surrounding Anza-Borrego State Park, and a lot of area between Imperial Dunes and Yuma -- where I spend most of the winter and where, so far, there's no enforcement of time limits.

There's also BLM land around Lake Havasu City and Parker.

 

[gizmotron]

No. But be aware that down in the valley there are sand drifts and sand drift barriers. I'm just saying that if you see a small drift get out and walk it to see if it's just a little ten foot patch, things like that. The dirt roads are desert gravel mostly. Going way up deep into the canyons can get bad. It's like a half mile to a mile to reach the foothills. That's where the canyons start. Momentum carries you over spots where you could get stuck. These dirt / gravel roads are easy to make out and have been traveled a lot. Who knows? These could be make out spots and drinking spots for teenagers. But it looks like you can just park out there before you ever get to the canyons and hills. Your only five miles or so from the Palm Springs area and you look down on it all at night. There are also dirt roads that follow the power lines closer in. The place has windmills out that way too.

I found an amazing aqueduct underground out there once. Someone said it's from the Colorado River and it is channeling a bazillion gallons of water per second under Palm Springs. Turns out that they pump the water table underground out there so that water does not evaporate from the sun and heat. Then they just use wells to reclaim it. I stood on a steal cover that I could look into and watched what looked like a river roaring underground. It's amazing.

I would try to see if there are camping restrictions out that way. I know I saw some signs further out on Dillon Rd.

 

[MrNoodly]

I imagine there are a lot of places in the commercial-industrial-agricultural fringes of Indio and Coachella where you could park for the night without anyone caring.

 

[Davsey85]

Thanks guys

I was essentially looking for the winter climate of palm springs where its near 70 during the day without being asked to move on

Im currently in Ensanda,mexico and grateful to be here but I can se the challenges of being in a 3rd world country

 

[crofter]

Thanks guys

.... winter climate of palm springs where its near 70 during the day without being asked to move on ...

Harder to predict the 70s with heat domes and other wild weather changing things up. The low desert still has high temps in the 90s but currently there are reports of mild conditions at the higher elevation public land areas in the southwest.
-crofter

 

[MrNoodly]

I was essentially looking for the winter climate of palm springs where its near 70 during the day...

Sometimes it's like that but sometimes it's chillier and wet, and the wind howls through.

 

[gizmotron]

... and the wind howls through.

And tiny sand grit gets in your sandwiches and your rig.

 

[winterwanderer]

Berdoo Canyon and the other BLM areas off Dillon Road are extremely trashed by target shooters and garbage dumpers. It's a 4x4 and ATV playground as well. I've seen drug deals and cars lit on fire up there, also seen hordes of mice running about on a warm winter night. Drug dealers' music at 3 am woke me up so I got some velocity rolling down the road by moonlight and hit em with my high beams as I came up behind them. They spooked like rabbits.

 

[Frood]

Seems to be plenty of BLM land very near to Palm Springs...
https://blm-egis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=6f0da4c7931440a8a80bfe20eddd7550The yellow-ish is BLM (open up the legend to the right to see all the area types)

 

[maki2]

Not all BLM land is designated as approved for dispersed camping.

 

[Frood]

Not all BLM land is designated as approved for dispersed camping.

How can I find out where BLM land is and is not approved for camping? I haven't seen anything anywhere that prohibits camping on the yellow-marked areas on the map... Would like to be able to confirm before I find the perfect place then get arrested because I'm not supposed to be there...

 

[rruff]

How can I find out where BLM land is and is not approved for camping? I haven't seen anything anywhere that prohibits camping on the yellow-marked areas on the map... Would like to be able to confirm before I find the perfect place then get arrested because I'm not supposed to be there...

I've never worried about it. If you don't see any signs prohibiting, you should be good. Plus, you won't get arrested; at most told to leave. In 13 years of full time camping... mostly on BLM... I never once saw a BLM ranger.

Just because it's legal doesn't mean it's a good place though, for the reasons given above. I'd move farther from any big cities if you can.

 

[user 32232]

I've found this somewhat helpful. Sites are simply listed, no commentaries.