Kelso Dunes Mine

Came here after spending a few days higher up in the mountains, and it got too cold and windy there.

What a fantastic place this is - very scenic, peaceful, quiet (at least this time of the year).
Several sites with fire rings here, all empty in the middle of the week. Looks like this place could fit 10 campers easily.

A couple pit toilets around - if you need them.
Very clean and maintained area.

3 miles washboard road coming in, but if you go slowly everything will be fine.

Getting into this spot with our set-up took awhile. After turning onto the road to Kelso Dunes, it's a little rough. We took it slow; about 20 min to the dispersed camping area. Flat and sandy areas to set-up. Take care to stay on the packed sand; we helped a group with a sedan stuck up to the doors in sand. Clean outhouses. Walk out the for access to the sand dunes. Big starry nights. Great spot.

There is one main camping area with pit toilets and enough space for a dozen, or so, parties. I pulled in on a Friday afternoon and had no problem finding a spot for my 20 foot travel trailer. There were already a few people camped - mostly in tents. Beware of the last 3/4 mile of the access road - past the trail head - it is very rough! It was clean, quiet and beautiful and I would definitely camp here again!

The last mile from the trailhead to the boondocking section (anywhere with a fire pit) is v bouncy. I was here midweek and few people came in and out to hike, camp, etc. Wasn’t totally private, but that made it more comfortable. There’s one modest tree for shade. The dunes, views, and nights sky are stunning. I had to drive back to the trailhead to make a call on T-Mobile. Largely no service

The road in is definitely an exercise in patience (especially in a rental) but it is more than worth it. We got a gorgeous spot that backed up to the dunes and it was perfect. 360 degree sunset was incredible and while we had a few neighbors they were still far away and quiet. We had an awesome time hiking the dunes with our dog pack and would definitely stay here again!

Beautiful boondocking spot. As often happens this time of the year in the desert, it got really windy and cold. We found the last mile to be a little more washboard than we like, but we pushed on since it was only a mile. It's a great workout hiking to the top of the dunes. If you enjoy wide open vistas and gorgeous sunrises you'll love this spot.

This was a great camping area right up against the dunes. The road in was fine, a little wash boarded for the last mile. The campsites are pretty much anywhere you can stick you rig that's not blocking a road. The coordinates take you to the largest open area by some trees where you should be able to turn around and would be prime area in the shade when its hot. This is a pretty big area and would have to be really busy to not find a spot. There are no amenities here, but a mile down the road at the Kelso Dunes trailhead there is a vault toilet and trash cans. There is nothing around here for at least 30 miles so bring what you need.

We really liked this spot, we walked from our rig into the dunes with the dog and hiked barefoot thru the sand for miles. The only bad thing about this spot is little cell/internet service, AT&T didn't exist, and Verizon was hard to work with, even with boosting it. We did manage to do some Netflix at night.

I stopped at the Kelso Visitor Center to double check that camping was allowed in this area and the ranger warned me that it’s “popular” so I may not get a space. He said to only camp in spots that had an existing fire ring.

Found a space no problem, and shared the area with four other rigs and a half dozen tents over about a half mile radius. There are two “big rig” compatible spots that I saw, one by the small tree cluster (coordinates in the review below mine) and a larger pull-off area accessed if you go past the turnoff for the trees and continue for couple hundred yards. Both big spots could fit more than one big rig.

Access was washboarded but the sand was firm.

Great access to the dunes out your front door or tent flap. Spectacular sunset. Plenty of sun to charge the solar panels. There’s water at the Kelso Visitor Center (a spigot by the bathrooms, not accessible with a hose) and no dump station.

I found this spot to be peaceful and beautiful. The area is wide open so sound travels far. One of the rigs ran their generator late into the night, and I could hear it clearly even though they were 1/4 mile away.

Unusable AT&T, 1-2 bars of sluggish Verizon LTE.

There are several campsites a couple miles west of the Kelso Dunes trailhead. A few large sites are easily accessible with wide, compacted roads, but some of the smaller campsites require driving over softer sand, so be careful. There are warning signs on some of the softer roads.

There were some other rigs parked in sites close to the road when we arrived. We got lucky and found the large site with a cluster of tamarisk trees closest to the dunes still available. This site is accessed from the first road on the right side of Kelso Dunes Road after passing the trailhead. The road takes you directly to the tamarisk trees and forms a circle around the trees, making it very easy to maneuver a large rig. There is room between the trees to back in. It’s probably large enough for a couple of rigs or group of tents, as long as room is left for people to drive around the circle and get back out.

The only downside was that people had left some trash at this campsite. They were kind enough to pin it down under a rock, but not kind enough to pack it out! We had to do it for them.

We thoroughly enjoyed camping here. There were dramatic sunsets every evening, and we were able to get up early and hike the dunes just down the road. The nights were quiet, and we caught a kit fox on our nighttime trail camera!