Saddle Mountain Dispersed Camping
BLM
Write a Review West Courthouse Road Tonopah, AZ 85354 623-580-5500 Official WebsiteGPS: 33.464, -113.0366
Overview of Saddle Mountain Dispersed Camping
Approximate location. Many sites for primitive camping off W. Courthouse Rd. and W. Salome Rd. Accessibility is not guaranteed, always scout ahead before driving down dirt roads. Learn more: Boondocking 101
Last Price Paid: $0
Reported by Mike on 3/28/2024
Longest RV Reported: 40 feet
Reported by MarcusJolaine on 2/16/2016
Pad Type dirt
Elevation 1,246 ft / 379 m
Max Stay 14
Tent Camping Yes
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Q&A - Ask the Community about Saddle Mountain Dispersed Camping
To ask questions of the owner or manager please contact the campground directly. 623-580-5500
fern56x asked on 12/9/2020
Can a street motorcycle get a decent ways (less is better) to campsites?
Ginagen asked on 7/4/2021
I have a Toyota Yaris. Will it be able to safely get in to the Saddle Mountain dispersed campsites?
Jay asked on 11/19/2020
Is Saddle Mountain crowded in January? Would it be difficult to find a truck camping site?
Jackson asked on 11/18/2020
A few fire rings noted in the pictures....campfires allowed? Thanks!
Reviews of Saddle Mountain Dispersed Camping 101 people have reviewed this location.
Cell Phone Coverage
Confirmed by 69 Users
Last reported 3/28/2024
Confirmed by 32 Users
Last reported 2/7/2023
Confirmed by 18 Users
Last reported 12/22/2023
“Great location. Cell service is "deceptive" but doable.”
Reviewed 2/23/2022
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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| Days stayed: | 12 |
Overall Rating
Stayed at the base of Saddle Mountain. Turned left on the dirt road around mile marker 13--as other reviewers stated, the dirt roads closer to you when coming from the east are very rocky--I had to take it VERY slow just driving my high-clearance truck. The dirt road I turned down while towing my 36 ft. 5th wheel was much smoother and ... more
Stayed at the base of Saddle Mountain. Turned left on the dirt road around mile marker 13--as other reviewers stated, the dirt roads closer to you when coming from the east are very rocky--I had to take it VERY slow just driving my high-clearance truck. The dirt road I turned down while towing my 36 ft. 5th wheel was much smoother and allows you to get very close to the base of the mountain.
The views are pretty and the mountain is literally right next to you.
The reviews about good cell service are deceptive--yes, you have "a lot of bars," but bars are not necessarily a good determiner of signal strength. I use both ATT and T-Mobile sims in an LTE router/modem combo. The cell towers closest to the campsites are to the NW, right on I-10, and they have VERY high latency. Even if you have good download/upload speeds, you can't do any streaming/video calls with latency in the 300+ millisecond range and Jitter in the 2k millisecond range. Unless you have a high dB LTE directional antenna to point toward a better tower to the NE (which I do, thankfully), closer to Buckey/Phoenix, you will be out of luck if you need reliable LTE internet for remote work.
This is the only reason I didn't give the site 5 stars, since cell phones, tablets, and omni-directional antennas will always gravitate to the tower with the strongest signal, which is the one with high latency, in this case. If you don't need reliable internet to work on the road, this might not mean much to you, but if you do, keep this in mind.
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AT&T 4G
T-Mobile 4G
Zach would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Peaceful and roomy”
Reviewed 2/23/2022
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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| Days stayed: | 4 |
Overall Rating
We came from the west on 10 and exited on Salome rd- it was all dirt. But if you come from the east to courthouse rd it’s paved. We took the mile marker 13 and we’re very happy. Did a great steep hike up saddle mountain trail.
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Verizon 4G
David would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Beautiful sunsets, lots of space”
Reviewed 2/8/2022
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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| Days stayed: | 3 |
| RV Length: | 26' (Travel Trailer) |
Overall Rating
The road coming in is a bit rough & rocky, just take it slow. Lots of large spaces. Some road noise if you don’t drive up the road far enough. Some flies but not really bad.
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Verizon 4G
Cindy would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Beautiful Arizona desert”
Reviewed 2/7/2022
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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| Days stayed: | 10 |
| RV Length: | 30' (Travel Trailer) |
Overall Rating
Nice wide open space perfect for big rigs. We turned on the dirt road at mile marker 13 off W Courthouse Rd and there are tons of great spots where you don’t have any close neighbors. Beautiful sunsets & roads to walk on & even service! Got windy a few days, but super nice weather otherwise. Yes, some flies and there is an occasional b... more
Nice wide open space perfect for big rigs. We turned on the dirt road at mile marker 13 off W Courthouse Rd and there are tons of great spots where you don’t have any close neighbors. Beautiful sunsets & roads to walk on & even service! Got windy a few days, but super nice weather otherwise. Yes, some flies and there is an occasional bad smell, but nothing awful. Great boondocking spot & would definitely stay here again.
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AT&T 4G
Verizon 4G
ottereagle would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Quiet, Beautiful, Good Hiking, Friendly Cows”
Reviewed 2/5/2022
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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| Days stayed: | 6 |
| Site Number: | Dispersed |
Overall Rating
Saddle Mountain is easy to find. The roads are rough and rocky but doable for all but the lowest, longest Class A, take it slow, have sound equipment, tires. The higher up the road you go the better the views and fewer rigs. This is a Beautiful Mountain, great sunrises and sets. Very enjoyable walks with my dog in the Arizona sun in F... more
Saddle Mountain is easy to find. The roads are rough and rocky but doable for all but the lowest, longest Class A, take it slow, have sound equipment, tires. The higher up the road you go the better the views and fewer rigs.
This is a Beautiful Mountain, great sunrises and sets. Very enjoyable walks with my dog in the Arizona sun in February....Awesome. We spoke to a few happy Rockhounds. Very, very, quiet and good T Mobile and Verizon.
This is open grazing land, we saw a dozen cattle on our walks and there were cow paddies in our site. This is why there are flies. I hate flies but this was very tolerable, I wore my hat indoors and outside, ND got use to me using it as a fly swatter.
This is our first Saddle Mountain visit, we stayed here on our way to Phoenix and were not disappointed, we will be back.
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Verizon 4G
T-Mobile 4G
Dave would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Cleanest BLM Ive observed”
Reviewed 1/31/2022
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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| Days stayed: | 1 |
Overall Rating
Clean yes! Very clean.. again yes! Easy to find off of Courthouse Rd. I will caution you to look carefully at an off road map. I decided to drive up the first access road to the base of the mountain, then circle around the base until I find my campsite. BAD IDEA. The lava flows from the ancient volcano created washes, or deep ditches t... more
Clean yes! Very clean.. again yes! Easy to find off of Courthouse Rd. I will caution you to look carefully at an off road map. I decided to drive up the first access road to the base of the mountain, then circle around the base until I find my campsite. BAD IDEA. The lava flows from the ancient volcano created washes, or deep ditches that you have to cross if you take my route.
Fortunately, I have a four wheel drive and it was still touch and go on several ditches i has to cross. But it was worth it. There were lots of campers around Saddle Mountain, more than I expected.
For the most part, people were polite and good neighbors. I had van campers about 200 yrs on either side of me, and there plenty of shrubs to give a little privacy. My campsite was as clean a place as Ive ever camped, and I disperse camp often.
No water, elec, or dump stations, just the most awesome sights for free! I ended up camping at the end of one of the roads, at the base of the saddle. Cloudy night, so no moon or stars, absolutely dark! And quiet.
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Verizon 4G
Azhiker would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Awesome”
Reviewed 12/14/2021
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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| Days stayed: | 14 |
| Site Number: | 2ND road from the east |
Overall Rating
Quiet, a couple flies no smell 1 other camper from 12/11/2021 to 12/14/2021
We'll be here till the 24th
Seems the PIGS always throw trash in the fire pit.
CANS don't burn people!! Don't make yourself at home and throw your trash in the yard!!!
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AT&T 4G
T-Mobile 4G
DENNY would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Closest free boondocking near Phoenix, beautiful mountain! ”
Reviewed 12/5/2021
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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| Days stayed: | 14 |
| RV Length: | 40' (Class A) |
Overall Rating
We love staying here for the proximity to Phoenix when we need it. We've stayed here in a campervan AND a big 40' motorhome. The campervan and other small RVs can definitely get closer to the mountain for a more secluded experience. That being said, there is plenty of big rig friendly camping here. Don't take a big rig down the fir... more
We love staying here for the proximity to Phoenix when we need it. We've stayed here in a campervan AND a big 40' motorhome. The campervan and other small RVs can definitely get closer to the mountain for a more secluded experience. That being said, there is plenty of big rig friendly camping here. Don't take a big rig down the first left entrance coming from the East where the main area sign is posted, it gets rutted and is very tight if you need to turnaround. Further West the entrance roads get better and there's more and more space for larger rigs. The 4x4 exploration around the mountain is fun, there's an awesome hike up over the saddle of "Saddle Mountain" and there's plenty of room to spread out from your neighbors. The nearby RV Park on the road into Saddle mountain offers water fill, dumping, and even accepts Amazon packages in your name, (all for a fee) pretty sweet! The biggest con is the nearby chicken farm and the flies that come with it. Every afternoon around the same time, the smell is horrible. The flies are around all the time :) Otherwise, we love it!
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AT&T 4G
Verizon 4G
Perpetual Moves would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Serene & Gorgeous”
Reviewed 9/29/2021
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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| Days stayed: | 4 |
| Site Number: | N/A |
Overall Rating
First off, I didn't notice many flies or the smell from the chicken farm down the road. I did, however, notice a buttload of moths. It was incredible to see all of the different varieties as I was herding them (with an olight) back out the door. Wildlife is scarce here but I did see some chipmunks and the occasional bird. There are ... more
First off, I didn't notice many flies or the smell from the chicken farm down the road. I did, however, notice a buttload of moths. It was incredible to see all of the different varieties as I was herding them (with an olight) back out the door.
Wildlife is scarce here but I did see some chipmunks and the occasional bird.
There are a ton of entrances into the area but I found the best entrance (for a 30 foot rig) to be the one right off of mile marker 13.
Come here for tranquility and amazing sunsets.
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AT&T 4G
Verizon 4G
MilesMayVary would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Beautiful place, decent cell coverage for work, too many flies”
Reviewed 4/21/2021
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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| Days stayed: | 5 |
| RV Length: | 36' (Class A) |
Overall Rating
I'm still trying to remove flies from our rig and this was with preparation knowing the area would be filled with them. We caught so many our fly paper didn't have any spots left. With the wind going the wrong way you're going to smell some awful things coming from Hickmans. The area is very beautiful albeit busy, Courthouse Road an... more
I'm still trying to remove flies from our rig and this was with preparation knowing the area would be filled with them. We caught so many our fly paper didn't have any spots left. With the wind going the wrong way you're going to smell some awful things coming from Hickmans.
The area is very beautiful albeit busy, Courthouse Road and Salome Highway are rarely quiet with a lot of high speed traffic of folks commuting to work at the power plant and hatchery nearby.
We would stay here in a pinch again, but its not worth it otherwise.
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AT&T 4G
Verizon 4G
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
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