BLM LTVA - Blythe, CA - 02/16/16

Tuesday – February 16, 2016
BLM LTVA
Blythe, California

Today was such a pleasant, warm, sunny day (typical weather here in the southwestern Arizona desert), we decided to check out a few of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Long-Term Visitor Areas (LTVA) located Between Interstate 8 and Interstate 10 west of the Arizona state line.

Midland LTVA – Blythe, California
We take the Lovekin Exit on I-10 and travel six miles north on Lovekin Road and then about three miles northwest on Midland Road to the camping area. This is an isolated camping area that has trash dumpsters and a dump station. There is no water available onsite. We understand that water is available in the town of Blythe for a fee. If you enjoy an isolated camping area this should satisfy your requirements.

Mule Mountain – Wiley’s Well Road
This area is located at the Wiley’s Well Road Exit on I-10, fourteen miles west of Blythe. We never made it to The Mule Mountain LTVA. There is a six-mile, very rough washboard, sand-based road that must be traversed to reach the camping area. We traveled less than one-half mile at 5 mph on this road, when we had had enough of the wear and tear this harsh road wrought on our vehicle’s chassis. The road is wide enough for two vehicles and we were fortunate to be able to turn our vehicle around. If we had been towing a trailer or driving a motorhome we may have been forced to drive the six miles to the camping area on this horrible road.

Mule Mountain is shown on the BLM pamphlet to have trash dumpsters, dump station and restroom facilities.

If you are looking for an isolated camping area and don’t mind spending an hour or so traveling six miles to reach your destination…go for it!

Picacho Recreation Area
This area is located on California County Road S-34 a few miles north of Interstate 8. There are no services here. Looks like a nice area for dispersed camping.

Pilot Knob – Sidewinder Road I-8
This area is located south of Interstate 8, (you can see it from the Interstate). This camping area is very accessible and close to Yuma, Arizona. Trash dumpsters are available on site. Water and dump stations are not available on site.

After completing our tour of the LTVA’s in southeastern California, we still prefer the Imperial Dam LTVA north of Yuma, Arizona where we are presently camped. Here we have trash dumpsters, water, dump stations and restroom facilities with hot showers.

Total miles traveled today: 258
Route Traveled:
North on Arizona Highway 95
West on Interstate 10
South on California Highway 78
South on California County Road S-34
East on Interstate 8
North on California S-24 to Imperial Dam

Tomorrow another adventure begins.