anza-borrego desert state park

Free Camping in Anza Borrego Desert State Park

https://scampgrounds.com/wp-content/themes/osmosis/images/empty/thumbnail.jpg 150 150 gavin gavin https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/99f9cd14e6ca957f921a5ace7d1dcdf0fccde566155f0e4da610ff0b7f10e2b0?s=96&d=mm&r=g February 28, 2026 February 27, 2026

By: gavin

February 28, 2026

Free Camping in Anza Borrego Desert State Park
February 23rd – 25th 2026 (2 nights)

Sometimes a spontaneous midweek break is the perfect way to take an adventure. And, fortunately, there are numerous wonderful places for outdoor adventures to be had near our home in San Diego. Anza Borrego Desert State Park is one such place. This beautiful desert oasis, located just two hours east of San Diego, generally has great weather in the winter and early spring. It’s renown for spectacular wildflower blooms in the spring as well as dark skies for celestial viewing, and hiking trails with unique outdoor scenery. It’s also an escape for many snowbirds from colder weather environments who fill up the campgrounds within the park during the winter. Palm Canyon Campground is one of Anza Borrego’s most popular campgrounds and offers hookups for water and electric and is located near the city of Borrego Springs. This campground has an excellent Visitor’s Center, fun trails, and is a quick bike ride to its cute little town. It was the first campground we visited after we received our 2020 Scamp 13! Check out our trip report here.

Although traditional campgrounds can be great, sometimes one just wants to get off the grid — get away from neat rows of RVs, get off the asphalt, not see so many people, and maybe just hear the wind, birds, and other wild animals. And avoiding the daily rate to rent the campsite pad can be a nice bonus as well! So, how is this done? Fortunately, there are plenty of resources for how and where to free camp (also called boondocking) online. Anza Borrego Desert SP has a website which outlines the free primitive campgrounds within the park. The free primitive campgrounds are called primitive because they lack water, trash collections, and other amenities/hookups. No permits and fees are needed at any of these campgrounds. However, there are still rules — such as packing all trash out and not leaving any traces on the ground (along with many others rules).

Before going out to free camp (whether it’s in a tent, car, van, RV, or travel trailer), it’s important to have a good mastery of one’s equipment, be aware of what and the amount of resources will be used (e.g. food and water, clothing, power, etc.), and have backup / emergency plans in case things don’t go according to schedule (e.g. always let someone know where you will be going and for how long). Free camping in a travel trailer, like the Scamp 13′, is really nice because the Scamp is fully self-contained with it’s own bedroom, kitchen (including stove and refrigerator), furnace, shower, and entertainment system. Our Scamp has two onboard propane tanks (offering plenty of fuel to power our stove, hot water tank, and furnace for weeks). There’s also an onboard lithium battery which provides a large power bank for onboard electronics (such as pumps and lights). We carry an additional battery to power our Starlink for communications when there is no mobile phone service. We also carry emergency supplies such as a first aid kit, shovel, off-road tire traction boards, lithium battery engine jump starter, and more. Here’s a list of our essential items. We use GAIA GPS and download offline maps for all campgrounds we visit as many adventure locations have no mobile service.

Our plan for this trip was to try “free camping” primitive campgrounds within Anza Borrego Desert State Park. Blair Valley Primitive Campground and Culp Valley Primitive Campground are well reviewed online and within thirty minutes of each other. Both campgrounds are high above the desert floor above Borrego Springs, offering 5 – 10 degree cooler weather.

Blair Valley Primitive Campground (2,500 feet elevation)
Our first stop (after fueling at a nearby gas station on a Reservation called Santa Ysabel Roadside, off Highway 79) was Blair Valley Primitive Campground. It’s located right off the Great Southern Overland Stage Route (a small highway). Access to the campground is hard dirt and was relatively easy to navigate on its roads. Because of the rain a couple of weeks ago, there were very large and deep pools of water on some of the access roads, but we were able to avoid these by taking higher adjacent tracks. The campground is located in a large valley and the number of campsites is expansive (but not expensive — since it’s free!). Beware: the farther one travels down into the valley’s access roads, the sandier the roads get. There were lots of nice sites with plenty of site separation right near the entrance, so we chose one of these when we arrived. There are pit toilets at the front entrance (good for tent and car campers). It’s best to arrive mid-morning as the sites are first come first served. Though, there were a number of sites available at all hours the two days we were there on Monday and Tuesday in late February.

We chose a campsite at the base of one of the boulder mountains surrounding the valley. Many of the campsites are clearly defined with a firepit. It was tricky getting our Scamp 13′ level, even using our leveler. We learned that it’s best to orient the trailer in the direction of the hill as there is much more ability to level front to back with the hitch jack (many feet) than side to side with a leveler (usually only about 6″). The campsites in the center of the valley, on the flats, were much easier for people to level up. During our visit, we had 1 to 2 bars of Verizon mobile service — enough to send texts (although sending images was very slow). There is no water here, nor trash receptacle nor dump station. We made sure to bring 3 full six-gallon water jugs as well as arriving with our Scamp 13’s 12-gallon fresh water tank completely full. We saw a handful of other campers during our visit and everyone was very friendly. Some were travelling across the country.

There’s plenty to do in Blair Valley, and even if you want to just relax it’s great too. Shortly after we arrived, two F35 fighter jets made a low pass over the valley and pulled out hard, making a radical bank as they turned away! That was the most noise we heard during our two day stay! We brought our mountain bikes and road on the Blair Valley Loop trail (sometimes very sandy), which goes on for miles. There are Indian pictographs and other artifacts to be seen on this route. There are a number of hiking trails in the area as well. We enjoyed sitting outside and taking in the beautiful sites and sounds of Blair Valley. At night, a large owl hooted from a branch extending from a rock outcropping directly overhead! And, stargazing is incredible as this is a dark skies park.

Culp Valley Primitive Campground (3.400 ft. elevation)
Located about 35 minutes from Blair Valley, Culp Valley Primitive Campground is off Montezuma Valley Road S22 going down into Borrego Springs. It’s the highest campground in the park and offers cooler temperatures than many of the other campgrounds. The campground is down a small, almost hidden dirt road and is much smaller than Blair Valley Primitive Campground. Coming from above, there is no sign, just the dirt road is visible. A street sign saying Culp Valley Camp is posted for drivers coming up the S22 from Borrego Springs. There are only about 12 campsites and we estimated only a handful were suitable for small travel trailers. In turn, arriving here midweek and early in the day is essential. We would recommend choosing one of the few campsites on the main road and avoiding the lower and higher roads (at least not without scouting them on foot first). During our visit, the lower and higher roads were extremely rutted and would not be suitable for a travel trailer.

The Culp Valley is not as expansive as Blair Valley, but still is surrounded by mountains with plenty of boulders. Just like Blair Valley, there are not many amenities other than pit toilets. And like Blair Valley, the price was right (free)! There is almost no Verizon service here (we received an occasional one bar). However, at the top of the Culp Valley Trail, which is a high overlook to Borrego Springs below, there is excellent Verizon coverage! The half-mile long trail is easy and well defined. There’s a longer 2.2. mile hike to nearby Pena Springs as well.

Impressions of Free Camping in Anza Borrego Desert State Park
Free Camping in Anza Borrego Desert State Park is amazing. There are so many different options for camping and each provides a somewhat different experience. We really enjoyed Blair Valley Primitive Campground for it’s beautiful natural environment and lots to explore. Culp Valley Primitive Campground provides a smaller feel with a trail that offers a spectacular view of the Borrego Springs valley floor below. It also is a bit cooler due to its higher elevation than the other campgrounds within the park.

For ease of access, Blair Valley Primitive Campground is the clear winner between these two campgrounds as it is easy to get into, there are seemingly almost an endless number of campsites (and often can accommodate large trailers), and the roads are in better condition (or were at least during our visit). Blair Valley also provides a nice loop for mountain bike riding.

Free camping takes the visceral feel of nature to another level beyond traditional camping. Being immersed in all the scenery — the sights and sounds of plants, animals, and stars — without so many people and asphalt around creates an elevated experience. For those perhaps intimidated to try free camping due to the isolation, Anza Borrego Desert State Park makes the experience easy as the campsite areas are often marked and there are usually other campers and park employees around to provide assistance if necessary.

We can’t wait to return for the Spring wildflower bloom (and perhaps super bloom due to all the rain)! Perhaps we will try another one of the Anza Borrego Desert State Park’s free campgrounds!

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Why We Prefer Primitive Campsites in Anza Borrego Desert State Park

By: gavin

February 5, 2022

Why We Prefer Primitive Campsites in Anza Borrego Desert State Park
January 25^th – 28^th, 2022 (3 nights)

Having already enjoyed this beautiful desert state park a couple times in the past, we thought it would be fun to come back and try out the primitive campground area within the Borrego Palm Canyon Campground. We like this campground because it’s only a couple of hours drive from our home in San Diego and has a nice warm desert vibe. There’s great hiking and biking as well, along with a cute town which can be reached by bike. There are numerous good restaurants along with interesting shops. We stayed at the hookup area on our previous two visits. The hookup area campsites are relatively close together and offer direct connections to electric, water, and sewer. Many “snowbird” campers staying a week or longer to escape miserable winters at home (and often with large motorhomes) are common visitors at these sites.

On our first visit a couple of years ago, we admired some of the more private and scenic campsites in the “primitive” area of the campground at the base of the mountains. These “primitive” sites offer no hookups, but there are water spigots near the campsites and a central dump station at the campground entrance. At that time, we walked the entire campground and wrote down in our travel log all of our favorite primitive campsites, hoping to try one on a future visit.

When we received a text from friends in Sept. 2021 saying they were going to Borrego Palm Canyon campground in January 2022, we immediately reserved site #108 (based on our best campsite notes from our log book). At that time, “dry” sites like this one without hookups cost $25/night with a $7.99 online reservation fee. The hookup sites were $35/night. But, just recently, prices for both types of sites increased $10/night (now $35/night dry and $45/night hookups)! Some of the nicest primitive campsites are located at the back of the campground adjacent to the entrance of the Borrego Palm Canyon Trail, a 2.9 mile trail that leads to the third largest palm oasis in California (with California’s only native species of palm, the Fan palm). The desert pup fish pond is also near the entrance of the Borrego Palm Canyon Trail. These tiny (about 2.5 inches in length) rare endangered fish are able to survive in environments of extreme salinity, pH, and temperature, and low oxygen content. You may have to be patient, but if you walk around the pond you will likely see some darting about.

When we arrived on a late January afternoon at our primitive campsite (#108), it was warm (in the low 70s) but the campsite was already in deep shade as it is at the base of one of the tall mountains behind which the sun sets in midafternoon. The first thing we noticed is how roomy and private the primitive campsites are compared to the hookup area. There are water spigots throughout the primitive campground and there is one right next to site #108. Since we had a water spigot and also set up our solar panels, we had no issues with water or power during our three night stay. We did bring our “holy grail portable grey water tank solution”, but decided instead to use the free central dump station at the entrance to the park since we also wanted to dump our black tank. It only took us about thirty minutes total to hitch up our Scamp, drive down to the central dump, dump, and then set the Scamp up again on a weekday morning. The primitive sites are still within walking distance to the main campground, so we were able to visit friends by taking a 15 minute walk or riding our bikes down to their hookup campsites.

On our second day, we had fun touring the metal sculptures (over 130 of them) in Galleta Meadows on our bikes. These large metal shaped sculptures of people, animals and fantasy creatures are spread out over miles of desert, but the terrain is on flat quiet paved back roads, making the bike ride easy. The metal artworks were created by artist Ricardo Breceda for Dennis Avery (of Avery labels), owner of Galleta Meadows. It took us several hours to see almost all the sculptures. We started our ride in the morning and ended with a nice late lunch at Pablito’s Mexican Bar & Grill in town. By the time we finally made it back to the campground, we were tired as the gentle grade down to town turns into a lengthy gradual climb on the way back! The entire loop is around twelve miles, which isn’t too much when on a bike, especially given most of the ride is very flat. We were really glad we brought our bikes on this trip because the roads are mostly wide open and flat and having bikes makes it really convenient to explore. The bike trip into town is an easy 15 minute ride.

In addition to the privacy and space the primitive campground provides, we also found it to be quieter as well as darker at night. We noticed that the population density of campers in the primitive campsite area to be significantly less than at the hookup area. Probably as a result, the area seemed more peaceful without noticeable campground noise. In addition, because RVs aren’t lined up close together in rows like at the hookup sites, some with outdoor lights on, the primitive area seemed much darker. This is really important when enjoying the stars, which is particularly significant at this park. Anza Borrego State Park achieved its International Dark Sky Park rating in 2018 and, as such, is recognized as a premier place for stargazing. We experienced wonderful stargazing first hand during nights at the primitive campground.

A visit to Anza Borrego Desert State Park wouldn’t be complete without a stop at the Visitor’s Center. This time, we walked the short flat paved trail from the campground to the center. There are placards along the way with descriptions of the plants and animals seen in the Anza Borrego Desert State Park. The center has a theater, gift, and book store filled with great things related to Anza Borrego Desert. The staff in the store are also really helpful if one has questions about trails or anything else Anza Borrego related. On this trip, we picked up one of the current season’s Anza Borrego t-shirt designs along with a warm knit beanie with a bighorn sheep logo.

Now that we’ve tried both the hookup and primitive campgrounds at Borrego Palm Canyon Campground in the Anza Borrego Desert State Park, we can certainly recommend staying in the primitive campground for the many reasons explained above. Overall, we found the stay at the primitive campground to be many factors more peaceful than our previous stays at the hookup area. To be clear, we enjoyed our previous stays, but the primitive campground takes the desert experience to a new level. Some nights we even heard animals (likely bighorn sheep) right outside our Scamp! The quiet, the space, the peacefulness, and the darker skies without bright RV lights, definitely elevate the camping experience. In addition, it’s also nice that it’s $10/night cheaper (at the time of this writing)! Of course, there would be times when staying at the hookup campground might be preferable. If we were planning on staying for an extended period of time and didn’t want the hassle of having to haul water from the spigot and driving to the central dump every four or five days (or needed power to run an AC or other energy hungry devices), then having hookups certainly makes things easier. But, for us, we generally only stay a few days, and our main goal is to be in nature as much as possible. And, that’s why we prefer primitive campsites in Anza Borrego Desert State Park … with more chances to see bighorn sheep!

No AC, No Problem!

By: gavin

February 9, 2021

No AC, No Problem!

If you are a California camper and/or can be flexible with your travel plans like us, then you might chose to forgo the installation of an air conditioner unit on your small travel trailer. When ordering our 2020 Scamp 13’ small travel trailer, we strongly considered adding the rooftop AC option. We thought it would be great to be able to cool the trailer if we ever stayed in hot weather. And we didn’t like the idea of going to a location reserved months in advance and being surprised by an unexpected heat wave. Ultimately, though, we ended up not ordering AC because our goal was to store the new Scamp in our home garage and the factory rooftop AC would eliminate that option.

We decided to travel with our new Scamp 13’ without AC for a year and then make a determination if AC was really necessary. I did some research and found a couple of possible options if we did think we needed AC that could be added on later (e.g. slim rooftop model, small back window removable AC). Since California has varied geography, including ocean, mountains, and deserts, trip planning to avoid uncomfortably hot weather would focus on these regions based on the seasons. First, we tried to avoid travel during any type of heat wave since this condition can affect any location. For summer and warmer conditions, we avoided valley and desert areas since they can be devilishly hot. This meant planning summer trips along the coast and in the mountains, which are typically cool areas year round. In the late fall, winter and early spring, the deserts make for great trip locations – often offering warm sunny days and cool nights.

Our first Scamp trip was to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in late February 2020. The weather overall at this desert location was perfect – sunny warm days (low 80’s) and cool nights (50’s). It was a little warm on our first day however, reaching into the mid 80’s, but our powerful rooftop Maxx Fan was enough to keep the air moving and comfortable. In June, we travelled from San Diego up the coast and onto Lake Tahoe. We made stops in Santa Barbara, Paso Robles, and Oakland before spending several days at D.L. Bliss State Park in Lake Tahoe. Once again, the weather was great on most of the stops, with the exception of our overnight stay in Paso Robles (an inland location that we needed to pass through on our way to Oakland). We arrived at the Harvest Host location (an olive oil farm) in the late afternoon and it was still 95 degrees outside! Fortunately, we were able to make camp in the shade behind the barn. We opened all the windows and ran our Maxx Fan. It was fairly windy outside and, with all the air blowing around, the temperature was tolerable but not comfortable in the Scamp. Fortunately, the temperature dropped quickly (into the 60’s at night) as soon as the sun set. Our other Scamp trips in 2020 (Observatory Camp @ Palomar Mountain, Mammoth Lakes, Coos Bay Oregon, Joshua Tree National Park) were also very comfortable experiences, none requiring AC (some were very cold at night, but the Scamp furnace is fantastic and kept things cozy). So after a year of travel in our Scamp (7 trips, 23 locations, and 33 nights), we could have enjoyed using AC only a couple of days. Given these experiences, we have decided for now to hold off on installing an aftermarket AC solution.

Although we really didn’t need AC much in the past year, we were still a bit tempted to have a low profile unit installed just in case. However, after doing some more research we decided the benefit of AC just wasn’t there for us in the way we travel when also considering the disadvantages of having AC installed. First, a rooftop AC costs a bit of money. The one that would likely work for us is a Coleman Mach 8 Plus low profile unit which runs about $900 including tax and hundreds of dollars more to install. And, having an AC likely will mean additional costs down the line for maintenance and eventual replacement. Additionally, a hole needs to be cut into the roof which can possibly introduce leaks if the AC is not installed correctly. Side note: we ordered our Scamp 13’ “AC Ready” (at no extra cost) so all the wiring is there and the roof is supported in case an AC is added later. There’s also the issue of additional weight (close to a hundred pounds) and drag an AC adds to the trailer which can potentially reduce trailer handling quality and fuel mileage. Noise can be another complaint people have concerning running an air conditioning unit right above their heads in a small travel trailer. And, possibly the biggest elephant in the room for us regarding a rooftop AC (beyond not fitting in our garage), is that it cannot be run when dry camping without a generator!

The last point above (ACs require hookup electricity or a generator) turned out to be a big deal breaker for us in considering adding a low profile AC unit for occasional use. Most of our trips involve a high percentage of non-hookup locations (e.g. State/National/Regional parks and Boondockers Welcome locations). In turn, we would need to haul around a generator and fuel to use the AC at most of the places we visit. Scamp recommends the Honda EU2200i which runs around a thousand dollars and weighs almost 50 pounds. It is recommended never to haul around a generator in your car because the gasoline fumes (even from an empty tank) can overwhelm you. For those, like us, without a pickup truck, a tongue box is often used at the front of the trailer to house the propane tanks and the generator. These are often custom built and can be expensive. There’s also the issue of how to safely haul gasoline without a pickup truck. Lastly, exhaust fumes (carbon monoxide) from a running generator are deadly and the generator itself can be a potential fire hazard. Carbon monoxide is a colorless and odorless gas that can cause sudden illness and death. So, it’s recommended that a generator be downwind of the trailer so the exhaust fumes don’t blow into the trailer and some say to keep it at least 10 feet away from any windows on your travel trailer. Side note: a friend of ours got so fed up with dealing with generator issues and hauling fuel that he got rid of it and told us that if the weather ever got hot he would just go to a campground with hookups to run his AC.

Now that we’ve had a year of experiences, and considering the type of travel we like to do (mostly non hookup locations), we are very happy we ordered our Scamp 13’ without an AC unit. We would have ordered AC had the garage height not been an issue. It just turns out that this height restriction worked in our favor. We are still glad we ordered our Scamp 13’ “AC Ready” though, because if our goals change and we decide we would like to take different types of trips, we might possibly add an AC unit in the future. For example, if we were planning a cross country trip then having an AC would probably be a must. Or, if we frequently crossed certain “hot zones” like California’s Central Valley on our way to mountain lakes, then the AC also would be very good to have. So, for many, AC still is very desirable or an absolute must. But, for people like us, having no AC is no problem!

Update July 2022: we’ve still found that strategically planning trips has eliminated the need for AC over 95% of the time. However, when heading to mountain lakes in the summer months, we have either needed to make stops a bit out of our way or drive non-stop to cross the hot parts of California (e.g. Central Valley or Mojave Desert) to beat the heat. These heat avoidance workarounds have meant taking less efficient longer routes or very long rides straight to our destination. So, we’ve recently added a temporary window mounted mini AC solution!