Boondocking, camping without hookups on public land or in a lot that allows it, is the cheapest way to RV and the quickest way to find out what your rig can’t do. Around Lake Havasu, the desert makes it better and harder at the same time. These are the rules every RV owner needs to know before the first night off-grid.
The land rules
- Know whose land it is and what they allow. Dispersed camping on public land has rules about where, how long and how far from water you can camp; they differ by agency and by area, and they change. Check the managing agency’s current rules for the specific spot before you go, not a forum post from three years ago.
- Stay limits are real. Most dispersed areas cap how many days you can stay in one place before moving a set distance. Plan around it.
- Pack it in, pack it out. Don’t dump gray or black water on the ground; it’s prohibited in most places and it ruins sites. Find the dump station before you need it.
- Fire rules follow the season. Desert fire restrictions come and go; a campfire that was fine in January may be prohibited in June. Check the current restriction.
- Leave the site better. Boondocking survives on the goodwill of land managers, and trashed sites are how areas get closed.
The rig rules
Water is the limit. Your fresh tank is the clock. Water weighs 8.34 pounds per gallon, so you can’t just carry more without counting it against the trailer’s GVWR and your truck’s payload; most boondockers learn to use far less than they do with hookups.
Power is the second limit. Without hookups you run on batteries, solar and a generator. Heat in Havasu kills lead-acid batteries in two to three years, lithium tolerates heat better but has its own charging-temperature limits, and some solar controllers throttle above 120 degrees. Know your battery capacity in usable amp-hours and what the refrigerator, furnace fan and inverter actually draw; a generator can hit its shutdown temperature doing normal work at summer ambient. Our guide to off-grid solar for RVs covers the sizing.
The refrigerator is the third limit. An absorption refrigerator struggles above about 100 degrees if the compartment airflow is blocked, and it needs a four-hour run at ambient before you trust it. Pre-cool it the day before.
Tires and the road in. The road to the good spot is where tires fail. Read the DOT date codes before the trip (a tire more than five years old is a replacement conversation regardless of tread), check pressures cold, carry a real spare and the tools to change it, and walk a questionable road before you commit a 30-foot trailer to it.
Have a way out. Cell coverage in the washes and canyons around the river can’t be counted on. Tell someone where you are, carry water for the people as well as the tanks, and don’t boondock in the summer heat unless you have shade, power and a plan for when the generator quits.
Buying a rig for boondocking
Bigger tanks, more battery capacity, factory solar prep, a generator and a lighter footprint matter more than a second bathroom. When you look at a used unit, test everything at ambient temperature, not in the morning cool, and ask how it was stored; a unit that sat in full sun from May to October wears differently. Every used unit on our lot has been looked over, and we don’t list one we wouldn’t sell to a friend; an independent inspection, paid by the buyer, is always welcome.
Next step
See the RVs in stock, or read the ten things to know before your first RV trip in Arizona. Call (928) 453-8833 or text (928) 732-2281.
