After a fast paced and tumultuous November, we felt like we wanted to slow our pace for December. It was nice to arrive at our destination in Niland, knowing that we would be in one place for a month. Check back with us next month to see how we did staying in one place for that long! And read on for our reviews of our December stays!
Since there is so much more federal land available in the Southwest US, we had originally made it a goal to boondock as much as possible this winter. We wanted to mix it up between developed BLM campgrounds and dispersed camping on BLM lands. Sawtooth Canyon is a developed campground, with designated sites, picnic tables and shelters, with the only amenities of pit toilets. It was very busy while we were there and we felt lucky to find an open spot at all. This is fairly close to Bakersfield but feels a world away. Lots of rock climbing (if you're in to that) and hiking trails to go with beautiful desert sunsets. It was fine for the price, but we probably wouldn't return.
We typically try to break up our boondocking stays with full hookup stays in between them so we can shower, dump our tanks, and fill our water back up. We liked how these sites had bushes between them to give you a bit more privacy, and definitely enjoyed utilizing the hot tubs, but overall, this was an expensive stay for the quality of the (dirt) site. It is one of the cheaper RV park options in the Palm Desert area, and that makes it a good choice for a few nights.
Chiriaco Summit Campground had stunning sunsets!
Technically, Chiriaco Summit Campground is not BLM land, but is a private campground that offers dry camping for no charge. There is a lot of BLM boondocking nearby at the Southern Entrance of Joshua Tree National Park, but we liked the looks of this campground with designated sites and a camp host. The campground was not super busy and it made a great place for us to remote work during the week and then explore Joshua Tree for our weekend adventures. We would absolutely stay here again!
Fountain of Youth Spa
We had originally planned to stay at Fountain of Youth Spa for the two weeks at Christmas, but we have both been working so much lately, that it sounded very appealing to stay in one place for an entire month and enjoy full hookups and amenities/activities! This park is over 800 spaces, with about half the spaces being permanent park models and mobile homes and the other half being RV sites. So far we have felt welcomed by the residents and enjoyed the hot tubs frequently. We'll see how active we get with other activities over the course of the month. Who knows, maybe we'll love being in one place or maybe we'll be itching to hit the road come mid January!
It's hard to believe this brings 2023 to a close. We hope that you have had a wonderful year and are looking forward to as many exciting adventures for your 2024 as we are!
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