HikeArizona.COM

Wondering where the best camp spots are near Sycamore Canyon - the southern one, near Nogales. I've read that there are roadside sites near there but not clear on where they are.

Are you allowed to camp at the trailhead?

Are there spots where one might be more likely to lose the crowds?

As long as you are in the Coronado Forest and not in the Goodding Research Natural Area I believe dispersed camping is allowed. The research area looks to start at the trailhead and encompasses the entire hike within the canyon. Not sure I'd camp there but to each their own. Several recently active members have been there and perhaps know better.

Looks like the nearest developed camp area is called White Rock about seven miles east by Pena Blanca Lake
520-281-2296

Last time I was down there we took a side road nearby, heading south off the Ruby Road, where you could have camped anywhere. But trucks full of smugglers kept driving by heading north on that dirt road, since there really wasn't much of a border fence back then, they just drove back and forth. That was about 15 years ago. It was pretty crazy down there. Nowadays, I'd figure the Border Patrol would keep you awake all night instead of the smugglers. When they have nothing better to do they love to harass American citizens.

@azbackpackr
BabbleRaftN Kopelli

Joe's been busy... and he knows you sooooooooo well!!

Ha.

azbackpackr wrote:........ "Nowadays, I'd figure the Border Patrol would keep you awake all night instead of the smugglers". ....."since there really wasn't much of a border fence back then, they just drove back and forth."

Don't drink the Obama/Napolitano kool-aid, here's the reality.

http://battlefieldamerica.wordpress.com ... eld-today/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5RPS_iTNiw

Yeah, I know about that. It's caused by the black market for drugs in the US, which is caused by the US government's refusal to legalize and tax drugs.

I also know there was no real fence 15 years ago.

I also know that my husband and son twice have been harassed by Border Patrol with their dogs, at the I-8 checkpoint just east of Yuma, and my husband was accused of smuggling pills when they found one bottle of his prescription, properly labeled from the pharmacy, in the glove box. They found his gun in the car, grabbed it and pointed it AT HIM. They had the dogs running all over his car. This happened several times when he went through there. They never found anything but his legal gun and his legal prescription. AND one of the times, afterwards he found he was missing a very expensive K-Bar knife which he had kept in a certain place in the vehicle. It was gone, after he departed that checkpoint. One of the officers had stolen it. ONE OF THOSE JACK BOOTED THUGS STOLE MY HUSBAND'S PERSONAL PROPERTY. HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT?

Don't tell me about the Border Patrol. The agency has had to hire so many people so quickly that a great many of them are not only not very bright but are also poorly trained.

All this could be solved to a certain extent by having more of a guest worker program for Mexicans, AND legalizing drugs. Obama is not advocating legalizing drugs. Obama lied. He said he would not allow the Justice Dept. to harass medical marijuana facilities in states where that has been legalized. In the past 8 weeks or so he has sent the Feds to bust medical marijuana dispensaries in San Diego, Montana and southern Oregon (do a news search).

My other son was routinely harassed by the Border Patrol when legally target shooting near the border in Yuma, near his house. Since they did not have the same officers there all the time, they regularly harassed him for shooting at a dirt berm there by the river. They have no right to harass American citizens. Give a retard a gun, pin a badge on him, and this is what you get. I hate the Border Patrol.

Wow, I'm thinking twice about camping anywhere in SW AZ!

I'm not afraid of Mexicans, who make up the majority of the neighborhood where I live in Chicago (some of whom are either drug dealers or so-called "illegals," and none of whom have ever given me the least trouble).

But the Border Patrol - now that's sketchy! Never had a problem yet at checkpoints, but I don't want to tempt fate either.

Any suggestions for safer spots for camping this time of year?

Actually, that's not in SW Arizona. It's considered to be in SE Arizona, since it's a little east of center.

SW Arizona would be the Yuma area, or Barry Goldwater bombing range (permit required), or Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, Muggins Mountains Wilderness, Imperial Wildlife Refuge, Kofa Wildlife Refuge, etc. It is very dry desert out that way, unless you are directly on the Colorado River. I love it, but some people find it to be a bit too intensely stark.

On the other hand, if you want an off-the-beaten path campout in Southeastern Arizona, try Cochise Stronghold in the Dragoons. There are many places to car-camp which are kind of away from the tourist path, of course, but that one just popped into my head. There's a quiet campground at this trailhead, at East Stronghold: http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=759