Tag: Ajo

Cactus and Red Rock

We recently returned from a 19-day road trip that took us to the heart of the Sonoran Desert near Ajo Arizona, and then north into the red rocks of the Vermillion Cliffs. We covered 1778 miles leaving on February 8 and returning on February 26. The focus of our trip was to travel a bit off the beaten track, to see some natural wonders and to visit places that were dog friendly. Dog friendly meaning, when we park the rig for the night, we can let Carson run free, off-leash. Here’s a glimpse of some of the highlights of our trip. I’ll be posting more about specific portions of the trip so stay tuned.

The Saguaro cactus is the keystone species in the Sonoran Desert, it’s just amazing to see these huge plants growing like they do, up to 50 feet tall.

One of our camping locations near Ajo was on the Barry M Goldwater Range. The range consists of 1.9 million acres of relatively undisturbed Sonoran Desert. While this is a military range, there are some areas that are open to the public. We found this site through iOverlander, one of the resources we use for locating camping.

Camping here requires a permit which is easy to obtain online. Once you have successfully obtained the permit you are given a gate code to unlock a gate. We accessed this location through Gate 15, area B. We boondocked here for two nights. A beautiful spot, although the silence was occasionally punctuated by the sound of fighter jets.

After a few days in the Ajo area we drove north to the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument. There are no paved roads in the Monument, and we put our four-wheel drive to good use driving through deep sand and rough roads. We drove into the Monument to explore the White Pocket, and amazing geologic formation of twisted colorful sandstone. We also explored the Maze Rock Art Site, with several large panels of rock art.

From the Vermillion Hills we made a quick foray into the Escalante Grand Staircase National Monument to explore the old Paria Townsite.

Over the course of the trip, we managed to vary our accommodations a bit. We spent four nights with family and friends, one night in a motel, four nights in paid camp sites, although one of those was essentially dry camping on private property, with a location we found on Hipcamp and we spent 11 nights boondocking. It was refreshing to visit places of natural wonder away from the crowds of so many of the popular locations. While most of the driving was on paved roads we did put our four-wheel drive to good use in several locations. Temperatures ranged from a low of 28 degrees near Joshua Tree to 79 degrees at the visitor center in Death Valley National Park.

Ajo Mountain Drive

February 2. Our adventures today took us through the Diablo Mountains on the Ajo Mountain Drive in the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. This is a scenic drive that takes you on a loop around the mountains, going up a canyon and around the rugged crags. If you have limited time in the park this is one of those must-do items. The drive is 21 miles on a one way dirt road. It’s a graded road and easily negotiable in a car although there are some very winding sections and the drive is restricted to vehicles under 25 feet in length. We used the guide book we picked up at the visitor center and we stopped at the designated locations to read about the natural history of the Sonora Desert. The guide suggests allowing two hours for the drive. We spent a good four hours, stopping to take photos and to hike. This is a spectacular drive, passing through stands of Saguaro and Organ pipe cactus and up into the rugged and mountainous terrain. The canyons with slightly higher elevation and it capture a bit more rain then the lower elevations which results in lush desert vegetation. At the top of the loop you can take a two mile round trip hike up Arch Canyon. We took turns, one of us hiking while the other kept our dog Carson company. Once again, dogs are not permitted on the trails. A number of wildflowers were in bloom including poppies. You can see additional photos of the drive here.