BLM Site saving etiquettes

[Kon]

Hi everyone.
I haven't tried any BLM land camping yet, but I'm Just wondering what do you guys do to hold your site for when you come back from a day trip.

I'm thinking of trying out to visit Quartzsite next year or any other free lands to stay at.

Do we pitch a cheap tent to hold the spot? or Leave a few camp chairs out?
Or just find another site when we come back?

Thanks everyone for your input.

[mkguitar]

I have a collapsible cone kinda like this:


https://www.amazon.com/Sunnyglade-Co...NsaWNrPXRydWU=


Some leave chairs out, I've heard of chairs going missing


Mike

[booster]

Originally Posted by mkguitar

I have a collapsible cone kinda like this:


https://www.amazon.com/Sunnyglade-Co...NsaWNrPXRydWU=


Some leave chairs out, I've heard of chairs going missing.




Mike

I think we have heard of most everything left to hold a site going missing. We lost marked "occupied mat and others have lost cones, chairs, cheap tents, etc. A lot of people appear to have switched to using empty 1 gallon milk containers so not a big loss.



We also have a collapsible cone with out name written all over in indelible marker so less desirable. We have been lucky with that so far,

[Kon]

Cool, thanks for the tips.
Wouldn’t it also be kinda confrontational when you do return to see the people on your site or with your items? Or should we just ignore and find another site after ?

[booster]

Originally Posted by Kon

Cool, thanks for the tips.
Wouldn’t it also be kinda confrontational when you do return to see the people on your site or with your items? Or should we just ignore and find another site after ?

I think it would depend on if you had it marked when you left. Hopefully, if caught they would leave, but getting in a fight or shouting match isn't worth it. Write down their plate number and send it to the whomever is in charge of that campground, which may or may not do any good.

[Kon]

Thanks again for all your help.
Have you guys had experience at Quartzsite? I'm thinking about checking out the RV show next January there. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

[MsNomer]

I’d argue that if you are boondocking on BLM land, you don’t have the right to "reserve" anything. If you want to reserve, pay for a campground.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by MsNomer

I’d argue that if you are boondocking on BLM land, you don’t have the right to "reserve" anything. If you want to reserve, pay for a campground.

I was kind of thinking the same thing.
There is a continuum between leaving out a chair and enclosing an acre in flagging tape.

[booster]

Originally Posted by avanti

I was kind of thinking the same thing.
There is a continuum between leaving out a chair and enclosing an acre in flagging tape.

Agree, there is a huge difference in between the two, and especially the big groups that send on person in really early and mark off half a dozen sites for their friends that are showing up after everyone else has missed out. This even happened at the pay in the envelope systems for the drive up sites as they would fill out envelopes for the late arrivers. Bummer when you show up plenty early and one site has people in it and all the ones around it have chairs and signs in them.

[Kon]

Oh no.. No plans on saving or reserving an acre of land for any friends.
My simple question is on how do people deal with camping in spots where they need to leave the site for few hours to visit area attractions then having to go back into their site. This is of course with a van and not dropping off a trailer.

And this question is especially for a busy area such as Quartzsite during January. I would assume the traffic in and out would be busy everyday and a lot of folks would be trying to find spots constantly.

[Davydd]

BLM land at least around Quartzsite and other places I've been to is dispersed camping. There are no sites as in a campground. You just drive around until you find, for me, a level site away from other campers that you desire to in distance but there is no guarantees that no one will pull up close to you. If you go into town, we don't leave anything. When we come back, if the spot is still there we resume. If not, we just find another suitable site.

[Davydd]

BTW, I've camped at Quartszite a few times but not in January when they have their big events. Usually shortly after in February. The town still has all the junk and rocks there, just fewer people.

[Kon]

Cool, thanks for tips.

[mechmike10]

On a forum site (I don't remember which) a couple of years ago, I read of somebody who marked their the site with yellow hazardous waste spill tape. I thought it was creative. It is not unheard of for people to steal sites even in state parks with marked sites.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by mechmike10

On a forum site (I don't remember which) a couple of years ago, I read of somebody who marked their the site with yellow hazardous waste spill tape.

I guess some people would classify anyone who would do that as "hazardous waste."

It is not unheard of for people to steal sites even in state parks with marked sites.

How would one do that? In the state parks I am familiar with, you either hold a reservation for a given site or you don't. Right? I suppose they could just refuse to leave, but that would surely lead to a summons.

[bl_smith25]

Take an alternative form of transportation like a bicycle. Everything in Q especially the big tent is within a mile or so. So plan to leave the van parked at your site and take a bike. Many people use atv’s, four wheelers or other buggies to get around there and leave their rigs parked. Dump and fill either before you get there or before your Area is crowded and stay put. There are also porta potties I think around the show grounds so use other facilities when possible to extend your tanks. With a bicycle, you’ll be driving faster than having a car during these shows. After the show when most of the crowds leave, go empty tanks again and you should be able to come back to the same place.
Alternatively, make friends with your neighbours. Doesn’t hurt to introduce yourself and explain your situation. If they’re at home, they can maybe keep an eye on your site or park their car or something there. A tent with a borrowed car would be a sure sign that someone is there.
Anyways just some ideas.

[Paul the Gardens]

Originally Posted by MsNomer

I’d argue that if you are boondocking on BLM land, you don’t have the right to "reserve" anything. If you want to reserve, pay for a campground.

That’s pretty simple, clear to understand and fair to me.

[ilmor]

It may be that the rules are that you’re not allowed to claim a site after you’ve left or while you’re gone. I’m not sure about this though.

[booster]

Originally Posted by MsNomer

I’d argue that if you are boondocking on BLM land, you don’t have the right to "reserve" anything. If you want to reserve, pay for a campground.

\


I think we may be talking about 2 different things here. What about if we don't call it "reserve" and call it "preserve" instead. Reserve to me would be if you call ahead or have someone else mark a blank site to hold it for you when you aren't there yet. Preserve is just maintaining possession of the site you already are in. If you can't leave a chair, a gallon junk, etc to mark the site as occupied it puts anyone with a B or truck camper as pretty much out of luck in somewhat busy area. Many places that are BLM and such are quite a ways from dump stations, maybe water, trailheads, other things to see, you could lose the site every day unless you had alternate transportation if actually wanted to do stuff.

[MsNomer]

Yep. That's what we’ve been doing all summer. When we leave a site to go to a trailhead or into town or wherever, we have no expectation that it will still be available when we return.