Boondocking is to RVing what anchoring is to boating.  When we had our boat, we loved to anchor.  Planning a sailing vacation for us was about figuring out how we could spend at least a few nights at anchor.  Ask either Brian or myself about our favorite sailing memories, and we will tell you about nights spent at anchor. 

Aside from the fact that boondocking is free, which, of course, eliminates the expense of a campground, we love the feeling of being “off the grid.”  We love the idea of waking up to nothing but a sea of land surrounding us, the feeling of being on a little island in the middle of nowhere, and the sense of being completely self-reliant.

No surprise that we were both excited to boondock.  And, at long last, we had our first night boondocking this past weekend.  About ninety minutes outside of Las Vegas, we planned our stop for Saturday night in an area known as Poverty Flats.  While there is a campground, there is a ton of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land in the area as well.

In researching boondocking, we’ve learned that we can stay on BLM land.  And while the hundreds of millions of acres of land that the BLM manages aren’t all suitable for parking an RV, there are lots of places where BLM land is perfect.  A fairly level mesa overlooking the canyons and other mesas in the area, Poverty Flats, also known as Snow Bird Mesa, qualifies as being pretty perfect parking.  With the help of other bloggers and vloggers, especially Love Your RV (https://www.loveyourrv.com/poverty-flats-aka-snowbird-mesa-free-camping/), we decided this would be an easy and nice first boondocking location.

When we arrived, the area on the east side of the road seemed pretty full, with about 30-40 other RVs already parked.  On the west side of the road, there was another turn off with only a handful of RVs.  While not as large as the area on the east side, the area easily could accommodate more RVs.  The pull-off allowed us to get into the area easily and, more importantly, would allow us an easy exit in the morning.   We chose a spot near the edge of a mesa, facing westerly so we could enjoy the sunset.   With slideouts extended and our rig leveled, we set up our outdoor camp chairs.   And with wine in our glasses, and the freedom of boondocking in our view, we began our quiet evening. 

Imagine our surprise just before the sun had set, when twelve or so cars pulled off the road and parked twenty or thirty yards away.  The group started a campfire in an existing firepit there.  Brian and I headed in to eat dinner and decided we would live by the motto of, “if you can’t beat ‘em, join them.”  After dinner, we headed over to meet our neighbors.  It turns out they were from a church in Las Vegas and had held a picnic in the area.  They welcomed us with an offer of brownies.  The campfire was the final stop for the evening.  By 9:00 or so, they had extinguished the fire and moved on. 

With plenty of cell signal to allow us to stream a TV show and a fairly strong wind blowing outside, we moved inside for the rest of the night.  The wind blew and blew some more.  If there was a drawback to the location, it was the blowing winds.  While this may have been nice given the temperature outside, our dog, Skipper, was very distracted by the noise with the windows open.   We got a decent night’s sleep, particularly appreciating how dark it was with no campground lights streaming in the windows.   

Sunday morning arrived, and we prepared to head into Las Vegas for the week.  What a change of scenery this would be from boondocking to major city in a matter of only a few hours.  We braced ourselves for the hustle and bustle not only of the metropolitan area, but for the group with which we were meeting up.  Life, this week, would be a lot different than recent months for us. 

Would we return to Poverty Flats?  You bet!  We hope to return to visit the Valley of Fire State Park which is only about ten minutes away from our campsite.  Our location was great for a single night or two.  If we return to the area with a plan to stay for longer, we will take the Jeep we tow to find a campsite in the area a little further off the road.  With a town close by and offering services like a grocery store and a couple of restaurants, we would easily be able to stay here for a while.