What’s the big problem with Quartzsite Arizona? Aside from the beautiful sunsets, amazing people, decent food, and good experiences, there’s a parasite that lurks in the shadows. On my recent trip to Quartzsite, I got to witness this parasite first hand. Let’s go over the good first. Quartzite is beautiful and it’s my job to give credit where credit is due.
OFF-ROADING
Quartzsite is one giant playground for all those who love off-roading. From side-by-sides, ATVs, farm quads, and dirt bikes, we saw it all. If it wasn’t for the clutch cable breaking, I would have done a lot more riding myself. Quartzite’s desert landscape builds the perfect mixture of trail riding, tight corners, rock crawling and abandoned destinations.
The Arizona Peace Trail, an almost 700 mile offroad loop, crosses straight through Quartzsite! We froze while riding in the bed of a truck, a simple pleasure but something we don’t get to do where I’m from.
SWAP MEETS GALORE
The swap meets are why we are drawn to the middle of nowhere each year. Between the hundreds of vendors at Tyson Wells and the giant tent set up for the Progressive RV Show, we stayed busy for hours. We ate some good food (and some really bad food) to counterbalance all the calories we burned from walking around for so long.
SUNSETS AND SCENERY
Arizona Sunsets are breathtaking as it is, but this flat desert landscape made them all the better. From the deepest blues and purples to the brightest oranges, red and pinks, they provided the perfect touch to photos of off-roaders kicking up dust.
The scenery is like every other desert, rocks, sand, dead trees, dry trees, tumble weeds and cowboy hats on cacti. Oh and cowboy boots hanging from trees.
PEOPLE AND DOGS
What type of people do you typically think of when you think swap meets in the middle of the desert? If you answered hippies then you are correct! The people here were some of the most kind and awesome people you will ever meet. There was someone using spray paint to create paintings of the galaxy. They sat with 3 dogs and painted away all day, asking for donations to get their bus up and running again. They shared with me that they donate sleeping bags to the homeless and their bus is main transportation. It’s stories like this that restore your faith in humanity.
Oh and the dogs! So many dogs! Such beautiful animals, small, large, fluffy, short, etc. They are all considered certified good boys and girls in my book.
FOOD AND CHEAP GAS
Originally the title to this section was “Good Food and Cheap Gas”, but I don’t want to lie to you. There was a taco truck at the Tyson Wells swap meet and their food was amazing! But the vendor we got food from at the RV show was terrible. The service was not great and they served us something that just wasn’t good at all. I wish I had taken note of the name of the truck but maybe its better that I didn’t.
Before leaving town we made sure to fill up all our 5-gallon gas cans and smuggled them back into California. Gas was the cheapest we’ve seen in 3 years! We had to!
THE PARASITE
The moment you’ve all been waiting for. The big problem with Quartzsite Arizona. In the public camping areas there seems to be a lot of people that think that they can dump their trash. This trash gets pulled apart by animals and ingested. We saw it all from tires, to mattresses, to full garbage bags. For miles and miles, we rode on our ATVs and we were constantly passing piles of garbage.
I’ve been coming to Quartzsite for the better part of 10 years. I would love to say that I see this situation getting better, but I don’t. I would take walks through the desert to pick up smaller pieces of trash that would fit in the 5-gallon heavy duty bag I dragged along with my camera. It’s a problem the plagues every remote desert area, but it is especially prominent in Quartzsite.
SHOULD YOU STILL GO?
Absolutely. Figure out the dates for the next swap meet, go out there for a day trip or camp in their free camping areas for a few days. You’ll love reclining around the camp fire at night, laughing with friends and observing the beautiful Arizona sunset. also rem to bring some trash bags to help combat the parasite that lurks in the shadows.
FOR THE CAMERA NERDS
Let’s talk about the gear I used to capture this trip!
The item that really made this trip easier was my Peak Design Quick Connect Capture Clip. I was able to clip my camera to my backpack and use both my hands to dig through the bins at the swap meets 10/10 recommend this product. I also leaned a lot on my Peak Design Wrist Strap for all those walks without a backpack. If you can’t tell already… I love Peak Design #notsponsored. One piece of gear I get a lot of questions about is my silicone cover for my camera.
Here’s my camera set up:
6DMkII
Canon 70-200 f2.8
Sigma 24-70 f2.8
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