La Posa Tyson Wash LTVA, Quartzsite, Arizona | Camping
The La Posa Tyson Wash Long Term Visitor Area is just south of Quartzsite, Arizona. This camping area lies next to Tyson Wash and the hills and mountains on the west side of the La Posa Plain. There are numerous roads in the nearby hills which are fun to explore on foot, mountain bike, SUV, ATV, or dirt bike. Tyson Wash is also fun to explore and features an archeological site with petroglyphs.
As with the other Long Term Visitor Areas (LTVAs) in Arizona and Southern California, you can camp for 7 months straight during the winter. There is a fee of $180, but in return you’ll have water, a dump station, and trash facilities. For 7 months of camping, it’s quite a bargain. For more details and to purchase a permit, visit the La Posa Long Term Visitor Area BLM webpage.
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Where in The World?
Camping Elevation: 970 feet
GPS Coordinates: N 33 37.595′ W 114 13.092′
Directions to Camping Area: From the intersection of Highway 95 and Main Street in Quartzsite, Arizona, travel south on Highway 95 for 2.75 miles to the La Posa Tyson Wash LTVA entrance on your right (west). To your left (east) is the entrance to the La Posa South LTVA. You will pass by the La Posa West and La Posa North LTVAs, which are also off Highway 95 and closer to Quartzsite.
La Posa Tyson Wash LTVA Map
La Posa Tyson Wash LTVA RV Camping Journal
May 2, 2011
The scenery is similar to that at my previous campsite, at the La Posa South LTVA. I’m very close to a Native American archeological site, which is in Tyson Wash. It’s about a 15 minute walk away. There is a rocky outcrop with petroglyphs and grinding holes, which they used to grind seeds. I could not find the grinding holes; however, I did read about them. They could be covered in sand now.
This campsite has been pretty quiet, except for the occasional noise from Hwy 95, which isn’t far away. The RVs were really thinning out and almost all left by the 15th of April – the day the winter permit expired. It’s now May 2nd, and nobody has kicked me out yet. I’ve heard you can camp here during the summer, but only for 14 days in the same spot. With 100+ temps, I’ll probably pass on that.
Weather: It’s now the beginning of May. The wind has picked up lately and it’s been more than a week since I’ve had calm weather. Today was less windy, though there were a few gusts. The sun has gone down and there is just a slight breeze now. It’s been in the 70s and 80s lately – cooler since the strong winds out of the north arrived. I had just a few days in the 90s. It looks like this week will warm up to the mid and upper 90s. That’s a bit hot for my liking, so I’ll be heading for the mountains soon.
Wildlife: I’ve been seeing more wildlife lately. It appears many animals are coming out of winter hibernation. Many birds have recently arrived too, as they make their way north for the summer. I’ve seen several mourning doves, gambel’s quail, hummingbirds, road runner, and an owl yesterday – along with many other birds. I’ve been seeing more jack rabbits, cottontail rabbits, and chipmunks too.
I came upon a small heard of deer last week. The only other time I saw deer around Quartzsite was when camping at the Scaddan Wash 14-Day Camping Area, shortly after I arrived in the Quartzsite area in November. I’m seeing several more lizards, including many desert horned lizards, which have horns on the backs of their heads; they are quite impressive looking and their body is covered in spikes – these are well armored lizards! They are camouflaged and difficult to spot until you get close to one and it moves. They don’t run too far when approached, and look easy to catch. These lizards eat ants and I saw one licking them up near an ant hole.
Just as I’m writing this there is a gambel’s quail out my window that is jumping up to knock the branches of a small bush in order to get the seed to fall so the quail can eat it! Yes, it’s the nature show 24/7 out here.
Insects: There are many more insects now including strange beetles and other flying bugs; also many bees and flies. Every once in a while I’ll hear a swarm of bees fly by. I usually duck inside the trailer as quickly as possible if outside!
Cell Signal: Verizon mobile broadband internet has worked great and is usually very fast – even without the external antenna. Great cell phone reception too.
