Quartzsite Arizona

We are parked in Ehrenburg (a stone’s throw from the border) which is about 20 minutes from the town of Quartzsite; a town that we wanted to see due to its reputation as a mecca for RVers.

The town of Quartzsite is synonymous with the concept of traveling, camping, RVing and rock hunting. Its permanent population is approximately 2400, however the population explodes between September through April to between 100,000 and one million people.

On Monday we drove east to tour the town and see what all the hype was about; what we found was a fascinating let-down.

We did not take any pictures, certainly not the ones that I would have liked to use to convey our impression, because those could have got us into trouble. So I will resort to screen shots from Google and Apple Maps to paint the words.

I have been trying to think of an analogy for this place, so I Googled ‘Places that are temporarily populated annually by migrants’ and one of the top choices was:

During our travels in the US, one of the most reoccurring questions that we ask each other is “Do you think that someone really lives there?”. Quartzsite is a town that is peppered with such places, and is absolutely fascinating as a result.

There is mass property abandonment and dereliction in amongst occupied homes. And scattered around the town are thousands of relics of the past.

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ALL that said….we will probably come back to Quartzsite in January of 2027 since, from what we can gather, this is when the place wakes from hibernation and comes alive with all things RV, nomad, traveler, Rock Hunting, and loads of other alternative lifestyles that we want to embrace or at least have knowledge of to continually widen our life experience.

Lastly, the weather here is absolutely incredible. Warm, sunny, low humidity and just perfect. Its no wonder that millions come here for the winter.