Hello 2018: Boondocking outside Sedona, AZ

We were craving some privacy and wilderness so it was time to move on from Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood.  However, we weren’t ready to say goodbye to the area so we simply set out to nearby Coconino National Forest.  I have no doubt the Sedona/Cottonwood area is a popular camping destination year-round but I think the perfect weather and holiday week (it was the day after Christmas) made it that much more challenging to find a spot.  A few days prior we drove around the entire day going down forest road after forest road looking for possible spots not having much luck.  At the end of the day, we found a good one, we just had to keep our fingers crossed it would still be empty when we came back with the trailer.  To our delight…it was.

Every morning we woke up to hot air balloons floating around Sedona and every night we enjoyed panoramic views of the red rocks lit up by the setting sun.  The only thing that took away from the perfection of this spot was the nearby highway noise but it was easy to ignore given our beautiful surroundings.

Here’s how we enjoyed 6 days boondocking in the Verde Valley before continuing our tour through Arizona…

sedona camping
sedona camping
sedona camping
sedona camping
sedona camping
sedona camping
sedona camping
sedona camping
sedona camping
sedona camping
sedona camping
sedona camping
sedona camping
sedona camping
sedona camping

This is where we rang in 2018 which left me insanely curious where we would end it.  I guess you and I both will have to stay tuned to find out : )

8 Comments

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  • I was curious, what do you use your generator for? How much fuel do you carry? I would think the solar panels really help keeping the batteries charged.
    Beautiful country

    • Our generator is backup for overcast days and campsites without good sun exposure. When not getting a full charge with our panels, we drain our batteries pretty quickly trying to keep laptops and other electronics charged. We also use it every morning to run our blender for smoothies. We carry 5 gallons of gas in our gas can.

  • Ah..I love it. Beautiful spot. Meanwhile I’m here in Seattle enduring rain…lot of rain. Not next year! Best to you both and of course your dogs.

    • How exciting that you have that to look forward to! That’s exactly how our winter went last winter. We endured the snow knowing we’d hopefully be chasing the sun this winter.

  • Awesome – That area looks great! We are currently on a 4-5 weeks excursion in FL soaking up some warmer weather ????. Thanks for the post!

  • I was looking at your storage box/bike rack and I see that you have it strapped down to keep it stable. A more stable solution is to use a two receiver hitch made with the receivers installed a couple of feet either side of the center. And get a support for the box built to utilize the double receivers. I’ve seen this done on several back country rigs and it works well. Actually I think what I would do would be to take the hitch you have already and just add two more receivers. One either side of the center one. This is becomes quite stable for boondocker’s like yourselves and yet it can still be removed when not wanted.

By michele

About

Hi!  We’re Mark & Michele, a couple of modern-day nomads perfecting the art of slow, perpetual travel.  Our tiny home on wheels and slow-paced travel style allows us maximum freedom at minimal expense.  This blog is where we share our travels as well as our insights in to this lifestyle that we absolutely love.  Thanks so much for being here.

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