Sonoran Desert National Monument in Buckeye, AZ: January 17 - 22, 2026

 After leaving La Posa North Long Term Visitor Area, we headed towards Margie's Cove West Campground southwest of Phoenix in the Sonoran Desert. Once we got to the northern entrance of the Sonoran Desert National Monument, the road turned into a jeep or dune buggy trail. We needed to travel 7 more miles to the campground and were averaging less than 5 MPH such that after going about one mile we decided to just find a spot to pull off to camp in this Bureau of Land Management National Conservation Land. At that rate, it would have taken us over an hour to get to the campground. Given our unfamiliarity with the campground, it was first come first serve, and deep ruts without skid plates on the truck, investing that much time to reach the campground didn't seem worth the risk/investment.

We got to a spot on the road where there was a fork between BLM road/trail 80001 (the main road/trail) and 80001F and a cattle guard that we didn't think we should crossover.

There was a way around the cattle guard but we saw a spot someone camped at previously on the side of 80001F and were ready to cut our losses so we stopped there. We assumed someone camped there previously because there was a rock fire ring present. I could ride my mountain bike the next day and check out more of the road and attempt to reach the campground. If for some reason the road unexpectedly got better for travel by the truck we could move. Although, unpacking the bikes so I could make the trip as well as unpacking the recycled water washing station would be a deterrence to moving. Here is the camper at the spot we picked.

Soon after we stopped a dune buggy stopped by. They were looking for their dog who had been riding in the back seat of the buggy but had decided to jump out without them knowing. It was a female Labrador named Monroe, associated with Marilyn Monroe.

I took the mountain bike on the road/trail the next day and was able to travel without too much difficulty. If you traveled in the ruts, the going was usually pretty easy but every once in a while the ruts contained enough loose pebbles that it got difficult or in one case the rut on one side was so full of the loose pebbles the bike ground to a halt. Once I noted that particular spot, I made sure to ride in the rut on the other side that was basically just hard packed dirt. The road/trail conditions were similar to that we experienced driving to our camp spot. Two exceptions were rolling hills near the top of the canyon which were fun to ride on and then the road/trail to the campground, 80001F and 1.2 miles, were fairly easy to traverse and would have been doable with our truck.

On my first bike ride to the campground (I rode there each full day of our stay), I missed the turn for the campground. I went about a mile past the turn and was thinking about abandoning my search for the campground when I came upon someone walking two small dogs. They had come from the south entrance in a truck camper and trailer. After experiencing the difficult travel on the road, they also decided to pull off prematurely before reaching the campground. They were walking to the campground and were able to give me directions which was fortunate for me. I also learned the distance to the campground on the jeep road/dune buggy road was shorter when coming from the South Entrance. I don't expect we will ever try to go to the campground again, but if we do I decided we should try getting there from the south. As an aside, the visitor that gave me directions had the Gaia GPS/map app. It was helpful in this case and I've heard good things about it from one RVer. This visitor said they were grandfathered in and didn't have to pay the subscription fee.

After turning onto the road to the campground there is a small sign letting you know it is 1.2 miles ahead and a larger sign saying you are entering the North Maricopa Mountains Wilderness. This is the larger sign.

A similar sign to the one immediately above lets you know you have arrived at the campground which is also a trail head. There is a vault toilet for visitors, a parking area, an information kiosk and surprisingly to me a small covered stand to the side of the information kiosk that had some brochures and a three ring binder guest book. Pictures of those follow. It so happens a large group of trail riders had stopped at the trail head for a break when I stopped by that first day so you will see some of those buggies and riders in one of the pictures. One point of kiosk information was to watch your step due to rattlesnakes and other poisonous creatures even gila monsters. Also, desert bighorn sheep roam the mountains there (you can barely see a picture of the sheep, 2nd to the left on the bottom of the kiosk sign).

We saw the people who lost there dog almost every day we were there on our bike rides. They saw the dog one day and thought it may have eaten food they put out another day. But while we were there, they were never able to catch her. On the day they saw her, they said the dog got spooked when it saw them and ran off.

We saw the same prickly vegetation around the campsite that we had seen in Quartzite, AZ. So I would pick up my bike and carry it between the camper and road/trail 80001F. I may have been over cautious but I didn't experience any flats (yeah!). We put our deployable solar panels out because we were using Starlink during part of the day and for the wife's sewing. When we were picking up the panels to put them away, one of my finger tips brushed the ground. It didn't feel good and it reminded me of the feeling you get touching stinging nettle. So I did an internet search and it confirmed stinging nettle does grow in the Sonoran Desert, particularly in lichen form.

After leaving the Sonoran Desert National Monument we headed back to Grand Junction. I stopped off in the Phoenix area (Peoria, AZ more precisely) along the way to have lunch with a former work colleague that retired there. After lunch, we drove the 303 loop North and passed the TSMC plant being built to somewhat restore US semiconductor chip manufacturing and is incentivized by the US government. It is in the news a fair amount. It didn't really stick out that much since Phoenix is a major logistics center with numerous massive warehouses spread around the area. We stopped at a rest area in Rimrock, AZ on I-17 North for the night. We were reminded again to be wary of poisonous creatures. A massive cell tower was also next to the rest area's sidewalk. There were signs warning of electromagnetic radiation levels above the recommended and all kinds of notices. By the time I thought to take pictures of the radiation signs, it was dark and we left when it was dawn so I didn't bother. But here is a picture of one of the poisonous creatures warning signs.

We will be staying in Grand Junction to support our daughter and her family during recovery from foot surgery. We plan to head east sometime during the first half of March. Our daughter won't be fully recovered by then but hopefully it gives her a good start.