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Submission
The staging area is located in Maricopa County, 45 miles north of downtown Phoenix, Arizona, approximately 8 miles west of the Lake Pleasant Regional Park on State Route 74 (SR74).
To access the staging area from the east on Interstate 17 (Phoenix-Flagstaff), take the Carefree Highway-AZ 74 exit (MP 223) and head west towards Lake Pleasant Regional Park. To access from the west on US 60 (Peoria-Surprise), take the Morristown–AZ 74 exit (MP 120) and head east on SR74. The unmarked turnoff to the staging area is on the north side of the road between mile markers 11 and 12. Slow down when approaching the area as the turnoff can be easily overlooked. The staging area is one mile north of the highway turnoff.
Free
The staging area and trailhead were large and clean. Restrooms were available. As a first time off-roader, the trails were awesome! Very well maintained BLM property. Easy trails with some obstacles of considerable difficulty.
4/18/23 update: came back to AZ for a 2 week camping trip. Picked up the camper in Mesa and went straight to Boulders OHV to start the trip. Spent 2 days dry boondocking and loved the solitude and views. Left for Quartzite to continue the journey.
free dispersed camping up & down multiple parts of the road some out in wide open some much more private... many homemade rock firepits left behind..pulled in on a Thursday afternoon in late January-there were about 12 other campers/RVs throughout many acres of different sections of different gravel parking lots. We made a fire and sat down to the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen in my life & I've been all over the country! Come Saturday morning the place got extremely busy with a couple hundred SXS & quads & dirt bikes By 7 pm dark we were back down to just 12 or 15 boondocking rv's.
You can reach hundreds of offroad trail systems from the main gravel road. Many many side trails off main trails listed on "all trails". you will not be sorry coming here. we just spent 2weeks in moab with our SXS & we actually enjoyed these trails more. some are easy and some are very difficult dangerous
Boulders is lots of up & downs, tight turns and terrain can be get pretty rocky. 4x4 for sure is needed in some areas. You can do the loop which is what most people do or go west towards wickenburg. a sxs is what i would recommend to bring to enjoy it at its fullest, can still be done in a jeep but at a much slower pace and weekends on the cooler months bring a lot of traffic to this area.
We’ve been riding at Boulders for over a decade and love it. While we live in the desert it’s hard to find land to ride on without getting in trouble. Camping is allowed here and it can be very popular at certain times of year. There are hours and hours worth of trail riding here. I love that they even have a fenced area for younger kids who are learning and can do it safely. There are some idiots of course who don’t follow the rules, but for the most part it’s a great place to ride. There is one drop toilet building, but I’d rather hold it than step foot in there lol.
