organ pipe cactus national monument

8 03 2022

We’re back, for the 4^th time, at one of our favorites, Organ Pipe Cactus, NM located in southern Arizona about 5 miles from the Mexican border. And, we’re once again parked at site #63 with friends in site #77. Other than a shared water (unthreaded) faucet next to our site, the only other amenities at this campground are a dump station with two potable water fills. We’ve arrived empty, so our first order of business is to fill our 66 gallons of fresh water. On recreation.gov, our site is listed as “max 35 foot RV” – where there’s plenty of room for our 35’ RV and the pickup. The site is also in the generator section, meaning we can run our generator for 2, 2 hours periods per day, between 8-10AM and 4-6PM. Sites 113-208 never permit generator use.

“Out the Back Window”, site #63, Organ Pipe Cactus

Last year we focused on a few hikes in the park, today with access to friends jeep we explore the 21 mile Ajo Mountain Drive. Along the way are great views of Arch Canyon, a 90 foot wide arch near the top of a jagged cliff nearly 600 feet above the trail. Upon close examination a second arch can be spotted just above the main arch making this a unique and rare example of a double arch.

Double Arch at Sunset, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

On Saturday we’re off to Puerto Peñasco, also known as Rocky Point. What was once a small fishing village on the Sea of Cortez has morphed into tourist shops, bars, restaurants and even a few high rise condos. There are also a handful of RV parks, the nicest of which is the Reef RV Resort next to Wrecked on the Reef bar and grill. After touring these parks in 2020, we’re rethinking our decision to stay on the US side of the border. Perhaps a long weekend at the Reef would be great fun! We’ll see what happens next year.

Malecon, Puerto Penasco

Reef RV Resort, Puerto Penasco

From Organ Pipe Cactus we’re headed to the East Valley, Sunrise RV in Apache Junction. We stayed at Sunrise last year, and will be here only 2 weeks this year. Then we’re moving to Lost Dutchman State Park for the reminder of our 2 weeks in the Phoenix area. More from Lost Dutchman…

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Tags: ajo, organ pipe cactus national monument, puerto penasco, reef rv resort, rocky point
Categories : Spring Road Trip 2022

Organ Pipe Cactus

5 03 2020

Teddy Bear Cholla Cactus

After a relatively short drive to just north of the Mexican boarder, we’re parked in site #63 at Twin Peaks campground in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. This is our second visit to Organ Pipe – we love it here, with no electricity in the campground, there are no A/C’s running, and quiet, dark nights for optimum star viewing. The campground is available by reservation or walk-up. With nearly 80 of the 400 sites showing available, we forgot that many of the sites are short and about half don’t allow the use of generators. Next time, we’ll reserve this site or #77, another favorite site complete with a towering sequoia and a large organ pipe cactus.

Organ Pipe Cactus, Site #63

There is no campground WiFi, although they say it’s available at the Visitor Center. We didn’t try that and instead used our cellular data via a Hot Spot. By default our T-Mobile phones seemed to roam to very slow AT&T service. However, by manually selecting the network as the Mexican operator Telcel – we were able to achieve very good 4G speeds. We’re not sure why we were allowed to roam internationally at 4G, but it worked great.

The campground also provides a dump station along with a threaded fresh water fill. Scattered through out the campsites are water spigots, not threaded, but could probably be used with a water bandit type adapter. There are also flush toilets and solar heated showers (warning “cold in the mornings”) available at a couple of shower houses scattered throughout the campground.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Moument, Site #63

This was our first experience with the solar configuration on the new Montana. Overall, the experience was good. We have a better feel for what the panel and controller can do with dual AGM batteries, and even managed to watch a couple of hours of DISH TV using the inverter. We did end up running the generator 2 hours one morning, just to make sure we were topped-up after a cloudy afternoon.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Site #77

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Tags: organ pipe cactus national monument, puerto penasco, rocky point
Categories : Spring Road Trip 2020

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

12 03 2016

Organ Pipe Cactus

The National Park Service has selected a beautiful patch of the Sonoran Desert about half way between Yuma and Tucson and all the way south at the Mexican border. This is the northern most reach of the famous cactus that is used for the park’s name. Early accounts tell of the magnificent rank of organ pipes rising from the desert floor, surrounded by the even taller Saquaro and gangly Ocotillo with it’s bright red blossoms. This part of the Sonoran is known as the green desert, and indeed at least at this time of year, the surrounding hillsides are a lush green hue.

We’re parked at the Twin Peaks Campground, a relatively large campground with over 200 sites with no hookups. But, potable water is readily available all around the campground, and two threaded taps for filling tanks are available near the dump station. Generator hours are limited to 8-10AM and 4-6PM. Without electric hookups, we didn’t bother trying for over-the-air TV, but it’s doubtful – only satellite TV is likely to provide signals. There are also several bath/shower houses scattered through the campground with flush toilets and solar showers. As a bonus, the Verizon data signal is full 3G and even the T-Mobile phones (which appear to be roaming to Mexico) work fairly well. We were assigned site #37. All of the RV sites provide a pull-through concrete pads between paved roads, a smaller concrete patio, a picnic table and grill. All are set among the natural vegetation, most with at least some minimal shade. The only “bad” sites would be those directly next to the bathroom buildings with their slamming doors and bright night lights.

Twin Peaks Campground from Google Earth

There are programs several times a day at the nearby Visitors Center, and a nightly program at the campground amphitheater. The daytime activities range from hikes to tours into the nearby mountains. On Friday we returned to Ajo (ah-ho) for quick visit to the local IGA which provided a good grocery selection as well as an in-store Ace Hardware. How convenient! On Saturday we decided to check out Lukeville, the small border town about 5 miles south of the Visitors Center. As we head toward the border, it becomes apparent that spring breakers from Tucson and other local Arizona schools are escaping to the Mexican resorts along the Sea of Cortez. The backup at the small border crossing was over an hour long. Rocky Point seems to be most discussed, perhaps we need to check it out next time we’re in this part of Arizona. http://playadeoro-rv.com/ In Lukeville, there’s nothing of interest – the former motel and RV park appears to be closed. It truly is a border crossing town, and only about 60 miles to the resorts along the Sea of Cortez.