Normally the population of Quartzsite is around 3500, and taking care of this many visitors for several months every year, has taken some interesting twists and turns. For a town with 3500 citizens, there is a large number of RV parks or campgrounds here. They cater to a small number of permanent residents and then fill up during the winter months. The campgrounds are only a small part of the accomodation picture however. In addition, the federal government owns thousands of acres of desert land around Quartzsite and thousands of the visitors chose to drive out into the desert, park their RVs, and spend the winter there without any ties to the civilization grid. A typical "campsite" in the desert looks something like this:
Or this:
Suffice to say amenities are not the strong suit here. There are several attractions that bring thousands of RVers here to the desert. The winter weather is generally mild, the government either charges nothing, or very little to stay on the desert land, and the real attractions are the RV show in January that attracts upwards of 1,000,000 people, the hobby craft and gem show in early February, and the Rock and Roll Classic Car show that runs along with the gem show. All this activity takes place in the "big top", a huge tent erected in Quartzsite just for the purpose of housing this event. This is an amazing phenomenon that is a "must see" for all true RVers. Linda and I are thinking that this coming winter is probably going to be our turn. She actually has her desert "site" already picked out, subject to change of course.
Our purpose today was to scope out the area, and get our feet wet in anticipation of our journey there next fall. We will keep you posted as we plan this adventure.
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