Agency-listedBLM · dispersedUnpriced · confirm
Palen/Mccoy Wilderness
Drive-up · Bureau of Land Management · CA · 33.86562, -115.04369
Ask an AI about this campsiteOpens Grok already loaded with this site. It reads the same records this page is built from, and links whatever it tells you.
Ask about this camp →Bureau of Land Management lists this site. On most of their ground you can camp away from developed sites pretty much anywhere — so treat this as a known-good spot, not the only one allowed. The unit sets stay limits and how far off road and water you must be. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Palen/Mccoy Wilderness
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 2,587 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Palen/Mccoy WildernessNIFC · AirNow
Checking active fires & air quality…
Active wildfires from NIFC (within ~50 mi); air quality from AirNow. Always confirm current fire restrictions with the managing office before you go.
Everything you need — measured from Palen/Mccoy Wilderness · Bureau of Land Management · CA
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
- WWater20 mi
- GGrocery21 mi
- @Mail23 mi
- FFuel25 mi
- DDump28 mi
- HHardware31 mi
- +Urgent care31 mi
- LLaundry31 mi
- EVEV fast charger31 mi
- RxPharmacy32 mi
- AAir-up48 mi
- ShShower56 mi
- MMechanic59 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 21 mi out, the nearest EV fast charger is a 31-mi run (and back).
Not within 60 mi: Propane. Plan those before you head up.
One dot per need — the nearest of each kind, straight-line from camp. Places from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors); the EV fast charger from the US DOE station locator. Open in Google Maps ↗
The site — Palen/Mccoy Wilderness
Access
Drive-up
Land
Bureau of Land Management · dispersed
Elevation
2,587 ft
State
CA
Coordinates
33.86562, -115.04369
Cost
Unpriced — no source gives a price; assume it may cost something and confirm before you go
Nearby & resupply — around Palen/Mccoy Wilderness · Bureau of Land Management · CA (OpenStreetMap)
- Nearest townMidland · ~13.9 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelValero · ~25.3 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- GroceriesMcGoo's Market · ~20.7 mi
- Hospital / clinicFresenius Kidney Care · ~30.7 mi
EV charging — from Palen/Mccoy Wilderness · Bureau of Land Management · CA — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger30.9 mi straight-line SE — CEC CORRIDOR BLYTH DENNY DC1, Blythe, CA · ChargePoint Network · CCS, NACS (Tesla) · 1 fast port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reachnone within 25 mi · 11 within 50 · 81 within 100 · 556 within 150
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO31.1 mi — US Bank Blythe, Blythe
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)26.5 mi — PVCCHARGING STATION 3, Blythe, CA · ChargePoint Network · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Pricing at the fast chargernot listed
- Power (kW)not listed by AFDC — “DC fast” spans roughly 24 to 350 kW, so ask the network.
- Read this honestlyStraight-line miles, like every distance on this site. Roads run longer than this, and you have to get back. We know where a charger is listed. We don’t know if it works today, how fast it is, or the road miles. Check the network before you commit.
Snapshot 2026-09-16 · AFDC record 200713 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Palen/Mccoy Wilderness · Bureau of Land Management · CA — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Highway rest areaWiley's Well · ~19.4 mi SE
- RestroomCorn Springs Cg -Toilet 10 · ~23.1 mi SW · BLM
- RestroomCorn Springs Cg -Toilet 20 · ~23.2 mi SW · BLM
- RestroomWileys Well Cg -Toilet 20 · ~27.2 mi S · BLM
Coming out here — Palen/Mccoy Wilderness · Bureau of Land Management · CA
- No surface water within about a mile and a half in our records — which is not proof there is none, only that we found none. Plan to carry washing water as well as drinking water.
- Assume no services at all. Most dispersed camping in a national forest has none: no tap, no power, no dump, often no toilet. Everything you need, you bring.
- Power: Dave carries his own — batteries or solar. A generator will run your rig and it is also the thing everybody camped near you can hear.
- Getting online: Dave recommends Starlink. He has had it since SpaceX introduced it, used it for four years living on the road, and it delivers as promised — several hundred nights out, and he can count on one hand the places he could not connect. The cable on his unit runs 150 feet, which is usually all it takes to find enough sky. Starlink → Referral link — Starlink pays Dave $100 in cash if you sign up through it, and that money funds this site and the next trip. It costs you nothing and does not change the recommendation.
Open Palen/Mccoy Wilderness elsewhere
Other camps near Palen/Mccoy Wilderness
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Iron Mountain Divisional Camp -Patton~15.8 mi
- Rice Valley Wilderness~18.1 mi
- Midland Long Term Visitor Area~23.9 mi
How we know this — Palen/Mccoy Wilderness
Source
Bureau of Land Management recreation data
Confidence
Likely — The record is good enough to put a pin on, but thin in places. Treat the details as a starting point, not gospel.
How it was placed
BLM RIDB record, agency-listed. Its fee field is empty -- no fee statement -- so the cost is unpriced (field read 2026-09-19). Access not field-checked (assumed drive-up).
EV chargers
US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center station locator, snapshot 2026-09-16. Straight-line miles to the nearest public, open, unrestricted station; restricted and planned units are shown but never counted.
Field check
On the agency's books. The land manager inventoried this site, so its existence is not in question — current conditions are. Nobody from here has camped it recently.
What we don’t know about Palen/Mccoy Wilderness
A land record can put you within a few meters of a spot. It cannot tell you any of this — so check it yourself, and treat anything below as the open question it is.
- Road surface & last-mile access
- How many rigs actually fit
- Cell coverage by carrier
- Seasonal & winter access
- Current fire restrictions
- Whether any water here is drinkable
- Shade & wind exposure
- Noise and who else shows up
- Whether a listed EV charger works today, or the road miles to it
Before you go — Palen/Mccoy Wilderness
Water on public land →What “dispersed” means here →Dumping grey & black →How to read this page →All field notes →
Been here? Tell us what changed. This page is built from public records, so the fastest way it gets better is somebody who has actually pulled in. Road washed out, site gone, gate locked, or it is exactly as described — all of it useful. Send a report →