I’ve been at this site for the last two nights. I can’t complain. It’s a free camping in Farmington, New Mexico. Just north of the Glade Run recreation area sits a small ten site BLM campground. No day use fees. A vault toilet and cement pads with gazebos and picnic tables. An iron fire ring for every site. It’s not a long way off from the ATVs and rock crawler jeeps that kick up dust just down the road, but far enough. There’s only a couple things wrong with the campground. The loess soil is so fine and sandy here that any rain will turn the roads into impassible ruts with the consistency of toothpaste. But there’s no rain in the forecast for a while. The wireless signal isn’t that great at Brown Springs Campground, Farmington, NM, but its strengths more than make up for it.
The Neighbors at Brown Springs Campground, Farmington
In spite of the nearly hundred yards separating myself from the lights of the nearest fires, I am well-aware of the neighbors. As a solo traveler, you have to be at all times. Three rigs of full-time travelers not unlike myself. With the exception that I’ve heard them yammering and their dogs flipping out at every shadow or passing vehicle for the last 52 hours. Every time one of the dogs barks, the loudest of the yammerers, Yelly McYellerson, shouts “SHUT THE $%^& UP!!” at them in that crispy voice of too many Marlboros and weed that hasn’t let up since I got parked.
Somehow he doesn’t understand that he is not only louder than the dogs, but the dogs are just barking—albeit a little more manic than typical dog barking, which suggests to me they’ve seen some things—but he is broadcasting profanity across a public space where other people are trying to enjoy the silence. Other people, meaning me. It’s okay, since I’ll be moving on soon anyway. I’m headed south to see the eclipse at Chaco Canyon.
The Drawbacks at Brown Springs Campground, Farmington
Another flaw of the campground is the vault toilet, which somehow, mysteriously always has the lid up. As someone who has worked for the State Parks, I cannot stress this enough. Close the lid in the vault toilets. It keeps the flies from hanging out in the actual bathroom, and it vents the stench from the pit. Otherwise it will just linger.
Here, the stench has been lingering, and I suspect my overexhuberant neighbors are the ones leaving the lid up. I don’t need to be the greatest detective in the world to solve this mystery. The toilet stinks. It exudes a particular smell that hits me in the face like a wet towel fired from a cannon. I can’t quite place it until a moment uncharacteristic of the head yeller up the hill proclaims, “You made the FUCK out of that Hamburger Helper!”
That’s it! And at the very same moment, I realize I may never be able to eat Hamburger Helper again. The pit toilet reeks of Hamburger Helper. The very air of the campground contains a high percentage of this miasma of grease and powdered cheese and seasonings undeniably Hamburger Helper. It’s everywhere. It’s neither hamburger nor especially helpful. I have flashbacks of living in a low rent apartment my Sophomore year of college where dozens of freshly minted college Sophomore choked the atmosphere of the complext with boxed dinner and no idea how to cook.
If using the pit toilet wasn’t bad enough, the cloud of Hamburger Helper has settled around my site. And punctuating the guy with the loud, gravely voice is the obnoxious barking of the dogs and the occasional yelp or scream where one of them gets kicked or scruffed for the aforementioned barking.
Voices Carry
The rest of the campground is silent. A couple car campers with tents to stake their claim when they drive off. A few more trailers have moved in and buttoned down with only slivers of light to show any activity inside. This guy’s voice just echoes across the campground as everyone hides out like field mice. Everyone is ready to break out at the earliest indication of rain. I wonder how the aerasolized Hamburger Helper will contribute to the condition of the roads if it rains. Maybe it will just bead up.
Old Yeller is on speaker phone tonight, talking about making plans to head towards Oklahoma next. I only know this because I can hear a response from the phone. Otherwise I might have thought he was simply using his outside voice to communicate with someone in the next county over. The three rigs will be parting ways after Farmington. The older lady with the beagle and the short silver crewcut. The younger guy with the ubiquitous cigarette dangling from his lips and the sleeveless band t-shirt whose image has faded out many summers ago.
The night before, the Yeller was talking at the kid about needing to set his life straight. It was a one way conversation. Tough love talk about kicking bad habits and how “I USED TO #$%^ UP ALL THE TIME BUT I GOT MY $%^& TOGETHER!” We can all attest to his twelve step program. As can the ancesters of the Pueblo, Navajo, Apache, and others who he has awakened with his obnoxious lecturing.
His pitch for clean living and a path of righteousness reminds me of the coercion the Baptist Church used when I was growing up. They would drive a bunch of kids out to the sand dunes in a van and have a bonfire where they asked us if we knew how hot the fires of Hell really were? The implication being if we didn’t accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, we might be walking the nine miles back to town in the middle of the night.
Friendly Vanlifers Looking for Free Camping in Farmington
This morning I got an invitation from Beagle Lady to come hang out with them. I thanked her for the invitation. How could she know that it already felt like I’ve been right there with them, all along? She was nice though and complimented my bus.
As she walked off, I couldn’t help but wonder if that will be me one day. It happens to a lot of people on the road. The structure of “normal” living begins to deteriorate. You get comfortable with public toilets or sometimes none at all. You wash in cold water. Some forego that luxury altogether. I belong to a few forums for vanlifers and travelers and it can get wild. The lack of social cues. The disregard for nuiance. Manners.
A middle-aged woman looking for a van life partner might say something innocent online and the unfiltered rizz of men whose profile pics might have been taken at the annual veterans of Gettysburg picnic will dogpile her. “I’ve got a big bed in my bus, darlin’. You ain’t gonna need that propane heater.” Sometimes they will call the younger ones stuck up if they decline the offer. To my surprise, sometimes this proposition gets some positive response.
I imagine that’s how the trio up the hill began their cohort. Honestly, I try not to think too much about it. Out here, people can get kinda crusty. They are a distant orbit from the bright center of things.
Free Camping in Farmington, NM: Know Before You Go
The tricky part of this site is the BLM permit you need to apply for. As with much of the Federal Government, they provide forms that aren’t user-friendly to fill out. I copy and pasted the PDF into a word processing document and filled it out. I emailed the BLM branch office my permit, since I don’t have a printer to run off these pages. The next morning, the BLM office passed through the campsites, checking for permits. I showed him a copy on my computer of what I sent to the office. He said as long as we could produce the permit upon request, it was valid.
It really doesn’t make a lot of sense, because every time I leave the site I risk losing my spot to anyone else who fills out the permit and has it available upon request. The solution is to either not leave the site or take the chance of leaving stuff you don’t mind losing to hold your place. But that’s government for you.
Brown Springs Campground, Farmington NM features a sunny location for solar power, flat parking spaces, and gazebos that make for a comfortable stay. Out of the ten lots one is fully paved for disability access. The area is great for a boondocking rig or skoolie that relies on solar due to the exposure to the sun. Access is easier with a 4WD vehicle, but not impossible if the weather is good.
Brown Springs Campground has been one of the nicest spots I have camped. If you are searching for free camping near me, Brown Springs cannot be beat. Compared to a lot of spots, it is a paradise for vanlifer, skoolie life, and car camping. Just keep an eye on the weather (I recommend Accuweather), mind your garbage, and this place will be around for years to come for all to enjoy.
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