BLM camping near Pahrump, NV. Free dirt, fourteen nights.

The Bureau of Land Management’s Southern Nevada District manages about 3.1 million acres in Clark and Nye counties. Its Pahrump Field Office runs the local operations. Most BLM land is open to dispersed camping unless it is posted “Closed to Camping,” and most areas need no permit or reservation.

• Stay limit: 14 days in any 28-day period, counted from your first night at a site. Then you and your gear move at least 25 miles away, or off BLM land, for 14 days.
• Recreation only: dispersed camping is for short trips, not for living on public land.
• Your stuff: do not leave property unattended for more than 10 days.
• Driving: stay on existing roads and trails. BLM has not finished travel planning around Pahrump.
• Trash: dumping household, landscaping or commercial waste on public land is against the law.
• Fire: Stage 1 fire restrictions in the Southern Nevada District ended October 1, 2026. All year, fireworks, exploding targets and tracer or steel-core ammunition are banned, and every engine needs a working spark arrester.

BLM asks campers to use spots that are already disturbed, stay within 150 feet of the road and pack out everything.

Dispersed camping in Nevada

The 14-day, 25-mile rule applies on BLM land across Nevada. A statewide BLM fire order, in force through October 31, 2026, carries the same bans on fireworks, exploding targets and tracer ammunition, and the same spark arrester rule.

• Carpenter Canyon: about 12 miles from Pahrump. Take Highway 160 toward Las Vegas, then about 5 miles northeast on Carpenter Canyon Road. Campsites and pull-through turnarounds line both sides. The town says the unimproved campsites at the trailheads take a 4x4 or a two-wheel-drive vehicle with good clearance.
• Lovell Canyon: about 32 miles. Highway 160 toward Las Vegas, then 3 miles north on Lovell Canyon Road. Campsites and pull-throughs on both sides.
• Wheeler Pass Road: dispersed sites along the road north of town. The details are on our Wheeler Pass Road page.
• Big Dune: a little over an hour northwest. Dispersed camping, no toilets, no water. See Big Dune camping.

Drive times are from a routing service, rounded.

On the national forest

Much of the Spring Mountains is Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. There the limit is 14 days in any 30. A year-round order bans campfires within one mile of homes in Kyle and Lee canyons, Cold Creek, Mountain Springs, Trout Canyon, Lovell Canyon and Coal Springs through September 2027. Gas stoves are allowed.

When to camp

Pahrump averages about 101°F on July afternoons and 67°F at night. January runs about 58°F by day and 27°F before dawn. The Forest Service campgrounds up the mountain sit at 7,000 to 8,550 feet.

Red Rock Canyon Campground (BLM)

About 56 miles east, at 3293 Moenkopi Road on the Las Vegas side of the mountains. Usually open September 1 to June 1 and closed in summer. There are 53 individual sites, 14 walk-to sites, 6 larger sites that fit an RV and 7 group sites. Vault toilets and drinking water, limited to 4 liters per person per day. No hookups, showers or dump station. Standard and RV sites are $25 a night, walk-to sites $12 and group sites $80. Reservations are on Recreation.gov, up to six months ahead and at least 48 hours before you arrive.

Spring Mountains campgrounds (Forest Service)

McWilliams in Lee Canyon, Hilltop on the Deer Creek Highway and Fletcher View in Kyle Canyon, 84 to 91 miles from Pahrump around the mountains by US 95. Seasons, sites and fees are on our Wheeler Pass Road page.

Tecopa Hot Springs & Campground (Inyo County)

About 35 miles southwest, across the California line. It is an Inyo County campground, run by Flippin-Hamrick. Thirty partial-hookup RV sites, more than 200 dry camping sites, restrooms, showers and the hot springs. The longest stay is six months. More on our Tecopa hot springs page.

RV camping near Pahrump

• Hookups: electric at Fletcher View, partial at Tecopa Hot Springs.
• Big rigs: Furnace Creek Campground in Death Valley has sites up to 100 feet, and Sunset and Stovepipe Wells campgrounds have no length limit.
• Dry camping with a rig: Red Rock Canyon has six RV-size sites, no hookups.

Death Valley backcountry roadside camping

Inside Death Valley, roadside camping is allowed along dirt roads at least one mile past the junction with any paved road or day-use-only dirt road.

• Not allowed: along paved roads, in pullouts or parking lots; on the valley floor from Ashford Mill to 2 miles north of Stovepipe Wells; on the Eureka Dunes; in Greenwater Canyon; at historic mining areas such as Keane Wonder Mine; and on day-use-only dirt roads, among them Mosaic Canyon, West Side, Wildrose, Skidoo, Aguereberry Point and Grotto Canyon roads and the first 8 miles of Cottonwood Canyon Road.
• Reservation required, $10 a night: roadside camping along Echo Canyon, Hole in the Wall, Cottonwood and Marble canyons, and Greenwater Valley Road. Online only, up to six months ahead.
• Everywhere else: a free permit is recommended but not required.
• Where to park: camp only on ground that is already disturbed and park right beside the road. The wilderness boundary is 50 feet from the center of most dirt roads.
• Fires: only in metal fire rings at campgrounds or in fire pans in the backcountry. No gathering wood.
• Groups: 12 people and 4 vehicles at most. No off-road driving. Camp more than 100 yards from any water.
• Limit: 30 days a calendar year in Death Valley, 14 at Furnace Creek Campground.

Death Valley campgrounds

Furnace Creek Campground, about 61 miles from Pahrump, is open all year and takes reservations for October 15 to April 15. The rest are first-come, first-served; pay at the kiosk with a card. Sunset, Stovepipe Wells and Texas Springs usually open late fall and close April 15. Sunset is the biggest and almost always has room. Emigrant is tents only. Generators run 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and are not allowed at Texas Springs.

For what to see once you are in, see our Death Valley guide.

BLM’s Tonopah Field Office, part of the Battle Mountain District, manages public land from Rhyolite, near Beatty, to the Crescent Dunes north of Tonopah.

Dispersed camping near Tonopah, NV

• Crescent Dunes: staging and dispersed camping around the dunes, no fees, no services. From Tonopah, take US 6 west and US 95 north, turn right onto Poleline Road between mile markers 55 and 54, and go about 9 miles. The site is on the left, down a 2-mile unimproved dirt road. The sand around the edges traps vehicles.
• Free camping near Tonopah: Trail Finder lists no fees at Crescent Dunes. Dispersed camping on BLM land around town follows the same 14-day, 25-mile rule.
• Fire: Stage 1 restrictions in the Battle Mountain District run July 1 to October 31, 2026, unless lifted early. No wood or charcoal fires outside developed fee campgrounds and picnic areas; gas stoves are fine. No driving or parking on dry vegetation.

Camping near Beatty, Nevada

Rhyolite is day use only, with no camping. Big Dune, about 29 miles south of Beatty on US 95, allows dispersed camping. Beatty also has motels and RV parks; see our Beatty, NV guide and the Beatty Chamber’s list. For Tonopah’s town side, see Tonopah, Nevada.