Poverty Flats AKA Snowbird Mesa in Southern Nevada
Last year while visiting the Valley of Fire State Park in southern Nevada I saw a neat looking boondocking location just a few miles south of the town of Overton along Highway 169 called Poverty Flats AKA Snowbird Mesa. It’s really just a flat rocky area on top of several plateaus but the panoramic views of the surrounding canyons, mesas and distant mountains are terrific. It is also located conveniently just ten minutes from the Valley of Fire SP and the north entrance to Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Ten minutes the other way is the town of Overton with grocery, hardware and fuel supplies. The Moapa Valley area is popular with snowbirds and off road folks so most of your RVing needs are served here.
The boondocking area itself is suitable for all types of rigs. It has a few easy access roads and high clearance is not necessary for most of the spots. The ground is very rocky and compact so it supports the weight of an RV no problem. You can camp relatively close to the highway like we did or head in deeper for more privacy. The roads go quite a ways in allowing for lots of spacing between rigs. Many of the spots have rock fire rings.
It appears the land is managed by the Bureau of Land Reclamation and is part of the Lake Mead NRA. They is no camp hosts, registration or services on site and there doesn’t seem to be a limit on how long you can stay. When we were here in mid March there were maybe 50 RVs scattered around the area. GPS coordinates are roughly – 36.483177, -114.451575
(NRA) land about 8 miles south of town both sides of road on top of mesa. Any size RV with no facilities. Easy to find. This area is within the extreme NW boundary of the NRA. Editors Note…This area is managed by the Bureau of Reclamation, and is officially referred to as Snowbird Mesa. – http://www.rv-camping.org/nevada/
Video Clip of the Poverty Flats Boondocking Area
We stayed here for 4 nights and found it to be a peaceful and pleasant place to boondock with great views. The place was very mellow and low key, just a bunch of RVers enjoying the beauty and warm sunshine of late winter in southern Nevada.
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