The Bluff graffiti is so old it’s historical too
After an overnight in Waxahachie, I left in the morning. My visiting time was done, it was back to solo travel in an RV for me. Spring had sprung; I was working my way west and north for a return to Canada in a month’s time. But in the meanwhile, I would be making stops along the way, starting with the ‘base’ of the Texas panhandle. I have to say, Texas may not have much for real boondocking, but that does not mean you can’t camp for free. Free campgrounds with electricity and water welcome you in several small towns along the way. Read on to see what I found, plus a current update!
Sidewalks not travelled
It always is a bit of an adjustment being on your own again. I had been traveling with people for most of the last 2 1/2 months – one certainly notices the lack of people again after that amount of time. Even I have social instincts – arriving at my destination with no one else to talk about the day’s travels is a hole you need to fill in your mind. Some fill it by seeking out the locals, which I can do to some extent, but I prefer to observe things from afar for the most part with limited interaction. When there are no locals, I have no problem filling the void with whatever nature is around me. There is always something to see where you land at the end of the day.
Floydata campground, free for 2 days
But my first stop was in civilization. In my research, I discovered that many out of the way towns in Texas have free campgrounds. You usually can stay for only a short period for free, but some of these campgrounds are more than just a pad. Some are full deal campgrounds, with power and water to boot! I actually had a choice of towns to stay at, deciding that Floydata was going to be my first stop on the way out of Texas.
There is a Palace theatre in my hometown of Calgary too.
Floydata turned out to be an interesting stop and certainly had lots for me to see over two days. It is a classic farm town in decline after losing its railway. Unlike smaller towns that have gone ghost, Floydata is saved by being the County HQ for the area. Some economic activity remains in farming, plus oil and windmill business. But the population continues to decline, from 4000 in the 1980’s to around 2500 today. While classified as a ‘city’, Floydata definitely has declined to a size where most people would call this a town, that at one time was the size of a small city. You can see the thinking behind the free campground – they are hoping for a bit of tourism revitalization.
Of course, you need something for the tourists to do, of which there are a few things. The town has made an effort to preserve a lot of its older buildings, which means you have a lot to look at walking down the main street. You’ll also have an easy time taking pictures, as only the occasional car goes by, with hardly anyone parked. You certainly can see that there is way too much town for the amount of economic activity here.
Empty streets make for easy building photography
Closed unfortunately
I didn’t take in the dining options here, having dined out enough with friends in the last while in Texas. But I did check out the museum scene in Floydata. I found the Boston Terrier Museum to be closed, which I was really bummed about – that is exactly the kind of unique quirky thing I’m looking for in a new place. Talking to the locals, I hear that the owner is trying to sell the place. If you want to move to Eastern Texas and run a quirky museum in a sleepy town, this is your chance.
The museum fills the whole building.
But the Floyd County Historical Museum more than made up for my disappointment, being a converted downtown department store now chock full of displays of history of the town and area. Being a former department store, this museum has a large space to fill, which they have done! Expect to spend at least an hour in here even if you just go through each display quickly.
One of the rooms in a ranch house recreation
There are various artifact displays, going all the way back to the 1540 Coronado Expedition. The bulk of the displays focus on the history of the local area, as expected but there are external events covered as related to how it affected the local area. I even found a WWI display talking about the Canadian battles in Europe. Overall, museum is one of the better ones I have encountered, and free to boot. I left a good donation behind to support this worthy place. I’d say it alone is worth a stop in Floydata.
Muleshoe camping spot
My journey west continued after a resupply in Floydata. The local grocery store definitely had the feel of a grocer from 50 years ago, probably in part that there is zero budget to update when it comes down to business survival in a declining town. But it made for a retro shopping experience of modern goods in a store that feels like a 1960s building design. My next stop was much more remote, close to the Texas – New Mexico border at Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge. Texas isn’t known for having preserved a lot of its natural land – this is one of the few out here, and even it is a broken up set of lands thanks to private interests owning most of the area. But it does have a free campground sitting on the prairie with few scattered trees about.
Big sky sunset at Muleshoe
One of the playa lakes in the area
I had come west and north far enough to be outside of the spring leaves. There was only a bit of green ground cover starting to show up as things warmed up. The wind was back too – something you just have to deal with on the desolate plains. Unfortunately, the reserve shows the consequences of the limited funding it has received in the last few years. The interpretive building with the displays was closed due to lack of staff, and the signage was worn to the point of being illegible in some cases. Hail out here does a number on anything outside that isn’t hard metal. But the camping loop was open with nice pit toilets and garbage service to boot. It’s probably the farthest out bin the garbage truck has to service, for all of four bags of garbage dropped in by myself and a couple of other people that came to camp or visit. The scrubby prairie terrain was familiar to me, being similar to my home town area. I mostly walked about enjoying the solitude. Most days there was no one in the campground, and I could wander down the cart paths visiting the different dried up playa lakes in the area. While you can’t boondock in the park, the campground was so empty it almost felt like the same experience. But my time was ticking down, so I continued onward into New Mexico.
Hilly country beside my flatland New Mexico camp
As I was getting a ways north, my goal was to stay in the valleys where it would be a little warmer. There was still snow in a lot of the high areas too, something this Canadian certainly did not need to see. I dropped into the Rio Grande valley south of Albuquerque, making sure I did not miss my left turn towards my camping spot. I had looked in Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, but the camping seemed limited. The area to the north however was open BLM land, and looked to have a few potential spots judging by the googles aerial.
Solar water pump at Muleshoe
The area did not disappoint, having quite a few good spots. The area has some sand so you need to watch the roads and not wander off terra firma. I was pretty happy with my spot beside a hill with a little scrub nearby. I was also off the road going into the ranch, many kilometers in from the main highway. I was only a few klicks down the gravel road and off it about a half a klick off the road. It was good enough for some solitude where I could only see the occasional ranch truck going by on the gravel road.
Corral with working windmill water pump
While I saw many cows here, I’m not sure how good the forage is. Things looked more scrubby rather than grassy most places. Seeing a dead cow suggested it wasn’t exactly a lush environment for them. In my wanderings, I discovered a corral area, with an actual working windmill water pump. These things are becoming quite rare, being replaced by electrical pumps either by powerline or solar in these way out areas. The cows certainly need watering holes like these. Other than the Rio Grande River, there is not much for natural water out here.
How I knew what ranch I was on
I had a nice week out there exploring around the little hills. It wasn’t particularly scenic, but I didn’t expect much in the valley flatlands. The fact I even had some hills and scrub in the area was a bonus that made the walks a little interesting at least. I did catch the eclipse of 2024 here. I had a nice 1/4 crescent sun, just enough coverage where I was at that things started getting a little dark at maximum coverage. It was enough that the birds started calling like it was evening for a few minutes. While I could have stayed in Texas for awhile longer to experience totality, I traded it for the solitude here instead.
The cliff is solid I assure you.
I had some challenges finding my next stopping point heading northwest. It turns out the four corners area has huge native reservations. While there is camping there, it generally is paid formal campground run by the natives. They don’t take kindly to you boondocking on their land I’d imagine. I wasn’t going to test that theory, so I looked for places past the reserves, in a valley to get out the cold that was still lingering. I ended up just north of the Navajo reservation on the San Juan River, thanks to iOverlander, I was at the end of a road where a footbridge used to take you across the river to the reserve. While I was there I talked to a couple of natives that came down to fish. At one time, they would walk off the reserve crossing the bridge, then follow the gravel road back up to the highway about a kilometer away. From here they would catch the bus to school. Considering there were no houses right across the river, the total walk must have been considerably more.
East of camp following the cliff above
The scenery here was much improved – deep cuts in white and red rocks with outcrops and dramatic drop offs. There is a popular tourist area known as Valley of the Gods nearby, but the great scenery extends all around here. I certainly wasn’t lacking where I was. I did have a few visitors which did not surprise me, considering I was by the river with a cliff right beside me. I was happy to be in a small RV as the spot was a bit tight to turn around in. You could turn around a pretty large rig, but it would probably be faster to back down the road past the cattle gate and turn around at the larger spot up the road.
Native art was harder to find, some obscured by more recent scratchings
The hiking around here was awesome, with red cliffs to follow along top giving great views of the area. Exploring the river bottom was more challenging, as trees and shrubs blocked you in some areas. But if you wander around enough, you’ll find pueblo art on the cliffs, along with original pioneer graffiti that is now so old it’s historic too. The native settlement in the area was dense – you’ll likely encounter pottery shards if find one of the old settlements.
The main visitor building as seen from the backside
To the west of me only a few minutes ride by motorcycle was the town of Bluff, UT. It’s a one gas station sized town – there are not a ton of amenities here. They do however have an excellent fort museum, with a large outdoor display of Mormon pioneer cabins to explore. The indoor displays are really good, but the outside displays put this place over the top. The pioneer cabins are not original build, but recreations of them. What makes them interesting is that descendent families have sponsored the cabins, donating various artifacts passed down to them. Each cabin also has storyboards telling you about the history of the family. It’s an approach to history telling I have not seen at such a scale. If you are going to stop at one thing in Bluff, it should be this place.
Working water wheel
The grounds also have a pioneer orchard, a waterwheel with running creek, and an actual old pioneer building remains. I spent quite a bit of time here between exploring the museum building and the grounds. The whole thing is free, but I highly encourage you to donate as these grounds and museum have more to see that many paying attractions. If you still have time after touring all this, head down the road to the Bears Ears Visitor Center, a more native history oriented place that while not as extensive as the Bluff museum, still has quite a bit to look at. All in all, the town of Bluff ranks far above it’s weight in history to see there.
I stayed in the area longer than expected, in part due to the coolness of the area, and in part due to the coolness of the spring to the north of me. But my time allowed in the USA was running out. I set out north, to a camping area in the Snake River valley where things would be just a little warmer compared to the surrounding northern areas. See you next time, from wherever I decide to pick up on this adventure!
Current update April 2025
Yeah, I have not updated here in a long time as I am talking to you about travels that occured about a year ago now. Let’s just say I’ve prioritized living over writing about living, and leave it at that. I don’t know at this point if I’m just going to jump ahead or summarize my travels in the last year. I’m currently traveling north again through Nevada. I’m in less of a hurry as I don’t have to be back in Canada until May. We’ll see what I feel like doing – there are a ton of pictures to process as well. As I’ll be treading over some familiar ground, I might actually sit and write more than go out and explore, but no promises.
