How to Cope with Dust when Camping in the Desert

Desert dry camping is one of those things that RVers either enjoy or despise. If you’re not sure you want to give it a whirl this snowbird season, these tips might help you decide.

While dry camping in the desert has its benefits, there are trade offs. You can’t do anything about the conditions but you can certainly prepare for it. Photo courtesy of Peterrrr, irv2.com member

Coping with Desert Dry Camping Dust

I’ve gone desert dry camping in many great spots throughout the Southwest. My husband and I enjoy it because desert dry camping is usually:

• Affordable. It’s often free.
• Beautiful. Colorful desert sunsets are unforgettable.
• Calming. You leave city sounds and lights far behind.

California desert boondocking windstorm.

But like life itself, there’s a big trade off to dry camping in Arizona, California and New Mexico, and the great winter snowbird destinations in the southwest: the dust! In fact, as I write this a major windstorm is rocking our fifth wheel. We’re camped near the Salton Sea and a dust cloud is coming toward us. Like it or not, a fine layer of grit will coat everything when this is over. To combat the inevitable filth, here’s how I’ll cope during and after the storm.

You can’t do anything about the weather but you can prepare for it. Also, keeping dust under control during a wind storm is one of the critical dry camping tips new RVers must know (as well as veterans). Here’s what I do when I know we’re in for a doozy.

Activate Anti-Dust Measures

If you’ve ever traveled to the Southwest in March, you know that desert dry camping dust is a way of life during spring. To cope, I follow the simple preventive measures that The Burning Man Festival RVers recommend. First, cover your RV window air vents with painter’s tape. It’s not attractive but it`s effective for keeping out the dust.

All the dust is one of trade-off when desert camping.

Brace for What’s to Come

The deafening roar of constant wind is so irritating. When you live in a RV, wind noise is loud and scary. Since there’s nothing we can do about it anyways, I just brace myself for the oncoming storm and try not to worry.

Begin Wiping Surfaces

When the storm begins, a damp rag is all it takes to start removing dust. It’s a never-ending ordeal during heavy, ongoing winds but it keeps my mind off the storm.

Close Windows

This is easy if you’re hooked up to shore power. You can always run your air conditioner if things get too hot. But desert dry camping when it’s warm is another matter because closing windows can make you sweat. To keep our home cool I darken the living area with heavy day/night RV shades.

Sometimes it’s best to just accept the inevitable of dust in desert conditions.

Cover Floor Vents

We have magnetic strips over the heater vents on our floors. They prevent pet fur from falling into the ducts, and also help to minimize dust in our living area.

Once during a bad desert dust storm while dry camping we were trapped inside for three days. On the fourth morning, the wind was still blowing enough to be a nuisance but not dangerous, so we moved to a less windy camp site.

Like it or not, desert dry camping dust is one of the trade-offs of a more freewheeling lifestyle. Whether you go sun seeking in winter and stay in one place all season, or drive on dusty roads in summer, your things will get dusty, dirty and beat-up. I’ve found that it’s best to just accept the inevitable and focus instead on all of the awesome adventures that await you on perfectly windless days.

Rene Agredano

Rene Agredano and her husband, Jim Nelson, became full-time RVers in 2007 and have been touring the country ever since. In her blog, Rene chronicles the ins and outs of the full-timing life and brings readers along to meet the fascinating people and amazing places they visit on the road. Her road trip adventures are chronicled in her blog at LiveWorkDream.com.