Temple Bar Marina Campground, Lake Mead, Arizona

The view from the top of the boat ramp

I was thinking about Lake Mead. Various boondockers had mentioned areas along the northern and western shores, on the Nevada side. Okay, but what about Temple Bar, on the south side, in Arizona? I got shrugs.

I can understand why most people ignore Temple Bar. It's inconvenient, even if you're already traveling between Las Vegas and Kingman. It's a 25-mile detour out across some very bleak territory. It's one of those drives where the mile markers seem to get farther and farther apart, where you start listening for unusual engine noises, where you start to question the wisdom of this schlep. But then you get there and things are fine.

The campground has cottonwoods, palms, flowering bushes and flush toilets. There's a store and gas at the marina. The odd thing is that some people park their boats in the campground instead of by the boat ramp. It makes the campground more crowded.

It's a surprisingly nice place. Now, if only there was cell service.