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My wife and I have decided this will be our last winter in Florida. We have camped nearly all the state parks and getting reservations has gotten too time consuming. We have been to a few National Parks, but again reservations are a challenge. I know many of you go pretty remote, but we are looking for ideas about places that are not so remote. Since we live on the Tennessee/Virginia state line we don't have the space offered in the West. My wife asked to post here for ideas. Where would you go where there are things to see (not just bluffs and sand, etc.)? These would be warm weather travels.
California, Arizona and New Mexico are all set up for Snowbirds. There's plenty to see and do, so pick a few areas to explore and spend some time in each.
Spent 10 days in Az over Christmas. Top to bottom. There is a lot to do. Tucson has great hiking and the food is awesome. Went to Page, slot canyons and the horseshoe. Sadona was way to touristy but great eye candy and finished up in Scottsdale with a great local park and hiking.
Spent 10 days in Az over Christmas. Top to bottom. There is a lot to do. Tucson has great hiking and the food is awesome. Went to Page, slot canyons and the horseshoe. Sadona was way to touristy but great eye candy and finished up in Scottsdale with a great local park and hiking.
Where did you camp i.e. commericlal campgrounds, state parks, other ? Hard to find space?
We have been traveling a bit and generally about the only time we stay in campgrounds is when we are close to an Oregon State Park where I have a free disabled pass. We stay in the occasional USFS or BLM campground as well. It's easiest and we have the best luck for those campgrounds in the off season or early spring before and after spring break.
When we took our trip from NW Oregon (home) down to San Antonio in 2020 we had planned on a 4 week trip. We ended up being on the road for over 2 months, leaving in August and not getting home until November. Out of all that time we spent a total of 7 nights in 2 RV parks. One at the Meteor Crater and 6 at Green Lake in San Antonio. We were staying at the Kids near Fort Sam in San Antonio and then got the space at the RV park so we could take the camper off and use the unencumbered pickup for touring and sightseeing.
However, most of the time we are boondocking. There is an occasional rest Stop, Walmart or Cracker Barrel but 99% of the time it is open country, BLM, USFS ground and under a tree, next to a sagebrush bush.
We use a couple of apps and programs to help us out quite a bit. iOverlander, BLMPublicLand, public Lands, PNW-NF, NPS, Explore USFS, Rocky Mountains USFS, ExploreUSFS, recreation.gov, RA Camping-(Reserve America) and then for the really adventurous the "Fly by the seat of your Pants". method.
Generally when trying to get from point A to a specific destination and we are on a roadway with rest stops, we'll try to make ground and then stay in a rest stop. A lot of states will have some road info, / conditions page that lets you know rest stop locations and any amenities such as RV dumps they may have. Wild Camp under a tree South Lake Oregon, USFS Siuslaw National Forest LL a State Park at Detroit Lake Oregon, LR an USFS-Umpqua NF Wild Camp 5 miles out of Crater Lake NP, 1 mile from Diamond Lake, CL & CR USFS Primitive Campground Diamond Lake Oregon, UL USFS Campground Diamond Lake UR a more "civilized" USFS campground with RV dump and showers. We never stay here, just dump tanks and take a shower. USFS Boondocking - Wild Camping South of South Rim Grand Canyon. This was out beyond the riding stables a mile or two south of the airport. USFS Wild Camping South Central Oregon Apps I have on the phone primarily aimed at camping....
From Wild Camp at Lincoln County Line & Billy the Kid in New Mexico USFS Wild camp East of Flagstaff USFS Wild Camp near North Rim Grand Canyon BLM Wild Camp a couple miles north of Carlsbad Caverns.
My question was not well stated. We are okay with boon docking, we do it at times. However, unlike some folks, we do not mind seeing other people and we will go out of our way to find a good resturaurant, museum, and so on. Last winter we went all the way down to Key West for a couple of weeks and then worked our way back to Tennessee staying in state parks. This winter we will be camping in Florida State Parks on both the East and West coasts before heading home.
We are not necessarily looking for warm weather, 50s some of the time is fine, we have that when we are in Florida. It is 20 degrees here in Bristol, TN. right now and that is too cold. We have camped in snow in the past and are done with that. We have looked at BLM land, my wife just yesterday in fact at Quartzsite, but it looks like a lot of sand and bluffs.
So forget the season of the year and do not factor in cost (free is not an essential). As you traveled in your truck camper, if you made a list of your ten favorite sites and/or sights what would be on it? If it is winter and warm, great! We always travel with our bikes and flat tow our Jeep.
Been to the Grand Canyon south rim camp site. Wasn't great but convenient. Someday we will make it to the North Rim dispersed camp area. That is next on our must-see list. Probably stop there on the way to Alaska.
I know quite a few good boondocking spots in Alaska. The smaller your setup and higher the clearance the better spots you can fit in but I made it everywhere I went in a 26ft class C towing a trailer most of the time. Not me
I know quite a few good boondocking spots in Alaska. The smaller your setup and higher the clearance the better spots you can fit in but I made it everywhere I went in a 26ft class C towing a trailer most of the time. Not me
I used to be in a profession where we did not call that camping or even exploring. We called it ADVENTURE TRAINING!
I kind of concentrated on the boondocking or wild camping as I'm a country kid and quite often we take the 'fly by the seat of our pants' quite literally and it is not possible to find campgrounds with open sites to camp in. We usually plan on what we want to see or do, what museum or feature in the area we want to visit, then figure out the staying overnight later.
Oregon, if you can get past the politics, is a beautiful state to visit and explore. We have the Pacific Ocean, Columbia River, Cascade Mountains, Steens Mountains, Wallowa Mountains, the Blue Mountains and that is just scratching the surface of the Volcanoes. Lakes, rivers, streams, sagebrush, gold mines and much more...Unfortunately, unless you visit in the summer (May - end of August, with a few exceptions, you may be hard pressed to find any 60°+ temps. We have snow capped mountains 12 months out of the year. If you can handle mid 40's for a low, that opens up a lot of the state to more months of the year.
So, I'll focus this on some of our favorite trips / places in Oregon (and let others comment on other areas), since we live here and spend a lot of our time on one adventure or another here and that I'm very familiar with. A little information should you get up this way.....to keep it in the 50's (or above) for here, that would be May -September on average.
Diamond Lake, "The Jewel of the Cascades"), They have now (using Covid as an excuse) put all campgrounds there on the reservation system. So, reservations recommended for anything other than a 1-night stay. (11-mile bike/hiking trail around lake) 3 USFS campgrounds (no hook ups but water - showers and RV dumps in 2 campgrounds available) and a full-service Good Sam 'Resort' RV Park (part of the resort concessions) & tons of wild camping. Easy direct access to Mt.Thielsen Wilderness Area, Mt. Bailey & Trails, 3 Lakes, Garwood Butte & Trail, Skookum Prarie and Lake Trail just to mention a few. Your jeep would be a big plus for some of that. We spend 4 to 6 weeks a year up there (lived near there for a lot of years.) and watch fireworks from out on the lake in the boat. We start working on Reservations at the USFS primitive camp site there in December. With the exception of July 4 +/- one or two days, there will be spaces available throughout the season, but we have our favorites that in recent years have become other people's favorites as well so to get those spots, my calendar alarm is set at 6 months out so I can reserve spots for the end of June into July and again in September after Labor Day. Season is June-October (2 of the 3 USFS campgrounds at the lake are closed in Sept and Oct.) To avoid High Mountain artic adventures in snow mobiles, snow cats and cross-country skis, a visit prior to the end of Sept. is advised. Day trips from Diamond Lake to Crater Lake National Park (nearly adjacent to Diamond Lake - not fully open until July), Union Creek - Upper Rogue River, Fort Rock, Newberry Volcanic Crater (which could be trip by itself - Paulina Lake, Obsidian flow and Lava Tube hike to mention just a few.
Captain Jacks Stronghold in the Lava Beds National Monument. It makes for a very long Day trip from Diamond Lake, but doable: That, actually, is good for 3-5 days or more days of camping / exploration, especially with the jeep in tow. Lava Beds National Monument (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov) has a lot of things to see and do beyond Capt Jack and the Modock War.
A trip on I-84 through the Columbia River Gorge and the Columbia River National Scenic Area. Numerous things to see & do from waterfalls to the Columbia River & Steamboat Dinner Trips, to several Musuems to Train adventures out of Hood River. Should you ever head this way, I can narrow it down a lot more for you.
Malheur National Wildlife Refuge - Diamond - French Glenn - Steens Mountains
Hwy 97 from K Falls to The Dalles. Along the way, numberous sites to see and camp. Bend, Madras, Shaniko, Antelope (The Rajneesh are long gone) - Access to Deschutes River and Erickson Air Musuem - take a ride in a WWII fighter plane.
My wife and I have decided this will be our last winter in Florida. We have camped nearly all the state parks and getting reservations has gotten too time consuming. We have been to a few National Parks, but again reservations are a challenge. I know many of you go pretty remote, but we are looking for ideas about places that are not so remote. Since we live on the Tennessee/Virginia state line we don't have the space offered in the West. My wife asked to post here for ideas. Where would you go where there are things to see (not just bluffs and sand, etc.)? These would be warm weather travels.
Texas down in the Valley a LOT of RV parks, close to the Guif, lots to see and do.
Temps in Tx are but a few degrees cooler than our home in Port Charlotte FL. Last week it got down to 37 F here and back in Texas it in the hi 50s. Tx can get cold and often does North of Waco. West Tx is mostly desert and generally warmer.
Todays CURRENT temps 0830 this am, add + 20-25 degrees from these numbers.
Southern Cali is a lot of fun Stop off at Anza Borrego State park and the Salton Sea are well worth your time. A bit isolated but lots of trails in the park that can be done by any vehicle. I really enjoy going.
AZ is a basket full of RV places all over the state and it has a LOT of BLM land and they is free to stay.
With a truck camper if you can't find a spot whether in a campground or boondocking you are just not trying. I find them with 36' 5th wheel (boondocking that is) and many times in these areas where I can't get into having a truck camper would be the cats meow. I would give up these spots but then they wouldn't be private and it has taken 7 years to find alot of private/ peaceful locations but then they aren't in the east.
Didn’t say couldn’t find a place. Can find lots of places. Looking for places that are unique and not desolate. We are okay being around others. For example, we will be in St. Augustine shortly, great state park on the beach, Olde Town to explore, and multiple restaurants. Did the Keys last winter. Just examples. We liked Gettysburg Civil War stuff, the Flume in New Hampshire, and the Oshkosh Fly-in. We got a truck camper not to isolate ourselves, but because we knew we could always find a space while traveling and we don’t like to spend time sitting which is why our bikes always travel with us.
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) - Access to Deschutes River and Erickson Air Musuem - take a ride in a WWII fighter plane.
