2022 Trip Planning- Advice for Newbies
We’ve been campers for 30 years. But never camped more then 4 hours away. Our TT 25 foot KZ Connect is 2 years old. We’re thinking about some longer trips, since we’re both retired. Possibly making...
Forum Discussion
So much to unpack here.
Part of the answer involves understanding what you do while camping. Is it camping for camping's sake, sitting around the campsite all day and enjoying the community feel of a neighborhood, or are you looking to do other activities like sightsee, hike, etc.
As far as a trip west, I'd pick an area and concentrate just on that area. No use trying to see Zion, Arches, Yellowstone and Glacier in a 4-week trip. For instance, this year we are heading to Oregon for a month. Two weeks for the southern Oregon Coast and two weeks between Bend and Crater Lake. I'm a planner, so I've already got all our reservations (six months out seems to be a common reservation date for NFS and OR state park CG's). By reserving early, I've secured beachfront and riverside locations for our campsites. Coming from Colorado, camping on the ocean is a rare experience and worth my effort to get a campsite where I can hear the waves and walk to the beach.
We also tend to camp in any one place for three or more nights. One can spend a fair amount of vacation time just setting up, packing up and moving every day, depending on how much "furniture" you bring.
That brings up another point. Some here have mentioned boondocking. But in many ways, camping in NFS and NPS CG's in the west requires a similar setup for your trailer. Few of those CG's have hookups of any kind so you rely on the utilities in your trailer. Many of those CG's do have water so you can fill your tanks as needed (I start from home with 10 gallons plus a full hot water heater). We do have solar so our batteries stay charged that way in the summer. But come fall when there's less hours of sun, we do have a Honda EU2000. Won't run an A/C but most places we camp we don't need it. But I will turn it on after we shower so Allison can use her hair dryer. Whether boondocking or dry camping, I find the biggest challenge can be to find a dump station in some more remote locations. Many NPS CG's seem to have them, but only a few NFS CG's do. I research ahead of time to know my options.
As you might surmise, we camp a lot in NFS and NPS CG's. That's because we use our trailer as a motel if you will. We're not ones to sit around our campsite, but rather use it as a home base for sightseeing, mountain biking, kayaking, hiking, etc. For instance, we'll camp in Yellowstone rather than at a CG's outside the park so we don't use so many hours of the day "commuting" to where we want to be. Sometimes I will intersperse camping at a SP every week or so just to go someplace where I can use someone else's shower and luxuriate in unlimited hot water. Aaaah!
We do appreciate the amenities of electricity and water when available. On a trip to Arkansas last spring, we stayed in COE parks where we could run our a/c on their power.
Which brings up one final point. If you haven't already done so, buy yourself an Annual Senior Pass that covers NPS, NFS, COE, BLM and other agencies. Gets you free admission to most federal parks plus 1/2 price camping in most CG's run by those agencies. A great deal for $80. For instance the camping in Arkansas and COE CG's with water and electric ran us $10 +/-. Heck of a deal.
Part of the answer involves understanding what you do while camping. Is it camping for camping's sake, sitting around the campsite all day and enjoying the community feel of a neighborhood, or are you looking to do other activities like sightsee, hike, etc.
As far as a trip west, I'd pick an area and concentrate just on that area. No use trying to see Zion, Arches, Yellowstone and Glacier in a 4-week trip. For instance, this year we are heading to Oregon for a month. Two weeks for the southern Oregon Coast and two weeks between Bend and Crater Lake. I'm a planner, so I've already got all our reservations (six months out seems to be a common reservation date for NFS and OR state park CG's). By reserving early, I've secured beachfront and riverside locations for our campsites. Coming from Colorado, camping on the ocean is a rare experience and worth my effort to get a campsite where I can hear the waves and walk to the beach.
We also tend to camp in any one place for three or more nights. One can spend a fair amount of vacation time just setting up, packing up and moving every day, depending on how much "furniture" you bring.
That brings up another point. Some here have mentioned boondocking. But in many ways, camping in NFS and NPS CG's in the west requires a similar setup for your trailer. Few of those CG's have hookups of any kind so you rely on the utilities in your trailer. Many of those CG's do have water so you can fill your tanks as needed (I start from home with 10 gallons plus a full hot water heater). We do have solar so our batteries stay charged that way in the summer. But come fall when there's less hours of sun, we do have a Honda EU2000. Won't run an A/C but most places we camp we don't need it. But I will turn it on after we shower so Allison can use her hair dryer. Whether boondocking or dry camping, I find the biggest challenge can be to find a dump station in some more remote locations. Many NPS CG's seem to have them, but only a few NFS CG's do. I research ahead of time to know my options.
As you might surmise, we camp a lot in NFS and NPS CG's. That's because we use our trailer as a motel if you will. We're not ones to sit around our campsite, but rather use it as a home base for sightseeing, mountain biking, kayaking, hiking, etc. For instance, we'll camp in Yellowstone rather than at a CG's outside the park so we don't use so many hours of the day "commuting" to where we want to be. Sometimes I will intersperse camping at a SP every week or so just to go someplace where I can use someone else's shower and luxuriate in unlimited hot water. Aaaah!
We do appreciate the amenities of electricity and water when available. On a trip to Arkansas last spring, we stayed in COE parks where we could run our a/c on their power.
Which brings up one final point. If you haven't already done so, buy yourself an Annual Senior Pass that covers NPS, NFS, COE, BLM and other agencies. Gets you free admission to most federal parks plus 1/2 price camping in most CG's run by those agencies. A great deal for $80. For instance the camping in Arkansas and COE CG's with water and electric ran us $10 +/-. Heck of a deal.
