Las Vegas to Monument Valley to Mesa Verde Dec-Jan

Thom02099 wrote:

kpmoving wrote:
Any suggestions or recommendations from anyone that has driven this route in late December to early January? Typical road conditions, weather, places to stay with travel trailer. etc. Thanks

As for places to stay in the Mesa Verde area, Sunset RV Park and LaMesa RV park, both in Cortez, are open all year. H E R E - Cortez CO is the RVparksreview.com page for Cortez, these 2 are the first ones that come up. There is also one in Durango H E R E - Durango , but it's not as highly rated, and is further from Mesa Verde. North of Durango,
there's T H I S - Westerly RV Park which is higher rated, but also further from Mesa Verde.

For your timeframe, there's going to be limited choices in the Mesa Verde area.

As to weather, SW Colorado can get very heavy snow in December, one of our snowiest months. It can also be one of the coldest months, even for it's southerly location. That said, it can also be pleasant, if the timing is right. Will really depend on the immediate forecast for when you're going to be travelling, on specific dates.

Thom has given you a good summary.

We tend to travel in that area in that time frame - keep a close EYE on the WEATHER - Elevation is Critical - Great time IMHO as no crowds and easy to Hike (if no Snow) because it's cooler - Gear is critical - Layers - Gore Tex - Good Boots -....................

One year while spending the Winter in Golden Colorado the Temps got down in the -10 to -20 degree range for 10 plus days so we got out of Golden and headed to Vegas for Christmas, did a loop. Out and Back in December and January, Loved it!

First heading to Mesa Verde via 160 through the mountains - little snow but the roads were fine then into Durango and Cortez then Mesa Verde - Cold but Beautiful (I love the Mountains in the Winter) - Mesa Verde was very lightly populated - but Great from there we headed to Mexican Hat then on to Monument Valley - had our pick of sites but there were maybe 10 - 15 other campers there - Then on to Page/Lake Powell (Actually on this trip we slid down to Canyon de Chelly for a couple nights before going to Page) - from there we did a road trip to the North Rim - No Snow, so the road was still open - few campers there - then on to Zion - Were lucky as it snowed just as we arrived and was Beautiful (melted pretty quickly) no crowds drive in hike to where you want - again Beautiful - then I-15 to Vegas - Love the Virgin River as you cross through Arizona.

Map of Route to Mesa Verde - I'm really not one for CampGround recommendations, as I generally don't spend time there and will Boondock along the way if needed, so Thom has given you that info, Weather is Key to keep your Eye on - If a big storm is coming just get out of the way or Hunker Down.

Roads are generally good - Check the state DOT for info and Cameras - in the major locations there are usually CG's that are still open, so electric and a dump are available - Angels Landing in Zion is to Die For in December - see for Miles as the air is just so clean - Narrows might be a little chilly - North Rim - Page - Antelope Canyon - Goosenecks SP - Canyon de Chelly - are all great stops.

Hope this is of some help, think you will love it - keep the batteries charged and the Propane FULL, as you just might need it.

Best of luck,