Help please. First time Cruise America RV renter planning to take wife and 16 year old daughter from Phoenix to Denver via Grand Canyon and Four Corners 26-31 December in a 25' rental. Was trying to plan routes from Four Corners to Denver (Durango? Moab? Southerly route to I-25N?) and asked for route advice on Trip Advisor where I'm getting crushed for endangering my family and told to cancel trip. I have driven all over the world but admittedly never an RV. Are all routes really that risky due to weather? Second question - Cruise America suggested RV would be winterized upon arrival in Denver at my expense. Not concerned about cost, but isn't it too late to winterize there given the anticipated cold en route? Last question - planned to overnight at RV parks with full hookups, although I am still learning what that means. Presuming the RV should be winterized in Phoenix before departure - is a 5 day drive with no water/toilet/showers a miserable experience? Appreciate wisdom and patience as I learn. Otherwise I have to start looking at Plan B (Phoenix loop) or Plan C (eat the $300 deposit and plan a different Christmas break).

We have a fully winterized unit (every thing heated by furnace AND engine heat) but the only time we dewinterize is when we know we will be in warm climate (S. Arizona etc) for our next dump station. Most dump stations will be closed in Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and N. Arizona in December.

Harvard wrote:We have a fully winterized unit (every thing heated by furnace AND engine heat) but the only time we dewinterize is when we know we will be in warm climate (S. Arizona etc) for our next dump station. Most dump stations will be closed in Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and N. Arizona in December.Does that mean you never use the shower or toilet? Thanks.

If you are winterized, no shower, no kitchen faucets, no onboard water. You can use the toilet -- carry a 5 gallon jug of water to flush/wash, and be sure some antifreeze is in the tanks.There are some year-round campgrounds/RVparks. Lakeside RV in Provo is one I've used. So dumping is available.RV'ing in winter is tougher than summer. If I were you I'd be sticking to the Arizona route.

The trip you are planning is terrific, doing it in a motorhome is not going to be fun. Any winter travel is suspect but not that different between a car and a RV. Many people panic at the talk of driving a RV in the winter because most of them never drive one anyway. If it were me I would eat the deposit and stay in motels and eat in restaurants, the cost is not going to be that much different (you will end up eating out most of the time anyway) and everyone will enjoy the trip more. If you were die-hard RVers, like many of us are, the inconveniences involved with winter travel are just be part and parcel of the RV life.

A winter trip is possible with a lot of luck and careful planning. I sometimes use my RV in the winter for fishing trips. First winterize the water tank and lines, you won't be using them. Instead I use water from the square blue jugs with spigots. They can be set on the counter and used just like faucets. We also take showers from a bucket with a little electric shower pump that my wife found. The toilet can be flushed with some water from a bucket. Pour a lot of anti-freeze down into the waste tanks and dump them as soon as possible.Such a trip is totally weather-dependant. I don't drive my RV in the mountains during snow.Miles

Renting RV Late Dec. - Phoenix-Denver...All Routes Unsafe?

Harvard
Explorer
Nov 16, 2014
We have a fully winterized unit (every thing heated by furnace AND engine heat) but the only time we dewinterize is when we know we will be in warm climate (S. Arizona etc) for our next dump station. Most dump stations will be closed in Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and N. Arizona in December.
supplyguy
Explorer
Nov 16, 2014
Harvard wrote:
We have a fully winterized unit (every thing heated by furnace AND engine heat) but the only time we dewinterize is when we know we will be in warm climate (S. Arizona etc) for our next dump station. Most dump stations will be closed in Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and N. Arizona in December.

Does that mean you never use the shower or toilet? Thanks.
obgraham
Explorer
Nov 16, 2014
If you are winterized, no shower, no kitchen faucets, no onboard water. You can use the toilet -- carry a 5 gallon jug of water to flush/wash, and be sure some antifreeze is in the tanks.

There are some year-round campgrounds/RVparks. Lakeside RV in Provo is one I've used. So dumping is available.

RV'ing in winter is tougher than summer. If I were you I'd be sticking to the Arizona route.
Grandpere
Explorer
Nov 16, 2014
The trip you are planning is terrific, doing it in a motorhome is not going to be fun. Any winter travel is suspect but not that different between a car and a RV. Many people panic at the talk of driving a RV in the winter because most of them never drive one anyway. If it were me I would eat the deposit and stay in motels and eat in restaurants, the cost is not going to be that much different (you will end up eating out most of the time anyway) and everyone will enjoy the trip more. If you were die-hard RVers, like many of us are, the inconveniences involved with winter travel are just be part and parcel of the RV life.
Son_of_Norway
Explorer
Nov 16, 2014
A winter trip is possible with a lot of luck and careful planning. I sometimes use my RV in the winter for fishing trips. First winterize the water tank and lines, you won't be using them. Instead I use water from the square blue jugs with spigots. They can be set on the counter and used just like faucets. We also take showers from a bucket with a little electric shower pump that my wife found. The toilet can be flushed with some water from a bucket. Pour a lot of anti-freeze down into the waste tanks and dump them as soon as possible.

Such a trip is totally weather-dependant. I don't drive my RV in the mountains during snow.

Miles
Bionic_Man
Explorer
Nov 17, 2014
Great route, wrong time of year to do it. I would be willing to try it in the winter if I wasn't on a set time schedule, but that doesn't sound like the case for you.

Why not spend the time at the Grand Canyon, Moab, Brice & Arches, return to Phoenix?
azdryheat
Explorer
Nov 17, 2014
I wouldn't recommend first-time rv'ers doing a winter trip, just too much to go wrong.
justlou
Explorer
Nov 17, 2014
If you are talking about taking hwy160 East from Durango to I25 north, they are already issuing hazardous driving conditions for Wolf Creek Pass. If you are unfamiliar with handling an RV, Wolf Creek Pass in the winter isn't a road you want to travel. I would consider an alternate route or return to Phoenix.
Multiple people in an RV without being able to use the facilities would not be my idea of a fun trip.
time2roll
Nomad
Nov 17, 2014
Roads are safe and people drive them year round. Allow extra time to go slow or wait an extra day while a storm passes.
BB_TX
Nomad
Nov 17, 2014
I agree with above. Time for new plans. If you had a sense of adventure, experience at RV'ing, and plenty of time to ride out bad weather it would be ok. But held to a specific 5 day window I would not try it.

I was in Phoenix a number of years ago in early December on a 2 week trip for work. Planned a trip to the canyon on Saturday, but it snowed 19" on Friday in Flagstaff. But Saturday was clear and assuming they had plowed the roads I headed to the canyon on Sunday. Mistake. Roads as I neared Flag were treacherous to say the least, even in a car. You would possibly encounter similar conditions any where along the route.