Advice needed on 4 Corners this coming winter
We're looking to spend 4 months in the 4 corner states this winter, starting in late November. Obviously we'd like to visit several (many) of the major parks but we'd also like to find a place where w...
Forum Discussion
We live in Colorado and have spent time during the past two winters camping in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. Although the lower-elevation parts of Colorado can have 50 degree daytime temps in January, it can also have -25 to -30 degree weather in January (in Denver, we refer to the latter as "Stock Show weather" because the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo in mid-January often brings below zero temps). So, I would not recommend staying long in Colorado between November and April unless you are a skier and have an RV designed for Canadian winter camping.
Southern Utah and northern Arizona and New Mexico are also at higher altitudes. For example, Flagstaff, AZ, and Santa Fe, NM, are at 7,000 feet above sea level, or nearly 2,000 feet higher than Denver. So, expect cold weather and snow during winter in that region as well.
Texas (even along the Gulf), Oklahoma, and Arkansas get cloudy, windy, and rainy during winter, with occasional ice storms but not much snow. Only the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas is really suitable for long-term snowbirds (or "winter Texans" as they call them there).
That leaves southern NM and AZ as the only dependably mild snowbird destinations in the "Four Corners" states and surrounding region. And, as others have said, it can still get cold in those southern areas. So, for hiking, biking, touring, sightseeing, and camping, you are going to be competing with all the other snowbirds generally along the I-10 corridor from Las Cruces, NM, to Tucson, Casa Grande, Phoenix, Quartzite, and Yuma, AZ.
My suggestion would be to pick one area for November (that's the month the whooping cranes return to Bosque del Apache in NM, if you happen to be a wildlife photographer), another for December (the old town of Mesilla near Las Cruces is completely lit with luminarias at Christmas), another for January (all the big classic car auctions are in the Scottsdale-Phoenix area in January), and another for February (the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show, the world's largest, is held the first two weeks of February). That way you can explore what each area has to offer (except Quartzite!) and pick just one or two areas to return to the following winter.
BTW, in March we met a couple from Saskatchewan who had spent that last 8 winters in the same RV park in Bensen, AZ. So, you wouldn't be the only Canadians wintering in that region!
Southern Utah and northern Arizona and New Mexico are also at higher altitudes. For example, Flagstaff, AZ, and Santa Fe, NM, are at 7,000 feet above sea level, or nearly 2,000 feet higher than Denver. So, expect cold weather and snow during winter in that region as well.
Texas (even along the Gulf), Oklahoma, and Arkansas get cloudy, windy, and rainy during winter, with occasional ice storms but not much snow. Only the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas is really suitable for long-term snowbirds (or "winter Texans" as they call them there).
That leaves southern NM and AZ as the only dependably mild snowbird destinations in the "Four Corners" states and surrounding region. And, as others have said, it can still get cold in those southern areas. So, for hiking, biking, touring, sightseeing, and camping, you are going to be competing with all the other snowbirds generally along the I-10 corridor from Las Cruces, NM, to Tucson, Casa Grande, Phoenix, Quartzite, and Yuma, AZ.
My suggestion would be to pick one area for November (that's the month the whooping cranes return to Bosque del Apache in NM, if you happen to be a wildlife photographer), another for December (the old town of Mesilla near Las Cruces is completely lit with luminarias at Christmas), another for January (all the big classic car auctions are in the Scottsdale-Phoenix area in January), and another for February (the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show, the world's largest, is held the first two weeks of February). That way you can explore what each area has to offer (except Quartzite!) and pick just one or two areas to return to the following winter.
BTW, in March we met a couple from Saskatchewan who had spent that last 8 winters in the same RV park in Bensen, AZ. So, you wouldn't be the only Canadians wintering in that region!
