Advice needed on 4 Corners this coming winter

Busskipper wrote:
First thing is getting out to the SouthWest (4Corners) Keep an eye on the weather as this can be a tricky this time of year but IMHO this is the absolute best time to be in the area. We have traveled over the entire area during the Winter and aside from limiting the trips into the remote Mountain Passes we have never had an issue.

To begin head directly to Denver, usually during the month of November you should be able to explore much of that area.

My wife is a Golden native and I have lived in the Denver area for 50 years. We would never recommend November as "the absolute best time to be in the area," especially to be camping in Colorado. First, in the most scenic parts of the state, all of the Forest Service campgrounds, some state park campgrounds, and the seasonal private RV parks have been closed for a month or more. Ian will, therefore, almost certainly have to stay in private RV parks in big towns or state parks that are not in the mountains.

Second, all of the extremely scenic, seasonal mountain passes are closed by November. That means they cannot travel over Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, Independence Pass between Leadville and Aspen, Cottonwood Pass between Buena Vista and Crested Butte, or any 4WD pass in the San Juan Mountains. That eliminates a lot of beautiful areas of our state.

Third, the weather can change so much between someone leaving Ontario and arriving in Colorado that it is not worth the risk. Plus the potential for icy highways between Ontario and Colorado, including I-80 and I-70, is substantially higher than earlier in the fall. Just ask the truckers who switch from I-80 to I-40 about that time of year.

Last, November is one of our worst months of the year for chinooks. How many RVers want to be camped during a hurricane? Well, Colorado chinooks can have winds as high as many East Coast hurricanes--100 mph or more. We won't store our trailer in one lot on the west side of the Denver area specifically because of those winds. When I asked the person who operates the storage lot if they had ever had a problem with the wind, she answered, "Well, we have had a few high-profile 5th wheel trailers moved around a little." Translation "Yes, we have a major wind problem that can move 15,000-pound trailers out of their storage spot and possibly into the adjacent trailer!" That's the reason that most of the RVs we see stored there are motorhomes, and not many of those are especially new.

So, IMHO their plan to leave in September next year is a much better decision than risking November camping in Colorado this year.