First long RV Trip - Where to stop/visit between GA and CO?

kyle86 wrote:
Are there any free/cheap places to dry camp along this route like wal marts?

There would be WalMarts in all the larger towns. I am one of those who has never stayed in a WalMart, but I can make some comments.

Meridian, MS is about 320 miles from Macon. We have stayed at Bonita Lakes private RV park, nice, paved, near route, about $23 per night. You could travel a bit off the route and find Twitley Branch COE. For an old fellow like me that would cost about $10 per night, maybe up to $20 for younger people. COE parks are getting better all the time. I'll be staying in some on our next trip out.

Another 320 or so miles will bring you to near Shreveport. Lots of choices around. If it is late om the day and not good time to go through Shreveport there is the Lincoln Parish Campground north of Ruston, $25 or nearer the freeway the Antique Village RV Park near Gibbsland, LA $30. We have never stayed at Lincoln Parish, but it gets good reviews. We have stayed at Antique Village. We would use it again for overnight.

Many more choices if you drive through or around Shreveport and come on into East Texas. There is Miss Ellie's in Waskom, the first town in Texas (a great state welcome center as you cross over the state line). Miss Ellie's $25. There are great COE parks on Lake 'o The Pines, near Marshall.

Another 350 miles or so would put you near Vernon, Texas, past Wichita Falls. There is definitely a WalMart handy to the highway and two parks: A & A Park @ $20 and Rocking A @ $30. We have stayed several times at the ROcking A, but more recently we drive on up a few miles to Goodlett, TX and stay at the Ole Town Cotton Gin @ $30. Nice level pull throughs just for an overnight.

Another 350 miles will find you near Raton, NM and intersection with I-25. Raton Pass is a good "beginner's pass" for those new to mountain driving. At the top of Raton Pass there is a very nice campground @ $35, well worth it to stay high up for tonight. We stay there almost every time we go up to Colorado. Sure beats Walmart, though we see a lot of people going on to the WalMart in Trinidad, CO.

From there it will be an easy 150 miles on to Colorado Springs. We always TRY to get a reservation at Cheyenne Mountain State Park, but there are lots of other choices.

I share this as a realistic plan for overnights between Macon, GA and Colorado Springs, based on driving between 300 and 400 miles per day.

kyle86 wrote:

padredw wrote:
There are almost endless variations possible, but I will give you a "southern route" for comparison. I will use Macon, GA as a starting point and Colorado Springs as a destination.

Macon to Montgomery, AL mostly along US 80. Continue on US 80 to junction with I-20 near Meridian, MS. Follow I-20 across MS and LA into East Texas. Use either US 271 to Paris, TX or US 69 to Sherman, TX to get up to US 82. 82 is a good route along the Red River and avoid the traffic near Dallas/Fort Worth.

Near Wichita Fall, TX join US 287 to Amarillo then up to Dumas and US 87 on to Dalhart. Follow US 87/64 to Raton, NM. Pick up I-25 right into Colorado Springs.

I have towed every mile of this route (not all on the same trip) excecpt the first miles in Georgia. I have driven even that portion of the trip, but not towing.

There are campgrounds all along the way, several at Meridian and Vicksburg, MS. A nice state park, Roosevelt, at Morton, MS. Many public and private campgrounds in East Texas. Tyler State Park is not far off the freeway. We often stay at Ole Town Cotton Gin at Goodlett, TX, and there are several good campgrounds in Amarillo. We try to plan our trip to spend a night at the top of Raton Pass. A very nice RV park there now goes by the name Raton Pass RV. It would be an easy drive on to Colorado Springs.

If you are new to mountain driving, Raton Pass is a good beginner's experience, broad lanes to allow traffic to pass.

I just give this as one good example because I am very familiar with these roads. I do recommend US 82 and an alternative route across North Texas. It is the way we always go to Colorado now.

I'll be glad to respond to any questions and to give more specific suggestions about overnight stops along the way.

That is the perfect route. I just followed it on the map and it looks to be great! Thanks for taking the time to put all that on here. This looks much simpler than other routes we've looked at. Are there any free/cheap places to dry camp along this route like wal marts?

The advice given is right on - and if you follow the advice on the next post the CG's in the small towns and Lakes along the way will work well.

Depending on where you are headed - think about getting off I-25 in Walsenburg and Rt 160 or 69 or Pueblo Rt 50 and get into the wilder parts of Colorado early - not sure of your destination but the drive up through the Arkansas River Valley is well worth the drive, IMHO you will really enjoy it. Once here you can easily get to all your other locations, just the drive is a lot more fun than fighting the traffic in the Cities on the Interstate. Link to a similar post on Colorado

CDOT cameras this link will give you real time pictures in Colorado.

Wal*Mart Locations - good link.

My brother is starting out on his first big trip to California, will be fun to follow you two as you start to see the Rockies and the West.

Hope this info is of some use.

BOL,

Busskipper

kohldad wrote:
A few things I've learned from my travels out west.

1) Don't let the mountains scare you. Folks will cry how much worse they are than our Appalachians. True they are higher and the climbs are longer. But what they call switchbacks are just turns to me. While their grades are longer, I usually found them not as steep as our, not saying they don't have steep grades, but you usually won't find things as bad as say 321 going into Boone from the east.

2) The main roads, such as you find in red in the Atlas, are more like our interstates. While they may be single lane, they usually have wide shoulders and huge right of ways. A lot of the small towns have been bypassed, so make sure you take the business route if you want to get a glimpse of the real west. Unless I'm really hooving it, I try to avoid the interstates west of the Mississippi.

3) Lots of the smaller towns will have fair grounds or other type lots you can park for a small charge or free. These are usually limited hookups if any, but some may surprise you. Just ask around the towns as you travel through them. The city office or police station is a good place to ask too.

4) Reservations are over rated and can be a real pain. You just get to a spot you thought you would drive through only to realize you want to stay a day or two or three. But darn, you can't because you have reservations. That is why I just about always travel reservation free. Exception is popular places or holiday weekends. For holiday weekends I try to be in the middle of no where without any attractions. For the popular places, I make reservations only a stop or two out. But then I always have an emergency backup plan of boondocking or going someplace else. This is also influenced by your rig size, the larger the more advance planning you may want to do. But I did this type of travel with a 35' FW and 30' TT. But now with my TC, I just need a parking space.

5) Don't overplan. The most enjoyable things I've seen as I travel are the ones that are unexpected. The biggest disappointments were the ones I really researched and everyone else enjoyed and said they were the must sees. Good example is we loved 5 days in Kings Canyon which we only stopped at because we had to kill 5 days before our reservations at Yosemite. We enjoyed it so much because we had to explore to find the gems and the place was almost deserted we did one of the more popular 2 mile loop trails and only saw one couple the entire hike. We had 4 nights reserved at Yosemite but left after only two nights because we were so disappointed because of the extreme crowds which we tightened into an even smaller than usual area because of late snows.

6) For long trips, we select a few major sites and wing it between them. Even with a 35' FW, we would often come to a cross road and look down each road to decide which way to go. We've also found some rough road and turned off of it to find a smoother road. Adds miles, but adds to the excitement too. Only thing that mattered was it was more or less heading in the right direction. We never would have picked Ft Robinson in Nebraska if our wild selection of roads to Custer, SD hadn't put us in the area. We stopped early enough to explore the fort, take a stage coach ride, swim in the enclosed pool, and enjoyed a morning horseback ride before continueing our adventure. That was over eleven years ago when our kids were just over 10, but the stagecoach ride is one of the strongest camping memories we have.

Remember just take your time and make the most of what you see.

Great advice, Much appreciated thank you!!!

padredw wrote:
There are almost endless variations possible, but I will give you a "southern route" for comparison. I will use Macon, GA as a starting point and Colorado Springs as a destination.

Macon to Montgomery, AL mostly along US 80. Continue on US 80 to junction with I-20 near Meridian, MS. Follow I-20 across MS and LA into East Texas. Use either US 271 to Paris, TX or US 69 to Sherman, TX to get up to US 82. 82 is a good route along the Red River and avoid the traffic near Dallas/Fort Worth.

Near Wichita Fall, TX join US 287 to Amarillo then up to Dumas and US 87 on to Dalhart. Follow US 87/64 to Raton, NM. Pick up I-25 right into Colorado Springs.

I have towed every mile of this route (not all on the same trip) excecpt the first miles in Georgia. I have driven even that portion of the trip, but not towing.

There are campgrounds all along the way, several at Meridian and Vicksburg, MS. A nice state park, Roosevelt, at Morton, MS. Many public and private campgrounds in East Texas. Tyler State Park is not far off the freeway. We often stay at Ole Town Cotton Gin at Goodlett, TX, and there are several good campgrounds in Amarillo. We try to plan our trip to spend a night at the top of Raton Pass. A very nice RV park there now goes by the name Raton Pass RV. It would be an easy drive on to Colorado Springs.

If you are new to mountain driving, Raton Pass is a good beginner's experience, broad lanes to allow traffic to pass.

I just give this as one good example because I am very familiar with these roads. I do recommend US 82 and an alternative route across North Texas. It is the way we always go to Colorado now.

I'll be glad to respond to any questions and to give more specific suggestions about overnight stops along the way.

That is the perfect route. I just followed it on the map and it looks to be great! Thanks for taking the time to put all that on here. This looks much simpler than other routes we've looked at. Are there any free/cheap places to dry camp along this route like wal marts?

kohldad wrote:
A few things I've learned from my travels out west.

1) Don't let the mountains scare you. Folks will cry how much worse they are than our Appalachians. True they are higher and the climbs are longer. But what they call switchbacks are just turns to me. While their grades are longer, I usually found them not as steep as our, not saying they don't have steep grades, but you usually won't find things as bad as say 321 going into Boone from the east.

2) The main roads, such as you find in red in the Atlas, are more like our interstates. While they may be single lane, they usually have wide shoulders and huge right of ways. A lot of the small towns have been bypassed, so make sure you take the business route if you want to get a glimpse of the real west. Unless I'm really hooving it, I try to avoid the interstates west of the Mississippi.

3) Lots of the smaller towns will have fair grounds or other type lots you can park for a small charge or free. These are usually limited hookups if any, but some may surprise you. Just ask around the towns as you travel through them. The city office or police station is a good place to ask too.

4) Reservations are over rated and can be a real pain. You just get to a spot you thought you would drive through only to realize you want to stay a day or two or three. But darn, you can't because you have reservations. That is why I just about always travel reservation free. Exception is popular places or holiday weekends. For holiday weekends I try to be in the middle of no where without any attractions. For the popular places, I make reservations only a stop or two out. But then I always have an emergency backup plan of boondocking or going someplace else. This is also influenced by your rig size, the larger the more advance planning you may want to do. But I did this type of travel with a 35' FW and 30' TT. But now with my TC, I just need a parking space.

5) Don't overplan. The most enjoyable things I've seen as I travel are the ones that are unexpected. The biggest disappointments were the ones I really researched and everyone else enjoyed and said they were the must sees. Good example is we loved 5 days in Kings Canyon which we only stopped at because we had to kill 5 days before our reservations at Yosemite. We enjoyed it so much because we had to explore to find the gems and the place was almost deserted we did one of the more popular 2 mile loop trails and only saw one couple the entire hike. We had 4 nights reserved at Yosemite but left after only two nights because we were so disappointed because of the extreme crowds which we tightened into an even smaller than usual area because of late snows.

6) For long trips, we select a few major sites and wing it between them. Even with a 35' FW, we would often come to a cross road and look down each road to decide which way to go. We've also found some rough road and turned off of it to find a smoother road. Adds miles, but adds to the excitement too. Only thing that mattered was it was more or less heading in the right direction. We never would have picked Ft Robinson in Nebraska if our wild selection of roads to Custer, SD hadn't put us in the area. We stopped early enough to explore the fort, take a stage coach ride, swim in the enclosed pool, and enjoyed a morning horseback ride before continueing our adventure. That was over eleven years ago when our kids were just over 10, but the stagecoach ride is one of the strongest camping memories we have.

Remember just take your time and make the most of what you see.

This is a really good set of POINTS to REMEMBER.

Only thing I'll add is Good WEATHER and good Company will add a lot to most adventures.

Good Advice.

A few things I've learned from my travels out west.

1) Don't let the mountains scare you. Folks will cry how much worse they are than our Appalachians. True they are higher and the climbs are longer. But what they call switchbacks are just turns to me. While their grades are longer, I usually found them not as steep as our, not saying they don't have steep grades, but you usually won't find things as bad as say 321 going into Boone from the east.

2) The main roads, such as you find in red in the Atlas, are more like our interstates. While they may be single lane, they usually have wide shoulders and huge right of ways. A lot of the small towns have been bypassed, so make sure you take the business route if you want to get a glimpse of the real west. Unless I'm really hooving it, I try to avoid the interstates west of the Mississippi.

3) Lots of the smaller towns will have fair grounds or other type lots you can park for a small charge or free. These are usually limited hookups if any, but some may surprise you. Just ask around the towns as you travel through them. The city office or police station is a good place to ask too.

4) Reservations are over rated and can be a real pain. You just get to a spot you thought you would drive through only to realize you want to stay a day or two or three. But darn, you can't because you have reservations. That is why I just about always travel reservation free. Exception is popular places or holiday weekends. For holiday weekends I try to be in the middle of no where without any attractions. For the popular places, I make reservations only a stop or two out. But then I always have an emergency backup plan of boondocking or going someplace else. This is also influenced by your rig size, the larger the more advance planning you may want to do. But I did this type of travel with a 35' FW and 30' TT. But now with my TC, I just need a parking space.

5) Don't overplan. The most enjoyable things I've seen as I travel are the ones that are unexpected. The biggest disappointments were the ones I really researched and everyone else enjoyed and said they were the must sees. Good example is we loved 5 days in Kings Canyon which we only stopped at because we had to kill 5 days before our reservations at Yosemite. We enjoyed it so much because we had to explore to find the gems and the place was almost deserted we did one of the more popular 2 mile loop trails and only saw one couple the entire hike. We had 4 nights reserved at Yosemite but left after only two nights because we were so disappointed because of the extreme crowds which we tightened into an even smaller than usual area because of late snows.

6) For long trips, we select a few major sites and wing it between them. Even with a 35' FW, we would often come to a cross road and look down each road to decide which way to go. We've also found some rough road and turned off of it to find a smoother road. Adds miles, but adds to the excitement too. Only thing that mattered was it was more or less heading in the right direction. We never would have picked Ft Robinson in Nebraska if our wild selection of roads to Custer, SD hadn't put us in the area. We stopped early enough to explore the fort, take a stage coach ride, swim in the enclosed pool, and enjoyed a morning horseback ride before continueing our adventure. That was over eleven years ago when our kids were just over 10, but the stagecoach ride is one of the strongest camping memories we have.

Remember just take your time and make the most of what you see.

There are almost endless variations possible, but I will give you a "southern route" for comparison. I will use Macon, GA as a starting point and Colorado Springs as a destination.

Macon to Montgomery, AL mostly along US 80. Continue on US 80 to junction with I-20 near Meridian, MS. Follow I-20 across MS and LA into East Texas. Use either US 271 to Paris, TX or US 69 to Sherman, TX to get up to US 82. 82 is a good route along the Red River and avoid the traffic near Dallas/Fort Worth.

Near Wichita Fall, TX join US 287 to Amarillo then up to Dumas and US 87 on to Dalhart. Follow US 87/64 to Raton, NM. Pick up I-25 right into Colorado Springs.

I have towed every mile of this route (not all on the same trip) excecpt the first miles in Georgia. I have driven even that portion of the trip, but not towing.

There are campgrounds all along the way, several at Meridian and Vicksburg, MS. A nice state park, Roosevelt, at Morton, MS. Many public and private campgrounds in East Texas. Tyler State Park is not far off the freeway. We often stay at Ole Town Cotton Gin at Goodlett, TX, and there are several good campgrounds in Amarillo. We try to plan our trip to spend a night at the top of Raton Pass. A very nice RV park there now goes by the name Raton Pass RV. It would be an easy drive on to Colorado Springs.

If you are new to mountain driving, Raton Pass is a good beginner's experience, broad lanes to allow traffic to pass.

I just give this as one good example because I am very familiar with these roads. I do recommend US 82 and an alternative route across North Texas. It is the way we always go to Colorado now.

I'll be glad to respond to any questions and to give more specific suggestions about overnight stops along the way.

We drive from N Georgia to S Dakota fairly regularly but use the same route if we do Colorado. We go up thru Chattanooga, to Nashville and try to overnite in Paducah, Ky at a place called Duck Creek. Not a resort certainly, but the sites are FHU, they are wide and staff is great. Easy on and off the interstate. St Louis and I-70 for Colorado but drive north of St Louis rather than go through the city on I-70.

2gypsies wrote:
I'd suggest you tour Santa Fe (Santa Fe Skies RV is good) and you can do a day trip to Taos. Then get on NM 84 and it's a beautiful drive through the painter's Georgia O'Keefe country. Abiquiu Corp of Engineers campground is nice.

Continue up 84 into Colorado and stop in Pagosa Springs, CO and enjoy a morning of soaking in the pools overlooking the river - very relaxing.

Head west on 160 To Durango (Alpen Rose RV) and either drive or take the train up to Silverton. You won't believe the beauty.

Continue west on 160 and tour Mesa Verde Nat'l Park. Then take Hwy 145 north and stay in Ouray, Ridgway or Montrose and tour that area.

If you're ready to return home take Hwy 50 toward Gunnison, Salida, Canon City and to Pueblo - a very pretty drive.

Solid route, thank you

Thom02099 wrote:

TyroneandGladys wrote:
From what part of Georgia to what part of Colorado?

This^^^^^

Can make a difference as to recommendations on how to get "here" from "there". I have family in Alabama and have made the trip back/forth many many times, frequently taking different routes to break up the boredom of some of the fly-over states. Do you want to stay on Interstates, or can other routes work for you?

Also, how much time do you have allotted for the trip? Are you planning to do a trip out and back in XX number of weeks? Are you going elsewhere after Colorado, or returning to Georgia?

Another thing to consider -- the weather. That's perhaps going to have an impact on your plans. Keep in mind that most RV Resorts/Campgrounds in popular areas don't open for the season until some time in May, usually mid-May. Some don't open til after Memorial Day, such as some of the higher elevation USFS CG.

Great advice, thank you.

Also thanks to everyone else who replied so far.

I was thinking about going through alabama. Hopefully about 1-2 weeks time to get there. We will not be returning to GA any time soon. My sister is getting married in California in October so will be going farther west once it starts cooling down in september.