Hi, We are taking a 1 month trip out west (from PA) starting June 17th. All of our National Park campsites are no hookups and I'm trying to decide if I should buy a generator to run the A/C at times or if it's not worth the trouble. It's a 21' travel trailer and our battery bank is fine going for days without being plugged in and will get charged by the truck while driving, but of course we can't run our A/C without a Generator. In order, we will be staying staying at the following parks:Rocky MountainGrand CanyonCanyonlands (private campground, but no hookups)Yosemite (private campground, no hookups)OlympusGlacierYellowstoneThe days in between the parks we will spend at private campgrounds that we find along the way, so may or may not have hookups at these. So, just looking for some advice from those who have "been there, done that". Thanks, Austin

The answer depends on what you like to do. If you hike every day during the heat of the day (as we usually do, unfortunately), it is often cooler when we get back to the trailer in the evening.But if you will be in the trailer during the day, you may need A/C at the lower elevations of Yosemite.By the way, that is a pretty ambitious itinerary for a month, coming from PA. Lots of driving. Maybe split this up into two years? First year do the northern tier, second year the southern? Again, it all depends on how you like to spend your time -- different folks feel differently about this.

Acarter92 wrote:Hi, We are taking a 1 month trip out west (from PA) starting June 17th. All of our National Park campsites are no hookups and I'm trying to decide if I should buy a generator to run the A/C at times or if it's not worth the trouble. It's a 21' travel trailer and our battery bank is fine going for days without being plugged in and will get charged by the truck while driving, but of course we can't run our A/C without a Generator. In order, we will be staying staying at the following parks:Rocky Mountain---NOGrand Canyon---No if North Rim Yes if southCanyonlands (private campground, but no hookups)-ProbablyYosemite (private campground, no hookups): NoOlympus: NoGlacier: NoYellowstone: NoAll that depends on the weather of course, which is changeable Thanks, Austin

Let's see. Rocky mtn-probably cool (had snow mid May couple years ago),Grand Canyon north rim was cool, Canyonlands probably hot, Yosemite not in the park- hard to tell, Olympus probably cool, Glacier cool, Yellowstone iffy.

profdant139 wrote:The answer depends on what you like to do. If you hike every day during the heat of the day (as we usually do, unfortunately), it is often cooler when we get back to the trailer in the evening.But if you will be in the trailer during the day, you may need A/C at the lower elevations of Yosemite.By the way, that is a pretty ambitious itinerary for a month, coming from PA. Lots of driving. Maybe split this up into two years? First year do the northern tier, second year the southern? Again, it all depends on how you like to spend your time -- different folks feel differently about this.We definitely won't be hanging out in the camper all day :-). And plan to do a ton of hiking and sightseeing, however I know there will be days that we may want to come back to the camper for an hour or two during the day, or to eat some lunch on go back out again, so that is my main concern. If it will be miseribly hot then it would be nice to fire up the generator for an hour or two to cool it down.... As far as the month goes, well.... I know it's way too short, but that's the time we have available so we're trying to get the most out of it. Then, if we want to come back we can narrow it down to the certain areas we really liked and focus on them. Austin

That's a VERY ambitious set of parks for one month which would include 5 days each way from PA to Yosemite. You really may want to trim it. I'd do either Grand Canyon/Yosemite/Olympus which would include taking it easy along 101 on the west coast. You'll be going right by Redwoods for example.Or: Rocky Mountains/Canyonlands/Arches/Yellowstone/Glacier and there are many other major parks in that area.Otherwise you are going to spend many days driving.

National Parks June/ July... A/C needed? | Good Sam Community

Acarter92
Explorer
Mar 04, 2017
profdant139 wrote:
The answer depends on what you like to do. If you hike every day during the heat of the day (as we usually do, unfortunately), it is often cooler when we get back to the trailer in the evening.

But if you will be in the trailer during the day, you may need A/C at the lower elevations of Yosemite.

By the way, that is a pretty ambitious itinerary for a month, coming from PA. Lots of driving. Maybe split this up into two years? First year do the northern tier, second year the southern? Again, it all depends on how you like to spend your time -- different folks feel differently about this.

We definitely won't be hanging out in the camper all day :-). And plan to do a ton of hiking and sightseeing, however I know there will be days that we may want to come back to the camper for an hour or two during the day, or to eat some lunch on go back out again, so that is my main concern. If it will be miseribly hot then it would be nice to fire up the generator for an hour or two to cool it down....

As far as the month goes, well.... I know it's way too short, but that's the time we have available so we're trying to get the most out of it. Then, if we want to come back we can narrow it down to the certain areas we really liked and focus on them.

Austin
tegu69
Explorer
Mar 04, 2017
Let's see. Rocky mtn-probably cool (had snow mid May couple years ago),Grand Canyon north rim was cool, Canyonlands probably hot, Yosemite not in the park- hard to tell, Olympus probably cool, Glacier cool, Yellowstone iffy.
agesilaus
Explorer III
Mar 04, 2017
Acarter92 wrote:
Hi,

We are taking a 1 month trip out west (from PA) starting June 17th. All of our National Park campsites are no hookups and I'm trying to decide if I should buy a generator to run the A/C at times or if it's not worth the trouble. It's a 21' travel trailer and our battery bank is fine going for days without being plugged in and will get charged by the truck while driving, but of course we can't run our A/C without a Generator.

In order, we will be staying staying at the following parks:

Rocky Mountain---NO
Grand Canyon---No if North Rim Yes if south
Canyonlands (private campground, but no hookups)-Probably
Yosemite (private campground, no hookups): No
Olympus: No
Glacier: No
Yellowstone: No

All that depends on the weather of course, which is changeable

Thanks,
Austin
profdant139
Explorer II
Mar 04, 2017
The answer depends on what you like to do. If you hike every day during the heat of the day (as we usually do, unfortunately), it is often cooler when we get back to the trailer in the evening.

But if you will be in the trailer during the day, you may need A/C at the lower elevations of Yosemite.

By the way, that is a pretty ambitious itinerary for a month, coming from PA. Lots of driving. Maybe split this up into two years? First year do the northern tier, second year the southern? Again, it all depends on how you like to spend your time -- different folks feel differently about this.

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