Best way to find hookups or parks

What works for us is on Google map zoom in on the area you want to stay in search put in either campsites or RV parks. Then use search to check out what you see.

BTW... we have learned sleeping on site to pack box fans. I don't hear a thing until the generators go down. HAHA!

I am well aware that the oil industry has been going on for quite some time. We have been involved for years and years now. Our consulting business is new not our experience within the field. Also, just this week we have been on 16 different rig sites. Nine of which had RV's parked right on site. Some of the guys that are not given shacks when on remote locations (80-90) miles round trip to the nearest hotel even sleep in truck campers in ALL weather. Each rig site also has insulated water tanks and sewage lines with electricity supplied by multiple generators. The shacks that ARE on site are often BARELY more than a glorified RV and we had to practically live out of a two room shack for three months last winter near Kimball Nebraska. The refinery going up is NE of Greeley not all that far from the Wells Ranch. It is a VERY important part of the pipelining that is going on in the state right now. There are 19 BRAND new rigs going up in the next 3 months for just ONE drilling company that we work with.

As for the RV, thank you very much for all of your listings. I especially am appreciative for the advice for winter living too. :) I can tell you they have been VERY helpful! We found a beautiful RV that is winter rated. Going to pay them cash for it tomorrow. The dealer came off the listed price by nearly 20k since we are paying in cash too. We found a few places that have direct TV hookups offered and electricity with city water hookups. The Direct TV is nice since we are customers and can use our own boxes and get the channels we pay for. We will be purchasing our propane through a friend at "cost" also.

Being involved with several oil/gas industry forums and following the blogs of other wives and families living camper style has me pretty convinced we will be just fine. Since my husband has to be on site several weeks at a time (this last one was 5 weeks straight) and they are all over the Pawnee Grasslands right now which is close to NOTHING...it is best for us to stay mobile. I have to travel to the sites two to three days out of the week also for business. The other factor involved here is this RV will also be considered an asset to our business. When we are done and have found the land/home we want we will be using it for some of our out of town crew members to stay in and purchase another for our own recreation.

Again, thanks for the websites and advice I am gathering quite a list of possibilities and taking notes for things that I need to be sure to check into. :)

1775 wrote:
This site is the easiest to use to find campgrounds wherever you are looking for them -

http://www.epgsoft.com/CampgroundMap/

I just looked in areas that I'm real familiar with and this site doesn't show all campgrounds/RV parks. Also, some were marked that were 100 miles away so don't rely on it as an absolute definite.

We have found that there is no one all-inclusive place. They all lack something. You really have to do your homework sometimes, unfortunately.

This site is the easiest to use to find campgrounds wherever you are looking for them -

http://www.epgsoft.com/CampgroundMap/

Simple - just put in the state or city - and scroll around the map. Click on a campground symbol and it will give you the website and a link to the RVparksreview listings.

I have not come across any motels with hookups. They would need a pretty extensive parking lot to do this and also have local zoning approval.

Even with a full season RV, are you prepared to:

1: Skirt your rig, so so the bottom part is protected from the wind. This is very important because the wind blowing under the tanks can freeze them (and the other plumbing) solid very quickly. I'd also recommend a windbreak and cover for the propane tank and hookups mentioned below as well.

2: Rent a 250-1000 gallon propane tank.

3: Run heating tape so the water in the hoses from the faucet doesn't freeze, as well as the sewer lines? The sewer lines need to be warm too, or poopsickles will form.

4: Have a backup generator ready to go, in case power goes out? A lot of generators might not start in cold weather.

5: Have a propane tank warmer, because if it gets cold enough, propane will not make vapor.

6: Have a backup plan in case the electricity goes out (step #4), because if your water lines freeze and your propane tank gets too cold to make vapor, you will be in a world of hurt.

7: Have multiple ways of heating your rig, as in every part including the tanks. A 100 watt light bulb (incandescent, of course) in each storage compartment, and a couple underneath the rig will help things greatly, and the light will help drive mice away.

8: Got protection against mice? If not, time to get the stainless steel wool and spray foam, and get with a friend with a bright flashlight to start closing up cracks.

I'm not trying to be snarky here, but cold weather RV-ing takes a lot of planning, and if one is set on it, start -now- with getting things ready for winter. I highly recommend finding someone in the area who has done it before and getting their advice.

Also, if you have not bought a rig, buy one bigger than you think you might need that is four seasons. Those rigs get small when stuck inside during whiteout conditions. Also, "four seasons" is a subjective term. Northwood/Nash/Arctic Fox are known for being solid rigs, but I'd check around. The true wintering capability of rigs can vary widely.

rvparkreviews has a search feature. Select the region you want to be in, a radius you want the search to extend to, what amenities you are looking for, hit search and there are your options. Do your due diligence by going through the reviews and such.

I used Woodall's and Trailer Life directories, buying on alternate years. They are now combined into one Good Sams directory, also available online. The paper directory fits the way I use it, no connections required.

Before going to a longer term destination, I'll check RV Park Reviews.

Several comments.

I work in the Oil and Gas industry in Colorado - what refinery are you talking about, as the only ones I am aware of are in Commerce City? I am unaware of any new ones being built.

You say "now that the oil fields and pipelines are running all through Colorado." - they have been for over half a century.

As a Colorado RV'er, living to the east of the mountains, I have to say that while the winter weather is not as harsh as in the mountains, I still beleieve that it is not conducive to comfortable full timing unless you have an all-season RV (like an Arctic Fox, for example). It is not so much the snow, but the temperatures that will be the problem. Keeping that rig warm, and the tanks unfrozen will be a major issue.

I am constantly in and around the drilling rigs here in central Colorado and have yet to see RV's near any of them. Can't imagine I'd want to be trying to sleep in one near a running rig, anyway, as they run 24/7. Just had one about a mile from my house, and even that far away was loud enough to wake us up some nights. I would want to camp as far away from a rig as possible! :)

Most campgrounds probably won't allow long term stays - the State Parks certainly don't - and you will probably have a hard job finding somewhere that will do it. Like others have said, use sites like rvparkreviews.com and do some research, or contact the local Chamber of Commerce in the town near where you want to stay and ask them if they know of anywhere.

I would never try to stay in CO in the winter. We have spent the past 2 winters in central AL and it gets cold at night. You will use so much propane trying to stay warm that the expense will be extreme. You would be much better off renting a place what stays warm at lower costs.