cold weather camping

We do every year to Mammoth Lakes, CA for skiing. Would like to try Tahoe but have not made it there yet. Some prep work is necessary and it depends if you have sewer and what kind of hook ups. Mammoth Mtn. RV park has an indoor pool.

I have spent some nights at 19F in my 30' Bounder with dual pane windows, and it was not to bad. No frozen pipes, because there is a furnace vent into the basement, and all the plumbing fittings are in there.

I spent a winter in Portland OR, when the lowest winter temp reached 25F. This winter is cooler, and has already reached 24 in November, probably will be less than last winter's 15F low.

When dry camping, I run my Olympic Catalytic heater that is 6,000 Btu's mostly because it is silent, and no 12 volt power. At less than 30F, I leave it on high anytime I am in the motorhome, only shut it off when I go sightseeing. I also need to run the furnace about 5-10 minutes per hour to blow warm air into the basement, as well as warm the bedroom and bath. The Olympic heater heats the living room well, but not those areas.

I also have solar panels, so I don't need to worry about the battery going low. My motorhome uses 35 amp hours a day to run just the CO meter, propane detector and refrigerator.

Good luck!

Fred.

I'm camping right now in below-freezing weather in West Texas. Supposed to be in the low 20's and may even get snow here tonight. Although I try to camp in warm places, I sometimes get surprised. :D

Spent last Feb on teh GA and SC Coast trying to get away from the freezing weather... it followed us. Furnace ran thru some propane but we enjoyed it. The only thing to watch for is ice on the metal folddown stairs....that can get hairy if you're not paying attn.

Hi,

I've camped at -37 c (-34 f). Photo Mike and Moving Sue have boondocked at -40.

We love to camp late in the cold weather season here in our OFF-ROAD POPUP camper... Used to do this alot in our TENT CAMPING days as well...

We will head for the VA/WVA wooded state line and camp up off the George Washington Natl Forest service roads... There are surprisingly other campers up there as well...

Most of the State camp grounds around here have seasonal closing dates but the Rangers will usually let you camp in them if you ask permission. Of course there is no utilities or facilities open for you to use... Have done this at Westmoreland State Park a few times over the years...

I love the cold winter camping... Getting around the camp fire early in the morning with a good hot cup of fresh ground bean coffee is a hugh thrill for us...

In my Arizona days back in the late 60s and early 70s this was very common place for the Jeep Guys. Hookup to your util trailer and several of you guys head for the high country trails for several days in the back country. Apache trail was a must do area and of course the Red Rock trails around Sedona seem to look much brighter Red in the colder months especially mixed in with the mtn snow...

Roy Ken

Around here it really doesn't get that cold, but sometimes it happens. Just be ready to get more propane. I like the winter season here better than the summer season. It gets too hot!

We camp all winter...a good time was had by all!

Not intentionally, but this week was the exception. Temp in Denver dropped below freezing Monday afternoon and stayed there through Friday. 14 below Wednesday morning with a high during the day of 4!!

Ran both furnaces in the fiver 24/7, did not turn down at night or while we were away and the fiver came through like a champ. No problems at all. Stayed very comfortable and water system survived fine. Ran through three 40 lb. propane tanks though, good thing there was a propane vendor nearby.

harold1946 wrote:
How many out there camp in sub freezing temperatures?

Only in a tent. Never in a RV