Forum Discussion

campbikemom's avatar
campbikemom
Explorer
Oct 16, 2019

How cold can you go?

This is the time of year that we usually embark on our last camping trip. We were planning on making the trip last weekend our last of the year, but my 3 (soon to be 4) year old asked if we could go camping for his birthday after he saw another kid having a "camping birthday party." His birthday in mid-November.

I think it's a GREAT idea - save for the fact that we live in Central NY and we can have temperatures below freezing. Our current camper does not have an enclosed and heated underbelly. So, how cold can we reasonably expect to camp without disaster striking? Would high 20's/low 30's be OK or is anything close to freezing too risky?

Also, we could be crazy and camp in the trailer for a nice dry, heated placed to sleep and just not fill the water tanks. However, the camper hasn't been winterized so not sure that would even be OK.
  • I would be concerned about freezing lines in those temperatures if the 20's stuck around for any length of time but I would be more concerned with finding a campground that's still open in NY in mid November. On the bright side, the long range forecast is calling for temperatures in the high 40's-low 50's through mid November in NY. If you find a campground, why not just winterize the camper, bring bottled water for drinking and cooking, and use the campground facilities for everything else. then you can just concentrate on having a great time and don't have to worry about anything happening to the camper.
  • I camped in SC last January and it hit 18. I filled the fresh water tank the evening before and disconnected my hoses. No issues. I would think a heated camper would keep everything inside/underneath from freezing. The only issue we had was the grey water tank value froze up so I couldn't drain it the morning we left, black water was fine.