Need help planning SW trip please

[RVcrazy]

We are making our first big trip to the SW this winter. We need to be in Seattle for Christmas and then in Anaheim/Disneyland the end of June. We are hoping to hit Yosemite, Sequoia, parts of Arizona, the Utah national parks & some of New Mexico. Our goal is to avoid snow & freezing pipes! Suggested routes? Places to stay along the way? We are finding that we prefer places with 50 amp & sewer most of the time rather than boon docking (at least so far). Thanks in advance!

[Marv_Hoag]

As mentioned, Death Valley is a good spot in January. Pleasant until the sun goes down, then it really cools off. Look up the advance reservation schedule. they now have several sites with full hookups at Furnace Creek campground. From there going into Nevada or Arizona is easy.

[Roy_Lynne]

Hi neighbor!! We did much the same route in March and we hit frosty pipes and snow. I think you better just plan on it. If you take 84 you'll certainly hit cold beyond Pendleton. If you want the best chance to avoid snow, I think the coast route would be the best, as if the weather get's ify, there are tons of year round RV parks. Once your in California you could take Hwy 20 over to I5 or 99 south.

[Jim_Shoe]

Add Weatherbase to your favorites. It won't give you a forecast, but it will tell you the weather history for individual cities within each state, by month over several years. Good for planning purposes.
I've found that altitude has a big effect. Flagstaff, AZ. at 7,000 ft. has some snow and freezing weather Oct. thru Mar. Phoenix, at 1,100 ft. get a rare dusting of snow.

[RVcrazy]

This is just the kind of info I was hoping for! Thanks so much for the insight.

[2gypsies1]

If I'm reading your post right - you're leaving Seattle after Christmas and have the time period between January and June to explore before being at Disneyland, California....hope this is correct.

If so, from Seattle you should high-tail it to Arizona while closly watching the weather and make breaks when you have clear roads. Death Valley national park sometimes has nice winter temperatures but can get cold, too. We love taking 395 down California but the upper part is dicey in January. You'd probably want to take I-5 instead.

Once in Arizona, elevation is the key for comfort. Basically, the warmest places are Yuma, Havasu City, the greater Phoenix area and the Tucson area. Anywhere else is too cold during the winter of Jan-March. New Mexico - even the south portions - is also very cold for winter RVing although some do it.

Therefore, I would recommend Jan-March for Arizona or else continue driving east to south Texas if you feel you have the time.

April/May would be a good time to tour the southern Utah national parks although you'll still have cool weather and possible snow, but then again, maybe not...you know how the weather can be. 🙂

April/May it begins to get hot in southern Arizona but that's flower time. April is also a good time to visit Sedona, AZ and the Grand Canyon. Then the end of June you have to be in Disneyland. Have fun planning your trip!! Lots of choices.

[oldchief7155]

Retired CHP and familiar with the CA parks. Basically, any parks above 3,000 feet in CA are possible snow candidates after Thanksgiving and those above about 5,000 feet any time after October 1st.

Kings Canyon/Sequoia, Lassen, Yosemite, get significant snowfall at one time, I.e, several feet is common at higher elevations. Many roads close with first snow and are not plowed until spring. When I worked in Red Bluff Lassen got 63 feet of snow one winter. The road thru the park opened fort 4th of July and closed again just after Labor Day.

Check out Death Valley National Park. Warm days, cool nights and about 200 kazillion stars at night.

All the Utah and New Mexico parks will be below freezing.

[RVcrazy]

Thanks for the help so far. I have already looked at rvparkreviews at length. I have also put in various destinations and specific park names.

Thanks David for your helpful suggestions. Mostly, we are trying to figure out when to hit the various areas: figuring out how long the snow stays on the ground, or on the roads.

We are looking at staying in a couple of places for a month each so that we can stop and smell the roses. We are thinking about the San Diego area and maybe Mesa or Tucson. I would like to visit San Antonio and go down to the gulf, but since we can't get going till around New Year's, I think that would be too much for this time.

[TucsonJim]

We just got back from 90 days on the road. One source that we found very valuable was:

RV Park Reviews

[D_E_Bishop]

You have a undefined period of time here, are you leaving Seattle between Christmas and New Years? If you are, I would head south into Arizona and New Mexico from Seattle. Sequoia and Yosemite can have freezes from Oct thru June. I don't mean one overnight, I mean days of freezing. We have been to Bryce NP in April and stayed at Ruby's when they had to plow the campground for six rigs coming in. This May and June we were in AZ, NM an TX and used mostly KOA's, easy to find etc... Places to visit should include, Quartzsite in Jan for show and to see 100,000 or so RVs spread over 18,000 acres of desert with little or no facilities. White Sands, the entire area is interesting, lots of testing of missiles and bombs there in the valley and the Monument is very unusual. Looks like Mammoth in winter(but flat)even the berms look like a snow plow had made them.

Carlsbad Cavers and Guadalupe Mts NPs are fantastic. Lots of open area and lots of developed camping. I forgot about Sonora Desert Natl Mon. Really neat place as is Organ Pipe Natl Mon. I'd save the big ditch for returning home, also Canyon de Chelly Natl Mon(pronounced de shay) and all of Navajoland. Lots and lots of Indian Dwellings that more than rival Mesa Verde NP in CO. Must see there is Hubble's Trading Post. Say hello to Daniel if he is working and to the ladies in the gift store. Most are First Nations People and love their heritage.

Texas is to big for me and takes days of driving to get anywhere.

Going north later in the spring hit Grand Canyon, Page and Lake Powell the Grand Staircase - Escalante Natl Mon and then into Utah for the other Canyons and Arches NP. Don't know what rig you have and what you want except for 50 amp and I don't really know about that. Bryce Cyn NP is not a Canyon at all but is one of the most beautiful of the red rocks area. Zion for us was disappointing, no real handicapped buses. The buses were so jammed that sitting down you can't see anything so if you need to sit, get a handicapped sticker from rangers and drive yourself. You miss the narration but get to see things.

From there it's I-15 south to Orange county and DL. St George has some great areas too and if you want to see Vegas, Oasis RV park has full facilities including a desert oasis type swimming pool. Well at least it has sand around it. I believe it's Valley of Fire St Pk north of Vegas, nice park.

Then from DL going north you can hit Yosemite and Sequoia.

The north rim of the GC NP opens after May 30 so you would probably have to save that for another trip. There is another park in Nevada to see and that's Great Basin NP. It's kind of out of the way but there is a loop from I-15 back to I-15 between Payson UT and Beaver UT.

Now that you're worn out and ready for rain head home.

[Mandalay_Parr]

Many of my snowbird friends leave their RV at the campground and fly home for the holidays.
Most parks have good monthly rates. Stay for a while, get to know the people and participate in the many park activities and pot lucks.

You might enjoy your trip better if you park for a while and not try to do it all in one trip.

[Dick_B]

This Forum has lots of information best obtained by searching. Put the destination/activity/area in the search box and click GO. and read on. The more specific the search term the better ie don't search for National Parks. Better to search for Yosemite, etc.
Your post is too general to get much useable response.