Summer RV'ing in the Southwest

[davols11]

Hello all. First post, and would greatly appreciate any input as to a trip to Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico this summer. I prefer traveling on the fly, seeing what there is and going where the mood takes me. But do I need to become a......planner? Should I be making reservations for nice full hook-up camps, or will I be able to wing it and have no problems finding a place? I prefer national or state parks, but the question is as to private campgrounds as well. Thanks in advance for any provided guidance.

[rocmoc]

OP, there is some incorrect information here. A lot of Southern AZ does not even get into the 100's during the day light hours let alone night time. Even Tucson has a limited number of nights that hot. It is HIGH desert so it cools quickly when the sun goes down, you will/can need a blanket even in the summer. The high desert locations can have a 40+ degree temp swing in a single day. The summer popular camping locations in the SouthWest will require reservations. It took us TWO years to finally get a site in the North Rim Campground (large enough for our Motorhome/reservation made in Dec and it was the last one). Sometime you can get in but be prepared with a backup campground or a boondocking location. You should have a great trip as each state has great places to see & visit. Most back roads are drivable and more enjoyable than spending time on a freeway. BUT beware of summits/passes. On a single trip thu UT & AZ a couple of years ago we crossed over 18 summits above 6,000 feet of which 8 near or about 8,000 feet.

rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

[soricobob]

You have to think "elevation". In the low-lying desert (Phoenix, Tucson) you never need reservations in the summer, but in the higher elevations (Flagstaff, Santa Fe, Colorado) you do.

[mileshuff]

Areas like Flagstaff, Grand Canyon, eastern AZ around Alpine, Greer etc. are a LOT cooler than the desert areas of AZ. Phoenix can be 105, Flagstaff will be 75-80 and 50 at night. Very nice!!

[dkreuzen]

Just an additional warning about AZ. In the lower elevations (<2000 ft) the daytime temperatures will be well over 100 from June through September. Over 110 along the Colorado river and up to 120 and it does NOT cool down much at night. In Havasu the lows will be in the 90's most of the summer. Most RV A/C units can not keep up so be warned 😉

[davols11]

I sure appreciate all of the input...it's extremely helpful! And it's nice to know that structure doesn't have to be our master. And yes, we'll boondock on occasion, but our son will be taking a college course online so we'll occasionally need wi-fi. BTW, we'll be in a 24 Itasca Navion. Thanks again all! Good karma's coming your way!

[4runnerguy]

As others have noted, we could provide more detailed advice if we knew how long you had and what you like to do. No use sending you to Bryce Canyon if you're main desire is to raft!

The desert SW is just that, desert. Some high places like Bryce, Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, etc. are higher and a little cooler in the summer. And while SW Colorado isn't really the desert SW, there's definitely some of that there too. We always try to escape to the mountains when the heat of the summer sets in anyway.

[Lauren]

Welcome to the Southwest! Well, CO is not really Southwest as such but close! 🙂

That being said....... don't know how much time you have but that is a lot of beautiful country to cover. We lived in CO 8 years and now in AZ for over 11. You could spend 6 months in those three states.

I am a reservation guy but AZ will typically not be crowded in the summer - it gets hot (but not humid like FL!). On the other hand we have lots of mountains so they are cooler (like Grand Canyon).

High tourist areas will be pretty well booked on weekends; and some, like the Grand Canyon, even mid week. And many places are not packed with RV parks / campgrounds.

If you had time I would venture some into UT - but would NOT recommend Zion River Resort in Virgin (stay in Sprindale); very pretty and all but some ethics issues.

Let us know your interests, your rig and your preferences and you will find this Forum to be most helpful.

Be safe.

[ClaireOKC]

This is a beautiful part of the country. We visited in the fall and it was still warm enough in the day, but cool at night. One of the sleeper places was Page, AZ. Stayed at Wahwep Marina and RV Resort where they not only had full hook-ups, but had very level sites, fabulous wi-fi, cell service and almost every site has a great view of the Lake.

From there you can visit a lot of great spots like Horseshoe Bend of Co. River, Navajo Bridge in Marble Canyon (where the San Diego Zoo releases condors just south of there, and it's not unusual to see Condors around the bridge area), easy access to several slot canyons in the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument and Antelope Canyon just east of Page.

I really wish we would have stayed longer here.

We weren't really taken with Bryce - too many tour buses that just let out with mobs of people.

We loved the KOA at Cannonville and would stay there again. It's a great location just a little north of Page.

We also loved the Zion River Resort in Virgin UT.

We had reservations in all locations, but we should have stayed a little longer in Page which was one of our favs.

Here's our posts from the beginning to the end posts on our trip to So. UT & No. AZ.

[Thom02099]

davols11 wrote:
Hello all. First post, and would greatly appreciate any input as to a trip to Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico this summer. I prefer traveling on the fly, seeing what there is and going where the mood takes me. But do I need to become a......planner? Should I be making reservations for nice full hook-up camps, or will I be able to wing it and have no problems finding a place? I prefer national or state parks, but the question is as to private campgrounds as well. Thanks in advance for any provided guidance.

Most places in Colorado, such as State Parks and USFS campgrounds, you should be good to go "winging it" IF you arrive during the week. One of the things I like to do is go outbound on a Sunday afternoon/evening when most everyone is going home from their weekend, and then settle in, or move around...as long as you're settled in early Friday somewhere for the weekend. A lot of the Colorado locales have first come/first served sites, so if you get there early enough on a Friday you should be good. Especially true of many of the State Parks.

There are some exceptions of course. Maroon Bells near Aspen, you almost always need a reservation for that area. Poudre Canyon west of Ft Collins, fills up on the weekend, even at the upper end of the canyon. Same with locations west of Boulder. Any places near the populated areas will fill up pretty quickly on weekends. Rocky Mountain National Park up north, and Mesa Verde down south would also be places that will likely fill up early on a weekend. Great Sand Dunes? Don't know -- it's been a long time since I've been down there on a weekend.

EDIT: Plan on HOT weather, beyond the Colorado Mountains! Figure about 5 degrees for each 1000 ft of elevation change for Colorado. 90s in Denver will be 70s-80s in mountains to the west/60s or so on the highest locations like Pikes Peak, Mt Evans, or Trail Ridge Rd in RMNP. SW Colorado in the 4Corners area can get very hot, and even at elevation at Mesa Verde, it can get hot as well -- a lot to do with intense sun exposure rather than raw temps in MV. Fortunately there's a lot of shelter there in visiting the cliff dwellings. Just be prepared for sometimes strenuous walking/hiking/climbing there!

[profdant139]

Dave, what kind of a rig do you have? And do you boondock? There are some wonderful and wild places out West, especially if you don't need to stay in a campground every night. We often boondock for several nights in a row, and then book a night at an RV park to do laundry, get groceries, and so forth. Also, how much time do you have, and what sorts of things do you like to do (hiking, mtn biking, etc.)?

[DesertHawk]

Winging it should work just fine.

Here's an old post of one of our more recent visits to a National Park in New Mexico as well as a State Park (even a BLM Campground). Santa Fe & Bandelier Nat'l Mon't area of New Mexico -A Trip Report 2012.

Los Alamos is a very neat small city in itself. Free bus system with very neat buses. Very pretty setting up in the high country. Somewhat of a gated community as well. We only drove through & stopped at a SuperMarket. A nice town. http://www.visit.losalamos.com/
http://www.losalamosnm.us/transit/Pages/default.aspx

Oh, yes, in most of the western states, even in the hot southwest states, normally one does not to run the A/C at night to cool off. It usually cools down greatly at night out this way. Higher elevations & low humidity are factors. Therefore, one does need to have electrical hookups as one does back east.

More on the Area

Southern Arizona & New Mexico Sites & Sights

What I have on Colorado.

New Mexico: Taos :::::::: NM ByWays

A detour off I-25, after entering New Mexico, just off I-25, Sugarite Canyon State Park by Raton is a neat area. And a short drive from Raton is the Capulin Volcano Nat'l Mon't.
A Neat Place. ------ But no Camping

Between Raton & Las Vegas, Not far S of Springer, just off I-25 is Fort Union Nat'l Mon't.

At Las Vegas (older place than the one in NV) Storrie Lake State Park, but we have used the Walmart there to do a few overnights.

Off I-25 between Santa Fe & Las Vegas, Villanueva State Park. It is off the 25 a bit. Somewhat off the beaten path. However, one can use NM 3 to cut down to the I-40 from Villanueva. We did that one visit.

[agesilaus]

Our practice (an we've spent many summers in the red rock country) is to make reservations for major national or state parks- Grand Canyon, Bryce, Dead Horse SP ect. And also make reservations for holiday weekends: 4th of July. Otherwise you can almost always just call ahead when you are a couple hours out from where you plan to stop. We rarely have to try a second CG by doing this. Get a good campground guide, Good Sam sells the only one worth the name. That way you can look up the CG near your desired stop point.

BK

[Tiger4x4RV]

Build in a few extra days for rainouts if you plan to travel during the southwest's summer monsoon season. It can rain a lot in July, especially in AZ and NM. I have almost never made reservations in these areas unless near a very popular area such as Santa Fe.