SW USA trip

[NoSOD]

I have a 6 week period from 15 March 2022 until 24 April 2022 that I would like to use to visit the SW USA. I will be starting from Calgary, Canada, and wondered if any members have experience of this route. Questions I have:

How far south would I need to go to be reasonably safe from snow?

Any suggestions for a route down, and safe places to stay for single nights on the way? Anyone use Walmart?

Once far enough south, I would like to stay at 4 or 5 different campsites, doing day trips from each, and working northwards as I go. Ideally each site would be no more than a couple of hours drive from each day trip destination.

All this depends on the border staying open, so hope covid doesn't ruin it.

[Rossue]

When doing the opposite: going north in the fall I usually aim for the furthest point north I am including on the trip then working back from there. So in your situation I would plan to head as far south as you are planning then work your way back north.

Never stayed in a Walmart, Cracker Barrel or the likes, instead we do church parking lots and have never had a problem. Often we will pull up late afternoon and I will call the church and leave my name and telephone number on the answering machine. However, if you are a planner, you could map out a route for the distance you intend to drive each day and reach out in advance for the formal approval. I doubt any would turn you down. Some we've encountered were pretty cool- well off the road & elevated with nice views.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by NoSOD

Anyone use Walmart?

All this depends on the border staying open, so hope covid doesn't ruin it.

We're frequent users of Walmarts because it fits our needs. Stop, shop, sleep and move on the next day.

We've stayed in some that turned out to exceed expectations and mostly they're fine, we've never had a problem but we decided not to stay in a couple after deciding the ambiance was a little off.

I'm sure there's been books written about staying in Walmarts, certainly there's websites showing which ones allow overnighting. The official policy of head office is to allow overnight use. But two things beyond their control means that a fairly large number can't permit overnighting. That's because either the local authority has passed an ordinance against it or Walmart is a tenant in a mall that doesn't allow overnighting. The lists are easy to find.

As long as you're not looking to drag out the BBQ, set out your lawn chairs and toys and generally set up an encampment they're a great option either for regular or in a pinch use.

Know what you mean about the border. It's a month from when we'd want to head South but...... If we do the first Walmart we'd use is in Waco, CA. We have other favorite places to stop before then.

Ron

[John in Santa Cruz]

what you need to watch out for is elevation when it comes to snow. places like death valley, the valley floor *never* gets any snow, but the mountains around the valley sure do, and the passes in and out of the valley, you have to check day by day.

re random camping for the night while traveling, I've had no issues just camping on a wide pullout in the middle of nowhere on a back highway in places like Nevada. frankly I'd as soon do that as stay in some parking lot.


somewhere on the 'extraterrestrial highway' (Nevada route 375) near Area 51 in central Nevada

If I'm on an Interstate or something, I'll find a dirt road that goes into BLM or NM lands, there's usually somewhere you can pull off and camp.

If we want to spend a couple days somewhere to explore the area, and have a safe place to leave the trailer, well, we happen to be Elks, and Elks Lodges very often have RV camping. its only occasionally full hookups, more often just electric/water, but they usually have an on site dump station, and its way cheaper than most campgrounds.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by Rossue

... instead we do church parking lots and have never had a problem.

I do believe I would make a habit of tossing $20 or $40 into the church collection tray as a 'thank you'...

[emers382]

We like Cracker Barrels since most allow overnight parking and we have at least supper and often breakfast and Beth loves their store and has bought much there. You won't find any heading south until you get to Colorado. By mid-March you'd be OK staying in the trailer the second night heading south. We're heading to AZ in January but plan for first two nights in hotels, even mid-Kansas can be very wintery in Jan.

We've often used Walmarts as well. Use the RVParky app which is usually up to date as to which Walmart's allow overnight parking. We always ask anyway.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by emers382

We've often used Walmarts as well. Use the RVParky app which is usually up to date as to which Walmart's allow overnight parking. We always ask anyway.

We always ask also. Sometimes though there might be one that now for some reason, like an new ordinance just passed, will say no but then say but it's OK by Walmart if you do by saying that it's not enforced. In those cases I usually move on, there's lot's of other places.

Ron

[canakiwi]

Safe from snow really means Arizona. Altitude through MN, ID and UT is the problem. Personally I prefer the 93 to interstate 15. ioverlander is a great app to find free places on the road. Campemdium is a great tool for researching campsites and the us forest service has some great spots in Arizona for $20 a night, no services but fantastic location aka kannanaskis etc.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Christmas 2017, we drove from Reno, NV to north-of-Dallas, to pick up our Escape, then back to Reno and California with it, and had virtually no snow to deal with, just some light flurries on I20 east of Fort Worth. We had M+S rated A/T tires on a 4x4 so didn't even carry chains. Now, in another year it could have been much worse, in particular the "Donner Pass" area of I80 in California can be under quite a lot of snow and chain control, and I imagine crossing the south Rockies in New Mexico could have been pretty icy.