Advice Needed: Colorado and New Mexico

[Kyle]

I'm trying to plan our summer excursion and could use some advice.

The bookends are Colorado Springs Aug. 12-25 and the Albuquerque International Balloon Airstream Rally beginning Oct 5th. It is the weeks in between that I could use some advice on. I'd like to stay in the Colorado and New Mexico area. We're planning on going further west next year.

The travel criteria I have is:

• I can only travel (change locations) on the weekends.
• I require Verizon coverage at the campground.
• We have a 34' Classic, so the total length of the rig is right at 59'. So, none of the roads I'd love taking my car down.
• My daughter would like to see Mesa Verde.

So... if you had 6 weeks to see the area, what would you do?

I appreciate any advice ya'll can give me.

[murreywalker]

In this order:

1. Mesa Verde
2. Canyon de Chelly
3. Monument Valley
4. Arches & Canyonland National Parks (very close to each other)
5. Goblin Valley State Park
6. Capital Reef National Park
7. Bryce Canyon National Park
8. Zion National Park
9. North Rim of The Grand Canyon National Park
10. South Rim of The Grand Canyon (crowds are horrible)
11. Flagstaff, then I 40 to Alburquerque

[eubank]

I'm kind of thinking that Verizon coverage may be the key issue to locating places for him.

Lynn

[murreywalker]

Originally Posted by eubank

I'm kind of thinking that Verizon coverage may be the key issue to locating places for him.

Lynn

Being near Shiprock, you have to KNOW that any kind of coverage is iffy at best.

But if you're out seeing the sights of the west, can't it wait until you've dropped the trailer at (hopefully) a camp that has wifi? ;-)

[eubank]

Ah, Shiprock is over 250 miles from my place! If they do have coverage over there, I'll bet we won't pick it up here. On the other hand, there are no Verizon towers here, either (though they do rent some space from another provider locally, I've heard.)

Lynn

Originally Posted by murreywalker

Being near Shiprock, you have to KNOW that any kind of coverage is iffy at best.

But if you're out seeing the sights of the west, can't it wait until you've dropped the trailer at (hopefully) a camp that has wifi? ;-)

[Kyle]

Regarding the need for Verizon, the wi-fi at parks (and just about anywhere else) won't work as I have to use VPN to access my employer's system. Most public wi-fi's won't allow VPN connectivity. And since I'm unfortunately far from being retired, I have to work everyday. They just don't care where I do it from.

I have a Sprint card too, but from their coverage map, they might as well not have service in the west.

Again, I do appreciate any recommendations anyone can give me.

[murreywalker]

Originally Posted by eubank

Ah, Shiprock is over 250 miles from my place! If they do have coverage over there, I'll bet we won't pick it up here. On the other hand, there are no Verizon towers here, either (though they do rent some space from another provider locally, I've heard.)

Lynn

Since you had Shiprock in you Avatar, I just assumed. Lesson learned, never…

[eubank]

Nah, that's just a pic I took near Shiprock. It's a neat place for photography. But don't get caught there if you need to be in touch with the world.

Lynn

[murreywalker]

Originally Posted by Kyle

Regarding the need for Verizon, the wi-fi at parks (and just about anywhere else) won't work as I have to use VPN to access my employer's system. Most public wi-fi's won't allow VPN connectivity. And since I'm unfortunately far from being retired, I have to work everyday. They just don't care where I do it from.

I have a Sprint card too, but from their coverage map, they might as well not have service in the west.

Again, I do appreciate any recommendations anyone can give me.

Ah, VPN will be a limiting factor. Looking at VZ's coverage map, I would think your options will be VERY limiting; Maybe Durango and Moab.

[arodriguez60]

In Northern New Mexico you could go to either Heron Lake State park or El Vado state park. They put in a cell tower nearby a few years ago and the verizon coverage is good. The daily rate is 10.00 dry and 14.00 with elec. 10 mi north you could take a ride on the Toltec Cumbres Railroad which takes you on a scenic ride from Chama NM to Antonito Co. This area is my favorite places to camp out.

[PhilipKS]

Verizon coverage is very nice in the south (Alamogordo/White Sands National Monument). Only a few hours from Albequerque.

[mojo]

If it were me, I would avoid the NM & Utah desert heat in August & early Sept.

And seeing as you want to stay connected to the outside world, you might want to stick to city parks or RV parks in metro areas and day trip from there. Here's the loop I would do avoiding Capitol Reef & Bryce on UT12 with 60' of towing fun.

Colorado Springs
Denver/Boulder
Estes Park-RMNP
Frisco/Breckenridge
Carbondale/Aspen
Grand Junction-CONM
Moab-Arches/Canyonlands
Mesa Verde
Monument Valley
Grand Canyon North Rim
Zion
Flagstaff
Albuquerque

[Belegedhel]

I've done a couple of loops in Colorado that I thought worthwhile:

My favorite hit the south-western part and consisted of the Sand Dunes National Monument, Mesa Verde area, Four Corners, then back-tracked to Durango, then north through Ouray, hit the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, and then west to Colorado Springs. I really enjoyed this loop, as it had a little of everything, small towns, historic gold mining towns, desert like scenery in the Dunes, awesome mountains around Ouray, and cultural/historical sites around Mesa Verda.

You will spend enough time on the highways and in reasonably populated areas that you should have no trouble connecting to Verizon. I use Verizon, and I recall very few dead spots--typically going over some mountain pass where you aren't going to spend a lot of time anyway.

good luck.

[KerriO]

We just pulled out of Cheyenne Mountain State Park in Colorado Springs, and the Verizon 3G was good there — not outstanding — but I work full-time as a web developer and need a constant, consistent, fast enough connection and I had it there. It was a very nice state park —*full hookups, spacious, spread apart sites. Beware that they charge and extra fee for the tow vehicle on top of the camping fee, so if you're staying in CO State Parks for over a week, it makes sense to buy their Annual Pass right off the bat to cover the tow vehicle (however, I'm not certain that *all* CO state parks charge separately for the tow vehicle…).

We stayed right in town in Santa Fe —*at Trailer Ranch RV Resort (they don't enforce the 55+ rule for RVers — probably unless you have kids). Typical RV park, but very nicely run and well kept up, and since it's right in town, the Verizon signal is great. (Santa Fe has a great food scene and art scene if you're into that kind of thing). That's all I've got! I wouldn't recommend where we stayed near Albequerque (which was actually pretty far S of there), but it sounds like you've already got plans once you get there anyway!

[eubank]

I suspect that you're wanting to travel only on weekends so that you are in constant contact (via Verizon) during the week, no?

Lynn

[TG Twinkie]

Unless you are an experienced mountain driver. I would avoid pulling your trailer over Red Mountain Pass between Durango and Ouray or Silverton CO. This is Hwy 550.
While there is no limit on length on the Hiway. A 34' trailer may be a handful in some areas. However!
This is an area you don't want to miss. A lot of history and beautiful scenery.
There is an RV park on Hwy 550, 2 miles north of Durango.
"The Alpen Rose". I recommend it highly.
Not sure about the phone service.
There is an easier route just west of Durango by going north thru Dolores over Lizard Head Pass to Telluride.
Durango or Mancos would be a good "basecamp" for touring the Four Corners area.
Going north from Ridgeway to Montrose then east to Gunnison and "The Black Canyon".
Wolf Creek Pass would be an easier route when compared to Monarch Pass for access to the 4 Corners area from Colorado Springs or Pueblo. There are 2 routes from the Pueblo area. The southern route over La Veta Pass to Alamosa then west to Del Norte or the Hwy 50 route thru Canon City to Salida and Poncha Springs then south on Hwy 285 to Monte Vista then Del Norte.
Probably too much info.
Enjoy your trip.

[Kyle]

Originally Posted by eubank

I suspect that you're wanting to travel only on weekends so that you are in constant contact (via Verizon) during the week, no?

Lynn

I need to keep basic office hours, so I need to keep my towing time to the weekends. And yes, that means I only need contact while at a campsite.

Thank you everyone for all the suggestions so far.

[Bluto]

I have some of those areas in my sights for this years travel list. Glad you started the thread. I'm taking notes.

[Mike Leary]

Originally Posted by murreywalker

11. Flagstaff, then I 40 to Alburquerque

The Flagstaff KOA (on 89) has fast wi-fi, nice camp!

[Gene]

Kyle,

Verizon is generally better in the west than other cell carriers. You might want to also have an ATT card as well as a Sprint one. The interstates and some major highways usually have cell services all along them, but if you see no towns for many miles, they may not. Canyons and some mountain highways can have spotty service because of obstructions to signals.

Mesa Verde has a campground inside the Park, but I doubt there is cell service there. There are a number of commercial campgrounds near the Park entrance as well as in Durango and Cortez. Sundance CG in Cortez is a nice one.

It is news to me Colorado State Parks are now charging extra for tow vehicles as well as the RV. Since taxes are low here, infrastructure, state universities and parks are suffering. Nuisance fees at the parks are getting worse. I tried to check on a park website, but all I get is the server is busy—this happens a lot with any Colorado state agency because the state doesn't have enough servers either.

And heat can be bad in southern parts of NM in the summer and other places in both states too.

You may have to check with CG's to see if the cell coverage is good there and hope they know what they are talking about.

Gene