March journey from Maine to Colorado

[smwthomas]

Good afternoon! We are planning to travel from Eastport, ME (easternmost town in U.S.) to Littleton, CO in early March. I know weather can be unpredictable at this time of year. We do NOT have a generator so we are wondering about open campgrounds/RV parks with water and electric. Any thoughts? Thanks!

[majorairhead]

Awwwwww smack! This'll be an adventure. You gonna stay winterized? Or try and tough it out with the freezing temps?

I doubt many, if any, rv parks will be open out through the heartland in early March.

Watch that weather forecast for sure.

[Wyokirk]

We live in Western NY and have traveled to and from there during February and March. We winterize or de-winterize when we are south. Once in Chattanooga TN and once in Paducah KY. Our interim stopping point is a KOA in Lebanon OH that is open all year. I would recommend getting south as quickly as possible - to about I40.

I would suggest traveling winterized as long as you can and as far south as you can get. Use bottled water, use rest stop bathrooms, flush with antifreeze.

Watch the weather to try to avoid driving on snowy and/icy roads.

Also, we have been in temperatures as low as 7F in the AM and the high for the day that was in the 20's. We survived. We had a full tank of fresh water and had poured about 1/2 gallon of antifreeze down each waste tank after they were emptied. We were not traveling, but parked in a CG.

[centennialman]

Jellystone RV Park, just south of Littleton at Larkspur has full hookups. Great place to stay, nice RV Resort. The Colorado Airstream club will be enjoying our second year at this park for the annual maintenance rally. Super nice place.

Clear Creek RV Park in Golden is open year round. Dakota Ridge RV Park, also in Golden, is open year round.

[Lily&Me]

At least the AllStays app includes a filter for campgrounds that are open all year, and so you can see those along your route and plan your stops accordingly.

https://www.allstays.com/apps/

Watch the weather, and if it gets nasty get off the road, as the big trucks try to push thru regardless and can take you with them when they slide off the road.

Good luck!

Maggie

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Even if a campground is "open" that may not mean they have water and sewer up and running. Many places shut those things down around "first freeze" and don't restart them until after the calendar says "it's safe". Best bet is that early March is ahead of the "it's safe" date. Again, this is a "may" and not a "for sure" sort of thing.

Rolling down the road, you have a lot of air blowing past the trailer. If it's in the teens (it could well be), your plumbing may not be happy after a long day's drive. As noted above this also is a good reason to winterize and travel that way.

Are there routes you *could* take? Sure there are. Head down the east coast and then go across the Gulf coast. Try to stay within 20 miles of the ocean. It will be lots warmer that way. Yes, you still have to get from Texas up to Colorado. No, I'm not going to help pay for the enormous amount of extra gas that will burn while you go that way .

Next up, (looking at the freezing rain right now ...), the "ocean route" might be a better bet snow and ice wise. Will it be better for salt and crud? Maybe.

Google suggests that the "short route" is about 34 hours. Going through Canada is about 35 hours. Which would have better weather? Who knows. Canada could indeed win the bet in early March.

If you drive 4 hours a day, you'll be over a week "on route". That's long enough that dodging storms is going to be iffy. I would plan to have to "hunker down" at least once if not multiple times in route. Towing a trailer on icy / snowy roads is not something I'd recommend. Wait for them to be cleared.

Lots of fun !!!

Bob

[Airtandem]

It would help to know your planed route for suggestions.

[HoWee]

We travel Michigan to SoCal in fall and return in Spring. In addition to low temperatures, snow, and ice, tornados, hail, and high winds in Spring have become a bigger Spring problem.
Agree w southern route. Watch weather w multiple sources, many times a day. Be prepared to alter course on short notice.
Lastly, call ahead to camp grounds for information on available storm shelters. They r rare.
After all that gloom, I watch weather patterns in weeks and days leading up to departure. Pick a time that suggests u may have 4-5 days before next round of storms. Clearly a gamble. Also, when I check in to camp, I ask for name of the county and local towns. Then identify where I am. Urgent weather reports r for local residents, not unprepared travelers.
Good luck! This might be a white knuckle drive, or not?

[Mikebrady62]

If I were to plan this trip in March, I would head down the East coast to Atlanta, then towards DFW and then really watch the weather and try to get a few nice days in a row to make the run back north to Littleton through the Texas panhandle. As others have said, you may have to dodge storm front after storm front the entire way. I would plan a 10-14 day trip. You may get stuck in 1 place for a day or 2 waiting for storms to pass. This also gives you some extra time to explore on the way. We have driven 300 - 500 or more miles out of our planned trip to avoid hail, tornados, snow and forest fires.
That is much better than trying to ride those out in place.
Have a fun and safe trip!

[Life is a Highway]

I respect anyone headed to Colorado until June! Colorado can have some serious bad Spring storms. As others have suggested I would get South Fast and run the low lands. Approach Colorado from the South not West.