New Airstream Owner moving to the PNW - Help requested

[EglonAir]

Hello there everyone. My wife and I have dreamed of owning an Airstream, and just purchased a 23FB and we are very happy with it. My wife and I (and pups) are moving back home to the PNW. We were thinking of stopping twice. Once North of Denver, and once, perhaps in Idaho as we head towards the Columbia River Gorge area.

Looking at all the sites, none of the campsites north of Denver look to be well rated. I took a U-Haul up earlier last year, and went the New Mexico route up through into Utah and stopped at Moab, but there was a lot of up and down elevation that seemed to waste a bunch of time (but beautiful).

Thoughts and advice is appreciated.

[57Vintage]

When are you planning on leaving to head up here? That may affect suggestions.

[Acheron2010]

Stay away from the private toll road Hwy 76 north of Denver. The 43 miles cost me $42 in a mail-in toll invoice - there are no toll booths and very small signs. I stayed at Ft. Collins North KOA, Rock Springs/Green River KOA, Montpelier (nice)KOA, and Pocatello KOAs. All are worthwhile camps. I did not stay at the Heyburn Riverside RV Park near Burney, but it looked like a decent camp from the highway. I headed west to California, while you will be headed to Boise and northwest. The roads are in good condition and not much traffic, at least not in late August. Safe journey.

[SEA Cyclist]

The Blackwell Island RV Park is on The Spokane River just north of where the river spills into Lake Coeur d’ Alene. It’s just east of town and a couple of miles south of I-90. Beautiful location, very nice park with friendly staff. My wife and I have stayed there a couple of times in our 2015 Flying Cloud 23FB, which we love, on our way to and from Montana.

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by 57Vintage

When are you planning on leaving to head up here? That may affect suggestions.

Echoing this request. Weather and the calendar timing are key IMO. If this is to be a quick trip mainly to get back home, I would not worry about campground ratings and amenities that much, but would focus on pull-through sites and ease of access from your route.

If the trailer will be winterized for the trip, obviously it will be beneficial to have good campground bathrooms and showers.

Happy trails,

Peter

[EglonAir]

Thanks all! Heading out the 1st week in April.

[OTRA15]

Thanks for the update. Here is the April forecast for Denver, with the temp lines at the bottom:

https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/de...monyr=4/1/2019

Assuming you are heading north from Texas, you may have to winterize the trailer before you get to Denver IMO. As you head WNW from there, it will probably get colder and less predictable.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Denv...3!2d32.9412363

Sorry, no feedback for you on campgrounds etc., but if the trailer is winterized you might want to make a beeline for home IMO.

Peter

[msullivan]

we stayed at Farewell Bend St Pk in Oregon on our way thru last year. The sites are open with lots of grassy areas - and there's a lot of space for dog walking....and good access to the river.

[57Vintage]

I would suggest a more southerly route. You'll have a lot more up and down going through Colorado.

I40 across to Bakersfield and up I5.

A longer route, but delays due to weather are less likely IMO.

[andyherman]

Shouldn't be too much of a problem once you get to Boise. Here's the forecast for Ontario, OR for April, which is only @ 60 mile further west on I-84 -

https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/on...onyr=4/01/2019

Lows during that period are forecast to be in the low to mid 30's overnight, which shouldn't really be an issue in the AS. It was 13 degrees here last night - we've been about 20 degrees below normal so far this month and there's @ 2 to 2-1/2 feet of snow on the ground.

I've stayed at the Grande Hot Springs RV Resort outside Le Grand and it was a nice facility - out in the country @ 8 miles south of Le Grand. There aren't a lot of trees in the park so you'd get the full benefit of the sun.

[Kanusport]

You will probably come north on 93 via I-15, which means you are going to be going through some beautiful country in Utah, Idaho and Montana. If that’s the case I’d try to stop over at lava hot springs off of I-15 north of salt lake.

If it was me and I was in Moab that’s how I would get to the PNW. I-15 north to us 93 or I-90 then west to the coast.

[Rocinante]

In Denver, one can easily wind up in a very impressive snowstorm in April. Keep checking the weather as you plan your trip and avoid towing in snow / ice if at all possible.

Meanwhile, if weather permits, the KOA in Douglas, WY is nice enough and there's a good pizza place in town that delivers to the campground. We stopped there after leaving Denver in a snowstorm that scared us all pretty badly. Towing in thunder snow...hopefully not ever again.

Because of the nature of that particular storm, our best exit was north. By the time we got to Douglas the weather had long cleared and the roads were again safe to drive. All the snow came from SLC over I-70 and I-80. I-90 was clear and dry, once we got there.

[Pat Pierce]

We came back to WA last fall from CO using I-80, but used I-84 to bypass SLC as much as possible. I will always try to avoid I-15 through SLC as it is about 90 miles or so of nerve-wracking speedway which we disliked a bunch.

If on I-84 we found Glenn's Ferry SP in Idaho very nice and clean. We will stay there again if in the area. We also liked the COE campground at Plymouth, WA across the Columbia River bridge from Umatilla, OR very nice-not a bad site here.
It is a days trip between these two campgrounds. Plymouth was having a sewer problem last October - not sure if it repaired yet.

Many nice CGs in the Columbia Gorge, both sides of the river.

Enjoy

[tinytiny]

Since we live an hour north of Denver, my in-laws used to live in Southlake TX, and our kids live in Seattle, I'm familiar with the route you're probably taking! We've just never camped anywhere along that route, but we know a bit about the camping around the northern Colorado (i.e., north of Denver) area.

I'm assuming that from Denver you're taking I-25 to Cheyenne, then I-80 to I-84 east of SLC, and then either continuing on I-84 to Portland or I-82 to I-90 and Seattle. That's a very nice drive, without too much elevation change and, except for a bit of traffic in north SLC and Boise, it's mostly open road all the way until you get close to Portland/Seattle. And except for the bit in WY between Rawlins and Rock Springs, it's rather scenic.

In April the weather can be quite variable all through the Rocky Mountains. Unless you're sure the weather is going to be OK, you may need to travel winterized. That makes things more difficult, and you'll want a campground with good restrooms. But you have the advantage that not a lot of people will be camping with you yet, unless you're going to camp on the weekend. In that case, you'll need to make reservations now (if you can).


As others have commented, if you're just blasting through you'll probably want places close to I-25. Given that we live close to Fort Collins, we haven't actually camped much here (since we live here!), but here are some options.

Boyd Lake State Park is one place we've camped. It was our first trip in are AS, since it was close enough to walk home if we had to. For a state park the sites are somewhat close (but less close than many commercial campgrounds), but all sites are paved and pull-through, have electric (no water) hookups, and there are heated bathrooms with flush toilets on each loop. There is a camper service building with pay showers, and there's dump station. It's $36/night, and you'll need a $9 park pass to get in. Reservations are required. During the week in April it will be nearly empty, but on the weekend it will be completely full. And quite busy, so this might not be a good option if you come through on the weekend. The park is about 5 files off I-25.


There are three KOAs in the Fort Collins area. One is on I-25 north of Fort Collins. We've been by it on the highway, so it's close to I-25. It looked OK as we whizzed by at 70 mph.

The other two are off US-287 west of Fort Collins. One is north of town where CO-14 branches off, and we've been by it as well. It also looks like a typical KOA. I know nothing about the other one. If you pick either of those, you can continue on US-287 to Laramie where you can get on I-80. It's a good two-lane road with passing lanes on the steeper uphills. Not a whole lot of traffic, either.

That's all I can think of now. I'll update if I think of something else. Safe travels!

[dcineb]

If you are coming through Idaho on I84 one of the nicest parks we've ever stayed at is in Mountain Home, Idaho. Just off I84, it's called Mountain Home Rv resort. Mountain Home is just east of Boise. Long, level paved sites, pull through a. Beautiful private restrooms/showers. Laundry,etc.

[PKI]

Welcome to the 23FB world. If you did your research well, you are going to be very happy. Great little coach. Note the 23FB thread. Good place to drop in for model specific questions.

The suggestions offered prior, hit the issues. Just about any park that has FHUs is a port in the storm. Otherwise, plan your route and pick your stops. Have two or three backups if your primary is too far or is otherwise not viable. Make sure the park is open as some close for the winter months and it lasts a little longer as you work your way North.

Have some slack in the schedule. A tight schedule that you must meet can push you into poor decisions. Better to stop and play another day when conditions are better.

Good Luck with your trip. Travel safe. Pat

[twrastall]

Sorry, what’s a PNW. See use of abrievations a lot on this site. Sure you know what your talking abou, but I don’t have a clue.

[Rocinante]

Pacific NorthWest

[Dmmdtm]

Totally agree with this. April in CO (along I25) can be either beautiful OR it can be when we get our biggest/wettest storms.

Originally Posted by 57Vintage

I would suggest a more southerly route. You'll have a lot more up and down going through Colorado.

I40 across to Bakersfield and up I5.

A longer route, but delays due to weather are less likely IMO.

[andyherman]

Just my $0.02 - I would avoid taking I-5 all the way to the PNW - especially towing any AS, unless you really enjoy white knuckle driving.
The traffic is absolutely horrendous and drivers are all in a hurry to get wherever they're headed. Semi traffic on I-5 is also absurd, not that they're bad drivers (although there are some) but the amount of semi traffic on I-5 is ridiculous.
It's way past time I-5 received a major upgrade to handle the volume of traffic using it now.