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Now that it’s December and the weather is turning chilly, RVers begin traveling fewer miles and looking for places to settle in for the season.
This year, Heath and I are spending our fourth winter in the RV. So far, we’ve wintered in California, Alabama, and all over Texas. We’ve learned the hard way how to freeze and thaw your pipes, how to find campsites that are good for long-term stays, and the importance of finding a winter campground with a hot tub.
Let’s just say we’ve definitively learned that camping anywhere it snows is NOT our thing. (Also, who knew it snows in Alabama?!) 10/10 do not recommend.
Through our experiences and what we’ve learned from other full-time travelers, in this blog post I’m sharing the top five places to winter in your RV.
1. If you’re looking for wine and beauty.
Last year, Heath and I hosted our first ever RV Entrepreneur Summit, a business conference for RVers. We chose to host in the heart of central Texas in the tiny tourist town of Fredericksburg. Fredericksburg is a small German town known for two things: state parks and wine.
The main highway that runs through town is nicknamed “Wine Highway” or “Wine Road” because you can hit 16 award-winning wineries all in a row. Which I don’t know about you, but that’s a pretty great selling point for a winter site.
But if wine isn’t your thing, there are also plenty of state parks in the area! Our favorites are Enchanted Rock and Lost Maples. Since Texas winters are ridiculously mild, you have plenty of chances to hike and explore all winter.
We usually camp at the Jellystone Park just outside of town because of their amazing hot tub, onsite gym, and solid cell signal. We’re looking forward to hosting our next RV Entrepreneur Summit there this February.
2. If you’re looking to spend time on the beach.
It’s no secret that Florida is the top choice for snowbirding. It’s warm year-round and you have endless options for oceanfront camping…IF you book your site ahead of time.
If you still haven’t found a place to winter, Florida probably isn’t a great option. These sites book up months in advance!
We absolutely LOVED spending time in the Florida Keys earlier this year and it’s on our bucket list to spend a season camping on the beach at Sunshine Key RV Resort down there. However, at the time of writing, it is currently closed due to damage from Hurricane Irma.
If you’re interested in visiting the Florida Keys, you can watch our series of Youtube videos on what to do and where to camp in the area here.
3. If you’re looking for someplace warm and friendly.
Quartzsite, Arizona is a small town that most people have never heard of—unless you’re a full-time RVer. When asking people where they are wintering, this is the area we hear about most often! Thousands of RVers flock to this tiny town each winter.
I couldn’t explain to you why or how Quartzsite became a mecca for full-timers in the winter. It could be the warm winter temperatures or the affordability of the area compared to a destination like Florida. But according to our friends Nina and Paul over at Wheeling It, wintering in Quartzsite is the “biggest RV gathering on earth.”
4. If you’re on the west coast.
After Hourly America, Heath and I landed our first consulting gig: working with a Random House author to plan his book launch and tour. And since our home was on wheels, our client asked us to drive out to California for the winter to work together. Man, it was rough.
Just kidding. It was amazing! We spent our winter in Santa Cruz, which is pretty far north for winter! But this coastal town stayed in the 60s every day. Plus our campground had a hot tub (priorities!!!) and was a quick drive over to the beach.
Of course, the big con to wintering in California is the cost. Our campground cost $910/month and a carton of eggs cost $6/dozen! This was hard on our pocketbooks when we were struggling to build our business. But California is just so beautiful!
Much of California is great for winter camping. In addition to coastal campgrounds, Palm Springs, Slab City (totally worth googling), and San Diego are popular winter locations.
5. If you’re looking for a white Christmas.
There are people like me who love warm weather and sandy beaches for the winter and then there are people who like being cold. I know, it’s super weird.
But if you’re looking to winter somewhere with snow, mountains, and all the adventure sports those two provide, you’re in luck! There are RV campgrounds just for you.
Heath and I have never taken our RV to spend a winter in the mountains (a couple of nights of snow in the RV were enough to teach us that we cannot handle the cold!). But we do go skiing with Heath’s family every March! It was last year in Breckenridge (above) that we saw a small RV resort open for the winter. It is not uncommon for ski resorts to have winter RV resorts! We’ve found them in Park City, Jackson Hole, and all over Colorado.
You will, of course, need to learn how to prep for your RV for winter, but if you want to spend winter in the snow, there are lots of awesome places to visit!
This year, Heath and I are spending all of January and February in Fredericksburg, Texas enjoying wine country and hiking with mild winter temps. Where are you spending this winter?
