When it comes to winter camping, we’d much rather do it in an RV than in a tent. There are those hardy souls with 4-season tents who make it work, and we admire them! However, winter camping in your RV can be just as fun and enjoyable and will keep you much warmer.  The following information might not be necessary if you have an enclosed underbelly and/or four season camper.

We recommend that you “dry” camp in the winter. If you live somewhere where winterizing your RV is necessary, we don’t want you to undo all that work for a weekend.  Dry camping does make things a little less convenient, but it will save you the possibility of tanks freezing, water pumps not working, and pipes bursting.  For the best dry camping experience:

  • consider taking a tiny cassette toilet with you for evening bathroom breaks, if you have the space for that inside
  • stay at a campground that offers electric hookups so that you can keep the heat on as much as you need
  • take water with you in gallon jugs that you can refill at your campground’s bathrooms if needed
  • plan to take showers at the campground’s shower area if available, or consider a sponge bath as an alternative

So, why would you want to winter camp in your RV? Because there’s lots to do in the winter! State Parks are often still open and some do offer camping in the winter. You can snowshoe, cross country ski, downhill ski, hike, enjoy hot springs, etc.  There’s no reason not to camp in the winter if you enjoy those activities. Also, if you like, you can use that camper to get the heck away from your cold climate and head for warmer areas of the country!

winter camping in your RV

Our reasons for dry camping are simply to protect your camper from unnecessary damage. If you’re camping in winter conditions in a camper that doesn’t have an enclosed underbelly, it’s very hard to keep your pipes and holding tanks from freezing. When that happens, the risk of leaks increases.  However, if you’re traveling to warmer climates, where the temps won’t fall below freezing, we can understand wanting to use your camper to its full potential.

There are some products being developed that can help you use your camper throughout the winter, without having to have it winterized. We haven’t tried these products and are not endorsing them, we’re just pointing out that they exist. We encourage you to do your research and use these products at your own risk. One we saw recently in TrailerLife Magazine was the InduraTec 636 FLOE which promises, “use your RV or boat through the winter months, simply taking 2 minutes to drain when finished.” It’s an onboard compressor that is always hooked up, so that you can blow out all your water lines on-demand. You can find out more about it here.

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