Camping 101: 5 Ways to Get Ready for Winter Camping in Your RV

Just because
winter is coming doesn’t mean that the camping season has to come to an end.
There are plenty of great places to camp during the winter. All it takes is a
little advance planning so you can be well prepared to handle the colder
temps. Here are some tips to help you get ready:

1. Have your RV serviced for winter or do the work
   yourself. This includes tasks like checking the window seals
   and weather stripping, wrapping your pipes and hoses with heat tape, adding
   antifreeze specially made for RVs to your plumbing system and ensuring that
   your furnace and appliances are ready for winter. Also, be sure to check your
   RV owner’s manual for tips and procedures on winterizing your specific model
   of RV.
2. Add extra insulation where
   necessary. Consider adding insulated curtains, window film or
   foil-backed insulation to your windows, sealing off your ceiling vents with
   vent cushions or foam padding and placing heavy carpets on the floors. You
   can also add special RV skirting or foam boards around the bottom of your RV
   to keep the wind from freezing the components located beneath your RV and to
   help keep the cold from coming up through the floor.
3. Pack extra gear. Anticipate any
   situations you may encounter in the cold weather and pack essentials such as
   a shovel, ice scraper, tire chains, extra blankets and warm clothing,
   sleeping bags, goggles, gloves, boots, extra food, water and propane and
   solar chargers for your devices and batteries. A blow dryer can also come in
   handy for defrosting pipes and other components and headlamps and lanterns
   can be very useful, too, since it gets dark earlier in the
   winter.
4. Keep close tabs on the weather.
   Winter weather can bring rapid changes, so be sure to keep a weather app on
   your phone or bring along a weather band radio so you can closely monitor the
   conditions at your destination.
5. Know before you go. Not all
   campgrounds are open year-round, so before you leave home, check to see that
   the campgrounds you want to stay at will be open on your travel
   dates.  The easiest place to start your planning process is to go to
   GoCampingAmerica.com
   and enter your destination(s) to see all of the options you have. Then you
   can link directly to the website for each campground to learn about their
   winter camping availability and amenities.

Now, for the fun part. Don’t forget to pack your favorite winter
toys like sleds, skis and snowboards. And, of course, bring along plenty of
hot cocoa mix, too. Enjoy your winter camping!