Winter Camping

[campnqueen]

Greetings Y'all

My hubby and I live in Georgia about 70 miles north of Atlanta and
have a 2010 Cherokee Graywolf 19RR toy hauler made by Forest River.
(We just love it!)

We have truly enjoyed talking our motorcycle and dogs on camping trips.
Being centrally located, we are luck to have so many wonderful parks
within just a few hours drive of our home, with many of them open year round.

Because we live in the south, we get to use our camper from early April through early November.
Alas, camping season seems to go by so fast! Just as we get the hang of camping and setting up,
the weather turns really cold and we are winterizing our trailer once again. It’s so sad!

Wanting to use our trailer more, we were wondering about winter camping.

Our trips would be limited to the southeastern states; Alabama and Florida,
Georgia, North and South Carolina, and Eastern Tennessee.

Our Graywolf trailer has a gas furnace along with a carbon dioxide detector.
The plumbing, water pipes and holding tanks are enclosed in the floor and the underside is completely sealed.

Conversely the gray and black water dump pipes are exposed to the elements.

So our questions and concerns:
Are we okay to take our trailer winter camping?

Do we have enough insulation so our pipes will not freeze?

What precautions do we need to take so we do not damage our trailer’s plumbing or other systems?

Do you have any suggestions or comments about winter camping?

Your expertise on this issue is greatly appreciated.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Happy campers
P&K

[grhodes50]

Welcome to the forums!

I haven't camped when temps get freezing or below, but I have read where people say that your enclosed underbelly will keep your tanks from freezing. They also mention that if the temps drop below freezing overnite to unhook your water hose and that you may want to keep some water in the fresh water tank in case the ouside hydrant freezes. I'm not sure about the dump valves, but I believe they'll be OK.

I'm sure there are some on this forum with winter camping experience and they will be able to help you with their expertise.

Good luck and happy camping!

[buzzards27]

We were in your area last week, stayed at Red Top last Thursday. Got in just after sunset, but it did seem like a nice park, one of the few we found that offered limited cable.

We have a 21' motorhome that we had already winterized a while back. We drove from NE Ohio to Sarasota and back. We had planned on using water while down there but ended up dry camped for the full 19 days because of the cold weather seemed to follow us down. About half the nites were below freezing. Really wasn't a problem. We did use bottled water or antifreeze to flush the toilet but otherwise we didn't use any water.

Unless you are looking at a hard freeze I would guess that adding a little antifreeze into your waste tanks overnite would help protect them.

[LadyWindrider]

A lot is going to depend on where you stay, and how cold it may be. If you have full hook-ups, then you may need to unhook the water hose and keep some water in the fresh tank to use, as mentioned earlier. No need to keep it full, just a few gallons to flush toilet, make coffee, etc. Don't forget to refill. I've had tanks freeze on a 20 degree night with 40 degree day, and that's about as cold as I will camp, so I've never worried about the tanks. You can always dump the tanks every evening, (I know not recommended unless they are full), and then the small amount of liquid that might freeze wouldn't hurt anything.

If you don't have hook-ups, your furnace will drain a battery in one night. You'll go through a lot of propane either way. You'll need a lot of clothes to enjoy the motorcycles. Good Luck, and Merry Christmas.

[LSU GREY WOLF]

We spent last week in our 28ft Grey Wolf at Ft.Yargo state park in Winder, Ga. Temps were down into the teens on several days! When freezing temps were forecast, we disconnected our water hose and added antifreeze to the black and gray tanks. We emptied the fresh water tank and just used bottled water for coffee, etc. We used the excellent bath house for bathroom and shower. Don't forget to turn off the hotwater heater if it will have no water! We use a ceramic electric heater most of the time and back it up with the furnace when it can't keep up with the extreme low temps. We enjoyed our winter trip, you pretty much have the park to yourself!

[The_Stuff]

HEAT TAPES ARE YOUR FRIEND!!! but not the "button" style. self regulating are the best. run them along your sewer lines and any exposed water lines, tape them to the lines with electricians black tape (not rubber) and then wrap the lines in insulation.


this stuff works on the water line for long sections. mine comes straight up from ground, does a 90 into my unit. I used this stuff for the long straight section.


Then used this on the sections and around that 90


no frozen lines!! even in -40 windchill outside!

Also since im in a permanent spot I have "skirted" my trailer. you probably dont need to go as over board being way down south lol



ohh and "Vent Pillows" work very well to keep the cold and moisture out and the heat in! (also do the opposite in the summer)

[campnqueen]

WOW!! Thanks soooo much for all the great advice on winter camping... ask and ye shall receive!!
We can't wait to get out and give it a try.

Come see us in North Georgia...love to have some company when we go camping... Just think of the great campfire stories we could tell.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year y'all.

[campnqueen]

Haven't stayed at Ft Yargo yet...but hear its a wonderful park. This may be my winter camping trip...not far from home.

[bill and theresa]

I am getting ready to do some cold camping. Leaving Bracey Va on the 25th to go to Va beach to celebrate christmas with kds and grandkids. Stay there for a week ( snow forcast 26th.) after that go to SC and visit my mother for a few days then on to niceville Fla. for a couple weeks. May get thawed out there. I have heated tanks, Fully enclosed underbelly and button type regulated heat tapes. Never had a problem with them. I will keep you posted on my experience

[campnqueen]

Originally Posted by bill and theresa

I am getting ready to do some cold camping. Leaving Bracey Va on the 25th to go to Va beach to celebrate christmas with kds and grandkids. Stay there for a week ( snow forcast 26th.) after that go to SC and visit my mother for a few days then on to niceville Fla. for a couple weeks. May get thawed out there. I have heated tanks, Fully enclosed underbelly and button type regulated heat tapes. Never had a problem with them. I will keep you posted on my experience

Hey!
Did your tank come prewired with heat tape or did you do it yourself?

[mjones12]

We camp year-round in North Carolina, often when it's down in the low 20's. We camp with full hookups, so just keeping heat in the camper keeps our water lines from freezing, even though our underbelly is NOT enclosed. All of the water lines are internal. On nights when it's much below freezing, we unhook our fresh water hose and hook it back up the next morning. A jug of water works fine for overnight flushing needs. Unless your tanks are full, freezing won't hurt anything. So unless we have the need to dump them early the next morning (which we never do) we just don't worry about them. We've done this for many winters and never had a problem.

[bill and theresa]

Campnqueen My tanks are heated with a pad installed by the factory. They come on about 35 degrees and go off if above 40 degres. I use the heat tape on my fresh water hose. Happy camping.

[Steeljag]

Glad I found this topic ! We just returned from a week long trip to Gatlinburg (stayed in a condo). We always take a day for Cades Cove and while leaving we drove through the primitive camp ground there. It was open, we did not see any T.T's or RV's.......we did see a tent!

I started thinking about people who post about camping in the winter and it does interest me....NOT THE WIFE !!

Being from Florida even when its cold......the sun is out. In the south while camping your outside most of the time. What do you do in a primitive C.C on COLD / snowy / rainy / overcast days in the 20's ?????

That's even to miserable to sit sit around a camp fire....to me !!

Just wondering what folks do in those conditions....hike, sight see, read ?? Would like to give it a try....just don't know if I could stay busy.....besides being busy staying warm !!

[Offagain]

Originally Posted by mjones12

We camp year-round in North Carolina, often when it's down in the low 20's. We camp with full hookups, so just keeping heat in the camper keeps our water lines from freezing, even though our underbelly is NOT enclosed. All of the water lines are internal. On nights when it's much below freezing, we unhook our fresh water hose and hook it back up the next morning. A jug of water works fine for overnight flushing needs. Unless your tanks are full, freezing won't hurt anything. So unless we have the need to dump them early the next morning (which we never do) we just don't worry about them. We've done this for many winters and never had a problem.

We do the same and have never had a problem. No enclosed belly. Just keep the heat on in the camper and use the water once or twice a night from flushing and washing of hands and you won't even have to disconnect the fresh water hose. We do keep the excess water hose coiled up and under the camper. As long as it's above freezing during the day you should be fine. We have never had problems.

[rcpd34]

My TH as an enclosed belly and heated tanks as a factory option. Anyone know exactly what you get with the heated tank option? Is it the heated pad on a thermostat like the earlier post?

[Herk7769]

Heated pads have internal thermostats that turn on the pad at 45 degrees (5C) and turn off the pad at 67 degrees (20C).

They are "ON" or "OFF" depending on the switch inside the camper.

Most of their units are DC and the tank heaters pull 7 amps DC when heating (78 Watts). They require 13.5 VDC for maximum efficiency.

Elbow and pipe sized units pull less amps running. (under 10 watts)

They do make an AC only model SL-T825 for tanks up to 40 Gallons.

While the book says that you can run the pads with an empty tank, it goes on to say it is not recommended since the pads will continue to cycle and should be shut off.

[gktsuda1956]

I have been researching heated water hoses. Google search has resulted in prices ranging from $250 to $80. That's for 25 foot hoses. Some had some poor reviews.

Seems like the way to go unless you have time on your hands to construct a heated hose. Many detailed descriptions online to build one but I just don't have the time or desire. Seems by the time you buy all the material and spend all the hours assemblying, you've got a pretty good investment going anyways.

But once you get the hose heated you have to come up with a plan to protect the water spigot in the RV park. My last camp out in subfreezing weather was Clarkston, WA in a beautiful RV park behind the Costco and right next to the river/lake. They notify you that if you use the water during freezing temperature and the pipe spigot freezes and ruptures, you are responsible for repair cost. I did not have a heated hose so I left the water slowly running in the bath room sink.

Many of the rigs were set up for winter water supply. As a new RV'er I walked around in the a.m. and took lots of pictures of how everyone else set up their water supplies. That's where I first discovered the existance of the store bought heated water hoses.

[rcpd34]

Originally Posted by herk7769

Heated pads have internal thermostats that turn on the pad at 45 degrees (5C) and turn off the pad at 67 degrees (20C).

They are "ON" or "OFF" depending on the switch inside the camper.

Most of their units are DC and the tank heaters pull 7 amps DC when heating (78 Watts). They require 13.5 VDC for maximum efficiency.

Elbow and pipe sized units pull less amps running. (under 10 watts)

They do make an AC only model SL-T825 for tanks up to 40 Gallons.

While the book says that you can run the pads with an empty tank, it goes on to say it is not recommended since the pads will continue to cycle and should be shut off.

That makes all the sense in the world except I don't have a switch anywhere to turn them on/off. The owners manual is pretty worthless and doesn't address it (along with a lot of other things).

[bill and theresa]

WELL WE ARE FOR SURE WINTER CAMPING. We arrived in chesapeake Va on the 25th as planned. That night and the next day we got 15" of snow. Left the 26th and went to daughters house for christmas with Kids (7) and grandkids (14) and a few great grandkids We had no problem until we tried turn around in daughters cul de sac DW pushed me out. (120 lbs 5'1)we will stay here til 1st an continue trip. The camper performed well and we had no problems with water freezing. Some moisture inside windows, normal. Even the concertone worked well and pulled in 21 local stations.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by rcpd34

That makes all the sense in the world except I don't have a switch anywhere to turn them on/off. The owners manual is pretty worthless and doesn't address it (along with a lot of other things).

It is quite possible that your camper is not equipped with the "Arctic Package" It was standard on my Flagstaff Ultra-lite but it could have been an option on your unit.

The switch is marked "heater" on my switch area.
It is a rocker switch with a red "on" light.
A bit of trial and error led me to conclude it was the tank heaters.
The only switch on the furnace is the thermostat.