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Trip Planning

Visit These Campgrounds That Are Open in Winter

Check out these campgrounds that remain open during the wintertime!

While most campgrounds in snow country close for the winter, growing numbers of campgrounds and RV parks are willing to let people camp in winter. Although few campgrounds have winterized campsites with running water, many do have water stations where you can fill up. Many also have electrical hookups.

Some parks even offer extended stay campsites for RVers in winter, while others offer a mix of RV sites with or without water.Kampgrounds of America (KOA) has an online listing of its campgrounds that are open in winter, a sampling of which we’ve included in the listing below. But outside the KOA network, it requires a lot more research to find out not only which campgrounds are open in winter, but which ones are suitable base camps for winter recreation activities.

To streamline your planning for RV trips in snow country, GoRVing.com has updated its listing of campgrounds across the country that can serve as base camps for your winter recreation pursuits. We’ve sorted them by state to make them easy to find. They include:
 

  • Palmer / Anchorage North KOA Journey in Palmer: This campground is open year-round and can serve as a base camp for many Alaskan day trips, including visiting a reindeer farm and hiking on the Matanuska Glacier. Guided tours are available for those who want to explore this massive glacier safely. Walking on the glacier's ice and marveling at its stunning blue hues is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
  • Flagstaff / KOA Holiday in Flagstaff: This campground is open year-round and can serve as a base camp for trips to the Grand Canyon or to the Arizona Snowbowl, a popular ski resort on the west slope of Mount Humphries, the tallest mountain in Arizona. The campground has RV sites as well as park model rentals.

  • Village Camp Flagstaff in Bellemont: This park is open year-round and features RV sites as well as park model RV rentals. This park can be used as a base camp for Arizona Snowbowl, a popular ski resort on the west slope of Mount Humphries, the tallest mountain in Arizona.

Village Camp Flagstaff
Photo courtesy of Village Camp Flagstaff
  • Coachland RV Resort in Truckee: This park is located only a few minutes away from world-class ski destinations including Northstar California and Palisades Tahoe, formerly Squaw Valley. Guests can enjoy a complimentary breakfast every other Saturday. The property also hosts a variety of seasonal events and activities for all ages.

  • High Sierra RV & Mobile Home Park in Oakhurst: This park is located just outside the southern entrance to Yosemite National Park and is just over an hour’s drive from the Badger Pass Ski Area, which offers downhill skiing in addition to being next to several trails suitable for cross-country skiers.

  • Inn Town Campground in Nevada City: This Sierra Foothills campground is open in winter and can serve as a base camp for ski trips to Sugar Bowl and Boreal Mountain, both of which are about an hour away, depending on road conditions.

  • Mammoth Mountain RV Park & Campground in Mammoth Lakes: This campground is just under five miles from Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort and 22 miles from June Mountain Ski Area in June Lake. The campground features plowed RV sites with electric hookups as well as a water filling station and dump station. Other amenities include restrooms with hot showers and an indoor swimming pool and Jacuzzi. Activities in the Mammoth Lakes area include snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, downhill skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling.

  • Tahoe Valley Campground in South Lake Tahoe: This park offers RV sites as well rental accommodations, including park models and convenient access to Tahoe area ski resorts, including Heavenly Valley.

  • Yosemite Lakes RV Resort in Groveland: Located just outside the western entrance to Yosemite National Park, this campground is 39 miles from the Badger Pass Ski Area, which offers downhill skiing in addition to being next to several trails suitable for cross-country skiers. The RV resort offers a variety of RV sites as well as furnished park model rentals for visitors seeking winter recreation activities in Yosemite. There are also more than 15 fishing lakes within an hour’s drive of Yosemite Lakes, including Don Pedro Reservoir, Cherry Lake, and Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park.

  • Yosemite Pines RV Resort & Family Lodging in Groveland: Located just outside Yosemite National Park, this campground can serve as a base camp for day trips into Yosemite to enjoy cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and other winter activities. Badger Pass Ski Area is 55 miles away.

Coachland RV Resort in Truckee, California
Photo courtesy of Coachland RV Resort in Truckee, California
  • Base Camp at Golden Gate Canyon at Black Hawk: Located at 9,230-feet, this campground has no running water for RVers at this time of year, but restrooms and shower facilities are available. The campground also offers 12 cabins. Nearby winter activities include skiing and snowboarding at the Echo Mountain Echo Mountain and Eldora Mountain ski resorts, scenic winter drives along the Peak to Peak Scenic Byway, and gambling in the nearby communities of Black Hawk and Central City.

  • Canyon View RV Resort in Grand Junction: RV enthusiasts can use this park as a base camp for downhill skiing day trips to Powderhorn Resort or to enjoy cross-country skiing, snowmobiling and ice fishing atop Grand Mesa.

  • Lake John Resort in Walden: This 8,200-foot, family-owned campground has an ice fishing contest every January. The park also rents out ice fishing huts in six-hour increments. The ice huts can be rented with or without ice fishing equipment. Portable heaters are also available for rent, although no overnight sleeping is allowed in the units. The resort offers RV and tent sites and furnished rental cabins with varying numbers of beds. The cabins also feature kitchen and bathroom facilities. While ice fishing is a big attraction here, other nearby activities include cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and snowmobiling. The resort is close to Delaney Butte Lakes, Big Creek Lake, Cowdrey Lake and the many alpine lakes of the Mount Zirkel Wilderness as well as the Grizzly Helena Trail. Steamboat Ski Resort is about an hour away.

  • Middlefork RV Park in Fairplay: Situated at 9,900 feet, this campground is only 23 miles from Breckenridge and within an hour and 15 minutes of several other major ski resorts at Keystone, Copper Mountain, and Vail. A dump station and water are available during the winter months, but no water and sewer service is available at that time at individual campsites.

  • Oasis Durango RV Resort in Durango: This Roberts Resorts park is 25 minutes from Durango Hot Springs and 40 minutes from Purgatory Ski Resort. Park amenities include a hot tub.

  • Ouray Riverside Resort in Ouray: Winter visitors include RVers and park model campers wishing to attend the annual Ouray Ice Festival and Competition, which is slated for Jan. 23-26. The event takes place at the Ouray Ice Park, a site in the Uncompahgre Gorge where more than 250 sprinklers are used to create awe-inspiring walls of ice. The Ouray Ice Park contains over 100 manmade ice and mixed climbs, 11 distinct climbing areas and more than three miles of vertical terrain. The Ouray Ice Festival features interactive and educational climbing clinics and ice climbing competitions as well as food, music and nightly dance parties. Skiers and snowboarders also use Ouray Riverside Resort as a base camp for excursions to Telluride Ski Resort, a little over an hour away, or to enjoy backcountry skiing and snowshoeing.

  • Tiger Run Resort inn Breckenridge: Winter recreation enthusiasts in Colorado often stay at this 9,600-foot resort near the historic mining town of Breckenridge, which is close to several popular ski resorts, including BreckenridgeKeystone,
    Copper Mountain, with Vail being about an hour away, depending on road conditions.

  • Snowy Peaks RV Park & Rentals in Buena Vista: This park is open in winter and serves as a base camp for RVers who enjoy skiing and snowboarding at the Monarch and Copper Mountain ski resorts.

  • Steamboat Springs KOA Holiday in Steamboat Springs: This campground can serve as a base camp for a variety of winter activities from skiing at nearby ski resorts, including Steamboat Ski Resort, to snowmobiling, snow tubing and winter horseback riding at Saddleback Ranch. Steamboat even has a winter carnival Feb. 5-9 with parades and ski jumping competitions, among other events.

  • Sun Outdoors Rocky Mountains in Granby: This resort maintains a small number of RV sites during the winter months. The resort’s park model vacation rentals are also available year round. Winter activities include skiing and snowboarding at Winter Park Resort, 30 minutes away, and the annual Three Lakes Ice Fishing Contest, Jan. 24-26, at Lake Granby, Shadow Mountain Reservoir and Grand Lake. The annual contest is the longest running ice fishing tournament west of the Mississippi River.

  • Westerly RV Park in Durango: This campground, which is across the street from Durango Hot Springs, offers sites for RVs and is often used as a base camp for skiers and snowboarders bound for Purgatory. Families also enjoy taking their kids on winter train rides on the historic Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad up to Cascade Canyon.

Westerly RV Park in Durango, Colorado
Photo courtesy of Westerly RV Park in Durango, Colorado
  • Muncie by RJourney in Anderson: This campground can be used as a base camp for trips to Koteewi Run Snow Tubing, central Indiana’s only groomed snow-tubing hill. Riders can slide 700 feet down groomed lanes in snow tubes and then ride the tow line back to the top for another run. A water tank is available for RVers to fill up, though no water is available at the campsites during the winter months.

  • Colonial Mast Campground in Naples: Winter guests at this park can snowmobile right from their campsite or spend the day ice fishing or cross country skiing on the lake or downhill ski at nearby Shawnee Mountain. The park also offers a swimming pool and hot tub.
Sno-Trac Village in Grayling, Michigan
Photo courtesy of Sno-Trac Village in Grayling, Michigan
 
  • Santa Fe KOA Journey in Santa Fe: This campground offers RV sites and park model RV rentals. It can serve as a convenient base camp for visiting art galleries, museums, and other attractions in historic Santa Fe. 

     
Park City RV Resort in Park City, Utah
Photo courtesy of Park City RV Resort in Park City, Utah
  • Rock Springs / Green River KOA in Rock Springs: This campground, which is open all year, offers RV sites and park model RV rentals. Nearby attractions include Flaming Gorge, which was named by famed explorer John Wesley Powell who was inspired by the fiery red hues of the canyon walls at sunset during his 1869 expedition down the Green River. The Flaming Gorge Reservoir was formed by the construction of the Flaming Gorge Dam in 1964, creating a vast, 91-mile-long body of water that stretches from Wyoming into Utah. Today, it stands as a premier destination for water sports, fishing, and scenic exploration.
Jeff Crider

Author

Jeff Crider, President and CEO of Crider Public Relations, has been involved in covering the campground industry for over 25 years. Jeff has worked as a freelance writer for publications such as RV Business, Motor Home Magazine, Trailer Life, Highways and other Affinity Group Inc. publications since 1995. He has also successfully pitched many of the nation's top tier media outlets, including CNN, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, The Financial Times, Reuters, The Associated Press and National Public Radio. In addition to writing, Jeff is also a talented photographer and humanitarian.