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Small Travel Trailer Mini Air Conditioner Mount for Rear Window (Temporary)

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Small Travel Trailer Mini Air Conditioner Mount for Rear Window (Temporary)
***Remove AC When Travelling – this is a temporary setup just for use when parked!***

When we purchased our 2020 Scamp 13’, we knew we wanted to store it in our garage for many reasons (see “Why and How We Fit Our Scamp in the Garage”).  However, when we placed our order from the Scamp factory, we didn’t order the AC (but did order the reinforced roof for AC just in case situations changed, see “Ordering Our 2020 Scamp”).  This is because, even after raising our garage height from 7 to 8 feet, our new Scamp would have been too tall to clear the garage opening with the factory rooftop air conditioner.  So, we figured we would just plan trips to take hot weather into account.  And, this strategy has worked really well over the past couple of years (there have only been a few times when AC would have really come in handy — see “No AC, No Problem“).  Ultimately though, we have found that when heading to mountain lakes in the summer months, we need to make stops a bit out of our way or drive non-stop to cross the hot parts of California (e.g. Central Valley or Mojave Desert) to beat the heat.  These heat avoidance workarounds have meant taking less efficient longer routes or very long rides straight to our destination.

When looking for solutions (including more streamlined rooftop AC models), we came to realize that we only needed AC mostly in the summer months (and, even then, only on specific trips).  Rooftop ACs are most convenient — however, they are also relatively expensive (including requiring installation expense, unless you can do that yourself), moderately heavy (sometimes creating roof sag on fiberglass trailers), and can be costly to replace when necessary.  Additionally, even the low profile units we found looked to have questionable clearance to fit in our garage.  Taking into account all these factors, we decided that a temporary removable window AC unit would be perfect for our requirements (e.g. inexpensive, easy to install on a temporary basis, lightweight, and also cheap to replace when necessary).  We also wouldn’t have to carry around the heavier weight of a permanently mounted rooftop AC on every trip (including winter trips).  The goal of this project is to create a stable platform to temporarily and quickly mount the window AC unit when at the campsite (removed for driving) which won’t damage the trailer (e.g. window or fiberglass window frame) and provide insulation against insects and weather.

After considerable research and reviews of different window AC units and also various methods people have used to secure a window AC inside their fiberglass travel trailer’s window, I decided to buy a small Frigidaire (FFRE053WAE) 5,000 BTU unit for room sizes up to 150 square feet (more than sufficient to cool the Scamp 13’s less than 80 square feet of interior living space).  It’s inexpensive (currently around $210 on Amazon), small (16” wide, 12 1/16” high, and 13 3/16” deep), lightweight (43lbs on my scale), rated at only 50db noise level, energy efficient and very well reviewed.  Additionally, others have reported using this unit successfully to cool their small fiberglass travel trailers.  It’s among the smallest and lightest window AC units available and ranks as one of the top brands on Consumer Reports.

Every small fiberglass travel trailer is different and weight tolerances vary.  Anyone attempting to undertake this project should understand there are no guarantees when installing a window AC unit in their fiberglass travel trailer’s window.  Damage is a possibility if the trailer’s fiberglass cannot handle the weight of the window AC (this may be especially relevant for older trailers).  However, many people have used window ACs in their small fiberglass travel trailers for years without incident.  Additionally, even some fiberglass travel manufactures have mounted ACs in windows throughout the years.  Taking all this into consideration and wanting to be extra cautious, I decided on using a wood platform and foot brace under the AC (even though it’s fairly light) which helps distribute some of the AC’s weight onto the Scamp’s bumper (which is welded to the trailer’s frame).  This is designed to reduce strain on the fiberglass window frame.  To protect the window, black pipe foam (like a pool noodle) is used around all edges of the window frame.

I spent around $210 for the window AC unit and $100 for materials for a project total of roughly $310 (I didn’t include the $130 I spent for tools in this total because I will use these tools for years on other projects as well).  So, for just a few hundred dollars (perhaps the cost of a hotel room for one or two nights), this system should provide a small travel trailer years of air conditioning relief on hot days.

The tasks to complete this project can be performed in three stages as outlined below.  The listed measurements apply to our 2020 Scamp 13’ trailer but can easily be modified for other trailers and ACs with different sizes.

Stage 1:  Planning
Measure the rear window opening to determine if there is enough width and height to mount the desired AC model (comparing to the desired AC’s dimensions).  If necessary, it may be possible to cut out a portion or remove the rubber window stop entirely to get the window to open more completely.

Stage 2:  Shopping
I decided to purchase a lot of the items for this project online.  However, I purchased the plywood (as well as PVC) at Home Depot so their staff could do most of the cutting for me at no charge (they only do straight cuts though).  Here’s the item list I compiled to complete the project:

a.  Purchase window AC unit (Frigidaire Window AC Model #FFRE053WAE)
b.  Purchase plywood (and, if you want, have it cut at a big box store like Home Depot or Lowes)

    1. One 4’ x 4’ x ½” thick (or 15/32” thick) panel
    2. One 2’ X 2’ x ¾” thick panel

c.  Purchase Tools (if needed)

    1. Belt Sander (to round corners), extra sand paper for belt sander
    2. Jig Saw (to cut plywood), extra blades for jig saw
    3. Drill
    4. Electric Screwdriver
    5. 5/16” Drill bit (for hex bolts holding Sandwich Plates together)
    6. 3/32” Drill bit (pilot holes)
    7. 2.5” Spring Clamps (6)

d.  Purchase Hardware

    1. #6 x 1” Phillips Flat Head Zinc Plated Wood Screws (100 pack)
    2. #6 x 3/8” flat head zinc plated Phillips wood screws (25 pack)
    3. Zinc Plated Hex Bolts x 5 (3 top, 2 bottom) ¼” -20 4” long
    4. Plated Wing Nut (4 pack) ¼” -20 x 2 packs (need 5)
    5. PVC Pipe 1”x 10’ White PVC
    6. PVC T Connectors for 1” diameter PVC x 2
    7. PVC End Caps for 1” diameter PVC x 3
    8. Black Pipe Foam 1” x 6’
    9. Wood glue Gorilla
    10. White (Glossy) Spray Paint (paint/primer) x 2 cans
    11. 2-Hole Pipe Hanger Straps 1” (4 pack) PVC brackets
    12. Velcro Strap (1)

Stage 3:  Construction (also refer to video)
Safety:  Always wear safety glasses for eye protection when working with power tools.

Interior Window Frame:
The purpose of the Interior Window Frame is to provide a stable space for the AC to be positioned into as well as protect the travel trailer’s window frame (so the AC doesn’t sit directly on the fiberglass).  The AC sits inside the Interior Window Frame (on a wooden platform) which sits against protective foam which surrounds the window (although there wasn’t enough window opening space on my Scamp 13’, even after removing a section of window stop, so no pipe foam was put on the outer side of the window  – though I added insulation on the AC interior to fill the gaps).  So whatever AC is used, it’s vital that the frame be large enough for the AC to fit inside it (but not too large, so the frame still fits snugly inside the rear window and doesn’t leave a big air gap).

It may be difficult to cut long lengths of wood with a jigsaw perfectly, so I recommend that, unless one has a circular saw, have a store like Home Depot make all the straight wood cuts.  The jig saw is absolutely fantastic and easy though for making the curved corner cuts (as well as the belt sander to smooth out the curves).  In this project, just the corners need to be rounded and the middle section of each sandwich plate needs to be cut out)

a.  Top & Bottom:  Cut two 16.5” long x 2.5” wide x .75” thick pieces of plywood
Carefully drill 5/16” holes (evenly spaced top and bottom) through the center of the .75” thick pieces, drilling through the entire 2.5” width so 4” hex bolts can pass through.  Three top holes 2” from each edge and one in the middle (all centered on frame), two holes in bottom corners 2” from each edge (a drill press makes this easier, I borrowed one from a neighbor)
b.  Sides: Cut two 14.25” long x 2.5” wide x ½” thick  (I had Home Depot cut these)
c.  Add wood glue onto ends of Top & Bottom pieces
d.  Position sides over the ends of these pieces
e.  Use #6 x 1” Phillips Zinc Plated Wood Screws (8) to join top, bottom and sides (use 3/32” bit for pilot holes if desired, otherwise just apply some pressure to start the screw into the side)
f.  Cut Black Pipe Foam and pad all sides of the rear window opening
g.  Once the square Interior Window Frame is Glued/Screwed together, position it in the rear window of trailer to make sure it fits. Remove a section of rubber window stop (see video) and/or use belt sander to round outside corners if it is too tight to fit.  The side window foam may also be removed if it is still too tight to fit the Interior Window Frame inside the trailer’s window (insulating foam can be pushed into gaps later when setting up at the campsite if necessary).
h.  Slide the square Interior Window Frame over the back of the AC to make sure it can slide almost all the way to the front of the AC (it should stop about an inch from the front due to protruding flanges on the AC).
i.  Fit the square Window Frame into the rear window (pipe foam will hold it in place)

Window Frame Sandwich Plates (Inner / Outer)
The purpose of the Window Frame Sandwich Plates is to hold the Interior Window Frame securely in place and provide insulation from insects and weather.

  1. Cut two 21” wide x 18” high x ½” thick pieces (I had Home Depot cut these)
  2. Trace round back outside window curves onto paper, apply by pencil to above pieces.
  3. Use the jigsaw and belt sander to round each outer window piece (watch video), also slightly round the window corners in the center of the trailer window to eliminate sharp points which can cause damage in transit
  4. Have a partner hold Outer Sandwich Plate in place over outside of rear window, completely covering the opening and level, and, on the inside of the trailer, use a pencil and mark the interior outline of the window frame on the inside of the Outer Sandwich Plate
  5. Use jigsaw to cut marked middle hole in Outer Sandwich plate (first start by drilling 5/16” holes in each corner so that the jigsaw blade may be inserted)
  6. Use outer Sandwich plate as template to mark middle hole position in Inner Sandwich Plate and use jigsaw to cut marked middle hole in Inner Sandwich Plate.
  7. Now, both Sandwich plates should have middle holes to allow the back of the AC to pass through
  8. Line up the Interior Window Frame with the Inner Sandwich Plate on a table and push a pencil through the 5/16” holes to mark the five holes in the top and bottom of the Interior Window Frame (3 marks on top and 2 marks on bottom). Then use these marks to drill 5/16” holes in both Sandwich Plates (using one as a template for the other).  These are for the hex bolts to pass through.
  9. Glue/screw (#6 x 1” Phillips Flat Head Wood Screws x 12 – three on each side) to attach the Interior Window Frame to the inside of the Inner Sandwich Plate (make sure no parts of the plate rise above the Interior Window Frame opening so the AC will continue to pass through unobstructed)
  10. The five Zinc Plated Hex Bolts (six ¼”-20, 4” long) will go all the way through the two Sandwich Plates, and wing nuts on the outside of the Outer Sandwich Plate will hold both Sandwich Plates tightly against the Interior Window Frame (and the plates against the foam on the inside and outside of the trailer). This will hold the window frame assembly securely in position and prevent the AC from falling out of the trailer.
  11. Now assemble the complete window frame by bolting together the Inner (with the Interior Window Frame attached) and Outer Sandwich frames, securing the five hex bolts with ¼” -20 Plated Wing Nuts on the outside. Note:  I had to remove part of the rubber rear window stopper because the rear window didn’t open enough to allow the Interior Window Frame assembly to fit through the opening (at some point, on our Scamp, it didn’t help to keep removing pieces of the stopper because the window panel is eventually stopped from opening by the curve of the window.)  I also had to sand the outer upper and lower left hand (outer) corners of the Interior Window Frame round so the assembly would fit in the window.  It was too tight a fit even after taking these steps, so I needed to remove the outside side piece of pipe foam.  Insulating weather stripping comes with the AC and can be used at the campsite to temporarily fill any gaps

Platform Base
The purpose of the Platform Base is to help support the weight of the AC unit by using a PVC Leg and a PVC Foot to rest on top of the travel trailer bumper (which is welded to the Scamp trailer’s frame).

  1. Platform Base: Cut one 16” wide x 12” deep” x ½”  thick piece (I had Home Depot cut this)
  2. Use the jigsaw and belt sander to slightly round each corner of the Platform Base (for safety)
  3. Cut channels for underneath Platform Base: one 10” x 2.5” x ¾” thick (interior), one 6” x 2.5” x ¾” thick (exterior) (Home Depot can do this)
  4. Insert completed Interior Window Frame over pipe foam and then secure Outer Sandwich Plate to the Interior Sandwich Plate / Interior Window Frame with hex bolts and wing nuts
  5. Place Platform Base on top of the Interior Window Frame (so it doesn’t fall)
  6. Have a partner help position the AC inside the trailer (and someone outside to prevent the AC from falling out just in case) and put the AC on top of the Platform Base and hold the Platform Base in position as the AC back is pushed back inside the Interior Window Frame all the way until it stops (the outer flange protrusions on the AC should stop it from moving back when about a couple of inches of the interior control face is left inside the trailer). Adjust the Platform Base so it comes all the way out to the back end of the AC on the outside, as well as making sure the front AC feet are resting on it.
  7. With the AC nicely in position on the Platform Base, position the Channels (interior and exterior) on each side of the Interior Window Frame so they are against the Interior Window Frame’s bottom walls (inside and outside) and butted up on top against the underside of the Platform Base, not blocking the hex bolt holes, and mark these positions on the underside of the Platform Base (these markings will be where the Channels are glued and then screwed into the Platform Base)
  8. Remove the AC and entire assembly from the trailer
  9. Drill 3/32” pilot holes in the Platform Base (3 for the smaller exterior channel and 5 for the larger interior one, evenly spaced) up from the bottom of the Platform Base (inside the marked areas)
  10. Glue/screw (using #6 x 1” Phillips Flat Head Zinc Plated Wood Screws) both Inside and Outside Channels underneath the Platform Base (using the pilot holes as a guide for screw locations), making sure no channel blocks the hex bolt holes
  11. Place the Platform Base on top of the Interior Window Frame so that it is held in place by the Outer and Inner Channels underneath the platform. It should fit perfectly, with the Channels snugly up against the Interior Window Frame
  12. PVC Platform Base and Foot: Cut three 6” lengths (with saw or PVC cutter) of the 1” PVC and plug two of them into one of the PVC T connectors and also install PVC Caps on each end (and repeat again, but only using one 6” length and cap for the foot)
  13. Set up the AC window mount assembly in the trailer window (with the Platform Base)
  14. Position the PVC under the wood platform so that the PVC Leg (once cut to size) will align the PVC Platform Foot (secured to the bumper with Velcro) with the travel trailer bumper and mark the positions of where the two 2-Hole Pipe Hanger Straps 1” should be mounted (and use the #6 x 3/8” wood screws (4) to mount the PVC Platform Base under the wood platform) (make sure to leave enough space so the wing nuts can still be installed/removed
  15. Cut a section of PVC to length so that the PVC leg will just come down to and rest on the bumper when the PVC Platform Foot is installed (the Platform Base should be fairly level with a slight tilt back so any AC condensation drips outside). This lower section of PVC with the foot can be removed and stored separately for ease of transport when travelling.

Now that all parts have been made and the glue has dried, it’s time to test the system!  Open the rear window, place the pipe foam all around the window, insert the Inner Sandwich Plate/Inner Window Frame into position, insert the bolts, and use wing nuts to secure the Outer Sandwich Plate against the Inner Sandwich Plate/Inner Window Frame.  From the outside rear of the trailer, put the Platform Base in position and then plug the PVC leg into the PVC T Connector on the Platform Base.  Secure the PVC Platform Foot to the trailer’s bumper with a Velcro Strap.  Then, using a helper (to help lift the weight of the AC) inside the trailer, slide the AC into the Interior Frame.  Everything should be very secure and stable.  Add strip insulation as necessary so no sky can be seen when looking at the AC from inside the trailer.  Plug in the AC into the trailer’s 110V outlet (need electric hookups) and let it run to make sure it cools properly.  If everything runs great, remove the AC with a partner, take the assembly apart, and then paint all the wood components (I used glossy White to match our Scamp 13’s glossy white finish).  Now, the only thing left is to plan your summer trips and don’t forget to pack the AC!

Note:  We had the opportunity to use this new AC system in very hot weather (see upcoming Adventure article on the Central Sierra).  The AC performed exceedingly well in over 100 degree weather, chilling down the Scamp so well that blankets were pulled from the closet!

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

 

Lake Almanor, Rocky Point Campground (PG&E)

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Lake Almanor, Rocky Point Campground (PG&E)
June 11th – 20th, 2022 (9 nights)

Summer is the perfect time to head up to the mountains, relax and have fun at beautiful lakes.  The weather is usually nice and sunny and not too warm or cold.  On this trip, we chose to visit a relatively unheard of lake, called Lake Almanor (elevation 4,505 ft.), far up in Northern California near Lassen Volcanic National Park (about 5 hours north of San Francisco).  Since the trip is a long distance from our home in San Diego, we chose to make some overnight rest stops before and after reaching Lake Almanor.  On our way up, we stopped at my cousin Jon’s home in Santa Barbara and spent the night.  Our next stop was at my sister’s house in Oakland, where we spent a couple of nights hiking and relaxing with family.  The final leg from Oakland to Lake Almanor took us about 5 hours and we arrived at our campsite, site #52, by the lake around 1:30 p.m.  Returning home, we stopped first in Oakland and then at my brother’s house in Pacific Palisades.  The total trip cost for gasoline was $544 with our 2020 Volvo XC40 tow vehicle averaging around 20 mpg towing our Scamp 13’.

In the Lake Almanor area, Rocky Point campground is one of PG&E’s campgrounds which the utility shares with the public for a reasonable nightly rate.  We paid $30/night for our no hookup site (no hookups are available here) and $7 to use the central Dump station.  Reservation windows for each season become available at different times in the spring and it’s best to check PG&E’s website for details.  It’s also a good idea to reserve your campsite the first morning PG&E’s online reservations system opens.  We reserved two campsites on April 25th (one for us and one for our friends) (the online reservation system actually opened a week earlier but it was only for those making reservations for stays of a week or longer).  Here’s a video of the lake and campground area.

Lake Almanor is actually a reservoir which PG&E uses to generate electricity through a dam (hydroelectric project).  The lake has 52 miles of coastline and was completed by Great Western Power in 1927 and named after the three daughters of a company executive:  Alice, Martha, and Eleanor.  Lassen Volcanic National Park is a short drive away (we didn’t visit this time because we stayed at its Manzanita Lake Campground last summer) and its towering snowcapped Mt. Lassen is visible in the distance of Lake Almanor.  There are plenty of fun things to do at this under-the-radar location and the nice thing is that there are few crowds to deal with here (unlike at Yosemite National Park).  Water activities on Lake Almanor’s 28,000 acres (e.g. boating, stand up paddle boarding, jet skiing, kayaking, fishing, swimming, and sunbathing on the beach) along with hiking and biking on the paved Lake Almanor Recreation Trail (which goes on for miles) are some of the favorites.

We had plenty of engaging activities the four days we stayed at Lake Almanor.  And, best of all, our friends, Phil & Claudia, were able to join us on this trip which made for a seriously fun time!  On our first day, we took a bike ride on the Lake Almanor Recreation Trail (total length around 19 miles round trip).  The ride is moderately challenging with drops and climbs and goes along the lake through forests.  We only completed about 10 miles round trip and travelled from the campground to Pratville (closest small town to the campground) and back.  This little town is made up of several small businesses which include a general store, Carol’s Pratville Café (all the locals rave about the food and ice-cream here), and some small lakeside resorts and cabins.  There are occasional benches on the trail that look out on beautiful views over the lake which make for pleasant rest stops.  Our ride took us about three hours and we were tired when we got back to our campsite.  After our long ride was the perfect time to try out our new hammock!  Lying in the hammock and looking at the lake and sky was totally peaceful and relaxing.  We also had a chance to play one of our favorite games, Sequence, with our friends.

On the following days at the campground, we took more walks (and even walked to the dam) and played more games.  We watched ospreys feeding and even saw one drop a fish into the lake!  We relaxed in our new chairs on the beach and took our inflatable kayak out onto the lake.  We enjoyed watching movies at night in our Scamp 13′.  The weather was beautiful our entire visit (mostly in the 70’s during the day), but early the morning we left it snowed (mid June)!  We saw snow on car’s hoods and a winter wonderland, with the forest blanketed in white powder, as we drove down the mountain!  With so many things to do at Lake Almanor, our only regret is not having spent more time relaxing in our new hammock!  There’s always next year!!!

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

Big Bear Lake, Serrano Campground

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Big Bear Lake, Serrano Campground
May 22nd – 25th, 2022 (3 nights)

Big Bear Lake is a beautiful mountain lake (elevation 6,800’) located about three hours from San Diego.  The area is great for all season activities.  Skiing is very popular at Big Bear’s Bear Mountain and Snow Summit ski areas.  Spring and summer are the perfect time for a camping trip at the lake as the weather is usually nice.  The two main routes to reach Big Bear Lake from Los Angeles and San Diego are going up on CA-330 or CA-38.  Highway 330 is quicker by about 30 minutes, but very windy with repeated hair pin turns and more trafficked compared to CA-38.  Since we weren’t pressed for time and had our Scamp 13’ in tow, we chose CA-38.  We left our home at about 11 a.m. and had a nice leisurely drive up to the campground, arriving around 2 p.m. (check in time) for a late lunch.  The CA-38 has some windy sections, but nothing like the CA-330, so we were very glad we took the slow and less direct approach!  Note:  both our Waze and Google Maps navigators kept trying to reroute us to CA-330 for a while when driving through Redlands.  Instead, we ignored the directions to exit on the 77B/CA-210 Foothill Freeway and stayed on the 10 East and exited on Orange Street and then right on E. Lugonia Avenue (which turns into the CA-38).  In other words, figure out your directions to use the CA-38 before you leave the house!

Serrano Campground is a beautiful campground set amongst tall pines on the north shore of Big Bear Lake.  This side of the lake is not as busy as the south shore where the village with all its shops and restaurants are located.  And, Serrano Campground is fairly isolated and private.   We noticed when pulling into Serrano Campground that there is a free day use area (Meadows Edge Picnic Area) across the street directly on the lake that will accommodate cars/RVs and offers picnic tables and a nice beach.  Meadows Edge seems a perfect spot to have lunch and relax when arriving early before 2 p.m. check in time.  There was no line when we drove up to the Serrano Campground Ranger Station check in kiosk.  We were given a map, told that no bears had been sighted recently (although campsites have bear boxes), and directed to our campsite (#121).  Site #121 (currently $37/night) is in partial shade and has no hookups (although there is a central dump in the campground / currently $10).  There is a water spigot directly across from Site #121 (and many sprinkled throughout the campground).  From this site, it’s only a short walk to the lake and the Alpine Pedal Path (more on this later) from Site #121.  We didn’t get any HDTV signals within our Scamp 13’, but the Verizon cellphone and internet coverage was very good during our stay here.

Although Site #121 is listed within the Lake View section, we found only a few sites actually have a lake view (#115/116, #114, #117).  Our top site picks in the Lake View section are #115/116 (double site costing 2x the price of a regular site = currently $74/night), #114, #117, (#118 and #119 if reserving with families or friends as these sites are close together), #120, #121, and #95.  The other campground loops have road noise from Hwy 38/North Shore Drive (although not too bad).  For those wanting hookups, the Snowberry RV Loop has full hookup sites (currently $47/night).  If possible, we recommend the Lake View Loop since it has less road noise.  We used our briefcase solar panel system for power and Holy Grail Portable Grey Tank Solution to unload grey water, which allowed us to avoid paying $10 more a night for a full hookup site or using the dump our entire three night stay (despite the two of us taking hot showers every night!).

The wonderful smell of butterscotch and vanilla produced by the pines is reason enough to stay within Serrano Campground!  Scientists don’t know why Ponderosa pines smell like cookies baking, but guess the smell may result from a chemical in the sap being warmed by the sun.  Morning walks or bike rides along the Alpine Pedal Path (miles of paved bike/walking path along the lake and through the pine forests) are particularly effective in refreshing the soul.  Studies have shown that getting out in nature and breathing fresh air just produced by trees helps physical well-being by reducing blood pressure, heart rate and stress.  We definitely felt this to be the case during our visit!  We enjoyed morning’s walks along the lake as well as bike rides on the Alpine Pedal Path.  We chose to continue our bike ride across the Stanfield Cutoff which provides a bike path across the end of the lake into the village of Big Bear.  It’s a little over 5 miles from the campground to the end of the Alpine Pedal Path and back along the easy paved path (the path only follows part of the shoreline on the north shore and one end is close to Serrano campground).  Allow a couple of hours to complete the path for a nice time.  There are numerous places to stop and take in the views along with benches and signs with descriptions of the various aspects of Big Bear Lake.

Big Bear Lake also is a great place for water activities like fishing, boating / kayaking, water skiing, and relaxing on the beach.  There are kayak rentals at the dock near the campground.  We didn’t bring our inflatable kayak this time but did see a few campers fishing for trout from the beach.  We could spot a number of large trout close to the shore while walking along the sand.  There is an observatory right on the beach in front of the campground (Big Bear Solar Observatory / BBSO), but public tours have been closed due to Covid.  BBSO had the largest operational solar telescope from 2008 until 2020 (until the introduction of the Inouye Solar Telescope @ 4 meter aperture in Hawaii).  For those who enjoy mountain biking, Big Bear’s ski resorts (Snow Summit and Bear Mountain) turn into lift-served, gravity fed bike parks during the summer.  Riders can ride the lifts to the top and choose a variety of runs to ride their bikes down to the bottom.

If you enjoy animals, plan to visit the Big Bear Alpine Zoo.  The zoo is actually a rehabilitation center and sanctuary for wild animals that need help (e.g. injured, orphaned, and imprinted animals).  The zoo, owned and operated by a division of the County of San Bernardino and established in 1959, releases the vast majority of animals back into the wild after their rehabilitation.  We had a great visit walking the grounds of the zoo and saw a number of incredible animals, including bald eagles, golden eagles, owls, cranes, brown bears, grizzly bears, snow leopards, a white wolf, raccoons, and coyotes, among many others.  Some of the animals are rescued locally and others are from other areas of the country.  For example, we saw a Grizzly bear mother and her two large cubs who were rescued from Yellowstone National Park because they were constantly getting too close to the public.  The mama bear was teaching her cubs to steal food from people.  Most of the animals we saw seemed calm and contented, with the exception of one coyote who appeared distressed (perhaps a recent rescue).  Allow at least an hour to explore the zoo (currently $15 for adult entry).

If hiking is to your liking, there are a plethora of trails to explore.  With only a few days to visit and so much to see, we chose to hike one of the most renowned hikes, Castle Rock Trail.  This 2.7 mile out-and-back trail is moderately challenging and takes a couple of hours to complete (with stops for views).  An easy way to get to the trail from Serrano Campground is drive the CA-38E / North Shore drive (opposite direction than to the Stanfield Cutoff) around the West side of Big Bear Lake to Big Bear Blvd. on the south side of the lake.  The trail parking is on the street on a curve and there isn’t much of it, so best to arrive in the early morning.  There is a trail marker at the start of the trail.  The trail is steep with lots of rocky terrain, so take it slowly and watch your step.  Bring plenty of water and some snacks.  It’s easy to get off the main trail because there are lots of side trails, but there is a solution — follow the rock baskets (cairns) which are easy to see and usually there is one within sight (or within a short walking distance from the last one).  Castle Rock is off to the right near the top and there is a side trail that goes around its backside to the boulders.  We climbed a small portion of the boulders and were rewarded with a great view of the lake far down below.  The Castle Rock Trail continues on, and you can hike up until the trail ends and then on further if you want (at a branch at the top with another couple of trails – one to Bluff Lake)

We really enjoyed Serrano Campground at Big Bear Lake and are already planning another visit.  There are a few areas of interest that were closed or we didn’t have time for during our visit which we hope we’ll be able to explore next time.  We would like to visit the Discovery Center (visitor and nature center), the Big Bear Solar Observatory, the Alpine Slide, hike some more trails, enjoy an evening interpretive program, and perhaps do some kayaking on the lake.  As always, make sure to take some movies to enjoy in your camper at night as well as some of your favorite games (like our favorite, Sequence).  So, if you are looking for a fantastic lakeside getaway, look no further than Serrano Campground at Big Bear Lake!

 

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

How to Replace Broken Grey/Black Valve Handles and Caps

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How to Replace Broken Grey/Black Valve Handles and Caps
We just celebrated the two year anniversary of the delivery of our 2020 Scamp 13’.  In the past couple of years we’ve been to incredible places, seen miraculous things, and have had numerous adventures.  We’ve also been fortunate that there have been no major issues since receiving our trailer from the factory.  We have done a bunch of upgrades which make our Scamp much more comfortable and livable and all of these changes can be found on this website!  Sometimes, though, minor parts need to be replaced over time.  And, on our last trip (Anza Borrego Desert State Park), our Scamp did have some parts issues.  One of the valve handles broke apart when dumping.  And, at the same time, one of the two bayonet hooks, holding the black tank valve cover on, broke.

Once a valve handle breaks, it’s harder to open and close the valve when dumping.  Plastic parts are vulnerable to wear and tear and their eventual failure might also be accelerated by UV exposure when outside.  Fortunately, replacing the valve handles and caps to the grey and black tank connections is easy and inexpensive.   Rather than replace our broken valve handle with another plastic one, we went with this lightweight aluminum handle.  To remove and replace the broken handle, just use a pair of vice grips to stop the metal rod from turning and twist the broken handle counterclockwise to remove.  Similarly, twist the new handle clockwise onto the metal rod to install.  Note:  to avoid a mess, it’s best to completely drain all tanks before doing this to avoid pulling the valve rod open and accidentally releasing grey or black water.

When a cap cover bayonet hook breaks and the cap no longer seals securely onto the grey/black sewer connection pipe properly, the excess grey and black water runoff may leak onto the ground even after closing the valves.  That’s definitely a mess to avoid.  The stock valve covers only have two bayonet hooks, so if one breaks there isn’t much holding the cover on and providing a good seal.  So, when one of the hooks broke on our black tank valve cover, we chose a cap with 4 bayonet hooks instead of two.  That way, if one (or even two) breaks, the cover still can be securely sealed onto the drainage pipe.  This Camco cover seems to do a great job (and at the time of this writing is less than $5!).  The cover also comes with a garden hose connection, which is great for draining grey tank water into jugs (like what we do with our “Holy Grail Portable Grey Water Tank Solution”).  Additionally, there may be some locations (e.g. BLM lands) where dumping grey water may be legal and having a long garden hose allows for the grey water to be dumped far away from the trailer.  Note:  Although we do use this cap on our black tank sewer connection, we never use the garden hose connection because it would likely get clogged with black water debris.  We only drain black water using standard 3” rv sewer hoses when connected directly to dump station drains.

So, if you find yourself in a situation where your grey or black tank handle snaps or one of your drain covers breaks, don’t be too concerned.  Just replace them easily and inexpensively!  It’s also a good idea to carry extras on hand when you travel, just in case.

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

Alabama Hills Extreme Adventure

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Alabama Hills Extreme Adventure
April 3rd – 9th, 2022 (6 nights)

We expected this trip to be an adventure since it is the first trip we’ve been on where all our planned California campsites would be first come, first serve (no reservations).  When all the campsites on a trip are non-reserved, it is normal to feel a bit uneasy after driving hours and pulling into each camp area!  Questions run through one’s mind, such as:  Will there be a decent place to park and spend the night?, What if the campground is full?, and Where will we go if the campground is sold out?  Definitely, having a potential backup plan is always a good idea just in case no spaces are available upon arriving.  And, planning on arriving early and during the week likely improves one’s odds of getting a spot (or at least gives time to drive to another campground if necessary and arrive there when it’s still light).  We also researched each campground in depth before our trip and arrived at each with a list of the best potential campsite numbers (or general locations) to make finding a spot easier.  As it turned out, we never had a problem getting a first come, first serve campsite on this trip.  Surprisingly, the biggest adventures (and misadventures) were related to the extreme nature of simply accessing some of these more remote camping locations.

The drive to Alabama Hills (near Lone Pine, CA) in the Eastern Sierra is over five hours from our home in San Diego.  So, in order to break up the trip, we chose to stop for overnight stays at a couple of interesting places along the way.  The first stop on our trip is a fantastic location in its own right, Red Rock Canyon State Park.

Red Rock Canyon State Park
Located about 25 miles northeast of Mojave on California Route 14, Red Rock Canyon State Park might remind one of Zion National Park with its tall colorful pink-striped mountain walls.  The spectacular desert cliffs, buttes, and rock formations have striking colors of white clay and red sandstone, pink volcanic rocks, and brown lava formations.  The geography is so striking that it inspired many filmmakers to make movies and television shows here.  Battlestar Galactica, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Buck Rogers, Capricorn One, The Mummy, Zoro Rides Again, Jurassic Park, Westworld, Lost in Space, The Andromeda Strain, and the Twilight Zone are among the many Hollywood productions made at Red Rock Canyon State Park.  For a more comprehensive list, click here.

We pulled into Red Rock Canyon State Park on Sunday around lunch time with our site list in hand, eager to find a great empty spot up against one of the colorful rock formations.  We found the campground to be relatively empty and we secured site #16 (one of our top site picks).  The campsites are dirt and uneven and, in turn, we needed to use our Andersen Leveler to get our Scamp 13’ level along with wheel chocks to secure our Scamp 13’.  The weather was ideal during our April visit – mid 80’s during the day and 60’s at night.  For a fly over of the park, click here.

Once we set up our Scamp 13’, we drove over to the Visitor Center and reserved our site #16 for the night and paid the campsite fee ($25/night).  There is a central dump ($20 as of this writing) and fill station at the Visitor Center.  We also did a little shopping and purchased some park t-shirts and a California State Parks cap in the small gift store.  There are also free water spigots throughout the campground.  After a great lunch of gnocchi and Bolognese sauce, we hiked the Desert Trail to the top rim above the campground at sunset.  The trails at the top of the cliffs provide magnificent views of the desert landscape below.  The colors and depth of the scenery around sunrise and sunset is especially enchanting.  Wildlife one might see hiking in the park include desert tortoises, snakes, foxes, eagles, hawks, White-throated Swifts, bobcats, and small animals like lizards, mice, and squirrels.  The canyon walls turn red at sunrise and sunset, so it’s a good idea when visiting to try to get outside your trailer during these hours.  Right before dark, we switched on our Scamp underlighting set to green — under trailer rv lighting apparently can help keep rodents away and the color green has been shown to make mice sleepy!  After watching a good movie in the evening, we went to bed, but were woken in the middle of the night by an extremely loud howling wind storm.  Even after trying ear plugs and a white noise app on our cell phone, it was still possible to hear the wind.  Luckily, since there are no hookups at this campground, we were fully ballasted with water (approximately 150 lbs. of water) which helped at least a bit in keeping our travel trailer from shaking too much.

There is only very spotty internet throughout the campground, but the Visitor Center provides free WiFi which worked pretty well.  Additionally, we were successful at getting a good cell signal and mobile data on the top rim above the campground.  There is a nice bench at the top which looks out over a valley and we sat on several occasions enjoying the view with good internet, and making phone calls.  The next morning we did another short hike before refilling our Scamp 13’ with fresh water (along with our three 6 gallon water jugs) and driving on to our next planned location, the Trona Pinnacles.  Note:  make sure to use a good dolly when moving water as it can be very heavy.

The Trona Pinnacles
The Trona Pinnacles, about 10 miles south of Trona, California, are strange rock formations that rise high (some over 100 feet high) above a dry lake basin (Searles Lake).  The tufa spires are composed of calcium carbonate, formed by water deposits.  The tufas sit isolated on miles of a flat dried mud basin and have an eerie presence.  Over a dozen hit movies have been filmed here along with many car commercials and television shows (including Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek V:  The Final Frontier, Lost in Space, and Planet of the Apes).  For a comprehensive list click here.

The drive from Red Rock Canyon State Park to the Trona Pinnacles is supposed to be about an hour and a half.  The area, managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), is accessed via a long (5 mile) dirt road off State Highway 178.  Despite researching how to access the Pinnacles and instructions on this dirt road, we still managed to have a major misadventure!  After a series of unfortunate events (lack of signs, wrong turns, continually narrowing roads), we found ourselves on a grueling ATV trail with no easy and safe way to turn around.  We continued on over an hour (10 miles) of slow off-road driving south of Trona Pinnacles in 100 degree heat in April — the road sometimes taking steep dips with large rock center mounds!  The trick to preventing the Scamp from bottoming out whenever high rocks appeared on the center mound was to keep one side of the car as high as possible by driving on the center mound.  Avoiding plants and rocks on the sides as well as limiting the vehicle lean angle to prevent tipping was also important.  There were times when all tires on our AWD tow vehicle slipped on soft sand during steep climbs and lost traction, so we had to ease back a little and try the hill again.  Here’s a short video from our off road drive!

When we finally arrived at the Pinnacles from the south, we noticed our shower water pump (which hangs down really low below the Scamp) was damaged.  Because of the heat and our broken pump situation, we decided to head directly to the closest town (Ridgecrest) for repairs.  Fortunately, a local RV repair shop took us right in and replaced the water pump.   While we waited for the repair, we decided we had enough of the Trona Pinnacles and didn’t want to venture back.  So, instead, we decided to go to another location we had heard good things about called Fossil Falls (which is on the way to Alabama Hills).

Fossil Falls
Just one hour north of Ridgecrest on Highway 395 (about halfway to Lone Pine / Alabama Hills), Fossil Falls is a BLM campground that’s relatively easy to reach (short dirt access road not far from the highway).  The Fossil Falls Campground (elevation 3,307 feet) has only 11 developed campsites (first come, first serve) with picnic tables and grills, but only 4 are recommended for trailers and RVs (4,5,6, & 8).  The other campsites are generally smaller, not as level, and harder to get into.  Despite arriving late in the day, most of the trailer/RV sites were still empty when we pulled into the campground.  We chose site #5, parked our Scamp 13’ at this pull through and level spot, and then walked down to the Iron Ranger box to submit our payment ($6/night at the time of this writing).  We knew in advance that these boxes only accept cash or check, so we brought plenty of $5’s and $1’s.  To see a fly over of Campsite #5 and the Fossil Falls Campground, click here.

There are no hookups at this campground; however, there is a water pump.  Expecting water spigots, we were a little surprised when we found the water pump.  It’s actually a real manually operated pump and wrestling the pump to get the water out of the ground takes some effort!  We didn’t even try to fill our Scamp 13’ fresh tank here since we planned to dump our Black and Grey tanks and refill our Fresh water tank the next day at a private RV park along the way to the Alabama Hills.  It seems it would take a lot of work and time to get a measurable amount of water out of the pump!  To see a video of me trying out the manual water pump, click here.

Fossil Falls Campground is a very unique campground in that is at the base of a cinder cone volcano (Red Hill) and the area is strewn with lava rocks, giving the area an otherworldly feel.  Camping close to the base of the volcano amid fields of volcanic rock is an unusual experience!  Close to the campground (a trail leads to the trailhead from Campsite #1), is a short trail to the “falls”.  Between 10,000 and 400,000 years ago, lava flowed in the area.  Glaciers formed in the last ice age melted and the water flows ran through the lava rocks at Fossil Falls to create smooth and unusually shaped volcanic rocks.  Once at the volcanic rock “falls”, don’t get too close as there is a big drop to the bottom of the gorge.

The next morning we noticed a few more campers set up at adjacent campsites.  We were glad we left our green under lighting on throughout the night since, not only may it help keep rodents away, the lights may also prevent someone from accidently driving into the trailer when arriving at the campground in the dark of night.  After a nice breakfast and hike to Fossil Falls, we packed up and headed to our next destination, a place to dump and fill fresh water (Boulder Creek RV Resort).

After a lot of research and phone calls, we discovered that RV dumping facilities in this area are scarce!  There is a dump station and water at Tuttle Creek Campground in Lone Pine – but, it is only seasonally operated and was not running during our trip.  Someone mentioned that the RV park in the town of Olancha (the town south of Lone Pine) has an RV dump, but we were told there is no dump available when we called.  We contacted the Boulder Creek RV Resort in Lone Pine a couple of times and were given conflicting information regarding if dumping facilities were available.  We decided to risk it, because our trip would quickly be over if we couldn’t dump (our Black tank was already at 50% after a couple of days on the road).  After about a 45 minute drive, we pulled up to the Boulder Creek RV Resort in Lone Pine.  The first thing I noticed before opening the glass door to the office at Boulder Creek RV Resort is the big lettering on the glass which says “No Public Dump”.  I was told at the front desk that they get very busy and usually don’t have time to deal with campers who aren’t staying overnight at their campground (we were quoted $65/night for a full hookup site).  After repeatedly explaining that we couldn’t find a place to dump in the area, we were allowed to use one of the small campsites (#27) for $25 to dump and fill fresh water.  We were prepared to rent a campsite at Boulder Creek RV Resort for the night at $65 in case they didn’t allow us to dump so we would be able to spend 4 nights in the Alabama Hills.  Fortunately, this wasn’t necessary!

Make sure to stop at the Lone Pine Visitor Center on the way to the Alabama Hills!  It’s a very large center with lots of information on the Alabama Hills and the area.  Plus, there’s plenty of great merchandise like t-shirts and hats!

Alabama Hills
Alabama Hills is an awe inspiring location just outside the small town of Lone Pine in the Eastern Sierra (about a five hour drive north east of San Diego).  The area sits at the base of the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada in the Owens Valley and features a dramatic mountain range, hills, and incredible large round boulder rock formations.  Mt. Whitney, the highest mountain in the contiguous United States at 14,505 feet, along with other high snowcapped mountains, forms a panoramic backdrop to enjoy while camping and exploring in the Alabama Hills.  Countless movies, television shows, and commercials have been filmed here.  The first movies to be filmed in the hills were Water, Water Everywhere and Cupid, the Cow Puncher, both released in 1920 (now considered lost films).  The oldest surviving film shot in the hills is “The Roundup” (released 1920) starring Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, which includes a cameo from his friend Buster Keaton.  Most major Western actors of the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s were filmed riding their horses amid the rocks of the Alabama Hills which include John Wayne, Gregory Peck, Gary Cooper, Gene Autry, Tom Mix, Randolph Scott, Robert Mitchum, William Boyd, and Roy Rogers.  Other famous movies and television shows filmed here include Gunga Din, Tremors, Iron Man, Bad Day at Black Rock, How the West Was Won, Django Unchained, Gladiator, Man of Steel, Star Trek Generations, Around the World in 80 Days, Star Trek 5:  The Final Frontier, and Firefly.  For an extensive list click here.

There are several campgrounds in the Lone Pine area (Tuttle Creek Campground, Lone Pine Campground, Portuguese Joe Campground, and Diaz Lake Campground).  The only one which we identified as having a dump station is Tuttle Creek Campground; it has water spigots and a central dump station when in season (however, these were still off for winter during our early April visit).  After researching all the campgrounds, our plan was to stay within the Alabama Hills (BLM dispersed camping area / no fee) because of the most dramatic views and movie making history.  The unsettling thing about camping in the Alabama Hills is that there are no reservations and the campsites, although somewhat defined, are scattered throughout the landscape and have to be searched out (most of which are off the main road on dirt roads – some of which are a bit harsh for towing campers).  We read before going that the best sites for trailers are ones very close to the main road.  To give us the best possible chance of finding a decent spot, we arrived early in the day and during the week (Tuesday morning).  Our backup plan in case we couldn’t find a campsite in the Alabama Hills was to stay at Tuttle Creek Campground because it has nice mountain views as well (just not as dramatic a setting as the Alabama Hills, a campground feel, and ten to fifteen minutes farther from town).

Getting to the Alabama Hills is really easy; it’s just a five minute drive up Whitney Portal Road from downtown Lone Pine and a right turn onto Movie Flat Road.  Movie Flat Road is paved for a little while and then turns to dirt.  Our goal was to try to find a campsite as early as possible before going too far back so we would have a quick drive to town and, perhaps, a chance of an internet connection (but, as it turned out, we experienced only a fading one bar of Verizon service with occasional text coming though).  On our first pass, we didn’t see any campsites that stood out and we quickly found ourselves at the end of the paved road and onto the dirt road.  And, having experienced our misadventure at the Trona Pinnacles earlier in the trip, we weren’t in any mood to do extreme off-road adventuring.  We turned around and this time slowly made our way back down the paved Movie Flat Road toward Whitney Portal Road.  This time we took it slowly and decided to drive down one of the main dirt roads.  And, we discovered, there are numerous places to set up a campsite and we found one high up on the hill directly below a tall wall of interesting rock formations.  We were told by a ranger at the Lone Pine Visitor Center that the only camping allowed was on the right side while driving up Movie Flat Road (and there are BLM marker signs as well).  The BLM is currently in the process of implementing a permit system and plans to better define camping areas to mitigate over use of the area; we were told that this will be happening very soon.  As it turns out, our experience off-roading at the Trona Pinnacles gave us plenty of confidence here in the Alabama Hills.  In fact, we found ourselves judging the dirt roads with ease and picking out safe routes to locate a campsite.  After a short bit of driving, we found an excellent campsite high up on the hill with a panoramic view of the Eastern Sierra (including unobstructed views of Mt. Whitney)!!!  To see a video of us driving through the Alabama Hills and our campsite, click here.

The key to finding a good campsite within the Alabama Hills is to take one’s time and go slowly.  Stay on the better dirt roads and avoid any that have steep dips.  If unsure, stop and walk or bike the dirt road to where you think might be a good campsite.  We found that there are many good dirt roads at the start of the Alabama Hills (just a few minutes up Movie Flat Road).  Also, only set up camp at a relatively flat site and make sure to bring heavy duty wheel chocks to secure your trailer on the dirt.  The site we found was flat but was high up on a hill, so, for peace of mind, we parked our tow vehicle in front of our trailer in the unlikely event it rolled forward.

When planning a trip to the Alabama Hills, it’s helpful to understand how you use your trailer’s resources because there are no dump stations, fresh water spigots, electrical hookups, or propane refilling stations in the Alabama Hills (completely dry camping).  First, and perhaps most important, is how long your Black and Grey tanks take to fill and how quickly your Fresh tank is depleted.  The Grey and Fresh tank concerns can be addressed to extend your stay.  Grey water can be dumped into jugs (see Holy Grail Portable Grey Water Tank Solution).  Our Grey tank usually fills in about two to three days.  And fresh water can be filled into fresh water jugs and transported with your tow vehicle to resupply your trailer’s Fresh tank.  We can go about one and a half days before our 12 gallon fresh water tank is empty (using about 8 gallons of fresh water per day for nightly showers, sink washing, and toilet flushes).  We made friends with a local teenager working at a car wash in town and he let us fill our three 6 gallon fresh water jugs (we used our own hose with a water filter for better purity).  We also found, while visiting new camper friends we made on this trip, water spigots at Diaz Lake Campground (just 5 minutes down the road from Lone Pine) – although, these are probably only meant for people staying at this public campground.  The Black tank usually turns out to be the Achilles’ heel for long stays, as the only way to drain it is by going to a Dump station (unless you want to deal with portable Black tanks, generally not recommended).  So, when the Black tank is full, the only choice is to either pack up, dump, and return or to end your stay in the area.  We planned to stay four nights in the Alabama Hills and this worked out to be the amount of time it took to fill our Black tank.  Lastly, although we did see a propane dealer in Lone Pine, it’s best to arrive with full tanks (we recommend two full 20lb tanks) so there are no worries about keeping the propane refrigerator, hot water heater, and gas stove operational.  We found we had more than enough propane for the week from just a single tank running our refrigerator 24/7, our hot water heater for evening showers, and our gas stove for daily meals.  But, if it had happened to be really cold at night, a second propane tank would have provided ample resources for running the furnace.

Another consideration when dry camping for a number of days in the Alabama Hills is power.  We brought our solar panel briefcase along and it provided ample power for the duration of the trip.  Right before the trip, we also purchased a 50’ extension cable for our solar briefcase so that, if necessary, the solar panels could be located a distance away from the trailer to better capture the sun.  Because the area can get very windy, we opted to place the backs of our solar panels flat down directly against the ground instead of propping them up with their stands, and this turned out to be an excellent strategy!  There was a violent wind storm our first night and the solar panels didn’t even move!  In fact, we left them in their position the entire five days of our stay and they performed really well, providing plenty of power.  Having the Jackery 500 lithium power station also allowed us to charge all our accessories (cell phones, electric toothbrush, drone batteries, camera) and run our 12V television for movie nights without concern about depleting our Scamp’s battery.  When we weren’t watching movies at night or star gazing (more on that coming up), we enjoyed playing one of our favorite games (Sequence or Backgammon).

We learned on our past trip to Valley of Fire State Park (NV) that it’s good to have plenty of cash while travelling  (especially in small bills, $5’s and $1’s).  On the Nevada trip, we were confronted with an Iron Ranger (steel pay box in place of a live Ranger) which only accepted checks and cash.  That time, we barely had enough cash to cover our two night stay.  We don’t use checks because there is risk the bank account might be compromised due to the check having both the owner’s account and routing numbers listed on it.  On this trip, having cash was especially helpful.  Not only did we stay at a BLM campground (Fossil Falls) which has an Iron Ranger, but we also needed cash to pay for our horseback rides and lavender product souvenirs.  We now hide an envelope of two to three hundred dollars cash in small bills in our Scamp 13’ so that it is there if needed.

Once you’ve arrived with enough food and drinking water for your stay, a completely full Fresh tank and empty Black and Grey tanks, full Propane tanks, cash, have found your perfect spot in the Alabama Hills and set up your solar panels, it’s time to relax, enjoy the landscape, and have fun!  Looking out at the panoramic views of the Easter Sierra and snowcapped peaks, we felt like we were in Switzerland.  The sights are so amazing here that they are worth the trip even if you do nothing else but sit back in a relaxing chair and take in the scenery.  But, there are so many fun and interesting things to see and do, you probably don’t want to just sit around.  Make sure to have breakfast (cinnamon rolls, breakfast burritos, and pancakes) and lunch (burgers, tuna melts, ….) at the Alabama Hills Café, a local favorite diner in downtown Lone Pine.  Also, be sure to visit the Museum of Western Film History ($5 per person).  The museum has galleries full of pictures and memorabilia from movies filmed in the area.  In the museum’s screening room, watch their educational film for a great background on the movie industry in Lone Pine and the Alabama Hills.  To see an old Western film made in the Alabama Hills, click here.

Hiking some of the trails within the Alabama Hills is a definite highlight.  Walking amongst the large round boulders with the snowcapped mountains in the background is breathtaking.  However, if you only walk one trail, park at the Mobius Arch Loop Trailhead and walk the short loop (less than 30 minutes) to see the famous Mobius Arch (a very unusual rock formation which has a dramatic arch and large hole in the middle).   The Heart Arch can also be seen on this short easy hike.  In fact, there are a myriad of different arches formed by unusual rock formations found throughout the Alabama Hills and some like to try to find as many as possible!  Another great thing to do in the Alabama Hills is star gaze (as well as astrophotography)!  The night sky is very bright and filled with stars, so sit back, relax, and look up.  You may be amazed at what you see!  We saw a strange light race across the sky, come to a complete stop in midair, change color from white to orange above our heads, and completely reverse its direction!  More amazingly, we captured it on our camera by chance by taking a 15 second exposure of what we thought was an interesting jet flying over!  Of course, Alabama Hills is close to the mysterious and top secret Naval Air Weapons Station at China Lake, so perhaps it was a top secret military aircraft.  For now, we’ll label it as unidentified (UFO).

The following day was spent on more serious thoughts during a visit to Manzanar National Historic Site (National Park Service), about a twenty minute drive north of Lone Pine on Highway 395.  During WWII (1942), the U.S. Government rounded up Japanese immigrants and Japanese American citizens and imprisoned them in military style “internment” camps.  More than 110,000 men, women, and children were ordered to leave their homes and be detained in one of ten camps.  Manzanar, located at the base of the Eastern Sierra, was one of these camps.  Over 11,000 people were detained here and the last few hundred internees left in November 1945, a few months after the war ended.  Many had spent over three years at Manzanar.  We chose to quietly walk the entire camp for a more personal encounter than experienced from an auto tour.  Walking through the mess halls, listening to the stories told by real internees (via audio exhibits/viewing photographs), exploring the gardens, hospital grounds, and cemetery made us think deeply about what happened here and this dark period of American history.  It was difficult to reconcile the contrast between the beauty of the snowcapped Sierras on a wonderful sunny spring morning under sparkling dark blue skies and the stark and severe story of this place while walking the grounds.  Entrance to Manzanar is free and a visit might leave a lasting impression as it did with us.

On our last day, we enjoyed a fun horseback ride above the Alabama Hills (about a 15 minute drive from our campsite).  We called two days in advance to reserve the ride.  Julie, from De La Cour Ranch, has friendly horses and provides a wonderful 1 ½ hour ride ($50 per person at the time of our ride) above the hills overlooking the mostly dry Owens Lake (salt bed) as well as the Eastern Sierra.  We found the ride relaxing and some of us got a chance to trot a bit.  One member of our group (rides usually limited to about four riders) is a beginner and her horse was tethered to Julie’s lead mule for added safety.  Julie’s two dogs also joined the ride and ran along the entire way!  To see a video of our ride, click here.  Julie also rents cabins on her ranch (for all of your non-camping friends who want to join you on your adventures) and she makes natural lavender products from her lavender fields and distillery, which she shares with all her ranch guests.  After our ride, we enjoyed a nice lunch with our new camping friends at the Alabama Hills Café.  We left Alabama Hills behind us the next morning, but we were already looking forward to a future visit.

 

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

Exploring Remote Jalama Beach and Lake Cachuma (Santa Barbara County)

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Exploring Remote Jalama Beach and Lake Cachuma (Santa Barbara County)
March 6th – 13th, 2022 (7 nights)

The California coast is beautiful in late winter / early Spring and provides the perfect transition from winter desert camping.  On this trip, we were accompanied by a number of friends:

  1. one family of three and a friend plus their Great Pyrenees dog in a rented 27’ motorhome
  2. neighbor friends couple in their RPOD trailer
  3. friend couple from Oxnard in their Class A Southwind 32’ motorhome

For this adventure, we chose two beautiful campgrounds in Santa Barbara County.  The first campground we visited was Jalama Beach, a remote beach location about an hour north of downtown Santa Barbara and close to Vandenberg Air Force Base.  Since the drive from San Diego to Jalama Beach is a long one (about 5 hours), we decided to break up the trip by stopping for lunch in the small beach town of Carpinteria along the way.  We discovered, by chance, a park above the beach called Viola Fields (which happens to be a sanctioned model aircraft field!).  There’s a nice bluff trail here which looks down over the sea and the Carpinteria Seal Sanctuary.  There were lots of seals to view during our visit!

After a nice lunch in our Scamp, some drone flying and Frisbee games over Viola Fields, and a leisurely hike along the railroad tracks to the Seal Sanctuary overlook, we headed back onto the 101 North toward Santa Barbara.  Following an hour and a half drive and the 14.5 mile curvy road from the freeway to the coast, we arrived at the remote Jalama Beach Campground at around 4 p.m.  We chose a no-hookup site (#72, $30/night) close to the sand (2nd row) with some ocean views.  The wind was howling (Jalama Beach is known for being very windy) and we spent the evening in our friends’ rented motorhome playing the game Sequence for the first time (which we really enjoyed).  The location is very isolated and there wasn’t any cellphone service or HDTV signals.  However, we were able to log onto the free campground WiFi and use the internet and make phone calls (using WiFi calling).  The internet speed was decent for simple browsing, internet, and phone calls (at least for my phone).

Jalama Beach is located on a beautiful wide sandy beach and the campground has around 107 campsites (with 31 sites having electrical hookups).  There are water spigots throughout the campground and a free central dump station.  The beach is great for all sorts of activities, including walking, surfing, kite flying, surf fishing, fat tire e-bike riding, rock collecting, and more!  Jalama Beach has a grill restaurant that serves their “world famous” Jalama Burger.  We tried the burger and it is very good and juicy!  We road bikes, flew kites (including my new Scuba Diver kite!), explored during the day and played games and watched movies at night (and had a campfire and made s’mores one night)!  I flew my radio-controlled CR Climax sailplane over the bluffs one afternoon.  Riding bikes on the sand is super fun, especially since the beach goes on for over a mile!  One thing to be careful of though is tar on the sand.  As we discovered, it is very difficult to remove tar from shoes (our friend recommends rubbing olive oil and leaving on the tar for several minutes and then rubbing off).  The best defense though is to take a pair of beach shoes or flip flops that you just use when on the sand.

Following a couple of relaxing days and nights at Jalama Beach (and some beautiful sunsets), we packed up and headed to Cachuma Lake (around a one hour drive).  Cachuma Lake campground is very large and is located on one side of the lake.  Our site, #106 ($45/night), has full hookups and a partial lake view.  We walked the campground with our friends and identified some nice looking dry camping sites with beautiful lake views for possible future visits (#315, #313, #455, #453, #289, #288, #230, #231).  We arrived in the afternoon and had a nice lunch at the HOOK’d Bar and Grill (with outdoor seating overlooking Lake Cachuma).  There is a tackle shop (sells fishing licenses too) and a boat ramp near the restaurant to accommodate fishermen.  Lake Cachuma is a big fishing destination featuring trout, bass, and crappie.  Our friend rented a pontoon boat and caught a rainbow trout during our stay.  There are plenty of trails for hiking and biking around the campground.  Our friends told us they took a fantastic nature walk with a park host on Saturday after we left (sign up in person at the Nature Center).  Additionally, there are guided lake cruises by Lake Cachuma park naturalists on Saturdays and Sundays (Adults $15, Kids $10).  Reservations should be made as early as possible as these tours sell out.  Lastly, there is a world class Frisbee golf course that is very expansive.  Frisbee rentals can be obtained at the Lake Cachuma store (which also has a gas station and propane refill station).  Overall, we had a relaxing stay for a few days and nights at Lake Cachuma.  The campground was pretty quiet and it seemed there were a number of snowbirds camped out here for several months.

The last stop on our trip was at my cousin’s house in Santa Barbara, located only about 30 minutes down the CA-154 from Lake Cachuma.  We had fun walking within the Douglas Family Preserve, strolling Shoreline Park, having lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant in Santa Barbara (Taco Pipeye), and exploring the Ellwood Monarch Sanctuary.  The highlight of our trip to Santa Barbara was seeing my cousins and having a nice dinner with them in downtown Santa Barbara.

On this trip we learned that one doesn’t have to travel very far to have a fulfilling getaway if the holiday is combined with beautiful locations, close friends and family, and fun things to do together (like games, hikes/bikes, kites, and meals).  So, don’t hesitate to book a quick trip close by and make sure to pull the above elements together to ensure a happy adventure!  RV there yet?

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

Feeling the Warmth in Southern Arizona  

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Feeling the Warmth in Southern Arizona  
February 6th – 15th, 2022 (9 nights)

Southern Arizona is a beautiful and fun place to visit during the winter.  Sunny skies, warm weather, and clear starry nights attract people from all over the world seeking winter warmth.  However, these are not the only reasons to plan a winter trip to the southern Sonoran Desert.  There are plenty of fun things to do along with some great campgrounds at which to stay.

On this trip, we left our home in San Diego and followed the 8 East freeway which parallels the southern border with Mexico.  In order to limit a long drive time to the first campground, we stopped overnight at a Boondocker’s Welcome location in Yuma, Arizona.  Yuma is in Arizona’s southwest corner and, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, is the “Sunniest City on Earth”, promising sunshine and warm weather 91% of the year.  Because of this great weather, Yuma also is very strong agriculturally, producing over 175 types of crops and providing over 90% of all leafy vegetables in the United States!

After our three hour drive to Yuma, we pulled into the adjacent empty lot next to our Boondocker’s Welcome hosts’ home in their RV community.  We were provided full hookups including fast WiFi for only the small price of the Boondocker’s Welcome annual membership!  We always give the hosts a small gift though for their generosity.   Since we arrived late in the afternoon, we didn’t explore Yuma’s old town.  Instead, we had a late lunch and walked around the very flat and wide streets which are surrounded by desert.  We headed for our first campground, Twin Peaks Campground, the next morning.

We followed the 8 freeway east through the Sonoran Desert and turned off on the 85 south at Gila Bend and headed straight toward the Mexican border.  After a few hour drive from Yuma and passing through a few small towns (e.g. Ajo population 2841), we reached Twin Peaks Campground within the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument park (just a few minutes from the border crossing at Lukeville).  The desert landscape here is accentuated by tremendous giant saguaro cacti, which also dot the campground.  Almost every campsite within Twin Peaks Campground has a beautiful giant saguaro cactus.  The campsites here are very spread out and private.  Ours was #57 ($20/night when we reserved), an end spot with a water spigot very close by.  There are no hookups here, which give this very remote location an even more far off feel.  Cell phone service in the campground is spotty.  We used our solar panel briefcase for charging our batteries and our grey tank jugs so we wouldn’t have to move our Scamp 13’ to dump until leaving (there is a free central dump station here).

When we arrived at Twin Peaks Campground, the park ranger advised us to keep our car hood open at night due to the pack rat problem (they like confined closed spaces and will chew through car wiring!).  We were also told to avoid contact with people wandering in the desert as they likely are smugglers or illegal immigrants.  The ranger said these people use black water bottles to avoid sunlight reflections which could get them noticed by border patrol agents.  Note:  we didn’t see any such activity during our three day visit and the campground felt very safe due to a well-populated campground, a good park ranger presence, as well as a lot of border patrol agents scouting right outside the campground.  On a remote path, we did see a high blue flag in the air marking two large blue barrels of water sitting on the desert sand, set up by the organization called Humane Borders to help immigrants in need of water while crossing the desert.  The yellow city lights from the Mexican town of Sonoyta are visible from the campground at night.

There are a lot of fun trails originating from within the Twin Peaks Campground.  We hiked the Palo Verde Trail to the Visitor’s Center on our first day (an easy 2.6 mile round trip hike).  Along this path, one can view magnificent giant saguaro cactus (some over 50 feet tall and 150 years old!) as well as the namesake Organ Pipe cactus (usually with multiple limbs clumped together at the base).   Every morning and evening, we walked along the Campground Perimeter Trail (an easy desert loop around Twin Peaks Campground).  And, we spent a half day hiking to the old Victoria Mine (4.5 miles round trip).  The Victoria Mine Trail is an easy desert trail with some ups and downs, crossing several arroyos (washes).  There is a historic old mining structure (mines are closed for safety) at the end of the trail. And, the Desert View Trail is another one not to miss and best hiked around sunset.  It’s an easy 1.2 mile loop (about an hour hike) with spectacular vistas of the Senita Basin and the La Abra Plain to the southwest and the Sonoyta Valley to the southeast.  There are good plant markings and benches along the trail.  There’s also a great view looking down over the Twin Peaks Campground from the top of the trail.  There are a variety of other trails to hike as well if time permits.  Always make sure to sign your names in the trail book when starting hikes so your whereabouts are known in case of emergency and carry plenty of water.  Avoid hiking when it is hot or in the middle of the day.  Biking is allowed along the roads, but be careful of loose slippery sand as well as traffic (and don’t go too fast).  The closest hospital from the campground is about 2 hours away (although there is a small community clinic, Desert Senita Community Health Center, about 30 minutes away in the town of Ajo which can handle minor injuries such as stitches).

Our next stop was Gilbert Ray Campground on the outskirts of Tucson (a 2 ½ hour drive from Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument) and next to the Saguaro National Park.  Our campsite was #C16 ($20/night), which has a water spigot very close to it.  These campsites do have electric hookups, but no other hookups.  There is a free central dump station.  We were surprised by very fast Verizon internet at this campground – we clocked over 100Mbps download and over 20Mbps upload at our campsite!  The HD TV reception, being close to Tucson, was also excellent and we watched the Olympics at night in our Scamp 13’.  The campsites at Gilbert Ray feel closer together and not as private (or as remote) as the ones at Twin Peaks Campground.  However, the proximity to Tucson allowed us to visit the Pima Air & Space Museum!  We spent a fantastic day touring the museum which is filled with airplanes and helicopters (both indoors and out).  We had a nice lunch too at the museum’s “Flight Grill”.  This museum is right next to the largest airplane bone yard in the world, home to almost 4,000 mostly retired aircraft laid out over 2,600 acres.  The dry heat and low humidity in Tucson is ideal for airplane storage because aircraft take longer to rust and degrade.  Additionally, desert land is plentiful and cheap and the earth is hard enough to prevent aircraft from sinking into the ground.

After a few nights at Gilbert Ray Campground, we headed an hour east to the Kartchner Caverns Campground.  The main attraction here are the caves, and reservations are recommended for tours.  We had campsite KTC-49 ($30/night + $5 reservation fee) with electric and water hookups (there is a free central dump station).  There is plenty of space between campsites and trees filling the campground space.  We had very limited Verizon internet, although the campground provides free WiFi (which worked sparingly when sitting outside).  We enjoyed the Visitor’s Center and a cave tour (no photos allowed on most tours) which lasted over an hour and featured some amazing large rooms with stalactites, stalagmites, and columns.  There is even a music / light show during the $23 per person tour.  We spent one night here, which seemed to be enough time to take a cave tour.  The next morning, we had to try an early lunch at Mi Casa (a highly recommended Mexican restaurant close by in Benson, Arizona) before heading back to Yuma.  We arrived right at 11 a.m. for lunch because we read the place fills up fast with long waits!  Fortunately, we found parking in front of the restaurant for our tow vehicle and Scamp 13’ and we just got a table before the place filled up within minutes of opening!  We were not disappointed with the food – some of the best Mexican food we have ever had (and we’ve travelled throughout Mexico!).  The homemade chips and salsa, enchiladas, carrot cake, and flan were beyond exceptional!   It’s too bad this restaurant is in such a remote area or we would be coming back!  We spent the last night of our trip back at the same Boondocker’s Welcome home in Yuma after a 4 ½ hour drive from Kartchner Caverns.

If you are looking for some warmth in winter, give southern Arizona a try.  The campsites are great and the people are very friendly.  Arizona has numerous public campgrounds throughout the state and many campers choose to spend the entire winter here.  It’s easy to see why; the weather and nature are breathtaking!

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

Why We Prefer Primitive Campsites in Anza Borrego Desert State Park

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Why We Prefer Primitive Campsites in Anza Borrego Desert State Park
January 25th – 28th, 2022 (3 nights)

Having already enjoyed this beautiful desert state park a couple times in the past, we thought it would be fun to come back and try out the primitive campground area within the Borrego Palm Canyon Campground.  We like this campground because it’s only a couple of hours drive from our home in San Diego and has a nice warm desert vibe.  There’s great hiking and biking as well, along with a cute town which can be reached by bike.  There are numerous good restaurants along with interesting shops.  We stayed at the hookup area on our previous two visits.  The hookup area campsites are relatively close together and offer direct connections to electric, water, and sewer.  Many “snowbird” campers staying a week or longer to escape miserable winters at home (and often with large motorhomes) are common visitors at these sites.

On our first visit a couple of years ago, we admired some of the more private and scenic campsites in the “primitive” area of the campground at the base of the mountains.  These “primitive” sites offer no hookups, but there are water spigots near the campsites and a central dump station at the campground entrance.  At that time, we walked the entire campground and wrote down in our travel log all of our favorite primitive campsites, hoping to try one on a future visit.

When we received a text from friends in Sept. 2021 saying they were going to Borrego Palm Canyon campground in January 2022, we immediately reserved site #108 (based on our best campsite notes from our log book).  At that time, “dry” sites like this one without hookups cost $25/night with a $7.99 online reservation fee.  The hookup sites were $35/night.  But, just recently, prices for both types of sites increased $10/night (now $35/night dry and $45/night hookups)!  Some of the nicest primitive campsites are located at the back of the campground adjacent to the entrance of the Borrego Palm Canyon Trail, a 2.9 mile trail that leads to the third largest palm oasis in California (with California’s only native species of palm, the Fan palm).  The desert pup fish pond is also near the entrance of the Borrego Palm Canyon Trail.  These tiny (about 2.5 inches in length) rare endangered fish are able to survive in environments of extreme salinity, pH, and temperature, and low oxygen content.  You may have to be patient, but if you walk around the pond you will likely see some darting about.

When we arrived on a late January afternoon at our primitive campsite (#108), it was warm (in the low 70s) but the campsite was already in deep shade as it is at the base of one of the tall mountains behind which the sun sets in midafternoon.  The first thing we noticed is how roomy and private the primitive campsites are compared to the hookup area.  There are water spigots throughout the primitive campground and there is one right next to site #108.  Since we had a water spigot and also set up our solar panels, we had no issues with water or power during our three night stay.  We did bring our “holy grail portable grey water tank solution”, but decided instead to use the free central dump station at the entrance to the park since we also wanted to dump our black tank.   It only took us about thirty minutes total to hitch up our Scamp, drive down to the central dump, dump, and then set the Scamp up again on a weekday morning.  The primitive sites are still within walking distance to the main campground, so we were able to visit friends by taking a 15 minute walk or riding our bikes down to their hookup campsites.

On our second day, we had fun touring the metal sculptures (over 130 of them) in Galleta Meadows on our bikes.  These large metal shaped sculptures of people, animals and fantasy creatures are spread out over miles of desert, but the terrain is on flat quiet paved back roads, making the bike ride easy.  The metal artworks were created by artist Ricardo Breceda for Dennis Avery (of Avery labels), owner of Galleta Meadows.  It took us several hours to see almost all the sculptures.  We started our ride in the morning and ended with a nice late lunch at Pablito’s Mexican Bar & Grill in town.  By the time we finally made it back to the campground, we were tired as the gentle grade down to town turns into a lengthy gradual climb on the way back!  The entire loop is around twelve miles, which isn’t too much when on a bike, especially given most of the ride is very flat.  We were really glad we brought our bikes on this trip because the roads are mostly wide open and flat and having bikes makes it really convenient to explore.  The bike trip into town is an easy 15 minute ride.

In addition to the privacy and space the primitive campground provides, we also found it to be quieter as well as darker at night.  We noticed that the population density of campers in the primitive campsite area to be significantly less than at the hookup area.  Probably as a result, the area seemed more peaceful without noticeable campground noise.  In addition, because RVs aren’t lined up close together in rows like at the hookup sites, some with outdoor lights on, the primitive area seemed much darker.  This is really important when enjoying the stars, which is particularly significant at this park.  Anza Borrego State Park achieved its International Dark Sky Park rating in 2018 and, as such, is recognized as a premier place for stargazing.  We experienced wonderful stargazing first hand during nights at the primitive campground.

A visit to Anza Borrego Desert State Park wouldn’t be complete without a stop at the Visitor’s Center.  This time, we walked the short flat paved trail from the campground to the center.  There are placards along the way with descriptions of the plants and animals seen in the Anza Borrego Desert State Park.  The center has a theater, gift, and book store filled with great things related to Anza Borrego Desert.  The staff in the store are also really helpful if one has questions about trails or anything else Anza Borrego related.  On this trip, we picked up one of the current season’s Anza Borrego t-shirt designs along with a warm knit beanie with a bighorn sheep logo.

Now that we’ve tried both the hookup and primitive campgrounds at Borrego Palm Canyon Campground in the Anza Borrego Desert State Park, we can certainly recommend staying in the primitive campground for the many reasons explained above.  Overall, we found the stay at the primitive campground to be many factors more peaceful than our previous stays at the hookup area.  To be clear, we enjoyed our previous stays, but the primitive campground takes the desert experience to a new level.  Some nights we even heard animals (likely bighorn sheep) right outside our Scamp!  The quiet, the space, the peacefulness, and the darker skies without bright RV lights, definitely elevate the camping experience.  In addition, it’s also nice that it’s $10/night cheaper (at the time of this writing)!  Of course, there would be times when staying at the hookup campground might be preferable.  If we were planning on staying for an extended period of time and didn’t want the hassle of having to haul water from the spigot and driving to the central dump every four or five days (or needed power to run an AC or other energy hungry devices), then having hookups certainly makes things easier.  But, for us, we generally only stay a few days, and our main goal is to be in nature as much as possible.  And, that’s why we prefer primitive campsites in Anza Borrego Desert State Park … with more chances to see bighorn sheep!

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

Reflections on Owning a 2020 Scamp 13’ Trailer for Two Years

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Reflections on Owning a 2020 Scamp 13’ Trailer for Two Years

It’s already been two years since our Scamp 13’ arrived from the Scamp factory at the end of 2019!  So much has happened since, it now seems a good time to reflect on the decision to buy the trailer and what followed over the past couple of years.

We spent a long time deciding if buying, maintaining, and travelling with a travel trailer was a good idea.  Ultimately, we came to the conclusion that a travel trailer provides an excellent way to travel the U.S. and Canada since it allows for stays in national and state parks where no other comfortable and affordable accommodation may be available.  Additionally, we liked the idea of being able to provision the trailer with our own items including food and very comfortable and bedding (and not slept on by anyone else like in a hotel/motel).  Once we made our decision on getting a travel trailer, we spent at least a year comparing different models before finally deciding on the Scamp.  For the full story on our thought processes and final decision on purchasing a Scamp, click here.  The Scamp was an easy choice because we wanted something light and easy to tow yet very durable and not likely to get leaks.  Additionally, being able to store the trailer in our garage was a real deal maker.

It was relatively easy for us to decide on a Scamp model and configuration (there are 3 sizes and multiple configurations).  Since we definitely wanted the larger 54” bed, the choice was between the Standard 13’ and the Deluxe 16’ models (the only models offered with a 54” bed option in 2020).  We also absolutely had to have a bathroom.  The Deluxe models are very nice, but much heavier because the interior cabinetry is made with wood instead of fiberglass.  Since we wanted as light a trailer as possible, didn’t need the side dinette offered with the 16’, and liked the sleek look of the white high gloss fiberglass interior of the Standard model, we went the Scamp 13’ Standard with bathroom.  As for the rest of the options, we pretty much got it with everything (with the exception of the AC because it wouldn’t clear the height of our garage).  For the full story on this decision making process, click here.

Since Scamp trailers are very desirable and hold their value really well, there is usually a long wait from the time one is ordered until it is delivered.  In our case, the nine month wait time allowed us to go through the process of modifying the height of our garage entrance from seven to eight feet before our Scamp was delivered.  Having the Scamp stored in our garage is a big advantage as it allows us to provision the trailer before each trip without having to drive to a storage lot, saves on monthly storage fees, and also lets us dump our tanks in the garage using our sewer clean out (saving time and money after each trip by eliminating the need to drive to the nearest Dump station and paying to dump).  Another benefit is that the Scamp is stored out of the elements (keeps the trailer in great condition).  For the garage project, we needed to first get HOA approval from our neighborhood association, have an engineer draw plans for submission to the city, and then, after the permit was obtained, have a contractor do the work.  The entire garage project took a few months and cost about six thousand dollars, but was well worth it.  For a full story on this project, click here.

We started exploring with our Scamp 13’ in early 2020 and learned a lot about travelling with a travel trailer on each trip.  This is the first travel trailer we have ever owned and we had never camped before in our lives.  We received our Scamp with little introduction or explanations and figured out the operation of the trailer and how to tow mostly on our own (although there is an owner’s manual and the Scamp company is ready at the phones to courteously answer any questions).  Fortunately, we didn’t learn any really hard lessons in the process and we became more and more proficient after each trip.  For a look at the trips we’ve taken over the past two years, click here.

The most important thing we became proficient at early on is towing.  Although towing the small and light Scamp is pretty easy, it’s critical that the trailer is attached to the tow vehicle properly so that it stays safely attached while driving.  Additionally, learning how to back up the Scamp so positioning the trailer on the campsite pad becomes stress-free is important for enjoyable trips.  For complete details on how to tow with the Scamp, please see these articles:  How Easy is Towing, Secure Your Power Cords, How to Easily Hookup Up Your Hitch Ball, and Safely Positioning Your Trailer into Tight Spaces.

Learning how to operate each of the Scamp’s systems takes only a short period of time to understand, but it’s important to figure them out early in order to use the trailer without issues.  The main systems are the holding tanks (Fresh/Grey/Black), hot water tank, electrical system (click here for more information), furnace (heating), stove, and refrigerator.  The biggest challenge is being able to tell when systems are depleted (e.g. Fresh Water tank, Propane tank, battery) or full (in the case of the Grey and Black tanks).  Additionally, some of the systems run on more than one power source and it’s important to know when to switch them on or off.  For example, when dry camping, we run our Scamp refrigerator on propane (instead of electricity, which is used when hooked up to electric shore power).  To make things a little more confusing, these systems and their operation methods sometimes change by model year and/or model number.  None of these challenges should deter anyone from getting a travel trailer however, since everyone learns how their trailer operates within a few trips.

After two years (15 trips, 60 locations spanning 4 states, and 99 nights sleeping in the Scamp) and all the experiences we’ve had with our Scamp 13’, looking back, we can now easily say buying our Scamp 13’ was definitely worth it.  Having a travel trailer has allowed us to travel on a moment’s notice and explore locations where we otherwise wouldn’t have been able to stay (such as within national parks).  Additionally, the cost to travel has been significantly lower with a trailer compared to staying in hotels.  We’ve even had a number of free stay overs using Harvest Hosts!  Click here to learn more about Harvest Hosts and to see where we stayed.  For an economic analysis, click here.   And, perhaps best of all, we’ve made some great friends along the way and have visited family in distant cities more often than we would have without the trailer.  Perhaps the biggest stand out benefit in getting our Scamp 13’ (which arrived a few months before the Pandemic started in early 2020), has been having the ability to travel at a time when it would have been extremely difficult and risky to do it any other way.

The Scamp 13’ has proven to be a reliable and great travel trailer.  We haven’t had any major issues with the Scamp and it has been easy to maintain.  We have had to learn some simple maintenance procedures to keep everything in good order, but these have been easy to understand and implement.  We’ve also had fun upgrading and modifying the Scamp.  Click here for more information on everything we’ve learned and implemented.  We are really glad we chose a travel trailer instead of a van or motorhome because the trailer is relatively inexpensive in comparison to own, operate, and insure.  Additionally, it’s great to be able to unhitch the Scamp and use our tow vehicle once we are at the campground to easily explore the area.  The biggest issue someone might have with the Scamp 13’ might be its small size and many might be happier with a larger trailer.  But, remember, the larger the trailer the more limited the choice of campsites.  The Scamp 13’ can pretty much fit into every available size RV campsite at a campground!

Consider the costs (including insurance and storage) and how much time you intend to travel when making a decision to get a trailer.  From a purely economic standpoint, owning a travel trailer is most advantageous if one doesn’t pay too much for the trailer and uses it regularly.  It’s also important to know if a travel trailer will be comfortable for you (and your family) before you make the investment.  We took the risk and purchased our Scamp without ever trying one out.  But, another option is to rent a travel trailer before buying (and perhaps test other options as well, like a van or motorhome for comparison) to see if this mode of travel is good for you.  Once you’ve conducted your own thoughtful analysis, you will be in a great position to make a decision on whether owning and travelling with a travel trailer is a good fit for you and your family.  As we start 2022, we are very enthusiastic in beginning another year travelling with our Scamp 13’ and are already looking forward to a number of future trips!   Happy & healthy New Year!

Follow Up Article Published November 2024

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

Calico Ghost Town – Zion – Valley of Fire – Death Valley

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Calico Ghost Town – Zion – Valley of Fire – Death Valley
November 27th – December 6th, 2021 (9 nights)

Living in California not only offers access to world class campgrounds in the state, but also proximity to outstanding parks in adjacent states.  On this trip, we thought it would be epic fun to string together campgrounds in California, Utah, and Nevada, while at the same time keeping driving times reasonable.  It turns out that world-renown Zion National Park (UT), Valley of Fire State Park (NV), and Death Valley National Park (CA) are all less than three hour’s drive from another!  And, we discovered, this trifecta of park greatness is a must itinerary!  The key caveat here is to make reservations well in advance for both Watchman (Zion) and Furnace Creek (Death Valley) campgrounds since these national parks are very popular.  Additionally, plan on visiting Valley of Fire State Park (one of our top favorite campgrounds thus far) during the week and arrive in the morning before 10 a.m. because it’s first come first serve (no reservations).  Lastly, don’t go to these places in the summer due to extremely hot temperatures.

Calico Ghost Town
In order to a avoid a long drive directly from our home in Carlsbad, California to Zion National Park, UT (about 8 hours), we decided to stay overnight at a San Bernardino County Regional Park called Calico Ghost Town.  It was a silver mining town in the 1880s and was abandoned in the mid 1890s when silver lost its value.  It’s now a campground and old west tourist attraction.  The buildings on main street have been restored to look as they did in the 1800s and are now operated as gift stores and restaurants.   The campground offers full hookup sites and many of the campsites are on dirt pads.  We had site AC3, which is a good full hookup site that is on the trail leading directly up to the town (about a 5 minute walk).  This park caters to families with young children (and people who like driving ATVs, dirt bikes, buggies and other vehicles, as there are off-roading trails here) and has a Knotts Berry Farm feel (and for good reason – Walter Knott purchased the town in 1951).  We walked the main street in the afternoon, browsed a few of the candy and gift stores, and listened to some live music in the early evening.  We enjoyed a movie in our Scamp before bed and left early the next morning.

Zion National Park, Utah
The trip from Calico Ghost Town to Zion National Park (Watchman Campground) passes through Las Vegas, NV and St. George Utah, and takes about 5 hours without stops.  Although we try to limit our drives to four hours or under, we find that if we do have to drive a bit longer, stopping for lunch to break up the ride into a couple of segments makes the trip easier.  On this segment, we stopped for lunch in our Scamp in Las Vegas and arrived at Watchman Campground in the afternoon.  Our campsite, B46 (electric only), is adjacent to the Virgin River with towering colorful mountains surrounding the entire campground.  There are water spigots in the campground and a free central dump station.  The water spigot near our campsite was very high pressure and our Water Bandit and Water Tank Filler Hose combination made it possible to easily fill our water jug without water spraying everywhere (see “How our Water Bandit Saved our Trip”).

Watchman Campground is within walking distance of the Visitor Center, some nice stores and restaurants, and trails (including one designated biking trail – Pa’rus Trail).  There are shuttle stops by the Visitor Center with two free shuttle routes:  (1) the Zion Canyon Line (park shuttle) which runs from the Visitor Center up the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive to destinations like the Zion Lodge and trailheads, including Emerald Pools, West Rim Trail, and Temple of Sinawava where hikers depart for Zion Narrows (about a 40 minute shuttle ride from the Visitors Center to this last stop), and (2) the Springdale Shuttle (town shuttle) that stops at nine locations in town and picks up and drops off visitors at the park’s pedestrian/bike entrance.  The shuttles were implemented by the park in 2000 as a response to extreme traffic congestion on Zion Canyon Scenic Drive.  The park service temporarily shut down all shuttles the day after we arrived (Nov. 29th – Dec. 22nd).  As a result, the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive became open to traffic and we were able to drive our car to hiking spots along the route (although some parking lots were full).

We spent three fabulous days enjoying the Watchman Campground and the nearby local Visitor Center and shops, hiking trails and bike path (as well as watching the stars at night).  Despite being relatively full, Watchman Campground was quiet and our site next to the river was very peaceful.  We saw deer everyday walking around the campground and they appeared accustomed to people.  We sometimes would walk right by one only noticing when just a few feet away.  There are signs warning of deer attacks posted within the campground, but we did not witness any such hostility.  The signs state that last year multiple visitors were injured by mothers protecting their young.  However, during our stay, the deer seemed content on grazing surrounding foliage and resting by the river.  As with all wild animals though, it’s always best to keep some distance and avoid approaching young ones because the parents are usually not too far away.

We drove up Zion Canyon Scenic Drive on our own since the shuttle service was not running.  On our second day, we hiked Emerald Pools and Grotto Trails (about 6 miles / 2 hours combined).  The Emerald Pools hike leads to three tiers of natural ponds (we combined the lower, middle, and upper pools in one hike). Scenery includes stunning mountains, red rocks, waterfalls over sheer rock faces, and emerald colored pools.  In the afternoon, we rode our bikes from the campground to Pa’rus trail which runs along the Virgin River (easy paved 3.5 mile round trip ).  The trail’s name is derived from Paiute (indigenous people language) and means “bubbling tumbling water”.  It’s a beautiful ride along the river and up the canyon and can be done within a half hour on bike (or much longer time if walking).  We enjoyed watching stars in the evening as Zion National Park is very dark and starry (it was officially named an International Dark Sky Park this year).

We were pleasantly surprised to find fast internet at Watchman Campground!  We made our mobile phone a hotspot and used our laptop.  An internet speed test showed quick speeds (40Mbps download / 7 Mbps upload)!  We were able to stream some news video (off our Sling TV), take care of email, catch up on Instagram, and do some internet browsing!  It turns out that the park allowed installation of a Verizon cellphone tower in a stealth building near the Visitor’s Center!  Having internet made it also possible for us to research future planned stops and check traffic heading to our next destination.

On our third day in Zion, we drove up to the last Shuttle stop (#9, Temple of Sinawava) and took the park’s most popular hike, Riverside Walk, which is an easy stroll.  The paved Riverside Walk, which follows the Virgin River upstream one mile through narrowing sandstone canyons ends at the Zion Narrows.  If you want to continue hiking up the Zion Narrows, it requires walking on the wet rocky riverbed.  Many people try to walk to Orderville Canyon, a two hour hike upstream, where the canyon is at its narrowest.  In order to make the riverbed hike more comfortable, it is recommended to rent neoprene insulated socks and hiking shoes which many of the area retail outlets offer.  Since we were there in December and the river water temperature was 47 degrees, shops were also recommending water proof dry pants.  A local shop gave us a quote of $50 per person per day to rent insulated socks, hiking shoes, and dry pants.  Because we wanted to explore other trails and also heard people say their feet were freezing despite the insulated apparel, we decided not to get wet.  Also, some people report foot/ankle swelling and pain after hiking for hours on the uneven river stones.

Our last hike before leaving Zion National Park was on the Watchman Trail.  This trail is an easy walk from the Watchman Campground and a fantastic way to see the entire Springdale Valley.  The trail itself climbs from the valley high above the park.  The trail climbs about 400 feet (but not to the height of the Watchman Spire itself) and is moderately easy and took us about two hours to complete round trip.  There are great views of the surrounding peaks and park below at the top of the trail!  After three days of exploring, we felt content that we had experienced some of the best of Zion National Park.  However, we could have easily spent a couple of more days which would have allowed a hike up to the top of the popular Angels Landing as well as potentially making a day of the Zion Narrows.  We met one camper who comes back every year and stays for ten to fourteen days and never leaves the campground (he’s happy to sit outside and read books and just absorb the views)!  Note – just recently, Zion National Park announced it will require a permit to hike Angels Landing starting next April (April 1, 2022).

We left Zion early in the morning so we could arrive at Valley of Fire State Park early as it is first come first serve (no reservations).  Because we didn’t know what to expect at our next destination, we filled up our Fresh water tank at our Watchman campsite (from our water jug / filled from a spigot) before leaving.  We also dumped our Black and Grey tanks on the way out of Zion at the free central dump.

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada
We arrived at Valley of Fire State Park, the oldest and largest state park in Nevada, at around 9:15 a.m. after a 2 ½ hour drive from Zion.  Our goal was to arrive before 9:30 a.m. as the campground does not accept reservations and we wanted to stay inside this popular park.  There are two campgrounds within Valley of Fire State Park:  (1) Atlatl Rock Campground (has water and electric hookups) and (2) Arch Rock Campground (water spigots only).  Both campgrounds are a short distance from each other and there is a shared free central Dump Station right outside the campgrounds.  We targeted Arch Rock Campground because the campsites are a bit more private and scenically placed within the rocks compared to Atlatl Rock Campground.  We found water spigots at each campsite at Arch Rock Campground (and some have threads which may allow the connection of a fresh water hose).  We didn’t have any cell phone coverage (Verizon) at the campsite but found good coverage at the top of the stairs at Atlatl Rock as well as several parking lots on White Domes Road above the Visitors Center.

We drove into Valley of Fire State Park on a Wednesday morning in December and headed past the Visitor Center straight toward the campgrounds.  The first thing we noticed was the out of this world landscape of crazy, huge, bright red Aztec sandstone rocks.  It certainly made sense why scenes from Star Trek Generations were filmed within Valley of Fire State Park!  We passed Atlatl Rock Campground and turned into the entrance of Arch Rock Campground.  Upon entry, we immediately noticed many open campsites in the lower, more open, part of the campground.  Since there was no one behind us on the road, we decided to drive around the entire campground loop to see if we could get a really cherry spot.  As it turned out, we found a beautiful campsite in site #29, the last site on the loop and surrounded by towering red rocks!  The site has its own picnic area as well as a dedicated threaded water spigot and plenty of sunshine for solar panels.  We set up our Scamp 13’ at the campsite and then drove back down to the entrance of Arch Rock Campground to pay the “Iron Ranger” (metal fee collection box).  This involved placing our campsite fees of $25 per night cash (non-Nevada vehicle fee) into the metal lock box and taking the receipt back to our campsite and displaying it on the post (note: hookup sites are $10 more per night).  It appeared that the “Iron Ranger” here only takes cash or check.  We only brought $50 cash with us on our trip and no checks, so we just covered our campsite fees for two nights!  (Note to self – bring more cash on future trips).

There’s plenty to explore at Valley of Fire State Park, so a minimum of two nights at the campground will allow a good visit.  This is one park where it really pays to have a trailer or motor home because there aren’t really many places to stay nearby.  Many people visit for the day, driving in from Las Vegas (about an hour away), but miss much of the park’s greatness (e.g. starry nights, big horn sheep walking through the campground in the early morning, fantastic sunrises and sunsets ….).  Stop by the Visitor’s Center to get a park map (and see the park film and exhibit).  Then, drive White Domes Road above the Visitor Center to take a number of scenic hikes.  We chose White Domes for our first hike – the highlight is a really spectacular slot canyon.  Closer to the campgrounds, make sure to see Arch Rock and climb the stairs of Atlatl Rock (seen in Star Trek Generations) to view the petroglyphs dating back more than 2,000 years at the top of the platform (and grab some internet while on the top of the platform!).

Two large bighorn sheep walked right past our Scamp 13’ on our first morning!  We watched one of them ram one of the water spigots to get it to turn on.  Then, the other came down off a large steep rock and both drank fresh water at the spigot!  They also put on a show by ramming their horns together, making a tremendous crashing noise.  We saw this pair at other times during our stay as well as many other bighorn sheep families on our hikes.  It was an amazing experience being so close to these beautiful magnificent animals.

The Fire Wave hike (Parking Lot #3) is one of the park’s most popular.  The rainbow colored rock formations are incredible and the hike takes about an hour.  After hiking Fire Wave, make sure to hike Rainbow Vista Canyon which ends in an otherworldly view of a landscape that looks to be from another planet.  We saw 9 bighorn sheep during this colorful easy canyon hike.  We followed these two hikes up by walking Mouse’s Tank where petroglyphs are on display.  If you have more time, there are some other interesting sites to see like Elephant Rock, Petrified Logs, and Beehives Rock Formations.

We could have stayed a couple of more days at Valley of Fire State Park as we enjoyed it so much, but we had reservations made six months in advance for Furnace Creek (Death Valley National Park).  So, the next morning, after sharing the free Central Dump station at Valley of Fire State Park with a mob of bighorn sheep (enjoying fresh water from the spigot), we retraced our ride back through Las Vegas and then onto Death Valley.

Death Valley National Park, California

We passed Creech Air Force Base on the way to Furnace Creek Campground and watched Predator / Reaper drones taking off and landing.  We also stopped at the Area 51 Alien Travel Center, close by Area 51, refueled our tow vehicle and purchased an alien t-shirt.  We arrived at Furnace Creek Campground in the afternoon with almost a full tank of fuel and found our site #55 (no hookups).  Furnace Creek Campground is a paved parking lot on flat ground in the desert with mountains in the distance.  When we arrived, we were told the central Dump Station was closed in the campground (although we could use another one down the road toward the Visitor Center).  After walking around the entire campground, I didn’t see any water spigots to fill our 6 gallon water jug (just metal sinks for washing dishes).  I’m glad we filled our Fresh tank and dumped our Black and Grey tanks before leaving Valley of Fire State Park!  We ended up filling our water jug at an empty neighboring campsite’s spigot.

Furnace Creek Campground offers an incredible location for exploring Death Valley.  There are a couple of luxury resort hotels close by (Oasis Hotels:  The Inn at Death Valley and The Ranch at Death Valley).  Be forewarned however, prices in the area are very high.  During our visit at The Inn at Death Valley we browsed the menu and found Caesar salad priced at $19 and chicken breast at $43.  We stopped by The Ranch at Death Valley, just down the road from Furnace Creek Campground, to purchase some supplies to make s’mores with our new camping friends, Holly and Bill, at their evening campfire.  They have been staying at Furnace Creek Campground for the past forty years!  At checkout, without any prompting, the sales person at the register unexpectedly apologized for the store’s high prices when the bag of marshmallows, box of graham crackers, and four small Hershey’s bars rang up to $24!  Winter rates at the Inn at Death Valley aren’t cheap either, ranging between $500 to $600 per night for a single room.  We found the only gas station in town selling Regular gas for $6.70 / gallon.  Given that our campsite fee was only $22/night (non-hookup site), we felt like we could splurge on making s’mores!  We were also happy we had all our food and drinks with us and were able to cook all our meals in our Scamp!

The first thing to do after setting up at Furnace Creek Campground in Death Valley is to go to the Visitors Center next door (within walking distance of the campground).  The Visitor Center has a nice amphitheater which shows movies about Death Valley and informative displays (and a great gift shop in front).  There are also an information desk and a board listing the times and locations of various free Ranger programs offered.  We attended an interesting evening star program at the Harmony Borax Works (just down the street from Furnace Creek Campground), where the Ranger spoke about the Cosmos in near darkness under thousands of stars.  Death Valley is a certified International Dark Sky Park.

There is one main bike path in Furance Creek which starts at the Furnace Creek Visitors Center and ends a mile down the road at the Harmony Borax Works.  It’s a quick easy ride on mostly flat terrain on a paved path separate from the main road (people also walk on this path).  Borax (a white mineral) was found in the Furnace Creek area in 1881 and the Harmony plant began processing the mineral in 1883.    The ore’s best known use is as a cleaner for laundry.  Twenty mule team wagons transported borax 165 miles from Death Valley to Mojave.  The Harmony plant shut down after only five years in operation due to the financial collapse of its owner.  Now, visitors can walk a loop and see examples of a 20 mule wagon and homes the Chinese laborers used while mining for borax.  Another short bike ride from Furnace Creek Campground is down Airport Road (behind the Visitors Center) to the Furnace Creek Airport.  The airport is usually very quiet with occasional private airplane traffic.

Many of the main sites in Death Valley are located down Badwater Road.  It’s a 16 mile drive from Furnace Creek Campground to the farthest popular stop, Badwater Basin.  Badwater Basin is the lowest point in North America (282 ft. below sea level).  During the cooler months it’s possible to walk out onto the large salt flat.  Large salt formations (salt polygons) seem to span the basin for miles.  The first quarter mile has been flattened like hard packed sand, so it’s easy to walk on.  On the way back to the campground, we also drove Artists Drive (the most popular scenic drive in Death Valley), a 9 mile windy road through colorful rainbow hills formed by volcanic deposits (most vibrant in the afternoon).  If you are feeling energetic and it’s not hot, try the colorful Golden Canyon to Red Cathedral hike (3 miles) through multihued hills.  We added the Gower Gulch loop (additional 1 mile) which climbs up a dramatic mountain with steep drop offs on one side (we saw an older couple turning around, saying it was too scary).  The combined hike took us about two hours to complete.  These hikes are moderate / strenuous and should only be done in cool weather (preferably morning) with a partner and carrying plenty of water.

We didn’t have time for a halfway overnight stop to break up our drive on our way home to San Diego, so we left Furnace Creek early the next morning for the 6 hour drive.  We left the campground at about 5:30 a.m. and stopped at the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes on the way out of the valley to witness the dunes at sunrise.  The dunes have a nice golden hue at first light and it’s special walking out on them (and climbing up and running down the hills of sand).  We ate breakfast in the Scamp before leaving Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes and then fueled up our tow vehicle in Stovepipe Wells (gas was about $2/gallon cheaper than at the Furnace Creek gas station) before crossing the vast expanse of the Panamint Valley to connect to the 395 highway.

Some of the strategies we normally follow helped us tremendously for this trip.  The first thing we always do in trip planning is to schedule trips for the appropriate time of year (e.g. mountains in summer and deserts in spring, fall, and winter).  For this trip, we chose December as our travel month, which usually is perfect weather for these desert climates which tend to be deadly hot (130 degrees) during summer months.  We also normally pack enough food and water for the entire trip, which for this trip provided some safety in case we had a break down in a remote area in the desert (as well as saving on the expense of buying food in pricey tourist areas).  We always make sure to fill up our gas tank before crossing large remote areas, which on this trip there are many stretches of remote desert without any service stations.  Lastly, we always make sure to carry water (or cans of sparkling flavored water) when hiking.  So, when planning your next trip, keep these strategies in mind and also see if you can link several regal national and state parks on your itinerary for a perfect royal flush!

Note:  The “America the Beautiful National Park Pass” is currently $80 and provides for unlimited visits for one year for all national parks for everyone in the car (up to 4 adults)!  Considering many national parks charge $35 per car, it’s a great value if visiting three or more national parks per year.

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly.