How we use terrain and elevation to find the best campsites

If you’ve ever wondered how we go about finding places to camp, our strategy may be different than what you would expect. When we first got our truck camper, we were entirely motivated by seeing cool sights that, over time, had been added to a mental list. Fourteen years later—and six years into living on the road full-time—seeing cool places is now a byproduct of how we go about finding places to stay.

There are a lot of factors that determine whether a particular place is delightful or dreadful: noise, bugs, trash, wind, heat, cold, rain, and proximity to others. What we prioritize more than anything is the weather. Good weather not only makes us both happy, it is what makes this lifestyle enjoyable. I don’t care how picturesque a campsite is; if the weather is miserable, we’re miserable. And because so much of our life is lived outdoors, everything is more difficult in inclement weather.

It’s worth mentioning that what we are traveling in directly impacts our level of tolerance for the weather. When living in our truck camper, we spend more time outdoors than indoors. Forty square feet isn’t a lot of room for two adults to occupy for hours on end. We can make it work to ride out a day or two of bad weather, but we find it easier to pack up and find somewhere better to go. Sometimes that keeps us moving more than we’d like. On the other hand, when living in our spacious 160-square-foot travel trailer, we have all the room we need inside to be comfortable. If we need to ride out a storm or get away from biting insects, it’s not so hard to do.

Why we have a truck camper and travel trailer for full-time travel

How we’ve chosen our most visited territory

When you first take to living on the road, it can be overwhelming to hone in on where you want to go; the options are endless. We’ve found that having some conditions or constraints in place is actually more helpful than hindering. They give us parameters to work within. Our number one condition is the weather, and our sole constraint is our job, which means we need to be in Colorado from June through October. Those two things are why our travels largely reside within Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and Mexico.

How elevation hones us in on specific locations

One of the reasons we love our preferred territory of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and Mexico is because they are mountainous and therefore have significant elevation change. Arizona, for example, has the Sonoran Desert in the south and the Colorado Plateau in the north. Temperatures between those two regions can easily vary by thirty degrees. The same temperature variance can be found between Colorado’s mountaintops and river valleys.

Camping in the mountains: a quick guide to the effects of elevation

An example of how we leverage elevation to find the best camp

In March, we were camped in southern Arizona when we noticed a heat wave in the forecast. Typically, March is ideal in the Arizona desert with temperatures in the 70s and sometimes 80s. However, this particular week was forecasted to climb well into triple digits—up to 108°F. If you live in an RV off-grid, in due time you will learn your limitations when it comes to your heat and cold tolerance. For us, 90–95°F is our upper limit. When we saw the impending heat wave, we knew we had to climb to higher ground in order to lose degrees. In Arizona’s Coconino National Forest, at 7,000 feet, we enjoyed sunny, beautiful days in the mid-80s while everyone else sweated it out in the desert.

A note about A/C: Air conditioning needs a lot of power to run; therefore, many RVs don’t have the capability of running A/C when not plugged into shore power at a campground or RV park. You can run A/C with a generator, but in our case, our truck camper is 100% solar-powered.

How terrain can point us to the perfect campsite

Terrain comes into play when we can’t seem to get out of the wind or heat. Mountains, cliff sides, and canyons can offer pockets of protection from the elements if you know where to look. Using the Windy app to analyze wind gusts can point you to the kind of terrain that might provide a wind block. That’s usually where we start. If we’re lucky, there’s a pocket to be found somewhere that isn’t as windy as everywhere else around it.

Two examples of how we have used terrain to our advantage

With heat and sun exposure: We found ourselves in the desert on a hot day and we’d give anything for some shade. There were no trees to seek refuge under, but there was a low-lying mountain range. Using Google satellite imagery, Mark searched for any BLM roads he could find on the east side of the range. He found one that would tuck us in tightly beneath the terrain that rose up to the west. This meant the sun dipped behind the nearby mountain two hours before the actual sunset time. That made a huge difference in our level of comfort during a 90°F day.

With wind: High winds in a pop-up camper suck; there’s just no way around it. Pointing our truck into the wind helps slightly but doesn’t make much difference once gusts climb past 25 mph. One morning, after an exceptionally windy night, we knew we needed to move. We were on an exposed ridgeline with too few trees to block the wind. Moving only a mile away brought us to a protected section of ridgeline that was backed by a thick stand of pine trees. It didn’t knock the wind down 100%, but it was enough of a change that we could actually sleep at night and enjoy ourselves at camp without having to yell over the howl of the wind.

A few other tips for staying ahead of the weather

Keep a tidy camp. Every night before we go to bed, Mark buttons up camp. Nothing is left out that could blow away or get soaked by a surprise storm. We’ve learned the hard way that when weather rolls in at night, it’s difficult to sleep if you’re worried about what you left outside.

Don’t leave your awning out unattended. RV awnings don’t fare well in high wind. Not only could your awning get damaged or destroyed, but it could become a safety hazard as well. Wind can be so unpredictable; it’s best to only use your awning when you’re present and can put it away at a moment’s notice.

Make a habit out of keeping your eye on the forecast. I use the Weather Underground app to watch the forecast for specific places, usually where we are and where we might head next. Mark uses the Windy app to get a big-picture idea of what’s coming in the region we’re in. We often compare notes and keep a close eye on anything on the horizon that we might want to avoid.

Travel with the seasons. If you want to enjoy easy RV living, following the weather is the way to go in our opinion. Try to avoid planning trips to places during the time of year that they’re known for harsh conditions. We avoid the Rocky Mountains in the winter as much as we avoid the Arizona desert in the summer. If you want to travel to an entirely new and unfamiliar place, do some research ahead of time to get a feel for when the weather is most enjoyable.

When you first start out living on the road, there’s a learning curve to figuring out where you want to go and when. Good weather isn’t necessarily a priority for everyone, but I can assure you that it makes RV living easier and more enjoyable. We hope our insight into elevation and terrain and how it can point you to the best spots will be useful in your travels!