Hello Tanglemoose,
tanglemoose said:
We are thinking of leaving the snow this winter... but, I am sorry, idea of RV park... sardine style is not our liking... we are active on our own... like to hike, kayak, etc... any ideas??? Trying to look around and see where to go, Utah, Texas, Arizona.... any ideas from those of you that enjoy that style. We have solar so can boondocked some, but TV is nice. So electric occasionally is nice.. ideas on trips, sites, etc ! Thanks
We mostly fit your description and tastes, and we have been going to the US Southwest in Dec-Jan for a few years now, so I think I can help.
We haven't been to UT yet, but I think that between South CA and AZ there's a lot of nice places to easily spend 2 months having fun. Our personal favourites, in no particular order:
Mojave NP, CA: please see
this post here. Besides that campground, there are also some
official, "roadside" camping spots you can boondock for up to 14 days; we've stayed at both the Sunrise Rock and the Kelso Dunes Mine locations a few times and really liked them. We also posted some pics of our hikes in the NP and whereabouts here: http://mojavedesert.org (please scroll down to June 2014 and earlier posts).
Quartzsite, AZ: been there only once, in our last trip, and will certainly return. Didn't catch the forum rally.
Catalina State Park, AZ: for the RV forum rally. Really liked both the park and the rally, had lots of fun and made many friends.
Grand Canyon, AZ (South Rim): we stayed at the Trailer Village campground, not bad. The Canyon itself is unbelievable!
Death Valley, CA: almost as unbelievable as the Grand Canyon, and more varied to boot. We stayed at the Furnace Creek Resort, far from our ideal but also not unsupportably packed either. Next time will try to stay at one of the NPS campgrounds.
Joshua Tree NP, CA: nice, but not as nice as the Mojave NP for our tastes. We stayed at the nice Jumbo Rocks campground.
Organ Pipe Cactus NM, AZ: certainly the darkest, most pitch-black night skies we ever camped at, spectacular for star gazing. We stayed at the main NPS campground.
Hope the above helps.
Cheers,
--
Vall.