Winter camping?

lam396

Adventurer
Anyone ever camped in the winter with their kids? We are thinking about a winter road trip next Feb and it would be great if we could spend a night or two camping rather than staying in a hotel. We will be travelling through Sequoia, Yosemite, Redwood, and Crater Lake. It would be me, my wife, son (will be 2.5) and daughter (will be 10 months). Obviously sleeping is the concern because we don't have a camper so we would be tent camping on the ground. We will have a double sleeping bag that would be large enough for all of use to sleep in and it's rated to 0 degrees. It also has a hood that can cinch the whole thing up. Should we just stick to the hotels?
 

john101477

Photographer in the Wild
What a great trip!!! We camp year round in Cali so using a tent is no biggie for us. With your itenerary I would be hesitant to use a tent unless it was a true 4 season tent. If you dont have one, then motels it is. A good family size 4 season tent is going to cost you $500+ so if you do not already have one, you have to decide if you can stay in a motel for under $500. Winter trips are fun if you have the right gear. With out the gear, it becomes a learning experience lol
 

lam396

Adventurer
What a great trip!!! We camp year round in Cali so using a tent is no biggie for us. With your itenerary I would be hesitant to use a tent unless it was a true 4 season tent. If you dont have one, then motels it is. A good family size 4 season tent is going to cost you $500+ so if you do not already have one, you have to decide if you can stay in a motel for under $500. Winter trips are fun if you have the right gear. With out the gear, it becomes a learning experience lol

Thanks for the input. Is the need for a 4 season due to the potential snow load? I have a decent family 3 season (Eureka) and have been doing a little reading on the differences between 3 and 4 season. From what I can tell, and this is based on limited online reading, the major difference is structural to handle snow loads, higher winds, ect. My initial thought was to rig up some panels with Velcro to help block wind blowing on our heads and sewing on extensions to the fly to bring it the rest of the way to the ground (would only be about 6") and try to camp outside of the park at a lower level to avoid large amounts of snow. How old are your kids and what is your sleeping arrangements? We will definitely spend a couple of the nights in a hotel due to travel and we want to go to San Fran for a night or two so purchasing a 4 season doesn't make financial sense at this point.
 

PirateMcGee

Expedition Leader
I used to work at Crater Lake.....don't plan on camping there during the winter until your kids are older and you have snow camping experience. That said camp as much as possible while your kids are young. It will build a great appreciation of the outdoors....
This is from Dec. a couple of years ago while driving in Crater. The snow is even deeper by Feb.
DSCN3641.jpg
 

shortbus4x4

Expedition Leader
I grew up on the coast in N CA and have driven by Crater Lake a bunch in the winter time. You can tent camp in the Redwoods that time of year, just be prepared for rain and lots of it. Temps will be in the 40/50's probably, might get down in the 30's at night. You might luck out and get a week of good weather that time of year but don't count on it. Be prepared for everything to be damp, constantly, in a tent. Wear layers and have some rain gear. A lot of the camp grounds and some attractions will be closed too that time of year, either for seasonal closures or because of weather related issues. When you get closer to going and have a route figured out pm me for some good spots in Humboldt County and north.

I wouldn't tent camp in Crater Lake that time of year unless you had some training and gear for it. Snowfall is measured in feet, not inches. I would have gear rated for sub zero temps. You can also only access the southern entrance then too. The highway along the Umpqua between Crater Lake and Roseburg OR is awesome, so is the road between Gold Point and Crater Lake. Both roads have lots of campgrounds along them too, not sure if they are all open that time of year. Both Roseburg and Medford are on I5 and have quite a few inexpensive hotels.

The time of year you are coming out is the off season so you won't have to fight crowds but alot of stuff will be closed. You will also run into snow, most places you will go will involve crossing mountain ranges where you could run into snow and ice on the road.

Pack rain boots for the little ones. Lots of puddles to play in.
 

john101477

Photographer in the Wild
The difference in most 4 season tents is both in structural integrity, tent design, and fabric. you want something 100% waterproof, Not water resistant or you will get wet, You want the poles to not tough the tent fabric except for the rain fly, which brings us to another issue. the rain fly should cover 100% of the tent including any windows. A good 4 season has a decent sized vesibule to take of shoes and store them outside which will keep the interior nicer. On some of the better 4 season tents the vestibule will actually hit the ground and even have 6 - 12 inches of fabric that can be used to keep water from traveling under the tent if need be(ideal for snow camping/ so so for rain). I have 1 daughter thats 3 years old and she has her own little room in the tent that she stays cozy in while my wife and I have the main part of the tent. We are using a Big Agnes diamond 6 at this point. It is a great heavy rain/wind, light snow tent. If I could make a suggestion, you are wanting to visit a lot of places and 2 of them at least are going to be mostly **** down. Yosemite for one shuts down all but the valley and ski area during the winter so you are missing some great parts even though the valley is beautiful. You say you want to go to SF which is cool. IF I was designing a trip like this I would be much more in tune with hitting the Pac coast and driving Hwy 1 north. You will see some amazing country and if you take your time it will be worth it. Trust me it is not the miles you put on but the quality of the miles. You could follow hwy1 (101) clear up into oregon mostly tenting it except for SF.
I have to agree with some of the above mentions of camping at crater lake. It is just to chancy if your not prepared for it and being prepared would take up most of the room in a vehicle.
 

Safado

Adventurer
No, not at that age and in those conditions. You want this to be fun and memorable...push their limits as they get older. Could you do it? Probably...with perfect planning and execution...but with kids that little and weather, nothing will go as planned. ;) With winter activities, part of the fun is getting out of the cold and wet. There's only so much sledding and snow angles the little ones can take. IMO, a cabin or lodge would be very memorable and flexible for your vacation. Sounds like a blast.
 

I Leak Oil

Expedition Leader
I doubt you're 2.5 YO or 10 month old will get anything out of it. They'd probably remember the pool at the hotel more at that age.
 

john101477

Photographer in the Wild
I doubt you're 2.5 YO or 10 month old will get anything out of it. They'd probably remember the pool at the hotel more at that age.

Thats not accurate, my daughter still talkes about our trips. Of course I took a lot of pictures that she is always looking at. Oddly she got less out of trips to the zoo than she did from our Lost Coast trip.
 

mkitchen

Explorer
Don't forget; lots of dark

At that time of year, you may be spending a lot of time within the confines of the tent. Night comes early and stays late in the morning. Can you keep the kids happy and comfy for that amount of time. That goes double if you run into a lot of weather near the north coast. I would romp, splash, play in the snow and then keg up in a motel for the night. Then again, motels get boring real fast and they all seem the same so if you have room for the gear, bring it along. If it looks like a night camping is going to work, then go for it. You can always go for the motel the next night and know the reason why by then.
My kids camped with me in the winter but I had a thick canvas tent with a woodstove in it. So long as I kept to stove going till they went to sleep and lit it before they go up, they we good with it and had a ball.
Mikey
 

lam396

Adventurer
I used to work at Crater Lake.....don't plan on camping there during the winter until your kids are older and you have snow camping experience. That said camp as much as possible while your kids are young. It will build a great appreciation of the outdoors....
This is from Dec. a couple of years ago while driving in Crater. The snow is even deeper by Feb.
DSCN3641.jpg

WHOA! THat is an impressive picture. I guess some more research is in order for each area of interest. I have no interest in camping in 20 ft of snow though!
 

lam396

Adventurer
At that time of year, you may be spending a lot of time within the confines of the tent. Night comes early and stays late in the morning. Can you keep the kids happy and comfy for that amount of time. That goes double if you run into a lot of weather near the north coast. I would romp, splash, play in the snow and then keg up in a motel for the night. Then again, motels get boring real fast and they all seem the same so if you have room for the gear, bring it along. If it looks like a night camping is going to work, then go for it. You can always go for the motel the next night and know the reason why by then.
My kids camped with me in the winter but I had a thick canvas tent with a woodstove in it. So long as I kept to stove going till they went to sleep and lit it before they go up, they we good with it and had a ball.
Mikey

Good point, I hadn't thought about the daylight aspect yet. We will have the room for camping gear so I think I may bring it and maybe pitch a tent in the Redwoods, and maybe find a place at a lower elevation to camp a night also but find cheap hotels/motels along the way.

The purpose of the trip is two fold. The main attraction is Yosemite and seeing the El Capitan falls glow fire orange. I just saw a picture of this a couple weeks ago and would really like to see it. Second, we have had several mild winters in St. Louis and my wife wants some snow so we want to be able to play in the mountains and I saw that Sequoia has a "snow play" area, although I don't really know what is all there. Since it's over 2000 miles to Yosemite I thought we would hit up some other attractions and turn it into a "touring" roadtrip. We are open to suggestions though as to where to go and not go. The reason I picked those parks was because my parents had taken me when I was younger and I want to take my wife and show her. Although my wife enjoys seeing the parks and camping and what not, she really loves visiting new cities and trying new foods and sight seeing in a city also, which is why I wanted to go through SF. Would it be a bad time of year to visit SF?

Thanks for all the input. The way I understand it now is this: Crater Lake is not campable for typical people, Redwood will be wet, but not that snowy, Yosemite will be campable but will have snow and much of the park will be closed other than the valley and Sequoia will be much the same. And short days, cold days all the way around.
 

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