Staying South In Summer - Cooler Locations??

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RvNaut

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My goal is to reduce overall mileage. This means staying as far South as I can manage, but avoiding the high 80°s/90°s.

I am assuming there are areas in Utah and Colorado that would suffice, but is there altitude in New Mexico that can offer a respite from the heat?

Any recommendations for Utah or Colo are welcome...
 
There are several areas above 8,000 feet in the Henry mountains of southern Utah but most are remote with questionable roads. I almost slid off the mountain where deep snow covered the shaded north side of Bull Creek Pass last year in June. You also need to consider how quickly your body can adapt to higher altitude. There some nice higher altitude areas in north west New Mexico as well.
 
My goal is to reduce overall mileage. This means staying as far South as I can manage, but avoiding the high 80°s/90°s.

I am assuming there are areas in Utah and Colorado that would suffice, but is there altitude in New Mexico that can offer a respite from the heat?

Any recommendations for Utah or Colo are welcome...
I spent last summer in NM and found a plethora of great high altitude places ranging from 1 mile hight up to almost 2 miles high (c. 10,000’. I went all summer without any uncomfortably hot days and all of the mountainous areas of NM are absolutely beautiful. Here are a few great areas to check out. I’ll give you nearby towns as the list would otherwise be very long.
Alamogordo, Mountainair, Villanueva, Angle Fire, Eagles Nest, Red River, Cimarron, Raton, Taos, Los Alamos, Santa Fe, El Vado... There are a ton of BLM and Forest Service camping opportunities in all of these regions so you shouldn’t have any problems finding a site. See attached map from Allstays app showing only BLM and Forest Service.
What I love about the NM mountains is you can usually drive a short distance and the topography considerably changes so you never get bored.
Good luck this summer!
 

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I spent last summer in NM and found a plethora of great high altitude places ranging from 1 mile hight up to almost 2 miles high (c. 10,000’. I went all summer without any uncomfortably hot days and all of the mountainous areas of NM are absolutely beautiful. Here are a few great areas to check out. I’ll give you nearby towns as the list would otherwise be very long.
Alamogordo, Mountainair, Villanueva, Angle Fire, Eagles Nest, Red River, Cimarron, Raton, Taos, Los Alamos, Santa Fe, El Vado... There are a ton of BLM and Forest Service camping opportunities in all of these regions so you shouldn’t have any problems finding a site. See attached map from Allstays app showing only BLM and Forest Service.
What I love about the NM mountains is you can usually drive a short distance and the topography considerably changes so you never get bored.
Good luck this summer!
PS: gas prices seem to be lower in NM than many other states too. About the same as Colorado.
 
My goal is to reduce overall mileage. This means staying as far South as I can manage, but avoiding the high 80°s/90°s.
I am assuming there are areas in Utah and Colorado that would suffice, but is there altitude in New Mexico that can offer a respite from the heat?
Any recommendations for Utah or Colo are welcome...
I live at 7,000 ft in southern NM and it never gets hot in the shade. Late June before the "monsoons" hit is the hottest, but if it's over 90, humidity is single digits. July and Aug will be high 70s most days, and it can even get cold when the afternoon showers come. Look at the Gila NF and Lincoln NF.

When I nomad I'll probably stay further north and east in summer though... because I like to camp in remote areas and don't like to deal with mud and washed out roads. Central Utah is awesome IMO (have a look at Bryce Canyon for instance), and not far from the best wintering locations.
 
Chama, NM. There is a train there, similar to Durango, and the campgrounds are full of volunteers and train-lovers during the summer.

Note than many of these campgrounds close over winter due to high snowfall.
 
I spent last summer in NM and found a plethora of great high altitude places ranging from 1 mile hight up to almost 2 miles high (c. 10,000’. I went all summer without any uncomfortably hot days and all of the mountainous areas of NM are absolutely beautiful. Here are a few great areas to check out. I’ll give you nearby towns as the list would otherwise be very long.
Alamogordo, Mountainair, Villanueva, Angle Fire, Eagles Nest, Red River, Cimarron, Raton, Taos, Los Alamos, Santa Fe, El Vado... There are a ton of BLM and Forest Service camping opportunities in all of these regions so you shouldn’t have any problems finding a site. See attached map from Allstays app showing only BLM and Forest Service.
What I love about the NM mountains is you can usually drive a short distance and the topography considerably changes so you never get bored.
Good luck this summer!
Hi Jason, For some reason I thought you said you would be boondocking. Are you familiar with the NM Annual camping pass? I’ve traveled most of the last year using my annual pass and I’m renewing it in a couple weeks to continue through September. I’ve had mostly great experiences with the state parks here and have stayed in or near some beautiful places. The pass is $225/yr for out of state and that allows you to stay up to 14 days in any state park; no cost for non-electric or $4/day for electricity and sometimes water hookup at the site. The only other cost is a reservation fee that is capped at $12 or otherwise is $4/day for reservations 3 days or less.
 
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