Winter camping in Amarillo, TX in freezing weather

[Jampcourt]

Advice from a native Amarilloan.......if you get any down time, don't miss going to the Palo Duro Canyon that is about 30 miles south of town. This canyon is second in size only to the Grand Canyon, but many don't know of its existence. There is a large state park, a herd of bison living on the rim, and it is well worth at least one visit. The Cadillac ranch is a hoot, but the canyon is the real deal.

[Logman]

I use a 12 volt mattress pad . Works great and although I have 2- 12 volt batts it seems to be pretty efficient.

[El Lobo]

We just spent two weeks in February camping in Moab Utah, visiting Archers and Canyon Lands National Parks. The temperature at night sometimes dipped to the low 20s. Here are some things we did to prepare for the cold weather. A lot of these tips I got from reading other postings about cold weather camping.
For the bedroom, I bought three half inch thermal-rest and placed them under the mattress (I have a king size bed). My wife made some custom padding out of fleece to put around the bed’s edges. The current rubber around the bed does not keep out the wind or the cold. At night, we covered ourselves with several blankets.
For the windows, I custom cut some ‘double bubble reflective foil insulation’ and placed them between the windows and curtains. Since they are single pane and not airtight, the foil insulation helped keep both out.
I added extra insulation between the trailer walls and the pipes in the bathroom and kitchen (including the holding tank). In addition, 1) added extra insulation around the cassette toilet; 2) went behind the panel under the outside storage and added insulation around the shower tub and pipes; 3) went underneath and added insulation around the shower trap; 4) disconnected the bathroom fan and put insulation in the fan output cavity; 5) and added insulation under the sofa (our model has a slide-out sofa).
On top of all the inside flaps, we places fleece blankets and cover all the gaps. At night, I went around the trailer and plugged any gaps I saw with pieces of insulation.
We bought an electric radiator from Ace. At night we placed it between the bed and the open door of the bathroom. It helped heat the back portion of the trailer; the trailer heater heated the front portion. At night we left the bathroom and kitchen bottom cabinet doors open. The electric radiator was the best investment. It produced lots of heat, was quiet, and saved us form using lots of propane to heat the trailer.
I need to figure a way to place foil insulation to the door window at night. I am thinking of using Velcro to attach the foil. The roof vents are also a problem. There are lights as part of the vents, so I can’t just cover them without losing the ability of using the lights.
The cold weather is hard on the plastic parts of the trailer. The plastic knob that holds the top portion of door shut while traveling broke. I had to use duct tape to keep the door in place while traveling home. I now need to figure out how to replace that knob. I may need to take part of the top door frame off to replace it.
Overall, we kept warm at night and will definitely do more camping in February and early March. We love that the parks and campgrounds are nearly empty at this time of the year. Out west, the main concern is making sure the highways and mountain passes are open. Hope this helps!

[LoveToCamp]

Sounds like you have a good system for keeping the warm air inside, and the cold air outside.

Regarding the door latch, if it is like mine, that is a piece you can get at any RV parts department. Common on pop-ups. I bought a few, as they also hold my bumper cover on.

Happy Camping!

[El Lobo]

I drilled out the broken latch and replaced it with a new one. Thanks for the advice on where to get the part!