Where to dump tanks and get LP gas near Truckee?

You’ve had a ludicrous adventure and now you need to dump your tanks and fill the LP (propane) gas before returning. We’ve got you covered no matter what direction you are returning to Truckee from. First think you need to know is this website: SaniDumps: RV Dump Station Directory. Where ever you are at, this website will have all the details you need to dump the RV tanks.

We personally use the two locations listed below the most, as they are in Truckee. The easiest is the Chevron Gas Station located right off of I-80. The dump station is easy to get to and they have LP available too.

Chevron Gas Station
12353 Deerfield Dr, Truckee, CA 96161
Open mid May through mid October
$12.00 or $8.00 with fuel fill up

The dump station is on the left of the store, and the LP gas is right behind (see picture below). We recommend getting gas first, then dump the tanks and fill LP (ask an attendant inside to help with the LP).

Another Truckee option is Coachland RV Park. You’ll need to stop at the front desk and pay before pulling through to their dump station. LP (propane) is also available, ask nicely for a fill and they’ll help you out.

Coachland RV Park
10100 Pioneer Trail, Truckee, CA 96161
Open May through October; 8:30AM – 4:30PM; RV dump station is not available after first snow fall
water is available
dump station is big rig friendly
$10.00

If you are headed west on I-80 from Reno, you can stop at the Cabela’s in Verdi.

Cabela’s – Reno
8650 Boomtown Garson Road, Verdi, NV 89439
Note: dump station is behind store, Open year round; 24 hours; dump station is big rig friendly
$5.00 or Free with purchase

Headed east on I-80 from the Bay towards Truckee, you can easily stop at the Chevron listed above, or you could also stop in Soda Springs, right before Donner Summit.

Cisco Grove Campground & RV Park
48415 Hampshire Rocks Rd, Emigrant Gap, CA 95715
potable water at front of campground
Open year round
dump station is big rig friendly $10.00

RV Rental Insurance – Binders … what the?!

Without the included insurance provided by RVShare and Outdoorsy, we probably wouldn’t be renting our RV’s right now! Understanding the difference between paying for the included insurance vs providing your own is important and they can also be complementary.

There are some advantages to using your own insurance, mostly price & roadside assistance, so in this post we’ll highlight what an insurance binder is, and how you can get one, which all depends on who you use as your insurance provider.

Due to age, if you book ‘Eagle 5’ on RVshare, you’ll be required to provide an insurance binder. This unit IS covered under Outdoorsy’s insurance policies, so if you are unable to obtain a binder, you can book on Outdoorsy and still be covered. Outdoorsy does charge extra for roadside assistance ($15 per day).

RV Rental Insurance Binder Definition

By law, of course, you’ve got to have insurance when renting an RV. Just like with a car, insurance protects the driver and owner in the case of any sort of incident. What exactly is an insurance binder for an RV rental though?

Put simply, it’s temporary RV rental insurance that is offered by your insurance company until a policy can be issued. For example, it’s usually a single page document that contains specific information such as all the names of the insured, the type of policy, and definite time limits.

An RV rental insurance binder (or any RV insurance, really) requires a list of two things:

  • Liability insurance, that covers you if anyone gets hurt or tries to sue you
  • Actual RV rental insurance, which covers you in case of an accident

Keep in mind that not all auto insurance companies offer insurance binders. So it’s something you should find out about as early in the planning process as possible.

Auto Insurance Companies Offering Free RV Rental Binders:

  • State Farm
  • Farmers
  • AAA
  • USAA
  • 21st Century
  • AllState

Auto Insurance Companies NOT Offering RV Rental Binders:

  • Geico
  • Liberty Mutual
  • Wawanesa
  • Mercury
  • Travelers
  • Progressive
  • Amica
  • Ameriprise
  • GMAC
  • Hartford
  • Nationwide
  • Most “off brand” policies (e-surance, Freeway, Fred Loya, etc..)

If you have a full coverage auto policy with at least $500k liability, and $200k comprehensive and collision, call your auto insurance agent and find out if you can add our vehicle into your policy. This is sometimes called an “Insurance Binder” or “Insurance Certificate”. We will need to be added to your insurance policy as a “Loss Payee” and “Additional Insured”.

When making a reservation let us know you’re interested in going through you personal insurance and we will email you an insurance binder request to forward to your insurance agent. They will do the rest.

Tahoe to ColoRADo – a great roadtrip – part 1

RV Colorado from Tahoe! Some of my best friends live in Colorado and we’ve made the drive from Tahoe to Colorado 6 or 7 times. It’s not a short trip, roughly 1000 miles separate Tahoe and Denver, but highly worthwhile.

Traveling in an RV makes the trip quite enjoyable with lots of different options present.  Below I’ll run you through the loop that takes us from Tahoe, through Moab, UT to Aspen, CO, Aspen to Denver, Denver to Steamboat, Steamboat to Park City, and finally Park City back to Tahoe.

In-between Tahoe and Colorado is Nevada and Utah, and the drive across Nevada is surprisingly scenic (mountains the whole way!), although single threaded, you’re basically just headed east on I-80. The RV’s get roughly 10 MPG, and have 35-40 gallon tanks, so most of the stops going across Nevada are fairly predetermined, you’ve got a range of 250-350 miles in-between fill ups.

Moving across Nevada is the only part of the trip where you’ll see the same stuff twice, as I-80 is really the best way to get across the state. There’s another option we don’t recommend (having taken it before). Highway 50 cuts across the heart of Nevada and is referred to as the ‘loneliest road in America’ for good reason, there’s stretches spanning 100+ miles with no services. It’s not a place you want to break down or have any issues. We don’t suggest traveling on 50 unless you’re well prepared.

That being said, I-80 is quite simple. From Truckee, head east on 80! We’ll usually stop in Winnemucca, NV for gas/snacks and push on to West Wendover, which is right on the border of NV & UT. There are several truck stops and casino’s here, which makes parking for the night easy. We usually park in the truck lot right by the McDonald’s. Its fairly level and simple, with a quick breakfast and fill-up, and you can be on your way early in the morning.

If you are on the road by 8am from West Wendover, you’ll cross the salt flats outside of Salt Lake City early enough that it shouldn’t be windy. This makes the drive enjoyable and it’s strangely beautiful checking out the salt flats.

Once you hit SLC, it’s decision time. There’s two routes, stay on 80 which takes you through Park City and the Utah mountain ranges, or head south toward Moab and I-70, which is the highway that cuts through the middle of Colorado. For most of our trips, we’ve taken the southern route out, and returned on the northern route, but you can do it either way.

From SLC, you head south towards Moab on I-15 passing Provo (we’ll usually stop there for gas), then Route 6 until you hit I-70. We suggest heading slightly further south to check out the Moab area as there’s two great National Parks there, Arches and Canyonlands.

There’s excellent camping along the Colorado river right outside of Moab on Rt 128, which eventually connects back to I-70. The road follows the river and canyon and the views are pretty epic.

 

These pictures are from Lower Onion Creek Campground, and we’d recommend spending a night in this area.

From Moab, you can either cut directly back north to I-70 or follow Rt 128 through the canyon and it meets back up with 70 right by the UT/CO border.

Once you are on 70, it’s again a straight shot east into ColoRADo! We’ll generally visit friends in the Aspen area first, and there’s convenient RV campgrounds and boon-docking locations throughout the Roaring Fork Valley (the road that runs from Glenwood Springs to Aspen). If you like hot springs, a stop in Glenwood Springs is a must for a soak.

After a day or two in the area, we’ll eventually start making our way towards Denver, with a stop or two along the way in Summit County to visit Breckenridge or Silverthorn. One last push over the front range and you’ll see the lights of Denver! We generally park on the street in front of friends houses in Denver, the parking availability can be random through, and it depends on the location. There’s several RV parks within the Denver city limits too if you are looking for a more formal option.

After a couple days in Denver, we’ll start heading back toward Tahoe.

Stay tuned for Part 2, heading west from Denver. I’ll detail the route we take through Rocky Mountain National Park to Steamboat, then Steamboat back through UT to Tahoe.

Boondocking – The journey is the reward

It certainly is convenient to have ‘reservations’ everywhere, but one of the best parts of traveling in an RV is flexibility and NOT being tied down to a specific location.

Whether your ‘just trying to get there’ or trying to save on campground costs, parking on the side of the road and crashing for the night in-between locations is an excellent option. This is referred to as: Boondocking.

  • Casinos – Some casinos allow free overnight parking for motorhomes. A good resource to locate them is Casino Camper.
  • Truck Stops – Many truck stops will let you stay overnight for free. To locate these see Truck Stop Locations.
  • overnightrvparking.com – Another resource for free overnight parking is overnightrvparking.com. They also offer a mobile app for your convenience.
  • boondockerswelcome.com – Free overnight parking on private property. $
  • Harvest Hosts – Free overnight camping at wineries, farms, and agri-tourism sites.

Super Easy Option:

Check out Walmart! Yes, you read that right – Walmart is not only the place for camping essentials, it’s also the best-kept “secret” in free overnight camping. Many Walmart locations across the country allow motor-home campers to stop overnight (free!) in their parking lots.

How to find the Walmart locations along your route? Here are two helpful links to make things easy:

  • Walmart Stores That Provide Overnight RV Camping – There are plenty of Walmart stores that DO allow overnight RV parking, and you can find a state-by-state directory of those locations here. Because you are all great “citizens of the road”, we know you’ll follow camping etiquette, no matter where you stop. Here are some things to remember, however, when you’re pulling into a Walmart “campsite”:
    • This is “dry camping”, so there won’t be electricity, water or dump stations available while you’re there. You’ll need to find a dump station elsewhere (you may want to check out rvdumps.com for this), as well as filling water tanks and using your own generator. Seems obvious, but it’s always worth mentioning.
    • Park only in the spaces designated for RV parking. You should always double-check with the store ahead of time, so you aren’t rudely awakened by a security guard!
    • To benefit RVer’s world-wide, always leave your campsite clean, whether in a Walmart parking lot or at an exclusive resort. Blowing trash from motorhome campers could shut down this generous benefit from Walmart.
  • Walmart Stores That Do Not Provide Overnight Camping – Not all Walmart locations allow overnight RV parking. You can use this link to find stores that don’t offer this service. Please keep our public image shiny by respecting the policies of these stores.

DISCLAIMER/WARNING:  While free overnight stays at Walmart may be something that may seem attractive, always check with the store to see if they allow camping.  In addition, in some cities/states, it is illegal.

Spring RV Camping (April/May) around Tahoe

Camping in the Tahoe area via RV is absolutely possible in the ‘Early Season’ (April/May), you just have to know where to look!

The biggest challenge is simply finding campsites that are open, as many don’t ‘officially’ open until Memorial Day Weekend (last weekend in May).
Also, to make things even more interesting…the official opening dates can vary widely depending how deep the snowpack is from the previous winter. So basically, you have to know where to look.

Depending on your objective (sightseeing, skiing, hiking, fishing or biking), there’s still lots of options in the area. We’ve got a post in the works that’s skiing specific … keep an eye out.

From a ‘getting away from it all’ camping perspective, check for availability at local campgrounds on Recreation.gov , make sure you select RV sites on the left hand side, it will quickly narrow down locations for you. The earlier in the season it is, the more likely it is that you’ll need to look for options at lower elevations.

An option only a couple minutes north of Truckee is Upper & Lower Little Truckee River campgrounds.

  

Its convenient location makes it a great base camp for a variety of recreational activities, including fishing, hunting, hiking and biking.

Natural Features:

The campground is situated on the banks of the Little Truckee River, at an elevation of 6,100 feet. A forest of lodgepole pine, aspen and juniper trees covers the area, offering partial shade. A few sites overlook the river.

Recreation:

Fishing for rainbow and brown trout in the Little Truckee River is a popular activity enjoyed by visitors to the area. The surrounding area offers hiking and biking trails.

Facilities:

The campground offers single-family campsites, each equipped with a picnic table and campfire ring. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided.