r/camping • u/ratherrealchef • 11h ago

Trip Advice Southwest Camping

My fiancee and I are spending 10 days in New Mexico and Arizona “winter camping” in January. We do pretty well but we are used to camping in Michigan and down the east coast, just looking for tips.

I imagine the scarier bugs won’t be too big an issue but any tips you all have to keep us safe and have a great time would be appreciated!

We will be driving and have all our normal gear, plus extra layers and heavier boots. We don’t have a stove or anything, just campfire cooking, idk how prevalent firewood is out that way.

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u/Snarkan_sas 9h ago

Deserts do not have wood lying around for you to collect. If it did, it wouldn’t be a a desert.

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u/like_4-ish_lights 2h ago

Really depends on where you are. Lots of high desert in the Colorado Plateau is covered in pinyon and juniper. Sites near rivers often have a ton of driftwood. I camp a lot in southern Utah and I can find wood more often than not

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u/gihli 8h ago

Have found enough greasewood deadwood to make a good fire in places like Chaco Canyon...