Village Welcome, friends! Diesel went from about $4 a gallon to nearly $7 in what felt like a month or two. RV fuel prices are hitting everyone. With fall here and snowbird season coming, every RVer is asking the same thing: how far can we really afford to travel this winter?

Here’s what we’re seeing, how it’s changing our plans, and the free tool that saves us money at the pump.

What RV Fuel Prices Look Like Right Now

When we filmed this at the end of September 2026, here’s roughly what we were seeing for diesel:

• This time last year in Virginia: about $3.75 a gallon
• East Coast now: about $6.15
• Gulf Coast: about $5.70
• California: $8 and up

Our truck gets about 9 miles per gallon and holds 65 gallons. That means one tank now costs us about $200 more than it did a year ago for the exact same drive.

Should You Head South or Stay Put?

It depends on how you RV:

If you’re a weekend warrior

Halloween is one of the biggest camping weekends of the year, so many folks are squeezing in their last hurrahs. If your campground is 30 minutes away, go! If it’s a long haul, maybe trade two short trips for one longer one, so you only make the drive once.

If you’re full-time with no house

It’s a math problem. Is it cheaper to buy fuel to head south, or to buy propane to keep your RV warm up north? Newer RVs with heat pumps help, but only to a point, and many northern campgrounds close or shut off water for winter.

If you have a home base (like us)

You can park, winterize and stay home. You’ll pay more to heat the house, but you skip the fuel bill. We’re lucky to have that option, and we know not everyone does.

How We’re Changing the Way We Travel

• Drive less, stay longer. Instead of moving 200 miles every couple of days, go 200 miles and stay a week or two.
• Pick routes where fuel is cheaper. Heading straight south from the Midwest to Texas, prices drop. Heading down the East Coast, they stay about the same.
• Use a small car for errands. Our daughter’s hybrid gets about 40 mpg around town. It won’t pull the RV, but it keeps the big truck parked. If you tow a fuel-sipper behind a motorhome, use it.
• Lean on campground memberships. We stretch our dollars with Thousand Trails and Passport America. Learn more in RV Memberships That Actually Save You Money.

Our Favorite Free Way to Save on Fuel: Open Roads

Lots of memberships cost money. Open Roads doesn’t. It’s a free fuel savings card you link to a bank account (linking a credit card adds a fee). Swipe it at participating stations and the discount comes off automatically.

• We’ve saved anywhere from a few cents to over a dollar a gallon.
• The app shows participating stations on a map, with both the pump price and your discounted price.
• At the end, you get a recap of what you bought and how much you saved.

Lisa plans our fuel stops in the morning. If a station two or three hours ahead is $4.98 with the discount and the next one is $6, we top off early, even if we don’t need it yet. Every little bit helps. (And yes, Jimmy loves Love’s truck stops. Clean bathrooms and you always know what you’re getting. Nobody pays us to say that.)

Other Ways to Pinch Pennies

• Skip a restaurant night or two. That $200 has to come from somewhere.
• Stop buying “just one more” souvenir for the camper. (Lisa, we’re looking at you.)
• Cook at the campsite. Jimmy votes for scrapple and eggs. Lisa absolutely does not.

What’s Your Breaking Point on RV Fuel Prices?

Is it $7 a gallon? $8? $9? At what price do you park for the winter, travel shorter, or rethink RV life altogether? Or will you keep rolling and just change how you travel?

Tell us in the video comments. And while you’re there, settle the debate: do you eat scrapple?

Wondering if RV life is still worth it with prices like these? Read Is Full-Time RV Living Still Worth It in 2026?
— Jimmy & Lisa, FindUsCamping