RV Dump Stations Connecticut

Driving through Connecticut in an RV is a bit of a paradigm shift, especially if you’re used to the wide open spaces out west. The state is compact, a beautiful mosaic of colonial history, dense woodlands, and charming little towns that look like they’ve been pulled from a postcard. It’s a place where the roads can get narrow and winding in a hurry, and where a “long drive” is anything over an hour. This small scale is part of its charm, but for those of us piloting a thirty foot home on wheels, it presents a unique challenge, particularly when that little red light on the control panel tells you it's time to find a dump station. In Connecticut, you have to completely rethink your strategy.
Let’s be direct about this: you are not going to stumble upon a plethora of public dump stations here. It’s not that kind of state. The days of pulling into a highway rest area or a big travel plaza for a quick and easy dump are, for the most part, over the moment you cross the state line. The vast majority of Connecticut’s highway service plazas simply don’t offer this amenity. Instead, the entire dump station landscape is built around the private campground. This is where you’ll find your salvation, but it requires a bit of planning and some good old fashioned courtesy. Most campgrounds reserve their facilities for their registered guests, which is perfectly understandable. Your best bet is to plan your route, identify a few potential campgrounds along the way, and call them ahead of time.
I’ve had great success with this approach. I find a park on the map, give them a call, and politely explain my situation: “Hi, I’m an RVer just passing through and I see you’re on my route. My tanks are getting a bit full, and I was wondering if you allow non-guests to use your dump station for a fee?” More often than not, a friendly voice on the other end will say yes. Expect to pay a fee, somewhere in the ten to twenty dollar range, which is a small price to pay for the service and peace of mind. Some might say no, and that’s their right, so just be polite and try the next one on your list. There’s another, more obscure option for the truly resourceful RVer. In some New England communities, the local public works department or municipal wastewater treatment plant might have a bay for servicing their own vehicles that they will, on occasion, allow an RVer to use during business hours. This isn’t a given, and it requires a phone call and permission, but it’s a great bit of insider knowledge to have in your back pocket.
The other major factor you have to contend with is winter. Connecticut gets cold, and when the freezing temperatures arrive in late fall, many campgrounds close up shop for the season. When they close, their dump stations go offline with them, completely winterized and unusable until spring. This dramatically reduces the already limited number of options. If you’re a full timer or just brave enough to be traveling through New England in the winter, your planning needs to be meticulous. You’ll be hunting for the few year round facilities, which might be found at an RV dealership or a larger truck stop on one of the main interstates, but they are few and far between. The good news is that Connecticut is small. If you find yourself in a real bind, you’re never more than a short drive from New York, Massachusetts, or Rhode Island, where your options might open up a bit. It’s a different kind of RVing, one that requires foresight and a friendly phone voice, but the rewards of exploring this beautiful, historic corner of the country are well worth the effort.