Length Restrictions - RV-Dreams Community Forum

GENECOP · RV-Dreams Family Member

Length Restrictions

Delaine and Lindy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Our 5th wheels have been 38' to 40' and haven't had any length problems. But we don't use State parks unless we can't find a full service RV park. We prefer 50 amp service and don't care for trees. GBY.....

Luvglass · RV-Dreams Family Member

There's generally no problem in commercial parks, but state and federal parks can definitely be a problem since many of them were developed 50 or more years ago when RV's were much smaller.

I think, the sweet spot for a combination of livability and access seems to be in the mid 30"'s. But, on the other hand, there are over 10,000 campgrounds in the USA, so you can always move on and find somewhere you can fit.

Howard · Host

There are length restrictions, but they are often inaccurate especially in state and national parks. If we had listened to the "RVs up to 30 feet" restrictions posted on several websites, we would have missed some wonderful places where we got in easily.

However, we do pay attention when it says "RVs up to 20 feet". We tend not to push it that far. biggrin

We often call our destination campground and ask those on-site about length limits. Many times we get "Yes you can get in. I don't know why they have that limit on the website". There have been a few occasions when they've told us the limits are accurate and we absolutely can't get in, but not very often.

So, call and ask those "on the ground" and if you still aren't sure, check out RVParkReviews.com and look at the comments. Or, ask in a Forum. Or, Google the campground to find a blog of someone who has been there and email them.

Just don't give up because of what you might see on a campground website. smile

And though this is not exactly on Topic, I think some folks may come to this thread looking for towing laws. So here is an excellent link: Towing Laws By State.

thebearII · RV-Dreams Family Member

Another consideration is height and tight turns. Low hanging branches, wires or other obstructions plague some of the newer taller RVs.

Many of the older private/public campgrounds have narrow roads with tight turns in some spots. This is true in many state campgrounds and can be the reason for length restrictions.

Like Howard indicated, some of these length restricted parks have spaces big enough if available.

We will call ahead just to check to see if they can accomodate a 38 ft 5th wheel with slides. One spot we stayed in, the rear of our 5th wheel hung out over a 10 foot drop. The rear wheels were up against the little wooden guard at the back of the spot and about 8ft of the 5th wheel hung out in thin air. The front of the 5th wheel was back from the roadway by about a foot. It was quite a sight and garnished lots of comments from folks walking by.

In another spot, we could only open our awning about 4 ft due to a big pine tree.

Just call ahead or drive thru in a non-rv to determine if your rig will fit.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

This has come up in forums over the years and the consensus is if you want to camp anywhere you need to stay about 33 feet or less in length and under 12 feet in height, preferably 11 feet. 33 is what most "under 30 feet" campsites can hold when pushed.
Today we just brushed tree branches taking a detour route and we are 12' 6" high. That was not even a campground.