Trailer Length - RV-Dreams Community Forum

Loki · RV-Dreams Family Member

Trailer Length

Bill and Linda · RV-Dreams Family Member

It generally pertains to the length of the trailer only. However, occasionally there are practical limitations on where to park the tow vehicle; however, this is seldom an issue that can't be resolved.

As to the getting into state parks, as we always say, it just depends. Many times different sites are very different in length and the park’s website many times will indicate the length of the individual sites and (forgive the suggestion) you can reserve or just ask to look around and see if one will work as H & L do.

We’ve actually had very few issues with state parks and our 5’ers length is just under 39 feet. Howard and Linda’s trailer is the same size as ours and they stay in a lot of state parks. We feel the comfort of our rig, especially when we are in it for months at a time or full-timing would be of more importance than the very occasional park that can’t accommodate us.

That’s our experience

Safe travels

Bill

-- Edited by Bill and Linda on Thursday 22nd of December 2011 02:23:31 PM

-- Edited by Bill and Linda on Thursday 22nd of December 2011 04:01:10 PM

The Bear II · RV-Dreams Family Member

It's funny here in California a lot of the state parks show length restrictions of 30 ft or less. And yet when you go to a park the campground host is in a 35 to 40 ft RV.

I realize the host is able to move in their RV under ideal conditions (empty campground), where the rest of us are trying to squeeze in around other campers.

We always plan ahead and look for campgrounds or RV parks where our 37 ft 5th wheel will fit. In 18 years of travel with this RV we've only had two tight spots where it required lots of patience to get in.

janieD · RV-Dreams Family Member

I think it really depends on the state. The further east you go and the older the state park we have found the tighter the fit. In Wisconsin at several parks we found the fit very tight for even our 30 ft 5th wheel. The same for Indiana. Out west we have never had a problem. One thing we have found in Iowa and Wisconsin since we have spent a good deal of time in these states, is the county parks are often a better fit. In Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah we never have had an issue with size and see many 40+ foot rigs at these parks.

blijil · RV-Dreams Family Member

We have found that National Forest Campgrounds as well as some state campgrounds are limited because of the road to the campground ie single lane and or tight curves. We try our best to check out these campgrounds in just the truck first. Some are better and bigger than advertised or have been updated since the internet post and others are much worse. If we are just coming into an area and not sure we will pay the price for a couple of days in a "Resort" so that we can check out the forest or state campgrounds. We are only 30ft and squeeze in some times but often a 40 would fit especially in the new rebuilt federal campgrounds.
Larry

Sherry · RV-Dreams Family Member

Lots of state parks have sites for RVs up to 40'. The problem is that there aren't a lot of them. So you have to make sure they've got one that you will fit in before you go.

National parks on the other hand are very often 35' or less period. So if you want to do a lot of those and stay in the parks, I'd suggest a shorter rig.

We full time in a 34' Winnebago and have had few troubles getting in anywhere.

axleman99 · RV-Dreams Community Member

THIIs issue is one we wrestled with for months prior to purchasing our new 38 ft fifth wheel....we grew frustrated at the different opinions we received from friends and aquaintenaces....we are absolutely brand new at this game...the way we decided....we literally called 30-35 national parks ranger stations on the phone...and also same amount of state parks....cut to the chase...based on our calls...very few national parks will not allow our rig...for the ones that wont there are plenty of private campgrounds outside parks to accommodate us....for the time we will be there...as far as state parks...length is very seldom an issue...we r full timers and being comfortable on a regular basis is important to us...if that means we can only only get into 98% of the national and stdte parks ....that is a good tradeoff as far as we are concerned....I have yet to hear any of us complain about our rig being too large or not enough parks to see.....hope this helps..good luck!

Howard · Host

This is a topic near and dear to our hearts and one we spend time on in one of our Rally seminars.

Our fifth wheel is just over 39 feet total and we love state parks, national parks, and other public campgrounds. State park campgrounds do vary greatly state to state. National Parks also vary greatly.

The one thing I will say is to never trust length restrictions you find on websites without calling the park or campground directly. I can't tell you how many campgrounds we've stayed in with 30-ft length limits on their websites (we were camphosts in one). A quick call to a ranger or a campground host or local staffer on-site often ends with "Sure we have 40-footers in here all the time. I don't know why they set that limit or haven't updated the website since the new campsites were put in".

And even the reported length limit of a site is terribly inconsistent as to what they are measuring. Sometimes it is what the site can actually accommodate, sometimes it is the length of the concrete pad only, etc. And many times they are just dead wrong.

We are in a campground now where a certain "40-ft" site can barely accomodate a 30-ft RV, and where a "35-ft" site fit both our fifth wheel and truck end-to-end with about five feet to spare. We're currently in a "40-ft" site with our fifth wheel and truck (unhitched) end-to-end with a few feet in both the front and the back of the site.

Also, if there are no obstructions in the back of a site, we can hang fifteen feet of our rig off the back of a concrete pad. The bottom line is we never trust length limits for campgrounds or for individual sites found on websites.

And keep in mind we have a truck, a fifth wheel, and a Jeep. More often than not, we can get all the vehicles on a site. However, we do sometimes have to park one vehicle in "overflow" parking. Usually, that's somewhere we can see the vehicle but not always.

Now, in our experience, National Forest Campgrounds do tend to be less big rig friendly than others. But that's not always about the length of the rig in a site. Often it's about the access to the campground. If I were going to spend the majority of my camping in National Forest Campgrounds, I would have to seriously think about a shorter rig, but we do just fine everywhere else. smile