Location, location, location - RV-Dreams Community Forum

gene-colleen · RV-Dreams Community Member

Location, location, location

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

Start by researching state & national park length limits on the campsites...this will give you an idea of where you will be staying....reading opinions will just let you know who was happy and those that are unhappy.....but the facts will be what is available to coincide with what you will be traveling with and what parks can accommodate you.

Welcome to the forum Gene....hope this info gets you on the right track

NWescapee · RV-Dreams Family Member

I know you don't want the answer "it depends" but that's what we have found. We've had better luck finding state, county and COE campgrounds that can accomodate bigger RVs, but some national parks will have some spots that work, last year we camped in Yosemite, however now that I know what the drive is like into and out of that park, I might choose another option on that park.

I know at last fall's RV Dreams Rally, Howard emphasized calling each park in advance as the website info is not always accurate.

It's going to depend on where you want to travel, finding parks closer to a city that are not "koa types" is always more problematic.

bigboomer · RV-Dreams Family Member

As others said, call before you book...we have stayed in several National and State Parks and each one is different, even if they list the size on their sites. I would also recommend using satelite shots from Google Maps to see the campgrounds even if they tell you no problem as trying to back in a big rig in a large site with trees all around the entrance to the pad does not help that it maybe 50 or 60 feet long. We have seen pull thrus that are 80 feet long but each entrance has trees or polls right in the corners so you still would not be able to make the turns.

Technomadia · RV-Dreams Family Member

With each bit of length you add to your setup, you reduce by a small percentage your available options.

Keep in mind that some campgrounds will have sites to accommodate the largest of the rigs out there... but they may only have a handful of them. For instance, there's a state park on our upcoming routing that we'd love to stop by next - but they have no availability for sites that can accommodate anything over 30' for many weeks out. Plenty for under that. And then of course, there are simply parks that only have spots for smaller rigs, or are only accessible by smaller setups because of roads, grades, tight turns, trees, etc. And there are plenty of public scenic wonderful campgrounds that have a plethora of sites for all sized rigs - more and more parks are remodeling to support more modern sized setups.

It varies quite a bit, and there's really no hard and fast rule that you must be under X length to be able to get into most scenic places.

Research the available options at the places you'd like to incorporate into your travels, and then seriously consider how many compromises you're willing to make in living space versus the places you can go.

I can say, our choice of a 35' setup has paid off many times in being able to get the more scenic spots than if we were larger. And there have been plenty of times we wished we were just 3-5' shorter to get a more primo spot. But heck, we have wheels under our house for a reason - we can move on and find the next perfect spot!

- Cherie

Alie and Jims Carrilite · RV-Dreams Family Member

Height can be an issue too. Our last rig was 12'4" tall. Our current is 13'5"... I already know there are sites I can't get into that we stayed at previously. If you follow Linda and Howard, there have been very few areas they can't find a spot for their rig.