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Old 07-11-2018, 04:24 AM   #1
Jefster
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Big Trailer

We just made a significant upgrade on size, from an 18' hybrid to a 37' bunkhouse. As I'm looking for campsites for our first weekend out, in already running in to restrictions on where we can go because of the length of our trailer. Camping in anything this big is totally new to me.

For those of you with trailers over 35', how restricted do you feel when finding or reaching campsites? I want to do some longer trips to state and national parks all over the country now that we have a larger camper that can accommodate us without all the setup and teardown of the hybrid, I'm just wondering about that experience from you who pull the big ones.

I'm used to being able to pretty much pick where we want to be in the campsite, close to pool, playground etc, and it seems like now we'll have to take whatever corner of the cg we will fit in.
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Old 07-11-2018, 04:29 AM   #2
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For the most part you can rule out National Parks.. Look for private campground in the areas you want to visit..

I also have pretty much quit using any place that doesn't have site specific reservations.. It's a real bummer to book a place 6 months in advance and drive 500 miles only to find the only sites left are for a popup and there are popups in the large sites.. This is common in many Texas State Parks...
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Old 07-11-2018, 05:40 AM   #3
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We are just about 35 feet bumper to tongue. The Michigan State Campgrounds can accommodate the larger units (most of them). Some have the pull thru sites and some you can place your trailer the best way it fits on the site.
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Old 07-11-2018, 05:58 AM   #4
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National parks will be an issue. I'm convinced that the NPS really doesn't want an RV any larger than a pop-up in the park. They seem to deliberately restrict the length of sites with a log or boulder. I think there is politics involved and will reserve further comment.
But, I have reserved specific sites at COE parks, if that helps you. There will usually be private commercial RV parks just outside a national park, taking advantage of this situation. I know it's far from camping "in the park", but it is what it is.
That's one of the reasons I bought the cabover.
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Old 07-11-2018, 06:43 AM   #5
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Your Lenght is close to 60 ft total . The trouble with national parks the sighs are long enough , years ago it was scenic to put huge rocks for driveway boarders big trouble for large rv. With my 36 ft fifth wheel I'm 50 ft . I have pulled in many suppose to be pull through and end up backing out if I pull in I can back out , you will need to do a lot more walk around .
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Old 07-11-2018, 07:04 AM   #6
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Think back when a lot of national parks were being built, what was the average length of a travel trailer? In the 60’s my parents had a 17’ Ideal for 5 kids. My dad rolled it and we all thought we had it goin on with a newer 19’ trailer. I can’t imagine the DW and me in 19’.....just my thoughts.
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Old 07-11-2018, 07:07 AM   #7
Ken / Claudia
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Oregon is the same as mentioned, the state, county and national forest campgrounds for the most part need smaller vehicles. It's not about views, it's about the age of the campgrounds. They were almost all built when a large RV was 22 ft long and the only pickups with 4 full doors were work trucks. From the 1930s through the 1950s yes, some updating has been done but, that's not the norn. Private campgrounds which are many have built correctly and will hold the biggest RVs. Difference between the need to make money vs. taxer payer money.
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Old 07-11-2018, 08:43 AM   #8
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I will just kind of echo the above statements. A 37' trailer is not going to fit in most FS or NPS campgrounds I have seen. Some state campgrounds (think CCC) that have been updated can hold it....if in the right spot. Our last trip to a state park had me really contorting stuff to try to get into the slot; between the posts at the corners of the space, the ped, the overhanging tree at the back and the tree lined roadway, I was "touching the bark" on the tree across the road to get the trailer in.

Due to the above, we generally stay in commercial campgrounds, and I try to check them out beforehand and always advise them that we are about 38'; sometimes that doesn't even work, so yes, be prepared for a lot less to choose from considering forest and park sites.
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Old 07-11-2018, 09:33 AM   #9
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A lot of state/national parks say they are big rig friendly & they do have some long sites, but narrow winding roads with large rocks & trees bordering those roads, which make it impossible to get to those sites.
Your best plan for choosing state/national parks is the stay the 1st night outside the chosen park until you drive through it to make sure you can get in, & out. We've done this several times & after doing the drive we might be able to get into a site, but not out, especially parks in Pacific northwest, too many trees.
Now we don't even look for those parks, but stay outside & just drive in the enjoy the views.
Plus we are not "campers" anymore, we're fulltimers & we have 3 basic requirements, water, sewer & electricity.
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Old 07-11-2018, 09:44 AM   #10
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Our fifth wheel is 31' long. By today's standards, it is a small fifth wheel. In the 1960's, it was as large or larger than the largest built. We have significant problems in national park/national forest campgrounds in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. ALL of the campgrounds along US2 from St Ignace to Escanaba are unable to fit our fifth wheel. The one exception to that is the national forest campground at Lake Brevort. There, almost all the sites are large enough to park a trailer up to 40' (with some exceptions). I haven't found any other national park or national forest campgrounds in the UP that have sites large enough for a 40 footer. There are some state park campgrounds in northern Michigan and the UP that do have sites long enough, but even in them, the approach to maneuver into the campsites is so tight it's very difficult, sometimes impossible to back a large fifth wheel into the site without hitting large rocks or falling off the roadway, into the drainage ditch on the other side. It's difficult to reserve a site "unseen" and have any expectation that the site will be large enough and the approach will be easy enough to get a 40' trailer into most sites in "public campgrounds". Many "private campgrounds" cater to larger trailers and even in many of them, backing into the site is daunting, especially late at night, when tired and things typically go wrong......
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Old 07-11-2018, 11:27 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JRTJH View Post
Our fifth wheel is 31' long. By today's standards, it is a small fifth wheel. In the 1960's, it was as large or larger than the largest built. We have significant problems in national park/national forest campgrounds in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. ALL of the campgrounds along US2 from St Ignace to Escanaba are unable to fit our fifth wheel. The one exception to that is the national forest campground at Lake Brevort. There, almost all the sites are large enough to park a trailer up to 40' (with some exceptions). I haven't found any other national park or national forest campgrounds in the UP that have sites large enough for a 40 footer. There are some state park campgrounds in northern Michigan and the UP that do have sites long enough, but even in them, the approach to maneuver into the campsites is so tight it's very difficult, sometimes impossible to back a large fifth wheel into the site without hitting large rocks or falling off the roadway, into the drainage ditch on the other side. It's difficult to reserve a site "unseen" and have any expectation that the site will be large enough and the approach will be easy enough to get a 40' trailer into most sites in "public campgrounds". Many "private campgrounds" cater to larger trailers and even in many of them, backing into the site is daunting, especially late at night, when tired and things typically go wrong......
I was no older then ten my folks would go for 2 week rent a caben at Brevard lake .I remember good fishing and a very old big 2 story house across the lake with sand dunes everywhere . That was 55 years ago and brevort lake will stay with my thoughts.
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Old 07-11-2018, 11:48 AM   #12
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We don't take our 38' out of storage until we have called each campground we are going to first to make sure we will fit. We have three local campgrounds and one only fits 35' and smaller.

When we plan to travel in the summer we normally have our sites picked and paid for in Jan to make sure we get good spots.
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Old 07-11-2018, 07:37 PM   #13
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I have a 40' Alpine with 6 slide outs. I've been fortunate to find rv parks that accommodate my rig. Stayed at a real nice rv park in Orange county in California and also another one at San Diego to San Antonio. We camp at Ruidoso New Mexico in the forest with a river running behind the rv park. I've had several rv's from Avion, Laredo's, Avalanche, etc... however the longest was the Avalanche at 37' . Now the Alpine. Have no regrets.
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Old 07-13-2018, 06:13 AM   #14
rick-eureka
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Corps of Engineers parks generally have room for larger rigs. Most other federal campgrounds do not.
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Old 07-19-2018, 10:57 AM   #15
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40' 5th wheel

When hitched our full length is 60'. We have stayed in Yellowstone NP (only 1 campground there takes big rigs), state parks (Iowa & Maryland that I remember off the top of my head), county parks & Corps of Engineers campgrounds. You can do the Black Hills & Badlands NP. 99% of the time we have reservations & verify our length when making a reservation so they hold an appropriate site. There have certainly been campgrounds we've had to bypass because of our length but never an entire destination because of it. When we wanted to do Hwy 1 in California, we drove & stayed on Hwy 101 & did day trips (pickup only) on Hwy 1. I also preview on Google street level any road that looks curvy on regular map view (or paper map) before a trip so I don't end up, as the navigator, with my husband trying to drive a road that we are almost too long for. GPS directions to one campground on the east coast routed us through a small New England town. There were a couple of very ugly corners - cars had to back up to give us the needed room to turn. We no longer trust GPS!! Size = more planning to avoid OOPS! situations. Enjoy the extra room your family now has!
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Old 07-19-2018, 11:53 AM   #16
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When we went from 28 trailer to 37 5th wheel we had to start using private parks since the majority have no issue with longer RVs and many parks national and state do have an issue. Too bad since we have the old fart freeby or discount card depending where you are. Still occasionally check the local parks but rarely find one that works.
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Old 07-19-2018, 11:54 AM   #17
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On the Canadian side, the problems and resolutions are identical. It doesn't keep me from a destination, but it could keep me out of a specific park. Areas/businesses that live or die on tourism dollars tend to make it easier for the modern rigs, everywhere else you takes your chances.
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Old 07-19-2018, 02:28 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Javi View Post
For the most part you can rule out National Parks.. Look for private campground in the areas you want to visit..

I also have pretty much quit using any place that doesn't have site specific reservations.. It's a real bummer to book a place 6 months in advance and drive 500 miles only to find the only sites left are for a popup and there are popups in the large sites.. This is common in many Texas State Parks...
The Texas State parks reservation system is being converted to one that will allow site specific reservations, starting later this year.

A welcome change

-Brian
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Old 07-19-2018, 02:52 PM   #19
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To get an idea of where you can stay, check out RV PARK REVIEWS. It covers private, city, county, state, NPS, NFS, COE and BLM campsites, based on reviews by RVers. It will tell you if the park is big rig friendly. We have not been disappointed with this website, as far as whether or not our 37' 5tth wheel will fit or not. In fact, the reviewers tell you if the site will be long enough for your RV only, or if it is long enough for your RV and TV.
Our experience with state parks (about 20 states) that use ReserveAmerica is they will let you know if they have sites long enough for your RV or not. With ReserveAmerica, you can actually reserve a specific site, so you won't be disappointed when you get there.
We also book several months out when booking for the summer months, or other busy times, especially for non-private parks, since we know many of the older parks have limited number of sites for big rigs.
I agree with Javi about Texas State Parks. I will only book one for arrival early in the week, and so far we have not had a problem.
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Old 07-22-2018, 06:32 AM   #20
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x2 on campgroundreviews.com Typically look at sat photos and talk to cg if we haven't been there before. A little time spent beforehand can alleviate headaches later.
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