40' too big for national/state parks?

[daveinaz]

Our 3400RL measures 39 feet. I've been reading a bit about how many national and state parks can't accommodate rigs this big.

So, I'm just wondering, how many problems have those of you with longer 5ers had in getting spots in national, state, or county parks?

We really want to stay at national and state parks but now I'm wondering if we need to downsize before we even hit the road. And if we do go to something smaller, how much smaller do we need to go to get into most of these parks? 35 feet, 30 feet?

Thanks.

[NevadaRich]

daveinaz, your right, I don't take my 43ft toy hauler to any of those places, I am lucky, I have a Truck Camper before the toy hauler and use it for the smaller places I want to go and during winter where I may need 4 wheel drive. So parks will handle a 35ft one, but you would be safe to get a 32ft montana which I had before the Toy Hauler

[Canonman]

I'd suggest looking at https://www.recreation.gov/. Enter locations you might be interested in and click on "show sites". Looking at the list you'll see the maximum RV length for each site. Some park campgrounds have sites big enough for 40+ foot units, but most have sites that are much smaller. This due to the era in which many were built.
Our Cougar is 30', pin to bumper. We have to be careful when deciding on which campsites to reserve to make sure we can "fit". We have found State Park campgrounds to provide generally larger sites. County parks have been a bit of a mix.
IMHO a 40+ foot trailer will be quite limiting when looking for most public park camp sites.

[MidMOTraveler]

Also note that often times it’s not just length but overhanging tree limbs . Then it’s tight turns and crowded parking that get you.
We’re 39’ and 13’ 4” keeps you looking around a lot.

[Jweems]

We are 39'+ and that has been our experience as well. My advice is to check the park reservation page ahead of time and look at the specs on the individual site you are considering. We have stayed in some really great National parks and there have been some that we could just not fit in.We will usually not make a spur of the moment visit to National parks or most state parks for that reason.
I also agree that even if you will fit on the site, many times it is tough to navigate into and out of the site with tree limbs, site signs, parking etc. However we also fond that most people are glad to help if possible by moving cars, etc.
Doc

[JRTJH]

Our Cougar is 31' long. There are probably more than half the National Park campgrounds that we have problems fitting into. The National Forest Campgorunds in Michigan's Upper Peninsula are even more restricted. There are some "fantastic campgrounds" in the UP that we'd like to visit, but we are forced to stay at "nearby camping facilities" and commute to the places we'd prefer to set up camp. One such campground is the NFS Lake Michigan campground on US2, just west of St Ignace. The longest site available is about 25' and most are even shorter.

While there are a lot of NP and NFS campsites that you will fit, there are many that a 35' fifth wheel would have problems and anything longer is not even an option.

[77cruiser]

Here's 1 example of a state park not far from me. Stayed there once with my other 5th wheel it was about 30 ft. They go by 50 ft. total.


https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_pa...ght_facilities

[gearhead]

We got the smaller, 36ft, 5th hoping to get in Nat Parks. Problem is the larger sites are the first ones taken or reserved. State parks have been easier. COE as well.
Wife usually wants hook ups so we stay at a commercial park. We have driven through most of Smokey Mntn NP and marked suitable sits, there wasn't many.
I use the cabover when I go alone on fishing trips and don't worry about it, just pick any of them. Why I love it.

[JRTJH]

Many NFS, NP campgrounds, state parks/state forest campgrounds and commercial campgrounds advertise "accommodations for RV's up to 45'" (or similar verbage)....

What they don't say is that of the 250 sites, only 5 are long enough. As gearhead said, "those are the first sites to go" (even if it's by someone pulling a small pop-up tent camper)....

Many reservation systems do not provide by "by site number reservations" but only provide for "a site in the area indicated". When there's 50 sites on the loop and only 1 of them is 40' long with the rest 25' long, well, unless you're "damn lucky" your reservation doesn't help "AT ALL".....

Many (maybe even most) national park and national forest campgrounds were built when the longest RV was 30'. As new ones are built (ain't happenin') site length is improving, but that's a slow process that will take longer than most of us have to RV..... Commercial campgrounds "remodel" or "improve" with competition so they are evolving much faster than "tax based system facilities".....

It's best to call and confirm what you're reserving (if possible). We do that with every campground, public or private and we're only 31' long. Also, consider the width. Many campgrounds provide for an 8' wide trailer and a 7' wide awning. When you start adding slides on each side and awnings on the slides, well, you're in the neighbor's bedroom before you open the door...... (figuratively, of course). Not only is length an issue, in many campgrounds, width is also a limiting factor....

[travelin texans]

Just be very cautious! Some have told us that "we have plenty of big rig sites" & they do, back in the back that you can't maneuver around tight turns, boulders lining the roadway & low hanging limbs.
We would park a night or 2 at a commercial park & then go see for ourselves if we could fit into or even get to their "big rig" sites, most will let you drive through to take a look.

[spade117]

I'm not sure how it is in other states, but when using the Reserve America website for New York State parks, every reservable site lists a max vehicle length. Typically they are rounded as almost every site I have ever seen is listed as 20, 25, 30, 40 or 50 ft.

My trailer is 35' tongue to bumper, but I have not had any issues with the 30' sites. I always add the 30' minimum when listing my search criteria.

[bbells]

Don't most parks subtract the tongue length? I have seen it both ways.

[TLB]

I see this all the time, people show up and cant back into their site. So then they just park sideways just off the road making it hard for us who do back into our spot to hook up when its time to leave.
Some RV's are massive and they do have sites to park, just not as many.

[Jca3]

Originally Posted by Canonman

I'd suggest looking at https://www.recreation.gov/. Enter locations you might be interested in and click on "show sites". Looking at the list you'll see the maximum RV length for each site. Some park campgrounds have sites big enough for 40+ foot units, but most have sites that are much smaller. This due to the era in which many were built.
Our Cougar is 30', pin to bumper. We have to be careful when deciding on which campsites to reserve to make sure we can "fit". We have found State Park campgrounds to provide generally larger sites. County parks have been a bit of a mix.
IMHO a 40+ foot trailer will be quite limiting when looking for most public park camp sites.

We have a 30 ft and nearly always stay at state parks in Oregon. I always get a 40 ft spot because you need room for the tow vehicle. They won't let you pull it on the grass. So your 40 ft. rig will need larger and those are harder to find. Federal parks are hit and miss. We have arrived at a reserved spot only to find we can't get in, have found we can't negotiate the turns within the parks and have had to back out. We also cracked a wheel as the trailer fell off the pavement on a turn. I don't reserve federal parks unless I have driven them and we know we can get in. National parks are upgrading their campgrounds to have room for bigger rigs. At one time we looked at longer rigs and just decided we are already too big for many parks . We don't like staying in private camps very often because they crowd you in in lines. Filling the spot right next to you even though they have others available because it works better in their computer.

[Fishsizzle]

Agree, it can be difficult to figure out.

We ran into another issue at our favorite SP, the spots were perpendicular to the street! While the length was fine, we couldn’t back in at a jackknifing angle. It was horrible as campers across the lane helped by moving their rigs. This is when I had my travel trailer.

We just log Spots in a book and do like mentioned above, stay where we fit and travel around and Mark sites for future use.

[babaloo]

Hi...I have the same Model 5er, only 2018. Wondering if you have had as many 'rinky-dink' problems as we have? Molding coming off, wall seam tape loose and flapping, nails / staples protruding thru carpet, drawers falling apart, bad shower leak, flames exploding outside from water heater ignitions, I could go on. I realize these are 'entry level', and 'not liveinable'...very low priced, 1/2 ton means lighter, as well, but we found overall construction to be quite poor. Only 3 outings ! Just curious if we got the one lemon in a hundred ?!

[jack65]

Originally Posted by Jweems

We are 39'+ and that has been our experience as well. My advice is to check the park reservation page ahead of time and look at the specs on the individual site you are considering. We have stayed in some really great National parks and there have been some that we could just not fit in.We will usually not make a spur of the moment visit to National parks or most state parks for that reason.
Doc

Best solution is to have a 2nd smaller trailer (15-25') for "other" campsites as there are many more super nice campsites out there that have 20-30' limits. Such as "heaven on earth" places like Takhlakh Lake that I go to every year:
http://1-4u-computer-graphics.com/Mt...hLake-2017.htm

Off Topic:
BTW Doc, didn't Sequim get 2 feet of snow Saturday. SeaTac Airport got 10" and I got 8" at my place in Tacoma, which is rare... hummingbird feeders kept me busy. Haven't gotten website up for this one yet, but this is from a similar one in 2012:
http://1-4u-computer-graphics.com/SnowHummersJan19.htm

Some pics from yesterday. This feeder is under my covered porch out of the weather. So is my front porch. These little hummers come in at first light when you can hardly see, same for dusk as you can see in my last attached pic.

[johnlewis]

As "Canonman" suggested, https://www.recreation.gov/ is a good site for info on national parks. Most states we have visited have information on maximum trailer lengths for their sites. If in doubt, you can also check out http://www.campgroundreviews.com/. They list whether the campground is big rig friendly or not, and many have reviews by campers that tell you what size unit they were parking, and if there are any problems getting a big rig in the campground.

[Mainer]

A note of caution. In 2015 when we toured Yellowstone among other parks, one campground we stopped at was listed as 25' limit. The "Host" said we were too big with our 21 footer. He got out a tape and measured from the bikes on the front of the TV to the box on the back of the trailer. Said we were 44 feet, too long for the campground, "regulations". Impractical to back all the way out so had to go through the loop. One empty site could have held a 450 DRW, 50 foot 5ver with a good size boat trailer making a triple, plus it was a pull through parallel to the loop. Finally landed at Mammoth.

[BAPotter]

X2 On Canonman's post. Out west, Utah where I am, the majority of State and Fed campsites max out a 30' total length. Even at 30' I have a tough time getting through the trees and curves without taking out a part of my trailer.