Issues with camp site size? TT + Tow rig = big space

[helocat]

New here to all this and appreciate the help the board has provided.

So in looking at a 33' TT I am doing the math and when I add my 21' truck, I seam to take a large camp site. I see where a 5er would help a bit here! Im I correct in thinking I will be unhitching the TT once in camp and trying to shoe horn the tow rig in some place? Or are 54'+ camp sites common?

Looking at our State campgrounds and finding listings of 50'+ sites but I guess this might be just a few of that size. Do people move their tow rig out of the camp site and park it in a near buy parking lot? Park it next to the trailer in the site? (wide)

I took the family on a bike ride around a State camp ground this past weekend and did not see that many large sites. Not a lot of people camping this time of year so could not really see what others do when space is a premium.

[StStg1]

I have a 30 ft TTand a 20 + ft TV. We do a lot of State Park ( Texas) camping and have never had a problem with parking the TV at the site. Some times, I have to angle the TV in front of the TT or park it on the side (off the grass), but most times I can back far enough into the site to leave space for my TV.

[450Donn]

That is the biggest problem with large RV's of any sort. Lack of appropriate spaces. Remember, most state and NF camp grounds were built years ago and as such they do not accommodate the large RV's common today. You need to decide what is important to you, large RV or getting into older parks. Staying under that magical 30 foot number seems to help a lot.

[RustyJC]

I've shoehorned a 36' 5th wheel into a tiny site at Bastrop State Park here in Texas, but the front of the 5th wheel was almost at the front of the campsite. The truck wound up a few hundred feet away in a parking area. This site was so short, the truck wouldn't have fit even with a 30' 5th wheel, so it all depends on where you'll be camping and what they can handle, I guess.

Rusty

[NLOVNIT]

Unfortunately, a vast majority of public & private campgrounds were built long before the big rig rv's of today. Unless you are at a newer campground or get a long pull-thru site, 9 x out of 10 you will be putting your camper on the site as far back as you can get it, unhitching & parking your tow vehicle kitty-korner at the front of your site or parking it in an adjacent (or, more likely, not adjacent) parking area. And, sometimes, you just have to pass on a campground because you're just too big to fit - we've come across this many times with state parks.

Don't be discouraged, though. There are more & more campgrounds that will accomodate larger rigs & as funds permit, some parks are upgrading sites or adding land to build sites to serve us "big n tall" folk.

Lori-

[Hitchhiker]

I've had my 38' fiver in several Forest Service Campgrounds and numerous Corps of Engineer Parks. Often the truck will be sideways in front of the trailer but I've had tighter sites in some private campgrounds. Sometimes it gets tight but you just do what you gotta do to enjoy those nice places.

[helocat]

Great info, thank you! Looks like planning ahead will be key in trying to reserve a large space. The State campground we road our bikes though is the oldest State park in Oregon so one area the spaces looked real small. There is a newer expanded area that has a few large pull though sites and others I can see backing the beast into. Must get towing mirrors!

Again thank you all!

Mark

[bldrbob]

I don't have a trailer but have never had a problem parking my 37' motorhome and toad.

[Frank P. Martin]

I've had more of a problem with sloped sites where I have to raise the front of the TT. Due to the slideout, our old Jayco was built on a double-stacked frame. Because of this, my tongue jack can't raise the front as much as a normal TT which sits lower. There have been occasions where I have raised the tongue to its maximum, then blocked up the tongue so I can retract the jack and put more material under it so I can raise it higher. Once, I had to request another site. The guy didn't believe me until he came and saw it with his own eyes.

[davydee]

Mark, If you tend to travel to the same campgrounds as you travel around, you'll find sites that you fit in. Once we find a campground that we plan to return to, we try to jot down the sites we fit in for future reference. I found with a 20 ft pickup and 27 foot TT, that we were long, but could usually find a site. Don't forget that extra foot or so for the hitch. I've done it all: parked crooked in front of the trailer, parked beside the trailer, parked the pickup in a separate parking lot, etc. Like was said above, do what you have to do and enjoy the rig! David