Unattended Campsite

[ProfWag]

Hello everyone! This may be a strange question, as many of my future questions will be, but my wife and I are in the process of deciding what kind of RV to purchase and whether or not we can do without a TOAD. We're thinking a Class C in the 30' range. Just curious, if we are at a campsite, whether reserved, first-come, or even boondocking, if we leave for the day to go site-seeing in our rig, what do you do to make sure your site is still there when you return at the end of the day?
Thanks in advance! This site has been extremely helpful!

[Cooperhawk]

Depends on the CG. Some folks just leave lawn chairs or something else to signify that the spot is taken. Course sometimes they get stolen.

A good CG will monitor what spots are taken and not allow anyone else to occupy them.

Your biggest problem is where are you going to park a 30' MH when you go sightseeing? Lots of place simply don't have parking areas for RVs.

[Waiter21]

Lawn chairs, coolers, traffic cones.

[LJowdy]

If you're paying for the site then the site is yours until your time is up. If you're parked in the middle of no-where then you can leave something behind but you run the risk of it being stolen. If someone is next to you ask them to watch over the spot but at some no facility spots such as BLM, you're not allowed to hold spots.

Driving a 30+ foot class c into town and trying to find parking will be tough in many area's. Having a vehicle that you tow around makes day trips so much more comfortable.

[ProfWag]

Originally Posted by Cooperhawk

Your biggest problem is where are you going to park a 30' MH when you go sightseeing? Lots of place simply don't have parking areas for RVs.

Thanks! I guess that brings up my next question. We're thinking most towns have Wal-Mart or other places with large parking lots and we would leave it parked there for the day and then Uber or walk if need be. Are we being logical to think that? Obviously most every town is different that requires a little planning, we're just ultimately hoping to not use a TOAD for various reasons.

[vsheetz]

Get a toad. IMHO. Too much hassle to break and setup camp. Too much hassle to drive and park a motorhome around.

[Isaac-1]

In my case I carry a collapsible orange cone with a small sign that reads "Campsite Occupied" that I leave behind in the rare situation where I need to go to town, and come back to the same site, so there is no ambiguity about a possibly abandoned camping chair, ...

Ass to the rest I have a 28ft class A with no TOAD (yet), 29'5" bumper to bumper. I bought the coach in 2016, and have put almost 10,000 miles on it (and will leaving on a 1,500 mile round trip in a couple of days). And I will say traveling without a TOAD does require planning, and there are places where one can't stop, though that has not been a big issue for me so far. At just under 30 ft with a 177 inch wheel base I can often back into a standard parking space (ok a pair of empty parking spaces side by side) and overhang the curb, assuming flat parking lot, low curb, and not stick out any more than a large pickup truck would. About the only places I have had issues so far were smaller western towns with only street front diagonal parking for the entire downtown area.

Having said that, I feel if my coach were 2 feet longer it would be much harder to find parking spaces, and 2 feet shorter would be a bit easier, in other words 30 ft is pushing it.

[eddndee]

I have had over 30’ and know the difficulties. My 26’ C I have now is much easier. I don’t use a toad, I am ok breaking camp and driving into town if need be. If I was going for more than a weekend and planned to sightsee, I might grab a rental car for the time. I think most Walmarts will be too far from town IMO.

[Cooperhawk]

Originally Posted by ProfWag

Thanks! I guess that brings up my next question. We're thinking most towns have Wal-Mart or other places with large parking lots and we would leave it parked there for the day and then Uber or walk if need be. Are we being logical to think that? Obviously most every town is different that requires a little planning, we're just ultimately hoping to not use a TOAD for various reasons.

Well just for an example we recently visited the Vicksburg Battlefield and driving the tour would be difficult in a 30' MH. It could be done but parking lots were small.

[gbstewart]

I'm 38 ft bumper to bumper nicely converted school bus, been on the road 8 years , no toad, never had a problem going anywhere site seeing , lots of the tourist traps have room for a rv, there's always a big parking lot some where, where you can leave your mh, and walk or taxi, even the take the bus . I don't find braking camp that much of hassle, maybe just use to it. We been down some wild streets, traffic jams, we even found parking in Winnipeg at portage and main for a doctors visit talk about fun driving in that mess. But at the end of the day it's just part of the journey , you'll figure it out it just takes a bit of time

[gbstewart]

As for leaving the camp sites , never really had a problem, we sometimes drag a picnic table across the entrance , I have a occupied sign I put on the post, we did have one person pull he's tent trailer in our spot, but he left in hurry when I started backing in and asked him where he wanted me to leave he's trailer [emoji3]

[ProfWag]

Originally Posted by Isaac-1

In my case I carry a collapsible orange cone with a small sign that reads "Campsite Occupied" that I leave behind in the rare situation where I need to go to town, and come back to the same site, so there is no ambiguity about a possibly abandoned camping chair, ...

Ass to the rest I have a 28ft class A with no TOAD (yet), 29'5" bumper to bumper. I bought the coach in 2016, and have put almost 10,000 miles on it (and will leaving on a 1,500 mile round trip in a couple of days). And I will say traveling without a TOAD does require planning, and there are places where one can't stop, though that has not been a big issue for me so far. At just under 30 ft with a 177 inch wheel base I can often back into a standard parking space (ok a pair of empty parking spaces side by side) and overhang the curb, assuming flat parking lot, low curb, and not stick out any more than a large pickup truck would. About the only places I have had issues so far were smaller western towns with only street front diagonal parking for the entire downtown area.

Having said that, I feel if my coach were 2 feet longer it would be much harder to find parking spaces, and 2 feet shorter would be a bit easier, in other words 30 ft is pushing it.

Great info. Thanks!

[MSHappyCampers]

Hi ! Welcome to IRV2! We're sure glad you joined the gang!

I would recommend you go ahead and get a toad. There are just too many problems you will encounter without one!

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!

[TonyDi]

I would never RV without a toad. I don't want the hassle of setting up then packing up to go do something and have to repeat the procedure every time I want to do something else.

Beside finding parking for an RV of that size in towns will not be easy.