Community Forums

Tim4269 · 03-25-2012, 07:13 PM

We are considering 40 to 45 feet on a class A. My curiosity is whether any of the lengths would restrict the state or national parks.

SW4UA · 03-25-2012, 07:27 PM

Think carefully about this and do lots of homework. There are many national parks that cannot accommodate that length as well as several state parks. Go to the state park websites and recreation.gov for national parks to see accommodations. Also realize that some roads, like the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Great Smokey Mtns would we very tough to navigate in something that big. Enjoy the hunt for your new RV!

Disneyfix · 03-26-2012, 03:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SW4UA

Think carefully about this and do lots of homework. There are many national parks that cannot accommodate that length as well as several state parks. Go to the state park websites and recreation.gov for national parks to see accommodations. Also realize that some roads, like the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Great Smokey Mtns would we very tough to navigate in something that big. Enjoy the hunt for your new RV!

Have you ever had and problems with your 36' rig being refused entry?

Bob and Inga · 03-26-2012, 05:37 AM

We are in a 35E Bounder which some folks claim is 36' or so, depends how you measure I guess. But Fleetwood specs call it 35' 3" and if we had to buy another MH we would stay within a couple of feet of our current size. So 36' should not be a problem for you, but you want to say you are 35' when making reservations. That seems to be a common cutoff on site sizes for some reservation systems. We have had no problems getting into either National or State CG's, some have been a bit tight, but we usually have a heck of a lot more room than we get in commercial parks. Very few public parks can handle rigs in excess of 40', but there are some but the number of sites would be severly limited.

Bob

SW4UA · 03-26-2012, 05:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Disneyfix

Have you ever had and problems with your 36' rig being refused entry?

No, but have always checked before entering. Used to have a 5th wheel and have been to several parks that I would not take my MH. Lived near the BRP & GSM and camped there a lot. Know the campgrounds were built before big rigs and are difficult to navigate.

JimmyLeggett · 03-26-2012, 05:45 AM

Under 40 ft and almost anywhere will let you in. Over 41 and unless it is a Newmark Allstar, it will have a tag and that is a feature that can't be hidden to the camp operators.

I have a 39 ft 10 in and I call it a 40, after all what is two inches.

sadrand · 03-26-2012, 10:27 AM

There are lots of state parks and some national parks that don't have room for 40+ motorhomes. Think about where you want to go and what you want to see and then check out the state and national parks in those areas. Unless you are staying exclusively in big RV resorts, you are going to have some issues at parks at 40 - 45 ft. And if a park says they have room for a 45 footer, check and see how MANY sites will accomodate this size rv. State and national parks can fill up fast and if a park only has 10 spaces for large RV's, they are likely to fill up fast. After looking over lots of state and national parks in areas that I want to see, I decided on 35 ft. max. just for that reason.

TXiceman · 03-26-2012, 10:37 AM

And some states will restrict over 40' to travel only on certain designated major roads.

ken

Steve N Sal · 03-26-2012, 10:58 AM

You'll probably be fine up to 40'. Anything over that is going to be a stretch in some parks. I've been to a few where an over 40' tried only to have to be carefully backed out. You have to make the decision on what you think works best for you but do plan carefully on the parks you want to visit.

Vegasdan · 03-26-2012, 12:23 PM

Keep in mind that a majority of State and National parks were set up many years ago when RVs were more like 20 ft or so. The further east you go the fewer parks that can accept a 40-45 ft. Your best bet with this size coach will be private parks.

WheelingIt · 03-26-2012, 03:23 PM

Agree with the others. For National and State Parks the smaller the better. We have a 40 footer and stay most of our time in public parks, but I have to plan ahead in detail to make sure we fit. It depends where you're travelling, but we've found many spots won't take our size especially some of the national forest sites in the mountains and older public parks (e.g. Most of CA). If we were doing it over I'd probably try to get something closer to 35-36. Those extra couple of feet open up a lot more spots. Anything over 40 would be out of the question for our kinda camping.

If you stay mostly in private parks you'll have no issues with a bigger size. Just depends how you like to camp.

Spanky 88 · 03-26-2012, 05:55 PM

You will never be told your too small for a space, however you will be told your too large, but if you don't mind driving a Yugo around then why buy the Cadilac?

rvjimmy · 03-26-2012, 07:45 PM

I guess if you buy big park at a CG that is big enough and drive a toad into the other parks. We have a 35 footer as we went down from a 38 footer, because it is easier to get around with in the places we like to see and camp. We gave up a little area in spots but not enough to bother us. Buy what you think you need and just put up with what ever it brings with a smile.