Community Forums

glester99 · 09-25-2016, 12:33 AM

Class A Newmar - Looking at 40 & 43 foot Newmars - will there be many places I cannot get in with the 43 vs 40 rv? What are the length limits in most National and State Parks in general. I realize I may find private campgrounds around national parks that I can get in.

RV Wizard · 09-25-2016, 04:20 AM

Hello and

We are glad to have you join us here and we look forward to reading of your adventures and experiences. I am sure you will enjoy our website and forums. Good luck, stay safe and keep us posted.

vsheetz · 09-25-2016, 05:57 AM

Welcome! The bigger the coach the more limitations of course. Many national ans state parks will have published max lengths but should be taken more as a revommendation than requirement, and are not nessisarily correct. We are able to get out 40' coach into most anywhere we want.

Btw, the search feature here will find you multiple threads on this topic.

Tall Tex · 09-25-2016, 06:23 AM

I went from a 38' Beaver to our new 43' Entegra. Maneuverability in tight quarters is not necessarily all about total length. The wheel base is more of a measure for this. For example a 40' single axle that has a long overhang behind the rear axle can be backed into a tight site better than a 42' tandem axle which is only 2 feet longer. Just something to consider.

As far as parks are concerned, when you step up to a tandem axle rig most national and state parks were built for rv sizes 50 years ago. They may have a few big rig sites, but for most parks you will be staying in nearby commercial parks. That is just the way it is.

JohnT · 09-25-2016, 09:23 AM

Yes there will be some issues going to a longer than 40' coach. We have found that many of the commercial cg's have the same problems. We use google to do a visual and just plain call ahead. Most cg's will have a safe site for you.

Kiawah · 09-25-2016, 09:37 AM

We prefer the heavily wooded environments of state parks, and tend to stay at them as we travel. The downside, is the roads can be narrow and winding, usually only have 30 amp service (or 20), water, but no sewer. That works fine for us.

Published max lengths seem to be 35 feet, but I've seen longer coaches and have never seen anyone measuring a coach to prevent entering the park. Although the roads can be winding, I don't think they are unpassable if you are careful. In my opinion, the hardest part will be maneuvering into the campsite due to narrow road width and inappropriate tree locations hindering the cut into the site.

All but one that I remember would be long enough for a 45 footer, and that one I stayed in was published as a 30' max (I'm 35'), which I took as it was the only available spot left. It WAS short.

gatorb8 · 09-25-2016, 09:42 AM

bring a tree branch trimmer!
I'm only 32' and it has come in handy

twogypsies · 09-25-2016, 10:20 AM

We've never used a tree trimmer.

With our 40' motorhome we've stayed in national parks, state parks, national forest campgrounds, Corp of Engineers, county and city parks.

No...you won't fit in all of the parks but you'll have plenty of choices.

We've stayed in Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Glacier, Zion, Bryce, Big Bend and many, many others. Public parks are always our first choice - national forest campgrounds a favorite. On a all-summer trip to Alaska we only used a handful of private parks - mainly for dumping our tanks. The rest were public parks or awesome boondocking areas.

You'd have much better luck with a 40' rather than a 43' even though it seems like such a small difference. I will say you'll have better luck in the Midwest to West rather than the far eastern states.

Mr_D · 09-25-2016, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gatorb8

bring a tree branch trimmer!
I'm only 32' and it has come in handy

And illegal to use in any county, state or Federal park I've been in unless cleared with the staff.

WYRon · 09-26-2016, 08:54 AM

There's no magic length, but as you go over 30' you start being restricted. Not necessarily for the entire park, but fewer sites available. In many parks, their posted length is not strictly enforced and if you can fit it will be alright. For me, I don't like the idea of showing up at a new park and hoping for the best, so I generally use their posted guidance. I do find 40' as a common limit, but then that's the length I'm looking for.

bruceisla · 09-26-2016, 09:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glester99

Class A Newmar - Looking at 40 & 43 foot Newmars - will there be many places I cannot get in with the 43 vs 40 rv? What are the length limits in most National and State Parks in general. I realize I may find private campgrounds around national parks that I can get in.

I use the posted size and drive the toad to the site before attempting to get the RV in. Many sites are big enough but the roads aren't. In general, I've found Corp Of Engineer sites/roads to be more accommodating.

Scottybdivin · 09-26-2016, 10:01 AM

One of the issues we have ran into, is that in some public parks that don'y allow reservations, there are a limited amount of large sites and there's no regulations as to who gets them. I've seen car campers, tenters, pop-ups, and small trailers occupying the 60'+ camp sites, although there are dozens of smaller sites available.

bruceisla · 09-26-2016, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scottybdivin

One of the issues we have ran into, is that in some public parks that don'y allow reservations, there are a limited amount of large sites and there's no regulations as to who gets them. I've seen car campers, tenters, pop-ups, and small trailers occupying the 60'+ camp sites, although there are dozens of smaller sites available.

Yup !! ...downside to first-come-first-served. But, even with a reservation system, that happens.

twogypsies · 09-26-2016, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scottybdivin

One of the issues we have ran into, is that in some public parks that don'y allow reservations, there are a limited amount of large sites and there's no regulations as to who gets them. I've seen car campers, tenters, pop-ups, and small trailers occupying the 60'+ camp sites, although there are dozens of smaller sites available.

... we don't understand this either. Many times the smaller sites are in prime areas of the campground. They may be tucked away in a corner which would give more privacy and on lake or river sites, they are in the prime front row.

It could be that they pull in and take the first open site they see.