Community Forums

Sledrider001 · 05-16-2012, 02:11 PM

Hi all,
My wife and I are ready to place the order on our new MH. We have decided on a Entegra 44DLQ but now are starting to hear... "oh that's too long" or, "you won't be able to stay in..." etc
Our question is, How can we find out the restrictions on parks? Our goal is to spend a year or two traveling around and all information is appreciated.

Thanks, Wendell & PJ

doc · 05-16-2012, 02:30 PM

That is a good size rig and some state parks may not be able to accomodate you - but a lot will. Get a good campground guide and decide where you want to overnite. Give them a call and tell them what length you are and make sure they have a site to fit you before they arrive. It has worked for us for years.

cb5300 · 05-16-2012, 02:33 PM

It's simple...don't stay in the parks...I have a Monaco that is 45ft long and I just stay in a camp ground near the park, and just drive into the park with my toad. I don't want to take any chance of scratching up my paint job in the tree limbs and what not. I'm even careful about what camp grounds I go to because of that. I had a low tree limb rub up against my first coach (a brand new 2007 Dynasty) and put a "nice rub mark" three feet down the side of the coach.

Messed up my whole weekend...

Go Dawgs · 05-16-2012, 02:56 PM

A good campground app or book will assist you. Many state parks in Washington state won't be able to fit you. They are older parks - a few on the coast will work. National Parks probably won't. Private parks should be no problem.

Enjoy
Arnold

RickO · 05-16-2012, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cb5300

It's simple...don't stay in the parks...I have a Monaco that is 45ft long and I just stay in a camp ground near the park, and just drive into the park with my toad. I don't want to take any chance of scratching up my paint job in the tree limbs and what not. I'm even careful about what camp grounds I go to because of that. I had a low tree limb rub up against my first coach (a brand new 2007 Dynasty) and put a "nice rub mark" three feet down the side of the coach.

Messed up my whole weekend...

X2 for us.

We're "only" 40 feet long but have resigned ourselves to not camping in most National and many State parks. We stay nearby and tour with the toad.

Most commercial CGs can handle us and I would estimate that 80% of those could handle your rig as well. Where you might have a small problem with CGs is parking your toad on your site. Sometimes that's a tight fit for us and I'd guess that you'll have to occasionally park your toad somewhere other than your own site.

At any rate, welcome to the forum and congrats on your soon to be new rig!

Rick

twogypsies · 05-16-2012, 08:33 PM

To begin, you might purchase "Big Rigs Best Bets":

RV bookstore - the world's largest online RV bookstore

Then go to Amazon to purchase the "Mountain Directory for Truckers". It comes in both East and Western states editions. We use it constantly in the West.

We have a 40' and we fit in many national parks, state parks, forest service and Corps of Engineers campgrounds. Public parks are our first choice but you will have no problem fitting into private campgrounds. You'll just have to do more inquiring and telephone calls.

Have fun and drive safe!!!

njs42 · 05-16-2012, 08:48 PM

If you have the rig you want then every thing else is secondary. You will spend a lot of time living in the rig. There are a lot of "parks" that cannot accomodate you but there will not be a shortage of places to stay with a wide variety of accomodations and cost. Any good RV source book will work to find them, Big Rigs as mentioned would be perfect for you.

Have for for the full length of time and space you have.

lmsteck · 05-21-2012, 06:06 PM

In California I would say, many of the state and national parks will not accommodate you, but there are always private campgrounds nearby that will. Enjoy your rig and happy camping!

RISCKY · 05-22-2012, 12:31 AM

Just buy the rig that makes you happy! Been all over the mid/south west and never had an issue. Maybe we were just lucky??? But we've never found it to be all that challenging of an issue. Good luck.

Chickadee · 05-22-2012, 08:33 AM

Wendell & PJ:

We've been on the road full time since 05. First rig was a 40 ftr. towing our Honda Element with a canoe on top. Our current rig is a 45 ftr. towing same. Gotta tell ya, we've never (yup,...NEVER) had a problem finding a spot to park it, whether just over night, or for a longer period and we've traveled throughout the U.S. (including Alaska), and Canada from Nova Scotia to Vancouver, BC.

Have we ever been in a snug spot?? Yup, but over 7 yrs. of traveling, it's only been maybe 4 or 5 times and ya know, we probably have fewer "tree limb rubs" on our rig than alot of the more compact RV's.

Are there campgrounds or parks (State & Natl.) that might not be able to accomodate your rig?? Yup, but we've never been prevented from visiting an area for lack of a space to set up camp and even most State and Natl. parks do have spaces to handle your rig. May not be a "pull through", but what the heck.

After a week or two of traveling, you'll be in the groove and able to locate a spot somewhere down the road for that simple over night, or, for a longer stay. As you're moving down the road, kinda figure out where you'd like to stop for the night. Check your campground directory for likely spots. Then, call ahead. Ask about their ability to accomodate your rig. Ask about ease of getting to their campground. etc. (By the way, it IS a good idea when moving day to day to try and plan on stopping by around 3 p.m. or so. Spaces are much more available the earlier you stop, and you'll likely get a better spot.

Anyway, you'll do fine. Have fun.

Steve & Lynette

Sledrider001 · 05-23-2012, 12:05 AM

Steve and Lynette (and everyone), thanks for the great response(s). We confirmed our order yesterday for the Entegra Anthem, with an expected delivery date of late August. It seems so far out but then just around the corner...
We hope to get the chance to meet and become friends with and share our experiences with everyone.

Wendell & PJ

JimM68 · 05-25-2012, 12:35 PM

As for. The trees, i see each as a badge of honor, a place i have been.

I refuse to limit my destinations by the thought that it might scratch my fance fairly new 40ft full body paint diesel pusher...

I dint buy it to park it in the street in front of my house and rub it with a daiper...

If you can call the actual campground when the rangers. There, b4 u arrive, they will gladly tell u if u will fit, amd discuss what sites r available right then

jdocter7 · 05-29-2012, 01:00 AM

I agree with "buy the rig you love" and do a Google search for Big Rigs Best Bets and get the online version of this book now! We have the online version and the book version. Between this book and campgroundreviews.com, that's mostly how we choose where to park our 40 foot home on wheels.

sirpurrcival · 05-29-2012, 03:09 AM

In BC, most of the provincial parks are geared to rigs 34' and smaller. Some parks have some longer sites but they can be in short supply. It can make for some tight times but heck, I even got my 37' into a Forestry recreation site once although I could only open 1 slide due to trees. Made for some fun though as I got to roof surf with shears while the DW backed in so I could trim the low, overhead branches.