Experience with RV length and camp sites

[JohnBoyToo]

It depends on where you are and where you want to go... being in Texas, we do mostly southeast and west...

With the Jeep, we too are in the 65' range and in only one park did we have an issue and it wasn't the site, but the roads and clearances to get to the site... (had to trim trees to limit damage)


Old saying, "Get your third rv first!"

i.e. get the floor plan and size that works for you in the future

[Triangle Drifter]

It makes no matter. RVs, boats, planes, obviously size matters on where you can go with it.

Very often what makes the difference is driver skill combined with the skill of a good spotter. There are times when a driver with a 25' class C can't get into a site rated for 30' yet a 35' 5er comes along & neatly, without fuss, gets it in.

Almost all SPs, county parks, even NPs, have a few sites big enough for large units. The problems come from access, driver skill &, the biggest one, finding that sites needed by a large unit are taken by class Bs, TCs & class Cs, leaving smaller sites unused by those who can fit in them & unavailable to those who simply cannot fit.

[Isaac-1]

This is all relative, for example we were at Grand Canyon National Park in October, staying at Mather's Campground (dry camping), our coach is 29'5" bumper to bumper, Mather's has a max RV length of 31 feet in the campground, and only a handful of the 300 sites officially support coaches over 28 feet. The site we had was officially 27 ft max, due to pull in angle, though it was over 75 feet long. (left turn to enter the pull through site while going around a left bend in the camping loop road, which required backing and cutting once for us to make the turn withing hitting, trees, rocks, etc.). Of course in the case of Grand Canyon National Park there is also the full hookup Trailer village campground which takes large RV's, though at 3-4 times the nightly rate.


p.s. we also went to Yellowstone in 2017, stayed at 3 campgrounds, with 30 ft sites, and shoe horned into all 3 barely, no extra length in any of them.

[Darin1960]

I think in 20 plus years with a 38 to 39 ft motor home , I I have had only a couple places tell me they didn't have anything available for our length. I can remember a place or 2 that said they only had 1 so we took it only to find out after we got there , they had several that were plenty long and were available.

[twogypsies]

Originally Posted by Isaac-1

The site we had was officially 27 ft max, due to pull in angle, though it was over 75 feet long. (left turn to enter the pull through site while going around a left bend in the camping loop road, which required backing and cutting once for us to make the turn withing hitting, trees, rocks, etc.).

We've been in similar sites. You don't have to pull through a pull through site. Depending on the curve sometimes we pull in just enough to the curve and when leaving we'd back out. If the other end seemed better we backed into the spot to the curve. Thus, not using the curve at all. Then we parked the vehicle on the rest of the driveway.

[AndrewH]

One of the places we want to go is Yellowstone but looking at the campground list, it seems that trailers with a combined overall length of over 40’ are not allowed. If not that, it looks like trailers over 30’ aren’t allowed. For those of you who have camped there, is this accurate?

[twogypsies]

We stayed in Yellowstone with our 40' motorhome and Jeep. We stayed in Mammoth, Madison and Bridge Bay campgrounds without reservations .... just drove in early morning. Madison and Bridge Bay we got cancellations. Mammoth doesn't accept reservations.

[RickNC]

Depends on where you trying to camp. You are on the west coast, so not as much an issue as here on the east coast where many of the older campgrounds were built to accommodate the typically smaller RV’s of years past.

My personal experience is current. I’m in Florida right now where anything with in sight of water is typically booked until late March. Except I was able to roll up to a state park and go to the front of the wait line to score a waterfront site because I am only 24’6 oal .

I am now at a resort where again it was booked solid and full of big rigs except for this little site on the front row overlooking the beach. That doesn’t mean you won’t find a spot for your 65’ road train in Florida, Just less likely you will find a prime spot.

Everyone says go big. Instead of upsizing to attempt to fit how we live at home, we downsized our needs and wants for something smaller and more agile. But that is just us.

[winniman]

Going on 9 years with a 38 ft class A, and have never had any problems finding campsites. I wouldn't want to give up a quarter of my space just to fit in a couple extra campsites. I have enough trouble finding storage for all my stuff now. The fuel consumption is about the same for a 30 ft as a 38. It has the same engine to repair. It has the same number of tires and moving parts. Get the rv that you feel comfortable with. Don't worry about finding campsites. There are plenty for all sizes to fit.

[Trapper2022]

Been RVing for 40 years. Get what length fits your required interior layout. You can always find a site. At times you will have to stay outside parks if you are long but you can always find a location. There are a lot more people rving today than ten years ago so when we were 45’ towing a Jeep we always made reservations in advance. Getting into the most popular locations can require you to look out up to a year. We go to Yellowstone every other year and the crowds today are over twice as large as when I was young. No site available for reservations on short notice. As already stated if you are shorter it is easier to wait at office and get a canceled camper. For a person with a 45’ rig this does not work. This does not always work because in the past if you canceled 24 hours in advance you got your money back. Refund policy no longer works this way. Now what we see is lots of people leaving and site is not reused like in the past, because people figure we paid for site and can’t get refund so they just leave. We see empty sites in all areas of Yellowstone every time we go.

Enjoy the journey

[RichnSue]

Been waiting to show off our parking skills! Found a city campground last summer along Lake Superior in Wisconsin, Dalrymple Campground - City of Bayfield Description read "not recommended for length longer than 30 feet". DW drove the Jeep down in the park, came back said site #2 will work! We are 45 foot without the Jeep, got down in there backed up let the as# end hang over the back of the site. Beautiful spot for a few days, loved the view and quiet. $25 self pay per night with 30amp only

So it can be done 45 feet in a 30 foot site, do a satellite view, google has a measure tool to use, that will show a very close footage and do a site visual

[twogypsies]

Originally Posted by RichnSue

Been waiting to show off our parking skills! Found a city campground last summer along Lake Superior in Wisconsin, Dalrymple Campground - City of Bayfield Description read "not recommended for length longer than 30 feet". DW drove the Jeep down in the park, came back said site #2 will work! We are 45 foot without the Jeep, got down in there backed up let the as# end hang over the back of the site. Beautiful spot for a few days, loved the view and quiet. $25 self pay per night with 30amp only

So it can be done 45 feet in a 30 foot site, do a satellite view, google has a measure tool to use, that will show a very close footage and do a site visual

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So true. A lot of times it depends on your parking skills. We've driven in public parks many times and got the best spot in the park because of this. I've also said this before in other posts.... when public parks state that a site is for a certain length RV most of the time that's not correct. They don't measure those sites. They guess and most are guessed by non-RVers. Being creative in parking works!

[hclarkx]

I'd lay out some sample trips and see what you run into. When you can't get into the location you want, such as Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite (maximum 24 feet), see what's nearby. In Tuolumne Meadows, you only have five small campgrounds down Hwy 120 (no services and only a few sites for 30' or more) and one RV park in Lee Vining. In Yosemite Valley, there are only 5 sites that do a 30' rig or trailer and they book up within a second or two when the booking window opens at 7:00 a.m. six months ahead.

We are in a 30' fifthwheel, 47 feet total when hooked up. Even though we exclusively boondock, we still plan ahead and check out sites using Google Earth.

Another trick we use is to arrive early if there is any question about space availability (30' site with room for a 21' truck). We often plan a short drive day and arrive by 2:00 pm. There's one National Park where we hold up in a boondock area about 10 miles out, then go in around 9:00 a.m., looking for a site with tags that expire that morning ... we we see someone packing up.