35’ too big?

[Overby]

We are planning to go full time and are looking at a 2014 Holiday Rambler Vacationer 36SBT.
We do want to go to National and State parks. Am guessing this has been asked before but I can’t figure out the search feature! Is 36’ too big for most parks? We’d go smaller but can’t find anything we’re happy with as far as layout and “amenities”. Should we keep looking for something smaller?

[Alpine36]

Originally Posted by Overby

We are planning to go full time and are looking at a 2014 Holiday Rambler Vacationer 36SBT.
We do want to go to National and State parks. Am guessing this has been asked before but I can’t figure out the search feature! Is 36’ too big for most parks? We’d go smaller but can’t find anything we’re happy with as far as layout and “amenities”. Should we keep looking for something smaller?

We thought 36' was maybe going to be too big as well.
Turns out it's just fine for most parks. The longer you own them the smaller they get! Good luck in your search!

[Barbaraok]

Go small and then pull in and look at all of the rigs of the size you want, in sites without a problem, enjoying their space. This is an 'old wives tale' that is out there from the 80s or so. Now if you have a 45' Dp with 4 slides, you might be limited in some places, but under 40' doesn't seem to be a problem. We're 37' tip to toe and never have a problem - - sometimes there are a few sites that won't work for us, but most sites are no problem.

Never base your decisions on what others say, make your decision on what you need/want, and then adjust if you need to. BTW, we also thought that we were going to do a lot of state and national parks. We use COE (Corp of Engineers parks) whenever we can, but national parks are too hard to get into (since they let people reserve in January for the whole year) and state parks are as expensive as private ones anymore. We make use of our membership campgrounds more than 50% of the time, the discount PPA parks and COE, and every once in a while we pay whatever the nightly fee is (usually with the Good Sam discount). Don't limit yourself unnecessarily.

[Itchytoe]

My rig is 37 feet long. I can't fit it into every state and federal park in the country, but I can get into almost all of them. For the ones that I can't fit into, there's a few private campgrounds within half an hour of driving. Worst case, I stay a few miles outside the park and drive in when I want to visit.


That being said, I can fit this 37 foot trailer in places designated as "30 to 35 feet only" practically every time. If 35 feet is what you need, get 35 feet. If you go smaller just to be smaller, you'll hate it.

[Barbaraok]

One of the things that you need to do when looking at sites, is to know how the distance between front wheels and back wheels (or your front and back jacks if they are the greater distance) in order to determine the size parking pad you need.

[twogypsies]

We fit in over 40 national parks with our 40' motorhome and probably 98% without reservations!

Plus... hundreds of national forest campgrounds, Corp of Engineers, state parks, county parks, city parks and BLM campgrounds.

You'll be just fine with a 36'.

[TechWriter]

Originally Posted by Overby

Is 36’ too big for most parks?

Nope. Several years ago I researched all the state and Federal parks:

- Federal Park Data

- State Park Data

About 50% of the campsites in both state and Federal parks were at least 40 feet long.

[rkf]

Get comfortable making longer and wide turns and always watching your mirrors you’ll be fine. The longer the rig the more living space you’ll have. Don’t be intimidated by a couple feet I drive a 38’ with a GMC Sierra 2500 towing behind been through San Francisco and across the Golden Gate following 101 to Seattle. You can do it too enjoy RVing.

[momdoc]

Our coach is just at 40ft and we do 90% of our camping in NP, State parks, county parks, city parks, COE campgrounds with no problems.

[grindstone01]

We FT in a 34' Cameo and the size has been perfect for us during the last 7 years. I also tow a 8' swivel trailer behind the FW, so when I make reservations, I ask for a 40' site. So far I have never been turned away from a cg due to length.

[GeezerViz]

I'm 45 feet and have been able to get into a few NP and State Parks. However I find them more expensive than what I can get elsewhere (but still close to the park). I've also discovered that when we are in the areas of those parks, we're rarely in the coach as we are doing outdoor stuff, so parking in the park is less important.

[txcpl]

Our RV is 35'. The shorter the RV, the less space you have underneath. Also means you accumulate less crap and have to be more resourceful.

[marjoa]

Originally Posted by Overby

We are planning to go full time and are looking at a 2014 Holiday Rambler Vacationer 36SBT.
We do want to go to National and State parks. Am guessing this has been asked before but I can’t figure out the search feature! Is 36’ too big for most parks? We’d go smaller but can’t find anything we’re happy with as far as layout and “amenities”. Should we keep looking for something smaller?

No need to go smaller.

My wife and I are FTers and our MH is 35' 3", with 2 slides, and we feel it's perfect for us. We have 1.5 baths and plenty of living space for us. There have been several times in the past trying to get into a site and I said, "boy I'm sure glad we weren't any bigger". That was tight. We also have 4,400 lbs. of CCC so we have plenty of bays and capacity to carry everything we need and we're still about 800lbs under GVWR.

Plus, being 35' and towing our toad we're 54' long but still can maneuver fine getting into gas stations. It can get tricky at times but over time you'll gain experience and you'll get good at it and learn how to pick your stations to top off. I would not want to be much longer for this reason alone. DP's don't have to worry about this. They just fuel up in the trucker lanes. But DP's are a whole different story and subject.

The thing about State Parks (SPs) and National Parks (NPs) in our opinion is, a lot of them, especially the states where it snows in the winter, a lot of these parks don't even open up till April or sometimes early May when the threat of freezing is gone. So that leaves the month of May thru October or so until they close again for the winter. Summer time going to SP's and especially NP's in the summer is crazy crowded. Good luck even getting a picture without 50 tourist in your shot. People and kids everywhere. And traveling around and thru the parks during those times is usually heavy traffic and you have to be creative in getting around during your stay. We have a life time pass into NP's that we get into free. No entrance fees, but we would still have to pay for a CG site but again we feel—for us—we just time it right, go with smaller crowds in the off season and camp outside the park. And usually, it's a lot cheaper that way too.

Most State Parks IMO are to expensive over all IMO.

SP's & NP's because of their popularity in the summer months can be challenging to get reservations too. You have to plan, plan, plan. Any high volume popular area is the same way.

So IMO to really enjoy NP's timing is everything. The month of May right up to before school gets out and then right after Labor Day in Sept. till they close again for winter. So the window is very small and you have to plan carefully to enjoy during these times. We don't like running with the herd during these times.

I think you're going to find that you'll be parking & camping more in other areas than SP's and NP's than you think.

That's my 35 cents.

Good luck my friend.

[Overby]

Originally Posted by Overby

We are planning to go full time and are looking at a 2014 Holiday Rambler Vacationer 36SBT.
We do want to go to National and State parks. Am guessing this has been asked before but I can’t figure out the search feature! Is 36’ too big for most parks? We’d go smaller but can’t find anything we’re happy with as far as layout and “amenities”. Should we keep looking for something smaller?

Thank you everyone for your great responses and info! I feel better about our decision now.