1st Montana but......

[Arizonacouple]

Hi Everybody and Happy Holidays. We bought our 1st Montana and are now having reservations that we bought too big. It is a 3402RL and is 39' long. Wonderful to live in but am worried that it might limit the places we can visit. Anybody have any views on this?

[Mudchief]

Overall you will be OK. Some State and Federal parks can be a problem because they were made for smaller units years ago. We are on our second Montana and have never had a problem at any RV park.

[1retired06]

We have never had a problem finding a site. Some state and county parks are non-starters, but most often private campgrounds are close by.

[JandC]

Welcome to the forum! You will enjoy that floor plan.

When we travel and make reservation I always discuss our size with prospective CG's we are thinking about staying in.

As someone already has mentioned, there will probably be some state or federal parks that can not handle your size but we have found they are few for the places we have traveled.

[Irlpguy]

Having had a smaller 5er than our current 3402RL we find many places we cannot camp. Since we like to actually go "camping" rather than always spending time crammed into a big RV park there are times when I wish I had a smaller one.

Spending several months or full timing in a smaller one would not be as convenient or spacious and we would miss that, so it is a trade off. I do not find pulling the larger RV to be a problem but have had a couple of interesting experiences getting in and out of fuel stops and such.

Not much we don't like about our floor plan and this will likely be our last RV so we will go where we can and avoid the real camping experience in some of our great Provincial and Federal parks.

[DQDick]

As stated, there are some problems with older state and federal parks but that is becoming less and less of an issue. More and more huge class A's out there far less maneuverable than we are and new areas are being built to accommodate them. I drove a big rig at one point in my life and heavy equipment still and find that I can fit our rig almost anywhere we want to go. Do we have some minor scratches, yes, but it's what we bought the trailer to do. The same with our truck. It has desert pin striping, but we've been down a lot of jeep trails. We went with this lifestyle to live it and the rig and the truck are just tools to that end, IMHO. Anyway, like many things in life, it's your choice but whatever you decide Welcome to the Forum!

[BB_TX]

Agree with everyone else. Even with state/national parks, they most likely will have some larger sites available, IF you do not arrive on a Friday afternoon during busy travel season without a reservation. Have never been to a private RV park that could not accomodate the longest units.

[scott-pati]

Welcome aboard!!!! We have the same model as you, we have yet to run into any issues in our travels. Then again we have not been to any national parks. We usually call ahead to confirm if their sites can accommodate our 40 footer. No turn aways yet!

[K0LCB]

Federal park reservation system will let you put length into search. I always add a few feet to be safe. I've never had a problem

[CORattler]

I have never regretted the size of our Montana (34.5 ft)
There are very few places we bypassed because of the size of our RV. I don't feel slighted in the least.
We camp in National Forest land, BLM, state parks & commercial parks. Relax and enjoy. As others have said, prior research into the size of the sites precludes most disappointments.

[Bigboomer]

Welcome to the forum. You will not regret the size. Just keep in mind when you plan your stays...try and use Google maps with satellite view. We try to get pull thrus but that does not always work as some parks pull thrus are worse than back ins.

[bethandkevin]

We've not had any problem with ours. Then again, we've not used any National parks either. As others have said, if you plan ahead a little, there should be little problem.

[richfaa]

Take a tape measure to it.It is a bit longer than 39 feet. yes there are many places you will not get into but many more that you will. Call ahead and tell tem the size and number of slides. We have not had a problem or been turned away with our 3401 or our previous 3400.

[rames14]

Most of the National parks have room for every size RV. We traveled 13,000 miles through Alaska, Canada, Wyoming, Montana, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and back to Colorado. We had (1) campground we didn't feel comfortable fitting into. If that is your only concern, don't worry. If you are concerned from your capabilities, that is another case. Some people prefer a shorter RV for towing. You didn't mention where you plan on camping and whether it would be boon docking, federal, state or private campgrounds. Good luck and welcome to the MOC.

[Mynabird]

We have been full-timing in our 3402 for 3 years. We have not had any problems. We fit real nice in COE parks. Always state your length when calling AND that you have 2 opposing slides. Sometimes there are hindrances on one or two sites having the slides open. So make sure they understand that when you check in.

We have been to Washington to Maine to Florida and Arizona, back to California in this rig.

Some Rv parks clerks are unaware how long 40' really is.....and having room to park the truck...not on the grass.

[mazboy]

well, it is what it is.

yes, there will be some campsites that will be to small but most will work well.
and remember, you can easily spend the night at many walmarts with ease.

[Happycamperscolorado]

we just bought a 3400rl but stay at Canon Bonito RV and Fly Fisherman club in Antonito all summer which has plenty of space. we plan on going back to primitive camping in Colorado and other campgrounds in 2016 so we will be in the same boat checking and explaining our length to the host to make sure we fit. but the space is so right for the camper!!!!!!! don't think we could go smaller now if I wanted to. Like a mini apartment on wheels.

[Slink]

Can you put your slides out at Walmart

[DQDick]

In theory no, but in practice usually. We have to put the bedroom slide out in order to access the bedroom so we do. We do not unhook or put any levelers down except the one night we had 70mph winds. We do tend to prefer the Denny's lot's at Flying J's or the lots behind Cracker Barrel, but it's the same thing.