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Old 01-31-2019, 10:37 AM   #1
daveinaz
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Campsites that accomodate 40' rigs

Our 3400RL measures 39 feet. I've been reading a bit about how many national and state parks can't accommodate rigs this big.

So, I'm just wondering, how many problems have those of you with longer 5ers had in getting spots in national, state, or county parks?

We really want to stay at national and state parks but now I'm wondering if we need to downsize before we even hit the road. And if we do go to something smaller, how much smaller do we need to go to get into most of these parks? 35 feet, 30 feet?

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Old 01-31-2019, 11:42 AM   #2
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It is highly variable. We have stayed at several state, city, and COE parks, but no national parks. We are just under 35'. Some don't accommodate longer rigs well. Sites can be short and access roads narrow. But most have had at least some sites long enough for 40' rigs. But those also tend to be taken first, even if their rigs are smaller, as everyone wants large sites. And some have sites long enough for a 45' MH with toad behind still connected. You just about have to research each park/campground you want to go to.
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Old 01-31-2019, 11:53 AM   #3
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Best to call your destination first if concerned.
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Old 01-31-2019, 12:20 PM   #4
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Most of the COE parks and many of the state and local parks that require you to reserve online let you see the length of the sites before you schedule your visit. We've had to put on a driving clinic at some private parks and the occasional KOA but we've never gone somewhere we couldn't find a spot in 8 years of fulltiming and over 80,000 miles. Both our old and new rigs have been 40'+.
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Old 01-31-2019, 02:12 PM   #5
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The smaller the rig, the greater the access. We keep a smaller toy hauler for those situations. There are a lot of government parks in awesome places and they tend to be big fiver unfriendly.
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Old 01-31-2019, 03:21 PM   #6
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My previous Monty was 34 feet long. I squeezed into a spot at Yellowstone Fishing Bridge campground. To leave I had to pull forward into the forest (a small gap in trees) about 5 feet and go back and forth a few times to get out. I think the neighbor was not parked when I backed in so had more room. And this spot was one of the longer ones, tho all were about the same.
Many NFS etc (on reserveusa or such) list the length for each site. But by looking at the pictures of sites you can see some of them have a lot of extra room. I use campsitephotos.com - many sites are there with pics, but not the easiest website to use.
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Old 01-31-2019, 03:52 PM   #7
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Dave,

You will not have an issue in our AZ state parks. CA parks tend to be older and a little smaller. Midwest and East coast parks tend to be smaller but there are also parks with room. As Mike said - recommend calling first.
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Old 01-31-2019, 07:53 PM   #8
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My thought is, yes a larger rig might be harder to find a site for BUT it is worth it!


I do think their should be RESTRICTIONS that don't allow a pop up camper to take up a 50 amp site designed for a larger rig (and it happens very often) if there are only a few at a given campground. That might sound elitist on the surface but truthfully it is only being fair. After all folks with big campers pay their share of taxes and deserve a campsite just as much as the folks with the mini campers!


Thankfully newer campgrounds are learning to make the sites larger and there seems to be a bit of a trend toward more resort style parks opening up. I suspect time will eventually whittle down the list of campgrounds that do not accommodate larger rigs as no one wants to stay at them with better choices just down the road.....I suppose some would say that the better parks are more expensive but we don't see an issue with that. After all the cost of the park is small compared to the cost of towing one of these monsters. I am more than happy to pay a premium for superior experience/accommodations when I just spent ten times that traveling to get there......
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Old 01-31-2019, 08:54 PM   #9
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I'm sorry James, but I vehemently disagree with you on restricting smaller campers to smaller sites at public facilities. It's been my experience that the smaller the camper the more outdoor space required. Generally the small campers are owned by the younger kids who tend to bring children with all their toys, bikes, and who knows what else. Of course if you're at a lake than they probably have a boat or jet ski and quite often an extra vehicle to tow it. More often than not they will have friends join them so that means exta cars, watercraft and kids. So now you have a large group and a small trailer, so most all activities take place outside. My point being, they need as much space as we do with our long trailers. We all pay taxes on these facilities and should all have an equal opportunity to pick the space that suites us best since its first come first serve. Most of us here, and I'm sure you included, have camped at public facilities for many years and knew when we bought these huge beasts that access would be limited.
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Old 01-31-2019, 09:30 PM   #10
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Who knows, that tent camper may have paid for more that he needed because that is all that was available. One thing, he and anybody else had the same opportunity to rent that cadillac spot.
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Old 01-31-2019, 09:43 PM   #11
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Finding campsites is potential concern for us too. We're looking at a 3811MS and at 40+ feet long this issue is one we would like to get a handle on before it complicates our future travels.
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Old 02-01-2019, 04:27 AM   #12
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If planning on going the full time route then bigger may be better, or at least that was how we looked at it. We began with a 38' Montana, then a 39' Montana, SOB, then our current set up. There are only a couple State parks or public owned parks that we have used since 2011. But that doesn't keep us from camping close to all the National parks, State parks, and other great outdoor attractions. We either use a private CG or dry camp where available.

As full timers we wanted extra room for a w/d and all the storage we could get. 90% of what we own has to roll down the road with us.
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Old 02-01-2019, 05:45 AM   #13
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I think you'll find more issues on the east coast especially the New England region. We have the 3700LK which measures 42'5 overall, (measured it several times for our cover, to verify, the site says 40'6, but the actual is a tad longer). Even though we live in CT, we've had no issues finding CG's to accommodate us, however, we don't stay in the state parks, which have the restrictions. You will find tights spots, but that's about it.
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Old 02-01-2019, 07:23 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Theunz View Post
I'm sorry James, but I vehemently disagree with you on restricting smaller campers to smaller sites at public facilities. It's been my experience that the smaller the camper the more outdoor space required. Generally the small campers are owned by the younger kids who tend to bring children with all their toys, bikes, and who knows what else. Of course if you're at a lake than they probably have a boat or jet ski and quite often an extra vehicle to tow it. More often than not they will have friends join them so that means exta cars, watercraft and kids. So now you have a large group and a small trailer, so most all activities take place outside. My point being, they need as much space as we do with our long trailers. We all pay taxes on these facilities and should all have an equal opportunity to pick the space that suites us best since its first come first serve. Most of us here, and I'm sure you included, have camped at public facilities for many years and knew when we bought these huge beasts that access would be limited.
I agree
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Old 02-01-2019, 08:03 AM   #15
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Make it x3. Even though we will have a 40+ rig ourselves soon, if we snooze... we lose. We accept that cuz it is what it is. EOS.

Now, getting anecdotal evidence to help us avoid such situations is truly appreciated.
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Old 02-01-2019, 08:52 AM   #16
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Another thing you also have to take into consideration when finding a spot long enough is finding a spot that has no obstructions on either side of the road that will effect backing in. State and Federal parks love to place big boulders in awkward places and they have an aversion to limbing up trees. We are long timers but still have several state parks that remain on our list of places to stay and we visit them frequently. We do find ourselves staying in private campgrounds more but don't like how close those sites are but we do like having full hookups.
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Old 02-01-2019, 11:10 AM   #17
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Learned a couple things when I bought a 35' 5er. 1st was the public sites had roads narrow and made backing a challenge. The found the easiest way to find the long sites is to look where the popups were camped. At 43' plus TV I never bother with any public CGs. Now I check military installations 1st then private CGs. Appreciating FHU sites more than ever.
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Old 02-01-2019, 11:12 AM   #18
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Old 02-01-2019, 05:46 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Theunz View Post
I'm sorry James, but I vehemently disagree with you on restricting smaller campers to smaller sites at public facilities. It's been my experience that the smaller the camper the more outdoor space required. Generally the small campers are owned by the younger kids who tend to bring children with all their toys, bikes, and who knows what else. Of course if you're at a lake than they probably have a boat or jet ski and quite often an extra vehicle to tow it. More often than not they will have friends join them so that means exta cars, watercraft and kids. So now you have a large group and a small trailer, so most all activities take place outside. My point being, they need as much space as we do with our long trailers. We all pay taxes on these facilities and should all have an equal opportunity to pick the space that suites us best since its first come first serve. Most of us here, and I'm sure you included, have camped at public facilities for many years and knew when we bought these huge beasts that access would be limited.
I understand your point but then you have to realize that we have 12 grandkids and a 42' 5th wheel that is 50 amp. Having someone that whose camper is 20' and only 15amp take up the ONE available spot that would accommodate my rig is just wrong!!

I am all for parks upgrading to ALL 50amp sites but there are a boat load of them that only have a half dozen spaces large enough to accommodate the larger rigs but they will have 30 or 40 sites that will accommodate smaller rigs.

I get the fact that nearly every campsite that is like what I just describes always tends to "upgrade" the nice locations down by the water or whatever and of course EVERYONE wants those sites. But it just isn't right to basically tell large rig owners your not welcome because there aren't any sites you will fit in because we gave them to mini campers is also wrong.
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Old 02-01-2019, 06:57 PM   #20
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Originally Posted by mtlakejim View Post
I understand your point but then you have to realize that we have 12 grandkids and a 42' 5th wheel that is 50 amp. Having someone that whose camper is 20' and only 15amp take up the ONE available spot that would accommodate my rig is just wrong!!

I am all for parks upgrading to ALL 50amp sites but there are a boat load of them that only have a half dozen spaces large enough to accommodate the larger rigs but they will have 30 or 40 sites that will accommodate smaller rigs.

I get the fact that nearly every campsite that is like what I just describes always tends to "upgrade" the nice locations down by the water or whatever and of course EVERYONE wants those sites. But it just isn't right to basically tell large rig owners your not welcome because there aren't any sites you will fit in because we gave them to mini campers is also wrong.
I agree with you. I will never try to go into any public CG again. If public CGs would charge by the length of the site and amenities at the site there would be large sites available.
3 years ago, mid-week in the Fl Panhandle we pulled out of a 1/2 full public CG after stopping for the night. I had a pull thru, FHU, 50 amp site. An SUV pulling a popup actually parked and waited for me to leave! Pulling out we noticed several empty sites, nearly every large site had a small unit on it, including one with only a tent. A MH that I saw arrive late had to be squeezed past as he was about 2' on the road after backing in as far as possible late at night. Maybe it is only Florida, but I swore off ALL public CGs that day.
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