How to properly plan x-country trip with 43' 5er?

Cydog15 wrote:

2oldman wrote:
Prepare to dry camp when possible. No reservations, no crowding.

Why? Sounds dumb

The FHU sites go first. Why? I don't know. Any RV worth having should be able to go a few nights without running out of water or filling its holding tanks. Many are paranoid. Can't travel without having the full comforts of home.

The power only sites go next. Nice to have heat or cooling if weather dictates.

The dry camping/overflow sites go last. You need to arrive prepared for whatever the CG has if you don't like to commit to reservations.

2oldman wrote:
Prepare to dry camp when possible. No reservations, no crowding.

Why? Sounds dumb

ToddD wrote:
2019 early summer, we're looking to do a month long cross country trip in our 43' 5er.

Given the length of the rig, I'm assuming I'll run into a lot of campsite limitations.

Is there an easy way to map this trip, or will it come down to picking our desired locations and then doing a map search in the area for campgrounds that have available sites for a rig this long?

I assume if we want to see some of the more popular tourist sites, we should be reserving as far in advance as possible.

So many possible ways to slice and dice a trip like this, it's a bit intimidating...

Thanks.

. .
You will have problems with a 43 foot 5th wheel. It is part of the deal. We have a 37 foot 5th wheel, and have problems. You have to be extra carful.
Stay away from state parks or county parks.
Stay on the interstate and you should have no problems. When making reservations, make it clear the length of you rig.
Sometimes you might have a problem just driving through a campground. As the campground people if there are any sharp turns, or low branches, or low wires.
Find out what the road is like to the campground. Is it narrow, hilly, or really out of the way.
We would never get a 43 foot 5th wheel. Just too long.
You have to watch out for the swing of the back of the trailer when you make a turn. We have takien out an electrical box on the right when making a left turn.
happing camping

A couple thoughts -

- Maybe list your general route to get some helpful suggestions.

- I would hop on an interstate and put together several long days until you get out of the eastern half of the country (I-80, then I-90 as an example). Same thing when returning.

- You won't run into the summer crowd until after the beginning of June. Memorial Day will be the exception. Remember that June in the mountains is 'Spring'. Not summer.

You know about all the big attractions like Yellowstone (I stay in Cody when I visit). Here's a few other places I like:

- Devil's Tower National Monument in NE Wyoming. We all remember 'Close Encounters - right ?

- Custer State Park near Rapid City, SD. Simply the most amazing state park I've visited. Bring carrots for the Donkeys and don't bump into the Bison.

- Highway 101 around the northern and western boundaries of Washington. And then down into Oregon and Norttern California.

- The Redwoods. A must see if you're anywhere close. They will make you believe in dinosaurs.

- Yosemite National Park is simply stunning.

I plan on 8 to 11hr days to get to a region(my fav is the Northwest in July) and spend 3-4 days to explore before driving a day or less to the next 3-4 day location. I found out on my first across country trip that moving too often is tiring and stressful. I got home and needed a vacation from my vacation.
As far as reservations, I like to play it loose. When moving to a new location, Mon - Wed is a pretty good bet to get a campsite. Maybe can't do that in California though with the higher crowds.

I had the same question when I did my first cross country trip. What I ended up doing was planning my trip based on what I wanted to see.

I then used RVParkreviews.com to determine if there was a campground near by. I summarized the campground average nightly cost over 10 different customers and averaged their reviews over 10 different customers, all in a spreadsheet. I then made my decision based on #1-lowest cost #2-best rating. Once I determined my top two or three campgrounds at each location I started looking at maximum lengths and whether or not my dog was allowed. Not all dogs are allowed at all campgrounds, especially those mistakenly considered vicious.

Now I'm only at 34' on my 5er but I only found one campground that came close to not fitting. That was a state park on the California coast and we barely fit.

I've been on two cross country trips in 5 years and based on what I saw there are very few campgrounds, private or public where a 43' rig won't fit. Are there some where it will be a bit snug, absolutely, but not many where you just won't fit.

I think many people over think this issue.

Because we are not retired and only have a certain amount of time off work we push as long as we can on drive days. We'll do anywhere between 8-12 hours depending on what we are trying to accomplish. When towing with a deisel the drive distance is no big deal for me but is for others. Just stating our preferences.

Ok, based on comments here, we are adjusting our plans.

Instead of June, we're going to pull the kid out school early at beginning of May (her school allows this).

We're going to do 6 weeks instead of a month.

We're going to plan to land at major attractions on week days, to avoid weekend crushes.

And we're going to plan our trip with 250 miles max between stops, planning on most stops to be 2 days long, or longer, to avoid burn out.

I'm open to suggestions on must-sees, must dos that we can plan around, outside of the major attractions...


Thanks,

Todd

ToddD wrote:
2019 early summer, we're looking to do a month long cross country trip in our 43' 5er.

Given the length of the rig, I'm assuming I'll run into a lot of campsite limitations.

Is there an easy way to map this trip, or will it come down to picking our desired locations and then doing a map search in the area for campgrounds that have available sites for a rig this long?

I assume if we want to see some of the more popular tourist sites, we should be reserving as far in advance as possible.

So many possible ways to slice and dice a trip like this, it's a bit intimidating...

Thanks.

Suggest you visit the Escapees HDT forum. The length on your 5th
is pretty much "standard" for the folks on the site.

They have a "user furnished" listing of campgrounds which have been verified by members in the Resource Guide on the forum.

It can be accessed - *here*

:C

Don't count out C. O. E. campgrounds because we have seen many that have sites long enough for your trailer. It is easy to check with https://www.recreation.gov/.

I’ll add my 1 1/2 cents to those who are wisely recommending either more time or less distance on your coast to coast trip.

We left Charlotte to Yellowstone to Seattle to San Fransico to Vegas back to Chatlotte. We didnt dilly daddle but didn’t rush either. We were gone 5 weeks and we didn’t take the RV either. Towing at lower speeds, having to camp outside of Seattle or San Fran. setting up/tearing down every day or so - all of that would of added a minimum of an additional week and a whole lot more scheduling stress to the itenary. Like others have said, unless you plan on driving ungodly hours every day, this woll not be an enjoyable trip for you or anyone else in your party.